The SE-TestH Tactics Page

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Great War 1 & 2

First off, you might be thinking, "What the heck is a TestH?" TestH is short for Test-Hobbit, which is just one of the handles I use when multi-player gaming. If you ever see me online, just ask and I might tell you about the origin of the name.

Many years ago I purchased a computer game called Red Baron. To me, it seemed like the best game in the world and maybe it was. At any rate, when the long awaited sequel arrived on store shelves, I eagerly snatched up a copy - only to be bitterly disappointed.

It seems that Dynamix, under the stewardship of Sierra, had rushed a bug-ridden product in the pursuit of profits. Happily, after many months a super-patch was developed and released to the public - no doubt due to RB's community vocal criticism of the buggy sequel.

When the super-patch was released I brushed the cobwebs off RB2 and really got into it and ventured once again into online gaming. This was my second experience withonline gaming; the first being Diablo developed by Blizzard Entertainment.

Historical note: Diablo is where Weed, Wingman, Keiserosa and I met and we had many a fine adventure. I still laugh when recalling Weed's battle cry of "Cheese it!" and our subsequent hasty retreat on our first and unexpected journey to Diablo's hell level.

Anyway, I got this weird idea of having each SE member write a tactics page. Perhaps the reader will find it useful in single player or in MMP.

Before we get started, here is a brief summary about my piloting skills. I consider myself an average flyer and a poor shot. My shooting skills derive from the fact that I do not use the transparant canopy option while flying. I'm sort of a history buff and try to keep my flying experiences as realistic as possible. Although I still think my shooting would only improve to average with the canopy clear. More on shooting below.

Whne I first wrote this tactics page, most of my experience was in German planes. However, the SE's have now flown Allied in GW2 and GW3. The only time I fly German nowadays is on Wednesday night for King of the Hill. I am a cautious flyer by nature and not the hair on fire, lets-get-in-there-and-mix-it-up type. A good night for me is 1 or 2 kills, but always bringing my crate home.

I fly RB2 on a P2-400Mhz machine with 64MB of RAM and a 56k modem. My graphics card is a 8Mb accelerator made by Diamond Multimedia.

German Planes:

AlbD2/3: Probably one of the most controversial planes in RB2. If you hear people yapping about 'über' planes, most likely they are talking about the Alb D3. It is not my intention to start a flight-model debate, so I will quickly move on.

To put it bluntly - the Alb D3 can out climb anything in the game. Remember this! In MMP or in discussions forums such as Delphi's Flight Sim Forum, you may have heard the term 'climbing turn'. Basically, you continue turning after the enemy, or from him if you are being chased, but with the nose in a moderate climb. Since the D3 does not bleed speed as much as other planes, you eventually end up above the fight. If an attacker tries to stay on your tail and follow you up, he will eventually stall and you can turn tables on him by diving on his tail.

What you may have guessed by now, is that the climbing turn is an excellent escape maneuver in the Alb D3. You would be correct in that assumption. Just last week while out with the SE's, I ended up being the last German amongst a horde of Allies. The six Allied pilots in N28's were hell bent on making me their kill for the night. So I did what every Alb D3 pilot should do - climb! Taking hits now and then, I managed to end up above the N28's and headed home for repair.

Ever notice when trying to get a bead on a D3, that it always climbs? Now you know why.

One should also keep in mind the nasty habit of the Alb D3. In a power dive or with wing damage, do not pull full on the joystick. If you do, you will hear the unmistakeable 'crack' of part or all of the wings snapping off! Even with wing damage, the Alb D3 canl out climb its opponents, but just go gently on the stick.

Another seldom talked about advantage of the Alb D3 is its natural gun sight. The engine block is that black thing in front of you in the cockpit. I for one do not use the MMP gunsight read me file. Maybe it is just me, but I consider putting a gunsight that WW1 pilots didn't have cheating. Since I am not a good shot, the Alb D3's engine block serves a guideline for my aiming point. Contrast the cockpit view in a N28 and its lack of an aiming focus. Needless to say, I rarely hit anything in a N28.

In the GW, the D3 flight model was toned down a bit. The rockets at the back of the airplane were toned down and a climbing D3 could still be caught.

Fokker D7: Another what people call an 'über' plane.

The D7 is not the climber as the D3, but the D7 can still out climb most Allied planes - except maybe the N28 or Snipe. In a D7, you will learn to dread dangling with N28's.

Another aspect of this speed is the boom-and-zoom tactic. Approach a furball with altitude and then dive down into the middle of it. Make a quick past and take a shot and then pull up to regain altitude. You will be able to do this repeatedly and score a few kills without exposing yourself to the hazards of a turning dogfight with angry N28's.

An added bonus is that the D7 can run away from any Allied plane, except the Spad or SE5a. So if you get into trouble, just put the nose down and run away. Just remember the phrase "To run away is to live and fight another day."

In a dive, the D7 is almost as strong as the Spad 13. I haven't done any tests to determine the exact speed in which the wings will fall off.

Like the D3, the D7 has a good aiming point. In fact, it might be better because the inline engine is narrower. However, the wings can sometimes obscure the target you are shooting at so be careful. Just when you lose sight of the target, that is when it is most likely to do something 'funny'.

The D7s wings become very fragile when damaged. In the GW3, we saw the D7 for the first time in the last three quarters. Ugh. It's a beast to battle and the Allies took to aiming at the wings in the hopes that excessie G-forces would cause them to snap off. On the whole, this anti-D7 tactic worked extremely well.

