First post & Best bomber to start?

[-332FG-Ian_]

Hi everyone. First post here. Long time flight simmer (mostly modern -DCS- and civilian -FSX way back-) but new to IL2:GB. Just got the game a couple of weeks back, getting to know these WW2 planes. So far it's been extremely enjoyable and this seems like a very lively community.

 

Initially started with Kuban, BF-109 career to get take advantage of the more automatic engine management features of the german planes so that I didn't have to learn everything at the same time. I got killed after 11 missions. Very fun as I said, liked the Ironman mode, makes you take more realistic decisions and makes the takeoff/landing matter more: you don't want to kill your career with a stupid mistake.

 

I got Moscow and Bodenplatte this morning. My plan is to restart maybe a couple of careers in parallel to have variety, another fighter pilot career, but also a bomber as I enjoyed this aspect more in DCS.

 

Which bomber would you recommend that I start with? Should I go with a CAS airplane like the IL-2 or maybe even the BF-110 or go for the pure bombers? Single player mode for the moment, as I don't have much time to play online. Your thoughts would be appreciated.

 

Thanks.

 

Ian

[40plus]

Ju-87 is always fun and can carry a mighty boom.

Ju-88 for level bombing with huge load

He-111 for style.

 

Pe-2 for the allies

Il-2 just because it's so much fun.

 

For the il2 I recommend going through the sea dragons scripted campaign. Tis good.

[J2_Seya]

The 110 is amazing and very easy to fly.  Everyone flys them in multiplayer. The 88 is nice for level and dive bombing. But it's harder to fly. You'll also see quite a few stukas too. It's lots of fun to fly but very slow lol.

[Beazil]

Welcome Ian!  Thanks for posting and welcome to the forums!

I am a recruiter for JG_51 Molders.  We are a LW based squad who dabbles in the occasional allied sortie or campaign for "research" purposes, and definately not because they are also fun. 

We fly everything basically with some of us acting as leaders for various roles such as attacker, bomber, fighter, etc.  We try to have fun and work together and we've been doing it for a couple of decades now.  Why mention this?  Well if you are looking for some folks to fly with online, give me a heads up or head on over to our forums at jg51molders.com and say hi. 

Lots of good people here in our community on both sides with lots to share and enjoy.  I hope you enjoy your time here.  S!

[Cybermat47]

I’d recommend the IL-2, any version, as a good attack aircraft to start with. It’s tough and can lay waste to soft targets. Even hard targets can be taken out with enough well-placed AP rounds of 23mm and above, or with rockets and bomblets.

 

As for bombers, I’d recommend the Ju-88 and Pe-2, any version. Both very versatile aircraft that can level bomb and dive bomb. Though if you’re less concerned with versatility and more with defensive armament, the He-111 H-16 is probably your best bet. The A-20 is also versatile, as it can level bomb and strafe and bomb like an attacker, but I personally find it a bit more difficult to get used to.

[=FEW=fernando11]

Hi and welcome!

 

The ju88 is a very good plane. But not Easy to start with... The pe2 also a nice plane. Fast, strog on the defensive. Maybe a bit triky to land.

The Stuka is nice to fly, but if you do stuff right, you only dive once and then is time to RTB... 

The il2 (1941) I would recomend. You can bomb, strafe, drop some bombs and even try a lucky shoot at enemy planes! It's a really fun plane, and the namesake of the game.

 

If you can, make a ingame recording of your bomb run. You can watch it later and learn a Lot from it!

 

Good luck and have fun!

 

PS: Sea drangons (il2)

And Havoc over Kuban (a20, payed) are two very nice campaings to start with.

Edited May 2, 2020 by =FEW=fernando11

[DD_Arthur]

Go for the He111. It’s an interesting and pleasurable aircraft to fly.

[Majakowski]

I recommend the Pe-2. The earlier and later versions are pretty similar, I tend to use the series 35 in multiplayer because of the mixture-gauge.

 

She is fast, very easy to handle and with 2x 500kg bombs the Allied (level)-bomber with the heaviest punch.

