So you've learned some rules about selecting the right kit for the job, and finding things to kill. Now on the the obvious questions of "How do I get a lot of kills, and avoid dying in the process."
Let's get you some kills.
The easiest way to get consistent kills is to make your bombs predictable in their path. Let's think about this. Say you are flying at about 200 meters (or feet/yards, whatever the altitude measurement of your plane is in...i really don't know, but I figure it's meters), and your approach is basically horizontal to the horizon. How are your bombs going to fall? Straight down? Of course not, physics doesn't work like that, not even in game physics (thank God). They will glide horizontally and fall in an arching path to the ground after leaving your jet. They have momentum that guides them forward instead of straight down. This can make it difficult to predict exactly where your bombs will end up. Sure, after a lot of practice, you will begin to learn how your bombs fall from a variety of approaching angles, but for the purposes of this quide, we want you to get consistent bomb kills quickly.
The solution to making your bombs predictable is DIVE BOMBING......gaining high altitude, and using a very steep approach. This causes your bombs to fall in a fairly straight line and predictable path along where you're aiming the nose of your jet. The trick is to get to at least 500 m, with a ceiling of about 800 m (weird stuff happens to your jet after this, and at this point your jet will begin to attempt to nose downward on its own anyhow). Keep an eye on your minimap, and when you are about 3/4 to 4/5 of the way to your target, begin your dive bomb approach. Point your nose down, such that you can fire directly into your target with your guns as well. And trust me, as weak as some people think the guns of the A10 are, THEY HELP A LOT. The first affect is that in populated areas you can get unexpected infantry kills, or shoot the passengers out of armor and AA. The second affect is that you weaken the armor enough often to allow the splash damage of your bombs to take out the target. Remember that the A10 has a wide wingspan, and therefore wide placement of bombs. This can make a direct hit on armor difficult. Therefore, inflicting damage prior to releasing your bombs is usually preferrable. Also, a lot of targets are susceptible to guns alone, such at stinger sites, and even AA. A steady stream of fire from your main gun will destroy an AA vehicle. However, if you suspect you may not nab a kill on an AA vehicle w/ just your guns, go ahead an release those bombs anyhow. It'll pay off when you can fly away without the annoying screech of a lock-on warning...oh, and avoid dying. There is pretty much two times that your gun is your only choice: going up against enemy jets, and going up against enemy choppers (yes, I've bombed quite a few out of the sky, but more often than not, usuing your bombs to take out flying choppers is a waste of munitions). Well, I guess there is a third time here, and that is when you are out of bombs. However, I reserve this for times when I have just taken out all nearby AA vehicles, and am simply making one or a few passes to clean up infantry.
Another way to make your bombs more effective is to release all four at once (this requires quickly pressing your bomb release twice). For the beginner, this will increase your likelyhood of nabbing a kill (or more) greatly. Once you become more familiar with bomb placement, you can often spare the second pair of bombs for a quick return bombing run and still nab that kill, especially if you are making a run against an AA vehicle.
The next component of getting kills is to prioritize your targets. I place them in the following order, from highest priority to lowest:
1) AA vehicles and Stingers/Iglas. The logic here is simple: they can possibly kill you if you don't. I often take out the stingers/iglas first as they go down easily with a quick burst from the gun, and their position is predictable (ie, they never move). It is then easy to retrain your sites on the AA vehicle. But how do you know which one is the AA when you come diving in from outer space and still can't make out what is insde that green highlighted box? Well, team mates and UAVs help in this department. But another trick is to look for the slowest vehicle in the pack, ie the one lagging behind is often the AA....and this occurs for two reasons. The first and most obvious is that the AA really is the slowest. And the second is that people in AA often want to avoid close quarters combat against other armor, or get into the mix with lots of infantry who potentially have AT rockets and C4 which will make short work of them. The usually prefer to hang back and take pot shots at passing air vehicles.
2) Transport buggies. Why transport buggies? First of all, they have the potential to get you 3 kills in one quick gun burst. The other reason is that they are fast moving which means they can quickly get enemies to places you don't want them, ie, your teams flags (and cap them) or real close to your airstrip to jump in AA. You can usually take these guys out with guns alone (and you'll sometimes be surprised out how much direct fire they can take). If you find you must bomb them, you can often be less precise with your bomb placement, as splash damage is very effective against buggies. If you find that you are heading one way, and you see a buggy heading toward you but you don't have time to blast it with guns, you can quickly roll your jet to either side and dive bomb assuming you have enough altitude. However, the vehicle is moving fast AND away from you.......so lead the target with your bombs. Try to aim about 4-5 buggy lengths in front of the moving vehicle. This allows the buggy to drive INTO your bombs, rather than just drive past them.