Allied Planes:

Nieuport 28: The last of the three 'über' planes. It is the most common Allied plane you will find in MMP.

Since I flew German in single player and MMP before joining the SE's, I haven't much experience in this aircraft.

I can say that the N28 will out turn any German fighter, except the Dr1.

The D7 and N28 are a good match. An equal contest between these two could last several minutes depending on pilot skill.

The wings are almost as fragile as the D3's. Power dives and excessive turning with wing damage is to be avoided.

To me, there is not an aiming point for the machine guns. Perhaps you have a gunsight installed or are just a better shot.

All in all, when in doubt, turn with the N28. It is your best bet at survival.

Spad 13: By far, this is my favorite Allied plane. The Spad 7/13 is more suited to my abilities as a pilot. It is the fastest plane in the game! Routinely, I've been clocked at over 220 mph!

Do not try to climb with any German fighter in this plane! Just don't do it. The Spad bleeds speed like a sucking chest wound. If you start a climb at 200 mph, be certain that you will be close to stalling very soon in any type of steep climb.

Do not turn with any German fighter! Turning with any German plane, even the laughable Pfalz DIII, will get you shot down. Gradual turns should be used to change headings and directions. Don't believe me about the Spad turning ability? Ok, in GW3, a Halb D2 recon turned circles around my Spad and I always had trouble staying behind Alb D3 bombers.

Ok, you ask, how can you shoot down anything in a Spad if you can't climb or turn? Fair enough. Use your speed in boom-and-zoom tactics. Never approach a fight at less than maximum speed. Pick a target using the 'E' and 'N' keys. Blow through the fight, put a few rounds into the target you have selected and keep going. Many times, the Germans won't even bother trying to catch you. But if they do chase you, keep going. They will eventually get bored and go back to the furball. Heck, I've seen Germans shoot rockets at Spads in their frustration!

Here are a series of pics taken during the last quarter of GW3 illustrating the above Spad 13 tactics:

Searching for targets over a Hun base.

A UFO! - using the 'N' key

It's a Hun!

Heading into the Furball

Come around for another Pass!

As you can see, there are distinct phases to flying a Spad: Detect, Decide, Attack, Regroup.

Avoid flying under a German plane. Any German will jump at the chance to dive down and bounce a Spad. I made this mistake once, but luckily for me the Alb D3 entered a dive so powerful that its wings shredded! Whew! Use the 'N and 'E' keys to locate all the German planes to make sure you don't get bounced.

The Spad 13 has a windscreen in its cockpit that makes a good aiming point. Use the divider of the windscreen as a pointer. It works for me. Remember in using boom-and-zoom tactics, you are taking the high deflection shots and it will take time to down a Hun. Be patient!

The Spad 13 is a great tag-team plane with turn-and-burn planes like the Triplane, Camel, N24 and Snipe. The turning fighters keep the Huns around and the Spad can chase down a Hun who attempts to climb away and force him back to the battle. This happened many times in the GW2 and GW3 as I was one of the few Spad drivers in the SE's. I left the stall-happy Camel to my more skillful teammates while they turned with the Huns. In the meantime, I made high speed slashing attacks and shot Huns off the tails of my squddies.

Boom and zoom tactics in a Spad 13 will not get you multiple kills. Most likely is 1 or 2 kills a night. My best night in GW3 while flying a Spad was 5 kills, but that was flying on Saturday which is longer than Friday or Sunday. There was another fight where I got 3 quick kills while defending a base.

Finally, the Spad 13 is a great recon plane. It's speed makes it immune to being caughty by pursuing Huns if the pilot is wary and plans his escape routes. During GW3, I roamed in the Hun rear area searching for their active bases. Even more important, I would scout for the Huns strike packages and then shadow them, hoping to vector as many Allied planes as I could towards them. I found this aspect of flying the Spad very rewarding.

General Tactics:

Use Shift-N to see the names of people in the air.

When flying with a wingman, select him using the 'F' key and then put him in memory by hitting Shift-D. This will allow you to locate him in a furball - you can then see if he is being chased.

Avoid dogfights near enemy bases. Friendly forces will take longer to reach the furball than enemy aircraft. Sooner or later, you will end up being outnumbered and probably shot down.

When the target you have chosen to bounce screws it up, don't continue the bounce. Break off and climb back to altitude and try again. You chose that target for a specific reason, probably because it was the safest kill. Continuing the bounce would probably leave you vulnerable to being attacked by an unseen enemy.

Use short, descriptive warnings to your wingmen. 'Check six!' is far better than 'Watch out!'.

Chivalry: In my opinion, chivalry is a waste of time in MMP. 'No Ammo' calls and 'white smoke' is idiotic. RB2 is a simulation of air combat during one of the most costly wars ever known. If a person is out of ammo, chase him down and kill him. Don't alert an enemy by telling him that you see him - bounce his ass and kill him.

Saying 'salute!' or <s!> is up to personal preferences. I do it when I have time. More often than not, I'm still in the middle of a dogfight. I crashed one time trying to type 'salute'. If you have time and want to, go ahead, but otherwise watch your flying!

People might call you names and say this and that. Too bad. Just remember that the Red Baron routinely followed stricken planes down, shooting all the while, and Werner Voss was known to strafe the Allied airmen he had just shot down.

But in the end, fly RB2 the way you have fun playing.

I hope my tactics and suggestions might prove useful.

See you in the air!

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