Got my first online kill....in an IL2

[Pharoah]

Returning from a bombing run (expert server), I got the message that we were being attacked. The best thing I found when being attacked is just to fishtail (left/right turns) to throw their aim off...lo and behold the tracer was going everywhere except into my a/c. Anyway, he came back for an attack and made a rookie error....he dived below my a/c...and then proceeded to pull up in front of me! I then beat him in his right turn and sawed off his port wing. lol - rookie move!!

 

So for you budding fighter pilots, here's a few tips:

 

1. don't pull up in front of an a/c...esp an IL2 with its 20mm cannon (results in a bad day)

2. remember where the gunners are - I've damaged a number of a/c in the IL2 with its single gunner (I've seen 109s pull off with white smoke, assuming its glycol or something, pouring out of its engine after slowly approaching from the rear and above)

3. keep up your energy (speed = life)

4. If you want (easier) kills....fly escort to a bomber (either lone or in a formation) - the enemy fighters will line up with "ka-ching, bomber = easy kill" in their eyes and will forget about you. I flew an He-111 in a raid on the enemy airfield and watched as two enemy a/c were knocked down by friendly a/c (these guys were just flying straight and level aiming for me!).

 

 

[Jason_Williams]

Nice. I love ground pounding myself in an IL-2, but when the opportunity presents itself I also like to fight in an IL-2. Takes a pretty good beating, but when you can get them in your sights you can pound them hard. I've killed a few 190s and He-111s on the runway today. Super fun. When some more squads and servers get into MP we're going to have some amazing missions and fights.

 

Jason

[DD_Arthur]

 Super fun.

 

 

 

   

[BeastyBaiter]

Indeed. Last night I was on TS3 with 5-6 other guys. We ran an IL-2 raid on the tanks on the Stalingrad map and pretty much wiped out the ground forces in one go. We lost an IL-2 but got a Bf-109 in return. It was loads of fun, I look forwards to even bigger raids once some player servers get up and running. Can't wait to have a full 16 plane squadron of IL-2's or Ju-87's coming in to raid a base.

[Chuck_Owl]

Nice. I love ground pounding myself in an IL-2, but when the opportunity presents itself I also like to fight in an IL-2. Takes a pretty good beating, but when you can get them in your sights you can pound them hard. I've killed a few 190s and He-111s on the runway today. Super fun. When some more squads and servers get into MP we're going to have some amazing missions and fights.

 

Jason

 

As a fellow ground-pounder, I know exactly what you mean.

 

Nice flying by your side, Jason!

[VR-DriftaholiC]

Last night I shot down 4 190s in an IL2 in one flight. I vulched two of them off the runway but the other two I managed to hit some hard rudder and get a deflection shot on them as they were making a pass at me, the last one while missing my right aileron to boot! This thing turns pretty good for a flying tank and hits like a truck. Only wishing I didn't have to leave the canopy open to see

Edited August 25, 2014 by driftaholic

[Pharoah]

ah excellent....glad to see I'm not the only one!

 

I'm trying to get my online squads into BOS but I think a lot of them are playing the 'wait and see' game after being burned by CLOD - fair enough, however I have given some pretty good feedback already on this game. Am looking forward to doing some large flights in bombers like I used to do in '46, but its harder in pub servers unless you're on TS.

 

Do any of you fly the PE2?

[BeastyBaiter]

The Pe-2 is a nice plane to fly but I prefer the IL-2 or He-111. Its bomb load is a little pathetic for level bombing and the IL-2 is better for fighting down in the weeds.

[Pharoah]

The Pe-2 is a nice plane to fly but I prefer the IL-2 or He-111. Its bomb load is a little pathetic for level bombing and the IL-2 is better for fighting down in the weeds.

 

Agreed. Atleast the IL2 gives you a bit more flexibility. 

 

On another note, the rockets on the IL2 are quite erratic. I know they're probably that way IRL (from videos I've seen as well) so I tend to just stick to bombs

[FuriousMeow]

Oh yeah, they were totally a weapon that had more psychological impact on the target area than physical impact - and that goes for all sides that employed rockets. Strap a couple of fins on a bottle rocket, it will go in the direction it was fired but it certainly won't be accurate. However, that is the nice thing about the distance fused rockets on the LaGG and Yak. They'll do some damage if they hit close to an air or ground target, obviously depends on distance to target when it exploded, but certainly more hope of doing damage than expecting the rocket to hit that target. I love it though, I just love seeing them flitter off erratically - but I love it even more if I get extremely lucky and they actually do hit the target.

 

Bombs are what you take to hit specific targets, rockets are just for scaring the other side - or hitting a few targets in an "area" type target.

 

Actually PTABs, someone will correct me if I'm wrong for sure, mostly replaced the use of rockets with Il-2s.

[BeastyBaiter]

I don't normally take rockets tbh. Last night's IL-2 load for most of us was the 37mm's with AP only + two 100kg bombs and the tail gunner. Today I did a sortie as well and only brought the gunpods. Went well other than the CTD on landing.