3) Scout helos. Why? Same reason as above. The trick here however is to cut your throttle to about 3/4 so that you have adequate time to aquire the target and get some rounds into it. The problem here is that there is no target indicator, so it can take a good eye and awareness to see it in the first place. Beware, however. Cutting your throttle makes you MORE susceptible to AA ground fire.
4) Tanks. Generally, these are no threat to you, and even after taking out all AA in the area, killing a buggy or two, and shooting down the scout helo, you can frequently reload your bombs and head back to clean up the armor without AA respawning (if you're quick about all of the above).
5) Infantry. These are low on the list for two reasons. One reason is that even if you see a UAV scan showing infantry swarming a flag, you'd be surprised how often you can drop all your bombs in the area, and not hit a single one of the bastards. The other is that infantry kills are often a byproduct of your normal gun/bombing runs on vehicle targets, especially when the vehicles are in/near flag points. I guess infantry likes the comfort of a nearby tank. And then there's the possibility that a whole gaggle of the idiots were racing to get said tank, and thus happen to be in real close proximity.
6) Other jets. Don't engage them. It's stupid. For the most part they are no threat to you, and if you find yourself tangled into a dogfight, the side effect is losing awareness of everything else, and bringing yourself into a shooting gallery of AA (this goes as part of the survival techniques that I'll talk about next). The only exceptions I make is if there is a jet harassing my fellow A10 pilot, in which case I simply shoot at him enough to make him break away from the dogfight and then go back to my business. The other exception is if I'm pretty sure I can quickly and decisively shoot down the enemy jet. If, however, you are down to baseraping, jets taking off are or still in the hangar can be prime target.
Ok, that's it for getting kills. Since I need to go soon, and I know a lot of people have short attention spans for reading, I'll save the "living to tell about it" section for a Part 3. Stay tuned.
KiL
Let's get you some kills.
The easiest way to get consistent kills is to make your bombs predictable in their path. Let's think about this. Say you are flying at about 200 meters (or feet/yards, whatever the altitude measurement of your plane is in...i really don't know, but I figure it's meters), and your approach is basically horizontal to the horizon. How are your bombs going to fall? Straight down? Of course not, physics doesn't work like that, not even in game physics (thank God). They will glide horizontally and fall in an arching path to the ground after leaving your jet. They have momentum that guides them forward instead of straight down. This can make it difficult to predict exactly where your bombs will end up. Sure, after a lot of practice, you will begin to learn how your bombs fall from a variety of approaching angles, but for the purposes of this quide, we want you to get consistent bomb kills quickly.
The solution to making your bombs predictable is DIVE BOMBING......gaining high altitude, and using a very steep approach. This causes your bombs to fall in a fairly straight line and predictable path along where you're aiming the nose of your jet. The trick is to get to at least 500 m, with a ceiling of about 800 m (weird stuff happens to your jet after this, and at this point your jet will begin to attempt to nose downward on its own anyhow). Keep an eye on your minimap, and when you are about 3/4 to 4/5 of the way to your target, begin your dive bomb approach. Point your nose down, such that you can fire directly into your target with your guns as well. And trust me, as weak as some people think the guns of the A10 are, THEY HELP A LOT. The first affect is that in populated areas you can get unexpected infantry kills, or shoot the passengers out of armor and AA. The second affect is that you weaken the armor enough often to allow the splash damage of your bombs to take out the target. Remember that the A10 has a wide wingspan, and therefore wide placement of bombs. This can make a direct hit on armor difficult. Therefore, inflicting damage prior to releasing your bombs is usually preferrable. Also, a lot of targets are susceptible to guns alone, such at stinger sites, and even AA. A steady stream of fire from your main gun will destroy an AA vehicle. However, if you suspect you may not nab a kill on an AA vehicle w/ just your guns, go ahead an release those bombs anyhow. It'll pay off when you can fly away without the annoying screech of a lock-on warning...oh, and avoid dying. There is pretty much two times that your gun is your only choice: going up against enemy jets, and going up against enemy choppers (yes, I've bombed quite a few out of the sky, but more often than not, usuing your bombs to take out flying choppers is a waste of munitions). Well, I guess there is a third time here, and that is when you are out of bombs. However, I reserve this for times when I have just taken out all nearby AA vehicles, and am simply making one or a few passes to clean up infantry.
