Merge Tactics

[phatzo]

here's a nice merge demo by Warkat. Remember him?

http://www.youtube.com/user/LordWarkat#p/u/16/psGuWKDX__o

he's tooling around in Il-2 at the moment, heaps of good WarKat videos out there.

[Agent360]

My personal experience after countless duels is that a tight immelman can/will beat a flat turn merge more times than not. I think that it gives you another dimension to utilize. It also gives you a bit more E to work with. The trick in mastering immel vs flat turn is either avoiding the shot that you sacrifice to your opponent if you try to rope him, or pulling tight enough to enter a scissors type fight.

TonyJoey's quote is golden 

But in the absence of a proper counter, if one masters a really good, tight, flat turn merge, especially with an opponent intent on a fight in the phone booth, the flat turn will achieve and considerable advantage if followed up with proper guns and verticle moves. One can use this tactic up to say...30 degress of roll angle, meaning if you get under you can match the turn but stay flatter...ie UNDER the bandits turn. But if you go more than 30 deg then you are doing the "pitch back" which is not a flat turn merge.

As for multiple con engagment in the MA:
When I merge 1 vs many in a conga line or closly grouped (flying the 109k4) I will shallow dive enough to get 400+ and pull all of them around to my six with easy turns (sometimes faking a break turn). Then, let the slow ones drop back and fight the fast ones in a running scissor. This way I can keep them all behind me, in sight and at a disadvantage. If I were to turn hard and fight it would be istant gang bang. But keeping close enough, always jiving as bait and staying in shallow climb and scissoring for overshoots I can sometimes out smart 3 or 4 bandits.

[themaj]

Most of my main arena merges have been Head-on avoidance's 

[Ghosth]

Quoted for truth "My personal experience after countless duels is that a tight immelman can/will beat a flat turn merge more times than not. I think that it gives you another dimension to utilize. It also gives you a bit more E to work with."

<S> and well said tony!

[MjTalon]

My personal experience after countless duels is that a tight immelman can/will beat a flat turn merge more times than not. I think that it gives you another dimension to utilize. It also gives you a bit more E to work with. The trick in mastering immel vs flat turn is either avoiding the shot that you sacrifice to your opponent if you try to rope him, or pulling tight enough to enter a scissors type fight.

The Pitch-back maneuver will nail you every time, especially against verticle happy airframes ( 109s, P38s, etc. )

[ink]

Most of my main arena merges have been Head-on avoidance's 

yup this is my point if ya fly/duel in the mains the way most do in DA, tower  bound you are.

[BillyD]

I like the quintiple immel.

[ink]

I like the quintiple immel.

 

[TonyJoey]

The Pitch-back maneuver will nail you every time, especially against verticle happy airframes ( 109s, P38s, etc. )

 

[maddafinga]

yup this is my point if ya fly/duel in the mains the way most do in DA, tower  bound you are.

That is pretty much true.  What I am starting to think of as the key is the ability to shift gears between MA style flying and fighting, and DA style.  The really key within a key is the ability to shift between them on the fly as needed.  They require different types of thinking, and different types of maneuvers too usually because of the pickers and whatnot.  The days when I am shifting gears back and forth effectively are the days I do well in the MA, the other days, not so much.

I think that getting the shift down is really the key though, and that's what the really really good sticks, the top tier guys if you will, do better than anyone else. 

I just have to work on it a lot more, but I'm sure that I'll get it.

[Ack-Ack]

I like the quintiple immel.

Honestly, there are some times when I have enough energy (P-38J/L only required 400mph IAS) to do one just for chits and giggles.  I do find myself using the triple Immel more often lately on a merge for quick rope.  You'd be surprised at how many will actually try and follow you up.

ack-ack

[Ardy123]

Quoted for truth "My personal experience after countless duels is that a tight immelman can/will beat a flat turn merge more times than not. I think that it gives you another dimension to utilize. It also gives you a bit more E to work with."

<S> and well said tony!

The 'secret' on the flat turn merge is to not do a flat turn but to do a shallow yo-yo. Also, the second trick is to get the other guy to dive down on to you, where you can follow up with a reverse and get him with a tater.

[TonyJoey]

The 'secret' on the flat turn merge is to not do a flat turn but to do a shallow yo-yo. Also, the second trick is to get the other guy to dive down on to you, where you can follow up with a reverse and get him with a tater.

Like I said the trick is pulling tight enough to enter a scissors type fight. Going low, if done properly, is the right move and will end in a very quick fight.

[mechanic]

I do understand your point Ink, and that it relates to Ma not DA. In the Ma we are usualy either attacking or defending, very rarely 'merging' with anyone. The concept of 'the merge' relates to me a situation where there are only two players. In free fighting, with multiple numbers, there is only attack or defence. It's only when two players face off alone that a 'merge' is even to be considered, imo. 

[ink]

I do understand your point Ink, and that it relates to Ma not DA. In the Ma we are usualy either attacking or defending, very rarely 'merging' with anyone. The concept of 'the merge' relates to me a situation where there are only two players. In free fighting, with multiple numbers, there is only attack or defence. It's only when two players face off alone that a 'merge' is even to be considered, imo. 

every engagement whether it be in DA or MA has a merge, does not matter, if you are engaged with multi cons do you not, watch out for when the next attack comes, and then avoid or get under him, there is a merge in every fight no matter the cons.

I fly every fight in DA or MA the same, (besides HOing against Multi cons or zero's in MA)

I was headed to an nme field one day,  I saw a lone con, so we engage one another, I do my thing, he did not shoot at my face but did the typical "text-book" merge, he died in a half turn, so I keep going to the nme field, it just so happened that one con after another attacked me, not as a horde but a few minutes between each contact, I killed 8 before I ran out of ammo,each and every one was because
A- most came in head on (text-book)
B I flew the merges the way I always do.