IL STURMOVIK 1946

[zaraza]

Nah, I tried toggling it on and off, and juggled other buttons too, but the mathematical algorithms used by the game for gunnery and scaling don't match up.
We're seeing things on a flat monitor screen, but the programmers haven't allowed for that.

Gunnery is perfectly Ok. Try comparing real world gun cameras videos and ones from IL.
Programmers didn't support wide screens because they were very rare when game was made. That's why you need to use Il STAB or edit conf file manually.

I've played almost every WW2 flight sim that's been released over the past 28 years so my experience is pretty good.

Not if you are playing them in arcade mode.

As regards Microsoft Combat Flight Sim 2, there's a strong community out there who think it's the better of the two sims.
And the IL-46 community think theirs is the best sim, it's just a matter of preference..

Well, global community think that MS flight model sucks (including Flight Simulator).

 

[PoorOldSpike]

..Gunnery is perfectly Ok.....
.....Not if you are playing them in arcade mode.

I don't play IL-1946 in arcade mode, you've seen in my sensational screenshots that I have no trouble shooting the enemy down (I'm Der Weisse Engel and L'Angelo della Morte)..
The flight model is very good but it's a pity the gun ballistics/scaling isn't more realistic so I'd enjoy it more.

Incidentally FGM member Gaston is an air combat expert and he says in this quote from his thread that ALL computer flight sims are not accurate, so like I said, everybody has their own opinions -
"short-term 180° turn radiuses are asumed by test pilots (and math theory) to reflect prolonged sustained multiple 360° turn performance, which they don't... Multiple 360° turns often mattered more , if only because of the 2% average hit rate which did not often allow quick kills...
This is why all the computer games I am aware of are in fact little more than jets dressed up in WWII clothes: Il-2, Aces High, etc"...

http://www.thefewgoodmen.com/thefgm...latest-research-quot-Advanced-Air-Force-quot-...

 

[zaraza]

That does not mean that one is more accurate
Anyway, i would like to hear his opinion on this one.

 

[PoorOldSpike]

Clarification: I didn't say I didn't like IL-1946..

IL-1946: Der Weisse Engel v B-17G

I decide to take a weakly-armed Me109F2 (2x MG's and a 20mm cannon) up to have a crack at a B-17G.
Here I mercilessly press home my attack-

But despite several tries, I got shot down every time. At least on my last attempt (below) I took the B-17 down with me, note its crew beginning to bail. I'm dead in the cockpit but my cold dead hand continues to hold down the firing button-

 

[PoorOldSpike]

IL-1946: My Zero trashes a Wildcat-
PS: note in this pic and in some others how my rudder and/or elevs/ailerons are often working overtime as I roughly wrestle my fighter into position for an attack.
My motto is-"Fly combat like you make love--brutally, violently, quickly and decisively"

"Combat flying is based on the slashing attack and rough maneuvering. In combat flying, fancy precision aerobatic work is really not of much use.
Instead, it is the rough maneuver which succeeds"- Colonel Erich 'Bubi' Hartmann, highest scorer in the history of air warfare with 352 victories in WW2

 

[PoorOldSpike]

PS- I fired up my ancient old CFS2 again today after a long absence, and although I like its ballistics more than IL-46's, it's overall graphics are not a patch on IL-46.
So I've uninstalled CFS2 and will stick with IL-46 from now on..

 

[PoorOldSpike]

Is there supposed to be a manual in the box or on the disc ? Where can I find out how to play this game and where all the "buttons" are for ?

It's in the directory on your hard drive.
Anyway my 5-minute Tutorial with the Buffalo shows exactly which keys to press.

 

[Bert Blitzkrieg]

Stupidly enough, I forgot to look in the folder.... Only checked the disc and the starting menu...

 

[Bert Blitzkrieg]

But despite several tries, I got shot down every time. At least on my last attempt (below) I took the B-17 down with me, note its crew beginning to bail.

Is it the rear gunner that gets you every time ? Since the 20mm has a longer range then the .50's and the ME109 is a small target, is it a viable tactic to keep your distance and try to hit the B17 from long(er) range with the 20mm ?

Guess you're not the first one with this problem. One of the reasons the FW190 was popular (up to 4x 20 cannons) and the ME109 was upgunned...

 

[Rico]

The successful Luftwaffe tactic of engaging B-17's was head-on (especially the pre-G models which didn't have the chin gun) -- the incredibly quick closing speed made the attacking fighter very hard to hit -- and the bomber too -- takes nerves of steel.
In the game it also takes quite a bit of patience to get yourself into a good high frontal position to execute the attack well.
Also, get yourself some wingmen so as to give the B-17's multiple targets.
I also think that the high-lethal setting for weapon effects makes your guns more deadly but also inceases the effectiveness of bomber defensive MG's a lot!

 

[Corsaire31]

Lesson 1 : NEVER attack a bomber from straight behind... Wait till you do that with a Betty with its rear 20mm...lol

 

[PoorOldSpike]

Is it the rear gunner that gets you every time ? Since the 20mm has a longer range then the .50's and the ME109 is a small target, is it a viable tactic to keep your distance and try to hit the B17 from long(er) range with the 20mm ?...

