S3 Series

Thanks for the vids guys.

For what it's worth.
I believe only 1 of our 8 bombers went down by structural damage.
7 blew up in mid air (pk's) with high speed passes.
I don't think Hawk was bitching, he's just pointing out what to him seems to be a low setting.
Perhaps the pilot hit box is distorted somewhat making it easier to hit from just about any angle.

juice= teaches "Aim small, miss small" in gunnery training. Dobs tends to aim at the, well... nevermind. Was an exciting frame. I was worn out when we finally logged. Twern't nothin easy bout any of our engagement gents!

Dawger



Wrong, I saw it last night and will check my ACMCAM later when I get the chance. Many PKs like Swanee mention. Once again, so please read this. I am not taking away the great job you all did exploiting our weakness.

I still say the B-17 isn't model correctly but that is just my opinion and one who flies bombers a lot.

The crew is definitely the weakest part of the aircraft and it is what we train to shoot for.

My personal motto is "Aim for the head, anything else is a miss".

And there has been quite a bit of practicing going on. Hitting the crew isn't easy but practicing the technique certainly helps.

I very recently revised the Lancaster, B-17 and B-24 hit boxes and there ARE changes but the Lancaster is the most affected by those changes. I made sure all the pilot hit boxes on the above bombers was only one hit box in size. And modified the pilot armor to make it less likely to kill the pilot without actually hitting him (Yes you could do that) I know Sleepy wants to release those revisions this week and I hope he does. However, it isn't going to prevent a well executed HO pass from PK. Filling the nose with HE and AP is going to still be very effective.

I would certainly like to see some of these one pass kills that arent well executed but result in an immediate kill. The only film posted is Dobs and Dazed. So that is what I am working on (other than my own bad pass that didn't kill )

Now, if fighters are able to camp at 6 o'clock that is another issue entirely (unless the gunner is dead).

I know it sucks to fly 300 miles and die before Berlin but we certainly can't expect the crew to survive a well done HO. There just isnt anything in front of them that will stop the ordnance coming at them.

If only 1 of 8 bombers went down to structural damage and rest to PK's, it does not seem like a buff tuff issue last frame. Also remember that the HO'ing Axis were flying the hardest hitting plane in the whole game this frame. That should account for quite a punch. To me it seems we allied have to find a way to deny the Axis such head on attacks, which can be done as the Fw190A-8s trade speed and manouverability for firepower. After looking at =dobs= movie, I cannot imagine a real WW2 B-17 crew surviving such a guns pass with 4x20 mm + Mg's bursting all over the cockpit. It looks easy as =dobs= perform it, but as a fighter pilot I know that is the result of lots and lots of practice. Not many in here can repeat it with such precision. I for one tend to end up missing half my burst and the rest of the bullets spread out all over the buff's fuselage.

About the escort only about half the allied force were protecting the buffs on the ingress when the casualties were sustained. We had the 4th away from the fight, flying an alternate route to RV west of Berlin. Once we got to the RV the whole 1st BG was already down. We however stuck like glue to the 2nd BG and managed to bring them home, even though Fw190s kept coming from every angle, also much thanks to the 352nd & 23rd having reduced the enemy numbers earlier.

/Robert
4th FG

P.S. Great videos and nice teamwork by the 475th

P.P.S. As I am not a bomber flyer, I don't know how it feels for the buff pilots. Maybe Hawk is right about the buff tuff, I can't fully tell. Would be really cool with the kind of videos dobs & dazed have posted, but from the bomber squads. Both for fun and to better understand your point of view.

-S Robert! The excellent escort discipline usually displayed by the 4th FG was something discussed within our squad planning. Was wondering how we got so lucky without seeing any of you guys either racking up kills, or getting killed. Glad we got our punches in at just the right time!!

I think we should try to remember that there have been a few changes since the last time we did a run into Berlin.
Damage is assessed very differently.
Parts no longer absorb damage after they have been shot away.
Damage is transferred to the next logical part.
Hit boxes have been changes and increased/decreased.
Buff tuff is a thing of the past and damage capacity (I think) if it's going to be increased is a little more labor intensive.

Also, if I'm not mistaken Dobs was using the 190A8 with the 30mms?
Those will wreck anybodies day.
All of Dob's passes looked pretty good to me.

We were in the 20mm A8 for that sortie.

Thanks all and I wish I had the ACMCAM of my death. I was at around 3k with the last bugger got on my six and finished me off which was cool because I knew I didn't have enough alt to get to the target. I called it a mercy killing.



So true Robert.

I'd like to know which theme music you used. It's not "Victory At Sea", its not "Universal Pictures", it's not "The Big Picture", it's not "Movietone News". Seems to me I used to hear that music one of the shows from the 50's that ran on Saturday mornings. For some, this is WAY before cable or satellite service, so it may be "new" stuff for them.