Hey guys, I have been playing IL-2 Sturmovik Forgotten Battles for a while now. I have been playing on a bit of an unrealistic level with unlimited ammo and 0% engine maintenance. It makes it quite easy to out turn and out fire the enemy and makes for easy kills. I have always loved WWII fighters ever since my first airshow and it amazes me the type of skill it takes to fly any fighter in combat. Now I am wanting to learn more about tactics when flying. I know that while flying a BF-109 you need to take the fight vertical and use a fly by type tactic on bombers and that type of stuff. What I have noticed is that when I play on realistic the enemy planes are simply out maneuvering me and are able to out turn me. Do you guys know of any tactics or maneuvers that were commonly performed in combat or was it more just an adapt to the fight as you go? Any help would be much appreciated. I am just wanting to play on a more realistic level without getting a cannon shell to my canopy every time I fly
Informative thread http://www.ww2f.com/weapons-wwii/12555-il-2-sturmovik-why-legendary.html This has some information about flying tactics, mainly bombing runs..The Il-2 Shturmovik
Rob ... playing IL-2 on realistic is very tricky indeed. If you're used to playing with a lot of the realism 'tweaked' down, then I'd suggest firstly sticking with one plane (whichever one you fly the most) and turning on the features one by one. Concentrate on flying before fighting ... what I mean by that is, just by turning on the "G-Force" effects you'll suddenly find you can no longer pull off those 'impossible' maneuvers when dog fighting. It all depends what you want mate ... and just how "real" you want it. Handling, fighting or just straight and level flying can all be altered drastically with only minor changes to the realism. If ALL the other planes are faster than yours, then you need to adjust your planes 'Trim' characteristics and your propeller pitch angle, then you've got your fuel mixture and 'Blah, Blah' ... it gets rather complicated rather quickly. Have a tinker and get to grips with what effects what, and expect to see your plane nose into oblivion as you float down under your parachute ... Good Luck.
My tactics are simple: 1. Get off the Ground 2. If #1 is accomplished, try not to Crash. 3. If #2 is accomplished, attempt to gain altitude with out crashing. 4. If #3 is accomplished, attempt turning and looking out the windows with out crashing. 5. If #4 is accomplished, attempt basic combat maneuvers with out dying. 6. Haven't gotten this far yet...
... Been there ... done that ... crashed on points 1 through 5 more than once !! I remember well, the first time I got as far as actually feeling 'cocky' enough to attempt an unassisted landing ... realized, once in the air, planes don't want to land without crashing ... runways aren't long enough ... and your 'wing man' WILL rear-end you (and wipe smile from your face) when taxing !!!
All good advice. I understand what you are saying, blacksnake. The aircraft differ too much to just jump in any with full realistic settings. I will pick one and get to know it a little better and mess with the settings and see where that puts me. Right now I can take off, gain altitude, fly and get to my objective but landing seems a bit hard lol. Now if I have to take her down on her belly for a crash I can do that but when landing I usually take off my landing gear even with the proper adjustments.... I probably just need to work on my landing more. I dont think the airforce would allow you to rip off the landing gear every flight and let you continue flying :-D
... Landing is very much a trial & error skill that shouldn't be rushed Rob. Give yourself plenty, and I mean plenty of time to set up your approach. Use your flaps and landing gear to reduce speed, but only when lined up and with sufficient altitude because your plane will handle (and drop) like the proverbial brick. I usually opt for the 'front view' (no plane, just target reticule) ... keep it shallow ... pull back on the stick (gently) at about 20-25ft ... hope for the best ... switch to close-up 'chase' view when your alt reads 6ft ... flaps up, or your plane will try to take off again ... hard back on stick while "tapping" your brakes to bring tail wheel down ... I know I make it sound easy, but I know full well it aint ... Again, Good Luck. BTW ... What 'stick' do you use ??
I will try that this afternoon and see if I can pull it off lol. Right now I am using a mock PS3 style no name controller... it sucks because it doesnt calibrate correctly and veers me off to the right and left when gunning which sucks because I just end up wasting ammo. It was 10 bucks so I figure it will do until my stuff arrives from the states. I have a Saitek X52 Control System but its in the states with my other stuff. Will be 2 months before my stuff gets here via shipping container. Im playing on a laptop with it hooked up to a 42 inch plasma screen. I cant play worth a crap on the big screen so I just end up using the laptop and my brother ends up telling me how terrible I am while looking at the big screen.... its a nice setup if you are playing so other people can watch.
Sounds like a good set-up indeed Rob ... 2 months is far too long to wait ... I started off with a (borrowed) cheap as chips joystick, plenty of buttons (all in the wrong place) a 'chewed' cable that would suddenly disconnect me from control of my plane, not good at all ...... yet, when I finally decided to buy a decent stick ... I found that most high street stores either, don't sell them anymore, or want far too much money for them. I finally settled for a "Logitech X3D" ... buttons in the right place, twist grip (rudder control) and reasonably priced. It made all the difference, cut my keyboard use in half, especially in the 'trim' category ... I did look at the Saitek (online) but I'm too impatient, once I set my mind on something I want it yesterday Any "intact" landings yet ??
Yep i know what you mean about wanting it yesterday. I went down to Best Buy and picked mine up. Honestly I started out with a $20 joystick from Best Buy. I tried it out and it sucked....didnt have a twist grip which was annoying among other things. I took it back and exchanged it for another stick that was a step above but was still not satisfied because it would reprogram itself everytime I plugged it in. I had to reset all the controls everytime I wanted to play. I took it back and exchanged it for the one I have in the states. Its a great stick and has more than enough buttons/knobs than I will ever use. Its layout is nice and you can adjust the height to fit your hand. I am getting better at landing. Im about 2 out of 5 right now lol. Biggest problem I am having is that I get my speed low enough to land and come in too hard because I start to stall out. Not enough speed for lift I am guessing. Right now I am flying a P40 M. Its a good plan and handles pretty well. I like the fact that it is restricted to its machine guns though and doesnt have cannons. It makes it more difficult and it forces me to because a bit more accurate. I can take out an ME-109's engine on a turn almost every time. I lead him a bit and put a nice quick burst into the "yellow target" (his engine) and am rewarded with a nice cloud of black smoke lol. Right now I am flying as a RNZAF pilot with my P40. I got me some skins and I look pretty good lol. I would buy me a joystick but I rather wait to get mine. Right now because of the NZ's dollar against the American dollar it would cost me almost twice as much to buy it. If the stick is $100 USD it would be almost $170 NZ and then shipping would kill me. So I wont complain and will just use my "craptroller" for now.