Good thinking mate, that's exactly the tactic I used to shoot down the B-17 in the earlier screenshots with my weakly-armed Me109F-2 (1x 20mm cannon and 2x MG's), I hung back in its 6 o' clock and kept pouring a torrent of sustained fire into it, you can see bits flying off it.
The B-17 gunners were shooting back with their MG's but at the long range they were ineffective.
However despite me pouring fire into it for well over a minute, it refused to be shot down, so I had to close to pointblank to finish it off and it shot me down at the same time.
In real life of course, fighters don't have enough ammo to keep up a minute of continual fire, so it was just an experiment on the 'unlimited ammo' setting.
The key to shooting down bombers is to use very heavily-armed fighters such as the Me109K with 3x 30mm cannon and 2x MG's where just a few seconds of fire is enough to kill a B-17.
Very often in the heat of combat we have no choice but to attack from 6 o'clock, but I'm going to do some more tests by attacking from various angles including head on.

 

[Corsaire31]

IL2 Cliffs of Dover confirmed for March 25...

http://forum.1cpublishing.eu/showpost.php?p=226669&postcount=256

 

[PoorOldSpike]

B-17's VULNERABLE TO FRONTAL ATTACK

Ach soooo.. I took up this weakly-armed Me Bf109K-4 (2x MG's above the engine and a 30mm cannon firing through the spinner)..

And engaged a B-17 frontally..

Aha!

Scratch one heavy baby!

CONCLUSION: Hit B-17's head on if you can, and even a weakly-armed fighter like the 109K-4 will have success.
(I read somewhere that most of the B-17's armour plating was positioned to protect against attack from the rear only)
Of course, in the heat of combat you may not always be able to engage head on, in which case you'll need a heavier-armed fighter if attacking from the rear quarter.
I've just checked out all the Me 109's in the game, and the ones carrying the best firepower (2x 30mm cannons, 1x 20mm cannon and 2x MG's) are-

109 G10/R4
G14/U5
G-6 A6/U5
K-4/U6
K-4 C3/U6

(I'll check out Focke-Wulfs and others in due course)

Noob note- never settle for the 'Default' armament configuration when choosing your fighter in IL-1946, as most have several different weapons packages.
It's all a matter of preference, lighter armament is okay against enemy fighters, but to take on heavy bombers you'll need heavier armament.
Incidentally the word 'cannon' means it fires high-explosive shells, whereas MG's only fire solid bullets.
(You can of course choose a heavy armament package for fighter combat, but the extra weight of the guns will degrade your manoeuvrability)

 

[PoorOldSpike]

Just for fun I took up this Me109K-4 C3/U6 to use its 2x 30mm cannons, 1x 20mm cannon and 2xMG's in another frontal attack, and predictably the B-17 was easily butchered.
(However the gunners were firing back and I began taking hits, so you're never guaranteed to walk away in one piece)

I circle to watch the B-17 go down as 7 chutes blossom..

 

[Corsaire31]

Wait until you encounter a tight box of B17s... Awesome firepower coming from everywhere... And normally they're never alone, so watch for the Mustangs as well !

"Noob note- never settle for the 'Default' armament configuration when choosing your fighter in IL-1946, as most have several different weapons packages."
Depends what type of mission you're on. For escort or fighter sweep, default is the one you need, except if distance is a problem, in which case you would add fuel tank(s) if available.

 

[PoorOldSpike]

I'm in love with the Fw190A-8/R1 and it's twin sister the A-9/R1..
The 'R1' version has a pair of 20mm cannons in pods under each wing, to give the aircraft a total of 6x 20mm cannons and 2x MG's, making it one of the most heavily-armed fighters in the game.

It can punch through the B-17's rear armour, no problem, look at the wicked blue tracer..

 

[Bert Blitzkrieg]

Of course those extra gunpods will effect the handling of the plane !

If I remember correctly, the standard FW190-A8 and A9 had a standard armament of 4x 20 mm cannons and 2x 13mm MG's. Quite a punch.

 

[Rico]

Of course those extra gunpods will effect the handling of the plane !

If I remember correctly, the standard FW190-A8 and A9 had a standard armament of 4x 20 mm cannons and 2x 13mm MG's. Quite a punch.

...only problem was that if it ran into escort fighters, the extra weight and drag of the 20mm pods made it a bit of a sitting duck.

 

[PoorOldSpike]

Yes, historically the Jerries were caught in a dilemma; they needed heavy armament to down the bombers and had to pay the price of loss of manoeuvrability in dogfights.

My new toy, a Fw190 A-6/R6 which fires not just 4x 20mm cannons and 2x MG's, but ROCKETS too..
(The A-4 and A5 also fire rockets, just select the R6 versions)

At first I tried for ages to actually HIT the B-17 with the rockets and kept missing every time like here where they're sailing harmlessly over the target because they're hopelessly inaccurate-

Then it dawned on me that you're not really supposed to try to actually hit the target, they've got a time fuse so you simply have to make sure they're just somewhere near the B-17 when they explode and if you're lucky they'll turn a B-17 into a fireball as here.(note a couple of earlier rocket airbursts below it)

However it's very difficult to judge the range and the time fuse just right so that they're near the target when they explode, so you might want to go to the fusing screen to play with the setting.
First go to the Quick Mission screen and click the yellow circled button-

And it'll take you to this screen where you can set your preferred fuse timer. I seem to be having better results with a 3-second delay, but guns are still much easier to use.
Rockets would be pretty good if fired into the middle of a bomber formation so that their shrapnel might take out several bombers..
(note you can also set cannon/MG/rocket convergence ranges on this screen if you like; I might dabble with it later, for example by setting cannons and MG's to converge at only a couple of hundred metres instead of the default 500 to see what effect it has)