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1 vs. 2 Tactics
Or, Surviving in a Dog-eat-dog world
By
--)-Rapier
--, Fighter Ace
Content Manager
Keep in mind, as in all the ACM articles, we will be referring to a sterile, "perfect"-world one vs. two encounter. The combats you will have in the "real" virtual world will be different, and you will need to adjust your tactics accordingly. Keep in mind that the following maneuvers, like all those we discuss, work better in realistic flight.
Of course, the only possible setup that could be worse than having to fight two opponents at once would be fighting several -- a situation we'll cover in a later article. The basic principle of all combat is that you should only engage with advantages in hand, and this scenario presupposes that you have given away the key advantage of numbers. So don't give away anything else! From this point forward you must husband your resources carefully and not be afraid to disengage. Your focus should first be on staying alive and then on getting kills and reducing the odds. Being dead puts a crimp on your option to re-engage later.
Keep looking all around you! A single fighter is vulnerable!
A single fighter is particularly vulnerable because you will have only one set of eyes working for you, and every fighter has blind spots built into it. For instance, large wings and fuselage block the view below every fighter's virtual pilot seat. Additionally, any fighter that does not have a full-vision bubble canopy has significant blind spots to the rear. Two fighters flying abreast can cover each other's blind spots. If they are diligent, using both line of sight and their radar/map, they can prevent nearly any surprise attacks.
| "A single 109, lingering behind its fellows, had sliced in brilliantly from above and fastened on to the Hurricane leader. Even as Tuck started to pull up sharply and turn tightly to the right, hauling with both hands on the stick, the first blast struck him. |
| "Harder round, you fool! Tighter, faster! Want to live? Sweat blood, then! Fly, fly! |
| "A second burst hit him: a stunning clatter, violent shuddering and vicious flashes all around him. The glass reflector plate of the sight disintegrated a few inches from his face and the wind shrieked through jagged holes in the canopy. But still he held her in that tight turn, and suddenly he was out of the welter of bullets, and his engine was still roaring staunchly. He flattened out quickly, but in those few seconds his attacker had vanished . . . " |
| - Wing Commander Robert Stanford Tuck 29 victories, WWII |
Know how to use your view keys and your padlock views!
A single plane does not have this advantage. Flying as a singleton can only work if you are extremely diligent, keeping your head on a virtual swivel. Look around your plane constantly, using your map and, if available, your radar. If bogies show on the radar near you, LOCATE them immediately! The most common reason that you cannot see them is that they are too high above you or below you to be seen. The ones below are not a problem but the ones above can ruin your day. Use your padlock view to lock onto them. It will do so, even if they are a bit outside of visual range. Use the E key to lock onto the closest one and the cycle through the bogies using the <,> or <.> Key. By looking at the radar/map you can determine what direction the bogey in question is from your counter and then determine which padlock view is looking toward them. The padlock view can also give you additional information. By seeing where it is looking, you can tell whether the bogey is above or below you and you may even be able to estimate its altitude relative to you.
When in doubt, delay the engagement by flying away from bogies and climb!
If the bogies are above you, you are strongly urged to delay engaging until you can increase your advantage, or at least decrease your disadvantage. Unless you have a plane with a massive climb or turn rate advantage over your opponents (and you can only determine this if you are in visual range), your best bet is to ensure an advantage. Discretion being the better part of valor, your best bet is to turn on a course directly away from them and climb. Since a stern chase is the slowest, this will have the added effect of encouraging your pursuers to dive to catch you, thereby diminishing the energy gap (they dive, you climb), which is in your favor as well. If you can stretch the chase for a ways, you can end up with a near-even energy situation (check out energy tactics ), which is much better for your virtual health.
KNOW what advantages you are going to use to win! While you are setting up for this, it's a good time to start totaling up your assets. If you know the plane types of your pursuers, start figuring out what you can use to your advantage. Look at the landscape and see if there are friendlies that you can head to or bases where you might be able to drum up support. Ack can take the place of a wingman in a pinch. Don't be afraid to call for help on the radio. Don't count on getting the help, but calling can't hurt. If you are lower than they are, one tactic could be flying very low, less than 100 feet, to make their diving attacks more difficult. Particularly in rolling terrain, they could find themselves plowing into a hillside if they come down with too much speed. Of course, this makes your job of flying more difficult as well, so this risk has to be factored in.
Keep the initiative! Keep them off balance by alternating attacks!
As is true in any martial art, the main advantages of one against two are speed and initiative. The difficulty of coordinating two or more human beings means that inevitably there are delays in their ability to change and implement plans. You can exploit this by keeping them off balance, attacking one and then the other. The key is timing, maintaining your attacks and keeping them from coordinating theirs. The object of their game is to tie you up in combat with one member of the pair while the second maneuvers to your six for a killing shot. You on the other hand, want to break this attack by forcing one member to defend themselves while staying out of range of the other. This becomes much easier if you have the advantage of speed or altitude. Initiate your attack at the point where your opponents are widely separated and, immediately afterward, pull up out of range of the other's guns. Keep switching targets and keep them off balance by concealing the true target of your attack till the last moment. You can also launch feint attacks by appearing to start your dive on one then pulling up and putting the altitude back into the bank. Odds are that your target will be timing themselves to go nose up on your attack and go for the head on. If you pull out before they are in range, they will have to pull over as they approach stall. As soon as their range begins to increase, drop flaps and pull down onto their tail. With luck and good shooting, it can be Bam! Bam! Boom!