[Velxra]

The true unsung bomber and fighter has to be BF-110. If you want to fly in style with panache that is. Just give it 40% fuel crank the water/oil to 50% and off you go. SImple simple.

[-332FG-Ian_]

Hey thanks everyone for all your input. Much appreciated!

 

I may also reconsider to fly more online. Seems like a very welcoming community. Beazil I’ll check out your site. 
 

Thanks again. 
 

Ian

[PatrickAWlson]

based on limited experience and hearsay:

He111 is very pleasant to fly but very under powered.  Be careful with the weight.  Carry a small load of bombs and 60% fuel the first time.  Needs toe brakes (or keys mapped to brakes) to combat yaw and stay on the runway on takeoff.

 

Ju88 is reportedly difficult to get off the ground.  Brakes again.  Very nice to fly once you're in the air and better power than the 111.

 

A20 gets very high marks from lots of people.  Great power for a bomber.

 

Can't say anything about the PE2.

 

IL2 is very sedate and steady but still reasonably maneuverable.  

Ju87 is pretty remarkable in a dive with the dive brakes deployed.  The amount of control and the slow rate of descent surprised me.

 

 

[cardboard_killer]

No one's mentioned it, but if you bought the premium BoBp, it came with a great strike a/c in the P-38. Big bomb load and a good fighter after the drop.

[Tipsi]

Bf 110

[Lusekofte]

I would go for HE 111 or A 20. Bothe easy and feel good to fly. JU 88 require ytube tutorial to groundhandle and take off. Not difficult but frustrating if you try it without tutorials. JU 88 climb fast with great load and fly relative fast at high altitude. It is worth while learning. And can dive bomb like the PE 2. You simply need to go for what appeals to you

[BornToBattle]

I don’t know, call me stupid but I love flying the A-20. Yeah, there’s a little engine management involved but that’s a cake walk really much like the P-40. Common to the American side of things. None of that fancy - schmancy automatic German stuff. To me it seems to practically fly itself especially on landing approaches. Very stable ship and predictable with plenty of power.

 

Perhaps I’m just all hyped up on getting the B-25 flyable already. Just make sure you close those damn inlet cowls before takeoff.

[cardboard_killer]

7 hours ago, BornToBattle said:

call me stupid

 

Ok, stupid.

 

Seriously, what's not to love about the A-20

[Lusekofte]

9 hours ago, BornToBattle said:

I don’t know, call me stupid but I love flying the A-20. Yeah, there’s a little engine management involved but that’s a cake walk really much like the P-40. Common to the American side of things. None of that fancy - schmancy automatic German stuff. To me it seems to practically fly itself especially on landing approaches. Very stable ship and predictable with plenty of power.

 

Perhaps I’m just all hyped up on getting the B-25 flyable already. Just make sure you close those damn inlet cowls before takeoff.

I find myself unable to pick the PE 2 when A 20 arrived. I read so much of RAF Bostons , so I go in some kind of role play.
 

What bother me with it is its small movement on the yoke. 5 cm or a couple of inches to each side. Is this correct? 

 

[Leon_Portier]

I recommend the PE-2 for bomber play!
Its fast, easy to fly and you aren´t limited to level bombing. Since you also have some front facing machine guns, dive brakes for dive bombing.

Also, you can ditch the bombs for a lot of large rockets for some precision blasting!

[Jade_Monkey]

17 hours ago, BornToBattle said:

I don’t know, call me stupid but I love flying the A-20.

 

OP mentioned that he has Moskow and Bodenplatte, so no A20.

[-332FG-Ian_]

1 hour ago, Jade_Monkey said:

 

OP mentioned that he has Moskow and Bodenplatte, so no A20.

I have Kuban as well, it was my original purchase a few weeks back. Moscow and Bodenplatte were the additions this weekend. 
 

so for those interested I decided to try the Il-2 scripted campaign as suggested by Fernando. This eases me in to managing the radiators, rpm and mixture (vs the 109 that I did my first career with). Following this campaign I will move on to one of the larger airplane based on all the comments here. 
 

I did a few practice runs in quick mission and then started the campaign. I’m on mission 3 now. Not doing too bad by need to improve bombing accuracy. I’m used to CCRP/CCIP remember!
 