[Pharoah]

yeah agreed. I've watched a lot of the WW2 gun cameras (esp of Tempests...*drool* mmmm....Tempests) and the rockets were all over the place! Lol. I'm actually quite impressed that the devs have modelled this - good stuff guys!! I've found that ground attack is quite difficult, esp with turbulence, etc and trying to keep your nose straight. I haven't tried the flak cannons on the Stukas as yet but I'm sure they must have a big kick. 

 

Otherwise yeah, its bombs all the way. On that note though, whats the best armament for IL2s for tank busting or attacking armored targets? I put quite a few rounds (I think) of the default 20mm into one of those half tracks with rockets but got nothing in terms of destroying it. Could be my aim was just crap but I would've thought the IL2 armament was armor piercing. Maybe the 23mm or whatever is the bigger calibre? 

 

Its always a trade off between ammo and damage esp taking into account aiming difficulties mentioned above.

[FuriousMeow]

The armored units also have varying degrees of armor. You'll want the 23mm for the Il-2 for armored vehicles, and you want to attack from the rear of the armored element. I think the most agreed upon attack is rear at about a 25-30 degree approach down onto the rear of the armored vehicle using AP rounds. The weakest armor is, obviously, behind a tank. I doubt the DM for tanks goes so far as to the tracks being disabled if you do a side attack, but still - you'd have to put a lot of rounds directly into the tank's track to really destroy just the track.

 

Best attack for cannons, rear attack at about 25-30 degree incidence I believe but if I'm wrong someone will correct me vey quickly! For bombs, obviously doesn't matter but the best approach I've found is also from the rear (or from directly above with the Stuka!) so if it is delayed a bit the tanks still drive towards the bomb because the bomb dropped forwards of them. If you drop in a head on attack, the bomb will go further behind them and blow up harmlessly.

 

Trains - armored/AA defended - side attacks for rockets (surprisingly they are very effective for trains) and cannons. Angled approaches with bombs. Up/down the track the train is travelling is insta-death from their gunners.

Edited August 25, 2014 by FuriousMeow

[LukeFF]

Actually PTABs, someone will correct me if I'm wrong for sure, mostly replaced the use of rockets with Il-2s.

 

Aye, they were much better at killing tanks and were used extensively from Kursk onwards.

[Pharoah]

Thanks mate - those are good tips. My attack was from the right rear 3/4 (about 5 o'clock position) from about a 10 deg dive (wasn't very high...just pulled out of a bombing run on the airfield nearby at about 1000m). I think I'll go with the 23mm from now onwards - I'm assuming the 23mm can take out a tank (from the rear) right? ie. not just half tracks?

[VR-DriftaholiC]

Figured I would share. These were both the same flight.

 

http://youtu.be/ZCpRibh42Cw

 

http://youtu.be/C560yNZiPlM

 

Not until the end did I remember I still have a couple bombs under her too and loosed them. I suck at bombing  

Edited August 25, 2014 by driftaholic

[FuriousMeow]

Thanks mate - those are good tips. My attack was from the right rear 3/4 (about 5 o'clock position) from about a 10 deg dive (wasn't very high...just pulled out of a bombing run on the airfield nearby at about 1000m). I think I'll go with the 23mm from now onwards - I'm assuming the 23mm can take out a tank (from the rear) right? ie. not just half tracks?

 

You'll want to hit directly rear with cannons. Start opening fire when you are around 700m (with the current global 500m convergence default) in short bursts to assess round impact, when you hit direct directly and maintain sight picture - keep firing and when you are about 400m from target cease firing as you'll soon start hitting armor not associated with the rear area you were hitting. You do the most damage, to any target, at convergence  as all rounds are impacting the target in a very small focused area. So you want to open continuous fire on armored targets maybe a hundred meters before convergence and maintain fire until you are about 100 meters post cannon convergence. Seems like a lot, but that is probably a second of shooting max.

Edited August 25, 2014 by FuriousMeow

[Pharoah]

Thanks again - will give it a go this evening.

[BeastyBaiter]

Both the 23mm and 37mm for the IL-2 will open up a tank. However the 23mm requires more hits I think. I have found angle and direction to be unimportant. Normally I shoot them from the sides since they present a larger surface area that way. So I don't think the tanks have much of a damage model. As for 20mm's vs half-tracks, you shouldn't have a problem with that. I know I don't. Only thing I can think of is you're missing. Even the 7.62's can kill them, though it requires a lot of hits like that.

 

As for the stuka, the 3.7cm guns don't have too much recoil. You do feel it, but it isn't as big as you might think. The bigger problem is the limited ammo. I often kill 2 tanks but I have yet to kill 3. With both planes, range is your friend as already mentioned. The guns are mounted pretty far out on the wings and with the convergence set so far out, you really have to snipe them. Once we can set convergence, I'll probably drop it down to 250m.