I think for most people (myself included) turn fighting is what comes most naturally to us. Get on your opponents tail and turn with him until you can line up a shot and shoot him down.

With the introduction of "energy" type fighters, a new tactic was born: "Boom & Zoom". It is a highly effective tactic when used properly. If you are new to WW1 flight sims or you haven't yet tried B&Z tactics, I created a simple video tutorial that shows it in action, complete with some of my own personal tips. I don't claim to be the B&Z "king" or an expert on anything, but if you are looking for the basics of Boom & Zoom fighting, this might help anyone interested in seeing how it actually works.

For my example I chose the Fokker DVIIF against 5 SE5a planes using Random AI skill. I hope you enjoy it.

Boom & Zoom Basics Video Tutorial (4:55) 720HD



Hellshade

Good stuff!

Nice video to show the "how to" but works like that only against the weak RoF AI. No human SE5a pilot would have kept on driving circles underneath you. Seeing they have a height disadvantage, I think they would dive away like bricks in every direction and extend, then climb further away as you can only follow one of them and come back on you later.

I did some BZ again these last days mostly with Spads. If your targets spot you, it's too easy for them to make a sharp last moment break and you have to abort and extend. The good thing for BZers with the 1.026 is the new gunnery which means you can extend relatively safely as there are now very little risks of being sniped 300m away ! Also the new rate of fire (and the top Lewis on the Spad VII) helps as you have very little time to shoot. Stalking the lines at high altitude looking for unsuspecting preys is a game of patience. In a 2 hour flying time, you get 3 or 4 good opportunities ( takes a lot of time to climb to 2500 or 3000m before heading for the front, and also regain altitude after each attack, good or not. ) In MP, it's usually one shot, something like snipers in FPS...

Boom and zooming SE5a's in a Fokker D.VII isn't a very good example of BnZ. Do this with an SE5a against 5 Fokker D.VII's and see how it goes.

As I said in my post - I don't claim to be an expert in Boom & Zoom tactics. I merely wished to make a video showing how the basics of it works - as I understand them - so that anyone new to WW1 flight sims could see an example of what it was like.

That said, I personally would think B&Z would be best used against an enemy who couldn't as easily climb up to meet you on your perch; ie use it against turn fighters or anything that didn't have the climb rate that your plane does. One should fly the strengths of their plane against the weakness of your opponent. So no, I probably wouldn't advise B&Zing DVII's with an SE5a since it will be too hard to stay above them throughout the fight. I also wouldn't recommend turn fighting to the right against a Camel if you are in a - well - anything.

Common sense would dictate matching the strengths of your plane against the weaknesses of your opponents. If he has as good or better climb rate than you, then it wouldn't make much sense to B&Z against them, would it? So I guess I don't understand why my example is a not a very good one. Why would I want to show an example of using B&Z against a plane that has the ability to defeat the tactic? How, exactly, would that be a better example? That seems more like an example of a pilot choosing poor tactics for the situation.

However if you are an expert in B&Z sir and I am sure we would all look forward to your video showing us all what a "very good example" would look like.

Corsaire - I would certainly agree that B&Z's are far more often effective against the AI, however there have been times I was able to B&Z down on some real life multiplayer pilot who didn't see me for any number of reasons. They were focused on another enemy, they briefly weren't paying attention to the game, they didn't have TrackIR to easily spot me with, I came in from out of the sun, etc. Against an aware and competent enemy pilot though, I agree it can be relatively easy for them to avoid the attack. Still, there are times when it does work but I should have clarified that it is "highly effective" against the AI and not normally as often on live opponents.

Hellshade

I enjoyed your video HS, and even learned a nice point about turning against opponents so they have less time to draw a bead on you. Thank you for the work and effort.

Neat video Hellshade, I certainly DID enjoy it! ...but like the others suggest - I don't think I would bill it as a tutorial video...but just a Quick Mission.

Using AI as opponents will not give you "best" examples of what you need to do as they are just too easy.

Here's an example of killing ten AI SE5s ( NO! not with unlimited ammo! [as confirmed at 3:00 mark])....and from a disadvantaged position too.

/sigh
The purpose of the video was simply to show the basics of B&Z. Nevermind.

WWBrian - Nice vid bud. I have a 10 kill, 1000 round video too sir. All in a single take. No cut scenes and they were all in the air at once but mostly what it shows is bad AI at low level more than anything else. Took about 11 minutes to get them all.



