IL-2 Sturmovik (and expansions)

[Uesugi Kenshin]

I've been playing a lot more of IL-2 and wanted to share tips, tactics, payload preferences, manuevers and whatnot with the rest of the propeller jockeys here in the Arena, yes Beirut that means you!

My first question is what range do you set your guns/cannon to converge at?

The default is 500m, but I set mine at 300m because the Flying Tigers did (and they did fairly well...) and because I usually have the most hits at very close range anyway.

[Xiahou]

Im by no means an ace, but I leave mine at the default. I've mainly been flying BF-109F4's lately, so the guns are all mounted very close to the center anyhow (nose & engine).

[Beirut]

Mostly I leave them at default as well.

Also depends on your target. If you're flying a lightly armed fighter against a heavy bomber, you might want a tighter pattern so you can pick out a specific area for maximum damage. Say you're flying the 109-F4, as Xiahou is, as you want to down a B29. You might want a tighter pattern and try to nail one engine or wing root on repeated passes.

Try downing one of those huge Me-323 transports with nothing but machine guns. You might as well just spit at him. The only way is to repeatedly boom & zoom and keep nailing one engine or try to clip off part of a wing. A tighter pattern certainly will help.

Xiahou, do you (also) fly the 109 F4 because it's the latest model 109 before the lousy cockpit art kick in on the? I don't understand why they did that. Even the newest 109 that came with the last patch had the lousy cockpit art, not the nice cockpits that the F4 and previous models have.

[Uesugi Kenshin]

I also find that for some reason my guns are almost never lined up at 500m out, but I get a decent amount of time on target at 300m, especially if I weave throughout a formation or slightly lower the throttle. I also spend a lot of time downing heavy American bombers and their escorts so that may be part of the reason that is actually useful.

I also like slapping the big Mk 108 wing cannon on my my fighters so I think a tighter pattern makes the already devestating 30mm shell almost impossible to withstand because it will arrive in pairs right on the same spot, for example the engine nacelle. I've seen many wings fly off from just a hit or two up close.

Either of you know the difference between the PC (?) and SC (?) bombs used by the Germans, I know what the AB's do, but those two seem identical to me.

Beirut do you ever stay on a bomber's tail when attacking it? I've found that to be suicidal after a number of early attempts and now only boom and zoom. Any other strategies?

[Beirut]

Not sure of the difference in the bomb loads.

As you said, it's suicide to stay on a bomber's six. But there are a few other choices.

Boom & Zoom. Come straight down on him from way up high. No defence for him. As I'm diving, I twist my plane to 90 degrees offset to his flightpath so that he comes into my gunsight from the side instead of underneath it. Gives you lots more time for a good line up.

Turn and Burn. Fly a figure 8 racetrack pattern around him from the sides, always coming at him from his 10-11 o'clock and 1-2 o'clock positions. Little defence for him and it gives you the front of the nacelles, the wing roots, and the cockpit as targets on each pass. Have to have good speed to do this.

Hit 'em in the belly. Fly underneath him by at least several hundred feet. When he's almost directly overhead, lift up your nose, blast him, then drop your nose again, build up some speed and set up another pass. This one gives him more of a chance to hit you with defensive fire but still works if your plane is slow or damaged.

Head to head. Blast him in the cockpit while racing straight at him. Pull up at the last moment and do a great big loop with all that speed, then come right back down on him and blast him again on the pass.

[Xiahou]

Xiahou, do you (also) fly the 109 F4 because it's the latest model 109 before the lousy cockpit art kick in on the? I don't understand why they did that. Even the newest 109 that came with the last patch had the lousy cockpit art, not the nice cockpits that the F4 and previous models have.

Well, Im still pretty noobish- my gunnery is still pretty awful (but getting better) and Im still refining my flight. It was basically chance that I settled on the 109 F4- it's what I was getting put in for career mode, plus it was the first 109 with those nice ammo gauges. So, I figured it might serve me to stick to one plane for the most part and to learn it well.

My "zoom and boom" is still pretty pathetic since my aim is still lousy. I have a good bit of luck with head on attacks on bombers by throwing up some shots as they close and basically letting the bomber run into it- Ive gotten a number of apparent pilot kills that way, or you can knock off an engine or whatever.

[cunctator]

Either of you know the difference between the PC (?) and SC (?) bombs used by the Germans, I know what the AB's do, but those two seem identical to me.

PC ~ Panzerbrechend Cylindrig = armour piercing bombs
SC ~ Sprengbombe Cylindrig = general purpose bombs
SD ~ Sprengbombe Dickwandig = semi armour piercing

But I was unable to observe any significant difference in game, I usually always use SC bombs since they seem to have a slightly greater blast radius.

[Beirut]

Beauty. Thanks.

I like the ABs, but a flight of FW-200s dropping 4x1000kg ABs each hits the FPS pretty hard. (At least at the settings I'm using.)

[Uesugi Kenshin]

Do you have a mod to make the FW-200's playable Beirut?

Thanks for translating the bombs Cunctator.

About the other bomber attack strategies I think I use the side-attacks and head-on ones most ofte. I don't really see the head-on as a strategy because I only do it on the first pass, but it is extremely effective if you have heavy cannon. I've dropped several bombers in a row, or heavily damaged them, with head-ons using heavy cannon fire to the engine nacelles.

The side-swipes are also very good, and I find that they work particularly well against multiple formations.

One manuever I sometimes use when I want to stay on a bomber's tail, but don't want to take a lot of fire, is to loop over them and invert yourself (with minimal throttle) and then position yourself however you must for firing. This only works with very manueverable planes and can sometimes backfire because you have to be so close to the bomber and stay near it. But the loop usually throws off their aim.

[Beirut]

Do you have a mod to make the FW-200's playable Beirut?

Not me. But I think there is a mod that allows it.

[Nikpalj]

What I'd like to know is do the Il-2 games have a dynamic campaign?

[professorspatula]

I think from Forgotten Battles onwards the campaigns were dynamic. I never really managed to get into the game. Too many unexplained controls and a pretty steep learning curve put me off. Occasionally I just set up large battles and sit in gunners seat of a bomber and see if I can convince my neighbours that WWII is back on by pumping up the volume and bass as I desperately try to gun down enemy fighters but miss every time.

[Samurai Waki]

The best manuever to know while your flying German Aircraft is the Immelman. This will save you a lot of stress when trying to down enemy bombers, and take on enemy fighters, as the German planes simply have excellent climb.

[Spino]

If you're having trouble lining up a proper shot (especially in situations where you have a limited 'snapshot' opportunity to nail the enemy) do yourself a favor and disable the cockpit graphics and use the fullscreen view and/or make liberal use of the time compression (or rather 'decompression'). An unfettered view of the action combined with slowing time down will help you better critique your tactics thus improving your ability to set up a good shot. Eventually your skills will develop to the point where you won't need to disable the cockpit view or adjust the time compression.

Also make absolutely sure your joystick is properly calibrated. I would advise not using a stick that is stiff to the touch as this may lead to 'overflying' the aircraft in situations that call for a gentle touch. If possible loosen up the tension a bit so that you have some room to play with, this will allow for finer handling in situations that call for it (i.e. combat and landings).

Above all it is critical that you adjust your settings so that you maintain a smooth framerate at all times! Choppy framerates will interfere with your marksmanship and flying skills.

[David]

On a side note: IL-2 1946 has been released last month, which contains I believe every bit of material released for this game and some more.

ah here, a link

Seriously considering buying this one.