Another way to make your bombs more effective is to release all four at once (this requires quickly pressing your bomb release twice). For the beginner, this will increase your likelyhood of nabbing a kill (or more) greatly. Once you become more familiar with bomb placement, you can often spare the second pair of bombs for a quick return bombing run and still nab that kill, especially if you are making a run against an AA vehicle.
The next component of getting kills is to prioritize your targets. I place them in the following order, from highest priority to lowest:
1) AA vehicles and Stingers/Iglas. The logic here is simple: they can possibly kill you if you don't. I often take out the stingers/iglas first as they go down easily with a quick burst from the gun, and their position is predictable (ie, they never move). It is then easy to retrain your sites on the AA vehicle. But how do you know which one is the AA when you come diving in from outer space and still can't make out what is insde that green highlighted box? Well, team mates and UAVs help in this department. But another trick is to look for the slowest vehicle in the pack, ie the one lagging behind is often the AA....and this occurs for two reasons. The first and most obvious is that the AA really is the slowest. And the second is that people in AA often want to avoid close quarters combat against other armor, or get into the mix with lots of infantry who potentially have AT rockets and C4 which will make short work of them. The usually prefer to hang back and take pot shots at passing air vehicles.
2) Transport buggies. Why transport buggies? First of all, they have the potential to get you 3 kills in one quick gun burst. The other reason is that they are fast moving which means they can quickly get enemies to places you don't want them, ie, your teams flags (and cap them) or real close to your airstrip to jump in AA. You can usually take these guys out with guns alone (and you'll sometimes be surprised out how much direct fire they can take). If you find you must bomb them, you can often be less precise with your bomb placement, as splash damage is very effective against buggies. If you find that you are heading one way, and you see a buggy heading toward you but you don't have time to blast it with guns, you can quickly roll your jet to either side and dive bomb assuming you have enough altitude. However, the vehicle is moving fast AND away from you.......so lead the target with your bombs. Try to aim about 4-5 buggy lengths in front of the moving vehicle. This allows the buggy to drive INTO your bombs, rather than just drive past them.
3) Scout helos. Why? Same reason as above. The trick here however is to cut your throttle to about 3/4 so that you have adequate time to aquire the target and get some rounds into it. The problem here is that there is no target indicator, so it can take a good eye and awareness to see it in the first place. Beware, however. Cutting your throttle makes you MORE susceptible to AA ground fire.
4) Tanks. Generally, these are no threat to you, and even after taking out all AA in the area, killing a buggy or two, and shooting down the scout helo, you can frequently reload your bombs and head back to clean up the armor without AA respawning (if you're quick about all of the above).
5) Infantry. These are low on the list for two reasons. One reason is that even if you see a UAV scan showing infantry swarming a flag, you'd be surprised how often you can drop all your bombs in the area, and not hit a single one of the bastards. The other is that infantry kills are often a byproduct of your normal gun/bombing runs on vehicle targets, especially when the vehicles are in/near flag points. I guess infantry likes the comfort of a nearby tank. And then there's the possibility that a whole gaggle of the idiots were racing to get said tank, and thus happen to be in real close proximity.
6) Other jets. Don't engage them. It's stupid. For the most part they are no threat to you, and if you find yourself tangled into a dogfight, the side effect is losing awareness of everything else, and bringing yourself into a shooting gallery of AA (this goes as part of the survival techniques that I'll talk about next). The only exceptions I make is if there is a jet harassing my fellow A10 pilot, in which case I simply shoot at him enough to make him break away from the dogfight and then go back to my business. The other exception is if I'm pretty sure I can quickly and decisively shoot down the enemy jet. If, however, you are down to baseraping, jets taking off are or still in the hangar can be prime target.
Ok, that's it for getting kills. Since I need to go soon, and I know a lot of people have short attention spans for reading, I'll save the "living to tell about it" section for a Part 3. Stay tuned.
KiL
Last edited by FeedUsYourFetus (2007-02-10 17:56:01)