Hellshade

I hear ya Hellshade...and it was a cool video. Don't get me wrong. My point wasn't "Haha, oh yeah? Well I got 10".....my point was that AI is too weak to use as a good example...just as your 1000rnds, 10 kills vid corroborates - I could probably never get 10 kills with 1000 rounds online!

My video is billed as a paint scheme check...not a "tutorial" on how to shoot down 10 planes...Get the point?

...but nevermind that you cheated (J/K!) - Dr1s vs N28s? ...and the Camels were loaded with bombs, prolly 100% fuel by the looks of it, and you had around 5% fuel judging by the fuel gauge.

...anyway. Good flying, good shooting....good vid.....but not-so-good BnZ tutorial is all.

Just my humble opinion.

Thanks for sharing it just the same.

I guess if I'm trying to show someone the basics of something (which I clearly stated in the original post), I don't normally think to start them off in the advanced player vs player environment. I show them the basic concept against an AI opponent where they can see how the tactic works in it's theoretical form. ie here are the basic steps to B&Z against AI opponents.

Clearly against a human opponent who will likely be a better pilot than the AI, you'd have to make adjustments depending on how they reacted to your attack. Again, my goal wasn't to show a tutorial on how to handle every possible human response to a B&Z attack. It wasn't a tutorial on how to use B&Z attacks in a multiplayer environment. In fact I specifically stated that I didn't claim to the the "king of B&Z" (because I'm not), but that the tutorial was there for anyone wishing a basic understanding of how the attack works.

Did I mention multiplayer in the original post? No.

Do the words basic understanding usually involve extrapolating every possible outcome of something and how to respond to it? No.

If someone is going to show you the basics of chess, would they normally show you a video of Gary Kasparov during a chessmasters match? No.

Suddenly I remember why I stopped posting here. Apparently I'm guilty of not showing advanced techniques against live opponents in my basic tutorial.

Yep. Back to the other forum.

Hellshade

You say it isn't a tutorial yet you provide instructions in the video for how to "bnz".

But you're pitting a superior aircraft against an aircraft the AI is incapable of fighting in, this is why I say show BnZ basics or tactics, whatever you want to call it against something more dangerous, like the spad or SE5a against a few Fokkers.

There's really only a couple good BnZ videos up on youtube right now, most of the ones that are up were made with the old SE5a before the Flight model change so they no longer work. But hey maybe I will make one!

Where did I say it wasn't a tutorial on the basics of B&Z? Where sir? Where do I say this? I said it wasn't a bad example of the basics of how to B&Z. The tips I give are the basic tips of how to do a B&Z. That's all I was trying to accomplish was to share the basic tips of a B&Z.

As for the part about pitting a superior aircraft against an inferior one, I refer you to my previous post where I talk about using the strengths of your aircraft against the weakness of your opponents.

I wouldn't turn fight against an opponent who had a better turn fighter aircraft than I did.
I wouldn't B&Z against an opponent who had a better climb rate and higher service ceiling than mine.

Those would be poor tactical choices on my part if I wanted to win the dogfight. So naturally, if I'm going to B&Z something, it'd be against an opponent who would be at a disadvantage against that type of attack. That's why I chose the types of planes that I did for the example.

A bad example would be trying to show someone the basics of how to B&Z against an aircraft that can easily defeat the tactic, such as a Spad. That would be an example that wouldn't make a lot of sense to me. Why would I B&Z a Spad? I would have a much better chance of turn fighting it.

I did say B&Z can be very effective, but that doesn't mean a person should use it in every situation. It's effective against planes that have weak climb rates and lower service ceilings. I would expect pilots to choose the tactics they use depending on the planes they face and the specific situation they are in. That said, B&Z is one possible tactic to choose from that's particularly effective against certain aircraft.

Nevermind. Reading comprehension has gone to #%&*$#.

I give up.

Hellshade

That's my bad hellshade I had read WWBrian's post and then replied.

I'm just saying from a beginner's perspective this video isn't helpful. The D.VII can turn sharper than an SE5a, so you're at an advantage in that regard and if this is the D.VIIf you're using you're at an advantage in every way as it climbs faster as well. Fighting with the couple of aircraft that are forced to BnZ like the SE5a and Spad, none of this stuff in your video works. Combine that with the fact that the SE5a AI turns super shallow, doesn't dive or use it's speed to it's advantage and you have one big easy shooting gallery.