Thanks again for all your input. 
 

Ian

[Dakpilot]

 

 

Recommended 

 

Cheers, Dakpilot 

[II./SG.1-MarkWilhelmsson]

On 5/2/2020 at 1:44 PM, PatrickAWlson said:

based on limited experience and hearsay:

He111 is very pleasant to fly but very under powered.  Be careful with the weight.  Carry a small load of bombs and 60% fuel the first time.  Needs toe brakes (or keys mapped to brakes) to combat yaw and stay on the runway on takeoff.

 

Ju88 is reportedly difficult to get off the ground.  Brakes again.  Very nice to fly once you're in the air and better power than the 111.

 

A20 gets very high marks from lots of people.  Great power for a bomber.

 

Can't say anything about the PE2.

 

IL2 is very sedate and steady but still reasonably maneuverable.  

Ju87 is pretty remarkable in a dive with the dive brakes deployed.  The amount of control and the slow rate of descent surprised me.

 

 

 

You'll never need more than 25% fuel in the 111. Sometimes in MP I take the minimum amount possible and still have some left over when I get home. I figured out a generalized estimate of about 6L per km of flight consumption in the 111. I estimated about 9L per km of flight for the 88.

[Jade_Monkey]

47 minutes ago, Ian_cf-18 said:

I have Kuban as well, it was my original purchase a few weeks back. Moscow and Bodenplatte were the additions this weekend. 
 

so for those interested I decided to try the Il-2 scripted campaign as suggested by Fernando. This eases me in to managing the radiators, rpm and mixture (vs the 109 that I did my first career with). Following this campaign I will move on to one of the larger airplane based on all the comments here. 
 

I did a few practice runs in quick mission and then started the campaign. I’m on mission 3 now. Not doing too bad by need to improve bombing accuracy. I’m used to CCRP/CCIP remember!
 

Thanks again for all your input. 
 

Ian

 

I see, I was on my phone so didn't see your badges. Then I'm 100% with @BornToBattle and recommend the A-20 as the best bomber to learn.

[Ribbon]

He111- best bombload, lvl bomber, underpowered, slow and sturdy, hard to bring down and well defended by rear gunners....no front guns.

 

Ju88- excellent  bombload, fast, good diver and quite maneuverable on high speeds, no front guns.

 

Bf110g2- good bombload, very maneuverable and fast, powerfull engines, good frontal firepower, after bomb drop more than capable to dogfight and will outurn majority of allied fighters (adjust stabilizer and give a pinch of flaps when dogfighting).

Flies well on single engine.

 

Bf110e2- same as 110g2 but much more underpowered and weaker in DM.

 

Ju87- good bombload, powerfull cannons, deadly rear gunner with wide FoV, can take quite a lot damage, maneuveravle. (Didn't fly it enough)

 

A20- fast, maneuverable on high and mid speeds, decent bombload, frontal guns .50cal., can't take much damage but flies well on single engine.

 

Pe2 ser.87- fast, decent maneuverability, can take a lot of damage, good bombload, deadly AI gunner, good front guns.

 

Pe2 ser.35- same as 87 but less power

 

P38- excellent bombload, amaizing maneuverability, good dogfighter after bombs dropped

 

Il2- ground pounder with amaizing firepower and decent bombload

Edited May 3, 2020 by EAF_Ribbon

[BornToBattle]

16 hours ago, Jade_Monkey said:

 

OP mentioned that he has Moskow and Bodenplatte, so no A20.

Ah yes. You are so correct!

 

Hmm...perhaps maybe a little gifting on my part is in order. 

[Jade_Monkey]

3 hours ago, BornToBattle said:

Ah yes. You are so correct!

 

Hmm...perhaps maybe a little gifting on my part is in order. 

 

No, it seems like OP did have BoK after all. My bad.

[Zeev]

19 hours ago, Dakpilot said:

 

 

Recommended 

 

Cheers, Dakpilot 

Nice. Is it updated to 4.005?

[Dakpilot]

Just resave with editor, can't remember the exact process but it is widely explained in missions section, takes but a minute and really easy (I did it) 

 

Cheers, Dakpilot