21.01.2009, 16:18
Hey Certificate, thanks for this.
D/l the mod last night, and it makes a big change. 2 Spits v 3 190s was pretty hard work, lots of fun
Great to see the different tactics in use as well.
On the note re attacking the bombers
It was standard German policy to attack from head on, as that was the direction with the least defensive fire. It's the reason the B-17G got the chin turret. As I understand it, they then gained height, and came round again, attacking from the front or front three quarters. Never the rear and above, the lack of closing speed would have made them sitting ducks for defensive fire.
The Germans also tried bombing the bomber formations with 50kg bombs, lobbing mortars into the formations, and of course attacking from below with the angled cannons. (can't immediately remember the name...) But when it came to the fixed cannon and machine guns, just about all the reports talk about attacking head on. The Rammjaeger (sp?) were also designed to go head on.
The exception was the Me 262. The closing speed was just too high in those aircraft, so I understand that they tended to make slashing attacks from the side after firing the R4M rockets from the rear. IIRC that created a problem for the turrets on the bombers, as the traverse rate wasn't high enough to keep up with the jet's speed.
The Brits, certainly in the early war period, did tend to come in from above and behind, though given the relatively weak defensive fire of the He111, Do17 and Ju88 this was probably less of an issue than it would have been for the B-17 and B-24. It did also make the bombers significantly easier to hit as well, which may have been a consideration for the very low time pilots in the BoB.
Don't know if that can be modelled in an AI patch though with the different styles of attack for different aircraft, but just a thought. May also be off on this, can't check reference material at work. Feel free to correct me.
D/l the mod last night, and it makes a big change. 2 Spits v 3 190s was pretty hard work, lots of fun
Great to see the different tactics in use as well.On the note re attacking the bombers
It was standard German policy to attack from head on, as that was the direction with the least defensive fire. It's the reason the B-17G got the chin turret. As I understand it, they then gained height, and came round again, attacking from the front or front three quarters. Never the rear and above, the lack of closing speed would have made them sitting ducks for defensive fire.
The Germans also tried bombing the bomber formations with 50kg bombs, lobbing mortars into the formations, and of course attacking from below with the angled cannons. (can't immediately remember the name...) But when it came to the fixed cannon and machine guns, just about all the reports talk about attacking head on. The Rammjaeger (sp?) were also designed to go head on.
The exception was the Me 262. The closing speed was just too high in those aircraft, so I understand that they tended to make slashing attacks from the side after firing the R4M rockets from the rear. IIRC that created a problem for the turrets on the bombers, as the traverse rate wasn't high enough to keep up with the jet's speed.
The Brits, certainly in the early war period, did tend to come in from above and behind, though given the relatively weak defensive fire of the He111, Do17 and Ju88 this was probably less of an issue than it would have been for the B-17 and B-24. It did also make the bombers significantly easier to hit as well, which may have been a consideration for the very low time pilots in the BoB.
Don't know if that can be modelled in an AI patch though with the different styles of attack for different aircraft, but just a thought. May also be off on this, can't check reference material at work. Feel free to correct me.