Really nice Hellshade!
Never tried RoF more than a short run in the demo but after the lastest in the sequence of failures from Maddox I guess I should have a look at these slower planes after all.
I like the DM too (never noticed when trying the demo as I never hit anything).

And as a totally green newbie-nothing I really appreciate what you show, just ignore the bigger egos in here.

Always with the personal insults around here.

In my opinion you achieved this.

Nice Vid

Thank you Brigs.

Near as I can tell from some of the responses, this is what happened.

I Posted : Basic Tutorial on B&Z

They Read : The Ultimate Encyclopedia on Advanced B&Z Maneuvers Against On-line Multiplayer Opponents.

Naturally when they saw the video they felt deeply misled.

Hellshade

Thank you Oden. RoF does indeed have an excellent DM and if you are into MP it is certainly a fun time. For the price of only buying the planes you want to actually fly - plus any weapon mods - it's a fair deal.

You may also wish to keep an eye on an upcoming sim called Wings Over Flanders Fields. It doesn't have a release date yet but it looks very impressive and the dynamic campaign looks especially good.

Here is one of the preview movies. They have two others out at the moment.

I like the preview 3 movie best.. advancing tanks and infantry in no mans land etc..
The level of detail on the ground is amazing, let alone in the air. In the older OFF I even flew a Fee yesterday!
The amount of aircraft you can have in the air for a classic scrap is a sight to behold.
Have to say, glad there are now choices for the WWI avaition enthusiast, Glad I have OFF, RoF, and I will get WOFF when its released!

It's just too bad it lacks in every other department possible, isn't very stable, requires another game to play, has the poor CFS3 interface and lacks "details" in all the actual flight mechanics. Not to mention flying feels like you're on a rail car that maneuvers like a modern fighter jet and the visuals are far outdated even compared to IL2 1946.

Hopefully WOFF fixes most of the big issues with the other games, it's got so much potential but it's held back by such an old and crappy engine.

EDIT OF COURSE this is just my personal opinion of OFF 3, I have very high hopes and am very much looking forward to WOFF.

I think there is no doubt that the feeling of flight and the beautiful rendered cockpits in RoF hold the edge at the moment..
But it's good to have choices, last night for instance I played two career missions in RoF, then jumped into OFF for a go at my career there as well.

Each sim has it's advantages to be sure and I appreciate the strengths of both. The reality is that the flight sim market is a small niche' market and the WWI flight sim market is a small subset of that, with most flight simmers being into WWII or modern day jets. Because of that, it's really a small miracle that we have any choices at all considering how time consuming and expensive they are to produce and support, not to mention how picky we flight simmers can be.

Hellshade

As prices were very reasonable, I recently bought OFF + Hat in the Ring extension.
With all the sounds, FM and DM mods, I enjoy also flying it. It has other planes, mainly in the early war times (FE2b, 1 1/2 Strutter, Halberstadt DII, Roland CI ... ) I like the historical accuracy that goes in the campaign. If you raise the difficulty settings it is interesting and as I started flying sims at 640 x 480 VGA, I easily forget the graphics look a little outdated.

The main problem for me is the same as RoF solo : the AI planes. Your wingmen are specially stupid and can't follow you even when you change course they turn a mile away and take 5 mins to be back in formation and enemy planes are too easy to shoot down. ( although with reduced gun accuracy in the settings a tad more difficult than RoF )
I confess I am a lousy fighter pilot ( fly more often 2 seaters ) but if I look at my solo career stats (both RoF career / Pat Wilson CG and OFF) 90% of my pilots "end of life" are due to spins, collisions or Flak. The few times I've been downed by AI planes were bad attacks on two seaters at the time the rear gunners would snipe you from 300m...

This is why I spend most of my flying time on MP servers, even if I get my butt handed to me a lot more often than I would like...lol
But when flying scouts I don't look anymore for kill stats, but rather to survive like any real pilot of the time would do, so I am very careful in picking up my fights, don't hesitate to run away and come back later when necessary, and try to team up with other planes or fly escort missions. Last night was a good example, 2 hours flying, one successful bombing mission, one successful escort mission, defense over the lines, 3 kills and no death ( had to make two dead stick landings )

The very best of course is for me to be a squadron member and fly coop missions with your mates against other squadrons.

They definitely have their pros and cons, OFF's ground war is fantastic and it allows more customization of the experience and more AI in the missions.