Pretty much what the title says. I've always been more comfortable with turn-fighting, no matter the sim. A lot of the Entente fighters serve me well, especially the Nieuports and Sopwiths, whereas on the German side I'm generally pretty comfortable early in the war until the Halberstadts become obsolete...at which point I'm in kind of an awkward spot until the Dr.I comes out. Not that I can't do anything in an Albatros or an S.E.5a, I just feel like I'm not maximizing its potential due to not getting the B&Z'er style. And, you know, only a bad craftsman blames the tools.

So these are my observations:

1 - When I'm doing a dive attack, enemy aircraft are frequently able to make some evasive maneuver (usually as simple as turning L/R) well before I'm within striking range, such that I either have to abandon the dive or accept that I'm not getting a good shot on that pass.

2 - In general, I just find I'm able to get higher quality shots with the on-the-fly improvisation of turn fighting. It seems like B&Z depend a lot more on planning, stealth, surprise attacks, and my experience has been that the AI catches on to my plan long before I've reached striking range.

3 - The speed of B&Z attacks makes it much harder to aim accurately.

My thinking is, I'm either missing the big picture of how to set up a B&Z attack, or something is off on the execution. (Or both! )

So yeah, any thoughts?

With a DVII you can fight like that.

But with the DV & SE5 do what they mostly did in RL...... make a pass and keep going, mostly away from the fight. If you got it right and inflicted enough damage then turn back.
In this Sim you might get 2 Z&B in before your energy is gone and then your in trouble.

The major challenge with BnZ attacks in WOFF is the relatively weak firepower compared to ww2 aircraft. With a few occasional exceptions, kills in WOFF require more time on target than ww2 AC. One pass kills are extremely rare.

Sitting on top of the fight is critical and it's all too easy to get suckered into following your man down. Be patient and wait for one to separate out. That's what MVR made a career doing. Once you get into the middle of 1918 furball with as many as 20+ aircraft racing about the chances of that pain in the arse guy you didn't see getting a shot at you go waaaaaay up. I'm living that reality now as I try and get Oliver over the DID finish line alive.

The way the graphics engine works and the lack of dx11 effects makes tracking targets below you quite difficult, even on high resolution. Try using your speed to make shallow dive attacks, extend our horizontally, climb and try again. And hope they don't have blasters...

You underestimate the power of the GeForce. I suggest you try it again. This time, let go your conscious self and act on instinct. Your eyes can deceive you. Don't trust them. Stretch out with your feelings. Do not try to boom and zoom - that's impossible. Instead, only try to realize the truth. There is no spoo ... sorry, got carried away.

Watch how the SPADs are doing it. They will dive on you while spraying. If they're lucky you'll get hit. Then they fly up and away at speed. No way of catching them. They only get in trouble when they start turning instead of extending. The problem with human pilots is that they will easily lose their target when going for another go. The AI does not have that problem. They have you locked on and will sniff you out on their way back. They will also stay on target much longer than a human which often results in rear-enders. My advice is to stick with turning, unless you are in a SPAD.

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huh, déjà vu, I saw a black SPAD go by, and then another one just like it.

BnZ is all about the long game. If you are an impatient pilot in a dogfight, as I tend to be on occasion, it's hard to use the tactic effectively.

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Was it EXACTLY the same black SPAD?

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might have been, I'm not sure. why, what is it?




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So it sounds like the idea is to make strikes from places where you're not going to get struck yourself, and stay out of their range/line of fire. The altitude is a safety buffer, and your energy/momentum gives you a quick escape plan once you've made your strike.

The problem I'm having is that it's SO HARD to aim in a dive. I'm not a great shot - I usually hit around 20-25%. When practicing B&Z attacks in QC, I'm lucky if I hit 10% of the time - a normal result is 30-40 rounds fired, 2 or 3 rounds hit. More aggressive dive attacks, maybe 5 or 6 rounds out of 80. I couldn't do enough damage to down anybody in 5 or 6 passes, much less the 2 passes one can expect B&Z'ing.

So there's something about aiming in a B&Z dive attack that I'm not getting.

Actually, 20-25% is really very good unless your less than 50 yards from the target and not zooming in. 10% is quite good for a quick fly by pot shot. You're doing fine.

Jerbear

Yeah, I made a point to train myself on the Nieuports with the Foster-mounted Lewis guns - you learn very very quickly to save your ammo and look for high-quality looks.

Awww man, if this is what "fine" looks like...

Jk, jk. I'm learning to do dive attacks and then pull up so that I get my altitude back, but more importantly, I'm back behind my opponent again. It's kind of like an up-and-down roller coaster.

Of course, it helps that the SE5a and the SPAD XIII have so much speed, and the Pfalz has its exceptional diving abilities. It's a far more harrowing prospect in an Albatros, which doesn't really have as obvious of an escape plan.