Make it short, quick, and over as soon as possible!
Keep in mind that prolonged maneuvering with two bandits is statistically bad for your health. The longer it goes on, the more likely it is to turn out poorly for you. Your goal should be to eliminate one of the bandits as soon as possible, or if your plane has sufficient speed, look to exit the fight. Of course if you start the fight with altitude and speed advantages in a plane with a good climb rate, you can continue for longer. But every fight will eventually degenerate into a low-altitude turn fight if you give it enough time. Unless you have the good turner of the group, this is not likely to be good for you. It puts you co-alt with a couple of characters that want to put holes in you. So if you are going to have to bug out anyway, it's better to make that decision while there is still some air under you so that you can use that gravity assist to build up steam.
| "The Japanese pilots anticipated this move, and two Zeros were already diving to catch the P-38 in a crossfire before it could pull away. McGuire sized up the situation, knew he had some pros on his hands, and decided this was the time to break the rules. He went to maneuvering flaps and the big fighter came around in a tight turn, deliberately accepting a mix-it-up dogfight against the Japanese. |
| "The unexpected maneuver paid off. McGuire's airplane was suddenly where the Japanese never expected it to be, and before they could break away, McGuire had torn a Zero into flaming wreckage." |
| - Major Thomas McGuire 38 Kills, WWII 2nd Ranking American Ace |
What if you start the fight with an altitude disadvantage? This is bad. But sometimes it can't be helped, as the fighters pursuing you are both higher AND faster. (Faster planes can dictate where and when the fight happens, which is one huge value to flying one.) Definitely, throughout this fight, you should be eyeing the possible exits, unless you can reach parity or advantage both in energy and numbers. In this scenario, you want to expend energy only when you HAVE to, and encourage the enemy to go through theirs like a contestant on a shopping spree. High-G turns and maneuvers should be avoided unless they are to break the opponent's shot opportunity or guarantee a kill, and then only if the other guy won't be able to shoot you.
Your best option at the merge may be to meet the opponents nearly head-on then go nose-down and head for the nearest group of friendlies, screaming for help the whole way. If they hold all the advantages, get out. It's not courage to head into a slaughter. This is particularly true if they have reinforcements on the way. In this case, you know that the situation will not improve.
If you simply must fight or are looking for an educational experience, then there are maneuvers you can try. No matter what you maneuver you select, you will need to keep sight of them. Make sure that you know how to use your view and padlock keys and can switch between the two planes easily and quickly. If they fly together, then something like the rolling scissors could be good. On their initial attack, try to wound one of them in a head-on, but you must take care not to be hit yourself. Taking damage affects you far more than it does them. At least one of the bogies should be mentally on the defensive for a time after that. Tracers have that effect on people. Follow it up by maneuvering to attack the other fighter. Resist the urge to follow up on the first one, unless you are sure you can take them out immediately. Keep them defensive wherever possible. Take any and all snapshot opportunities that are given to you. Use your advantages. If you have the superior turner, then save energy for high-G maneuvers that will be effective. You can even deliberately turn poorly (as long as you are not being shot at) to lull them into a sense of safety and then crank out a full-G-drop-flaps-bat-turn when it can guarantee you a kill. Such a lag turn is a good way of building energy while still maneuvering.
If you have the superior climber, then do some turning to get them nice and slow and then start a spiral climb (see the Energy Fight for a more complete description of this tactic). In short, you can do any tactic against two that can be used against one. The key is to keep your awareness of both planes, and any tactic you choose has to work against BOTH of them. Failure to do so will result in your temporary removal from the game. It will be easier for you if both enemy planes can be persuaded to travel on essentially the same flight path. Then you can treat them as one plane.
| "When you decide to attack, keep calm and dash in quickly, forestalling the enemy. Or you can advance, seeming strong but with a reserved spirit, forestalling him with the reserve. |
| "Alternatively, advance with as strong a spirit as possible, and when you reach the enemy, move with your feet a little quicker than normal, unsettling him and overwhelming him sharply. |
| "Or, with your spirit calm, attack with a feeling of constantly crushing the enemy, from first to last. The spirit is to win the depths of the enemy." |
| - Miyamoto Musashi 2nd year of Shoho, 5th month, 12th day, 1645 Victor in over 60 hand-to-hand combats |
One vs. two maneuvering requires the near ultimate of skill and situational awareness to win. Go into such a fight knowing that the odds are against you. Can you fly with crossed fingers?
Caidin, Martin. Fork-Tailed Devil: The
P-38. New York: Ballantine Books, 1973, p. 325
Forrester, Larry. Fly for Your Life
. New York: Bantam Books, 1973; p. 186
Musashi, Miyamoto. Go Rin No Sho (A Book of Five Rings
). Translated by Victor Harris. Woodstock, New York: The Overlook Press, 1982; p. 71.
Shaw, Robert. Fighter Combat: Tactics and Maneuvering
. Annapolis, MD: United States Naval Institute Press, 1985; pp. 223-235
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