I'd go along with that!

The AI seem to have no particular difficulty disposing of 2-seaters - this being the end of my RE8 campaign during the second mission...







PS please can OBD restore the missing interplane rigging wires to my RE8, for next time? I don't expect their absence contributed to my having my wings shot off, but even so...

Oh, and my observer was still shooting back, as we plunged vertically to our deaths.

A couple of not-very-flattering points to consider...especially if you enjoy the occasional light revelling in the misfortunes of others.

I definitely went above his line of sight and deserved to be hit, but really: shooting around the entire motor and hitting me in the first burst?

I think this one just speaks to the unsuitable-ness of the N28 in this situation: can't really snipe with no sight, hard to stay below with the stall speed. Although, as 33lima said, the AI was able to come in and do it. Although we did lose one from our flight and their ability to take down two-seaters is pretty hit or miss in other missions...

I'm having a lot of difficulty with Roland CIIs, with my Spad VIIIs squadron (~Feb 1917).

Four of them just shot down my entire A and B flight within a few minutes of takeoff in a Scramble mission, though most of us survived with injuries/damaged machines. They then proceeded to bomb the airfield. I imagine they were laughing.

Is that just starting height advantage, or are they simply so significantly better aircraft, that I should hide or transfer squadrons for a while?

Yeah, the Rolands are in a class by themselves. They've been my sworn enemy for as long WOFF has been around. If by sworn enemy, I mean constantly getting pwned by...

I wonder if AI observers have the same fluctuation in skill as AI pilots do, or if they're all the same gunnery wise?

I ask because your observer has certain strengths and weaknesses that are listed if you go through your squadron roster. So maybe he missed those shots because he just wasn't very good, and he wasn't very good because he, being in a player controlled squadron, had detailed attributes laid out. Perhaps AI gunners aren't detailed in that way, so they're all pretty good. On my part there is no way I am going to get away with being at that angle and that distance behind a two seater. If I get off with having to crash-land after doing that I'll consider myself lucky.

Except Heinkels for some reason, and that's even considering the disparity between WW2 bomber and fighter armament. I love how Heinkels look but everything I've played, even Over the Reich which was a turn-based game, you could sit behind a Heinkel and obliterate it while their defensive guns did little or no damage against you. I'm pretty sure I could shoot down a Heinkel in a Nieuport 11 if I could catch it.

It's off putting taking on different aircraft after you've spent a while fighting Heinkels. I rage quit when after trying to play the Germans in OVR I tried using the same tactics on a Wellington that I did on a Heinkel, and he shot down 3 of my planes in a row! In fact my experience against Heinkels might be shadowing my opinion of what a WW1 2 seater should do.

Are you sure it was your target that got you? I've watched it a few times and I didn't see any tracers coming from his plane. Maybe one of his buddies jumped into the fight. Other than that, all I can think of is that it was the grandfather of Angelina Jolie's character in "Wanted".

That's certainly possible, although you can see how intermittently my tracers show up in the video. If true, that would just push the shot back to a truly Olympic-level deflection shot from an observer far away heading on different vector at a different elevation!

Your video doesn't show where they are/were/went. I don't know how the observers are modeled in the Caudron, but in other planes if you can't see them, they can't shoot at you (assuming you're that close, of course). And the top wing is clearly between you and him.

It's also possible that you got hit in the head, in which case the bullet would have gone over, not around, the engine. Lots of blood on those goggles.

My money is still on his buddies. Did you happen to look at the replay afterward?

No, I usually forget to...

I'm finding that a lot of the more intricate attack plans where you face 2-seater formations head-on tend not to work for me - as soon as I get within like 2 miles of the formation, the formation just turns to the side and the whole thing goes to pot at that point.

That being said, in QC I *am* having success downing 2-seaters attacking from behind and below. I'm better as a tactical pilot improvising in the moment rather than as a calculating strategist sticking to The Plan™. Like the diagram on the first page says, though, when the 2-seater turns to give the gunner a line of sight on me, I'm turning the opposite direction to get out of the gun sight and create some space for the next attack.