Managing AI wingman in air to air
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As a offline-single-player-non-virtual-squadron-participant, I am slowly but surely learning how to handle the jet from A-Z following all the documents.
Having flown all the TE training and being a so called jack of all trades, my next step is “specializing”.
Now I’m learning to do only air-to-air in detail then off to flying campaigns (will air-to-air missions only - CAP & escort stuff).
However I did test out a few air-to-air missions against very rookie red side in campaign, but it’s just overwhelming. I understand that I stand a better chance if I flew with a real wingman, but as an offline only pilot I have to manage my AI wingman.
Is there any references or tactics I can read up to learn how to go against the red side with AI as my wingman?Cheers!
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One tip might be to have a reference pic like this to help you learn/know what AI commands are available… there are so many options, and it will take study and practice, but you can pretty much get the AI to do most anything.
I assume you’ve been getting familiar with the -34 Manual - starting at page 163, Section 2 “Air-To-Air Combat” - should have plenty of info to help clear the fog.
Reference pic I use not only cuz I got them on Voice Commands through VoiceAttack, but also because it helps to know what you can do before needing to do it (ignore the prefix/wildcard notes at the top if you’ve not using AVCS4/VoiceAttack):
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Yes thank you, I’ve read up on wingman / element / flight commands which is quite well written in the Comms/Nav manual.
Are there any tips & strategies to winning an air to air while flying with AI wingmen, especially in a campaign environment when the sh#t hits the fan? -
Eyes wide open . Brain 100% active .
It should do it .
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Eyes wide open . Brain 100% active .
It should do it .
This, plus a lot of training…I mean a lot!! (Years)
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or hit up Stalker1stVFW!
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Yes thank you, I’ve read up on wingman / element / flight commands which is quite well written in the Comms/Nav manual.
Are there any tips & strategies to winning an air to air while flying with AI wingmen, especially in a campaign environment when the sh#t hits the fan?You must have your wingman and element on a lease, as it is described in the training manual for the mission number 18. It is better to tell them “attack my target”, than “weapons free”, because ai wingmen tend to waste missiles and fuel trying to catch the enemies when you leave them free to decide to attack.
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lol….TRUTH
Thanks Stalker, but I’m only single non-MP… trying to make a living on BMS with my fellow AIs…
Basically what are the tips and techniques and strategy to survive (and hopefully win) a campaign with only AI as my wing men / flight.
As mentioned firstly I’m concentrating on air to air missions first in a campaign.
Tried a few times flying campaign but it’s not just the AI, but the opposition and environment is just overwhelming… all my training never prepared me for this. -
Thanks Stalker, but I’m only single non-MP… trying to make a living on BMS with my fellow AIs…
Basically what are the tips and techniques and strategy to survive (and hopefully win) a campaign with only AI as my wing men / flight.
As mentioned firstly I’m concentrating on air to air missions first in a campaign.
Tried a few times flying campaign but it’s not just the AI, but the opposition and environment is just overwhelming… all my training never prepared me for this.This is a very hard way to try to win a campaign while flying A-A only. You may be just a little wheel in the big machinery, but if you hunt down the most dangerous SAMs, you make the fighting for all other AI flights much easier. In the beginning of a campaign, there are very much enemy aircraft, so it’s advisable to take out the runways of some of the most dangerous airfields.
But it’s surely interesting to fight down the enemy airforce just with A-A. This strategy could be the fastest way to reduce the number of aircraft (since they can only be destroyed it the air, not by bombing hangars) and then it will get more and more easy until you will face almost no opposition anymore.
You could try to concentrate on defensive counter air missions in the beginning. A sweep on day one against a fresh enemy (SAM and aircraft wise) over let’s say Wonsan or Pyongyang is absolutely deadly.
EDIT: Early versions of Falcon 4.0 would have been a dream for you. Flaws in the campaign engine tended to give you just Barcaps when the bug hit.
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Because life and other mundane things, I also fly SP missions more often than MP missions, so I had to learn a few things about how to use an AI wingman in air-to-air (and air-to-ground as well).
Regarding air-to-air combat my first and foremost advice would be not to make it more complicated than it needs to be.
In my experience, 95% of the time you only need to understand and master the 7 tactical following commands:
- attack my target : orders the AI wingman to attack quite straightforwardly. He will crank only when his target is hot, and pump only when defensive.
- offensive pursuit: orders the AI wingman to attack and then pump as soon as his in-flight AIM-120 goes to HPRF (cheapshot). He will then recommit by himself, without being given new commands. Obviously a tad more subtle than the previous command.
- weapons free: lets the AI wingman free to engage any target. Handy when you’re too busy saving your own butt to manage the AI’s situation. Use with caution, only when it’s truly needed, because the wingman sometimes has fancy bright ideas of his own. Or even goes full berserker mode.
- weapons hold: needed to tell the wingman to quit suggesting bright ideas and keep calm.
- rejoin: needed to make sure the wingman doesn’t wander too far away, or make him stop whatever he’s doing and, well, rejoin.
- clear my six: when things went South and you’ve proved you may actually be less brainy than the wingman at times.
- drop stores: when you suspect things are about to get hairy, because the wingman tends to err on the optimistic side and will only drop stores when it’s way too late.
As a second step, once you master those 7 commands, you may start learning what the other BVR commands achieve but be aware that most of them need range to be put to use (30/35 NM), which the F-16 radar or the situation won’t always provide.
Notice that flying SP or MP won’t change one thing: you have to closely monitor what your wingman does. So use the datalink, the TACAN or the five “Say XXX” questions of the mission management comm page as much as needed.
EDIT :
Some players seem to forget it or simply not know it, so as a reminder: you don’t have to bug or lock a target before issuing an offensive command. You can merely move the radar cursors over it, without even bugging it, or you can padlock it too (which can be very useful in WVR combat).
If the combat goes so fast that you don’t have time to designate a target through the “attack my target” command, you can also use the “attack targets” command: your wingman will then engage the wingman of the enemy pair instead of your target. It can yield mixed results though, if your target actually was the enemy #2… -
AI wingmen tend to be extraordinarily dumb. I had a case where I ordered my wingman to attack a J-8 and he got shot down by it instead. I also had a similar case with a MiG-23.
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I also use “grinder” a lot. It’s a bit like “clear my six” in advance, so your wingman will stay a bit behind you and engage what your AMRAAMs didn’t kill when you have to turn cold.
At least that’s the theory.
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I also use “grinder” a lot. It’s a bit like “clear my six” in advance, so your wingman will stay a bit behind you and engage what your AMRAAMs didn’t kill when you have to turn cold.
At least that’s the theory.
Not only theory if timed correctly Grinder with AI works very well.
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