IL2 Birds of Prey: Hints, Tips, and FAQ's Thread

[RobertHammyGrayVC]

I am using the throttle/flight stick combo that came in the LE Ace Combat 6 box, and really enjoy. Find it easy reach all the buttons, and so far have been somewhat successful on the missions. No online play yet, though. That will be the real test...

[Panzergranate]

In arcade, fire half a plane length ahead of the deflection marker and work the shots backwards towards the victim. Aiming ahead and walking the shots backwards works in all modes.

Also, it is possible to herd a victim into turning the way you want or not making a move that you don't want by sending a stream of tracer past them.

In all modes, luring an I-153 or I-16 up above 15,000 feet will see them loose there maneuverabilty advantage and engine performance plus become a real pig to fly. They are extremely vulnerable above this altitude to 1940's built fighters.... I've managed to turn inside an I-16 at 22,000 feet with a Bf-109 G6.

When attacking bombers follow Luftwaffe standard reccomended practice by flying parallel with the bomber at either 2 or 10 o'clock, turning in and attacking beam on with the aim of straffing across the bomber from wingtip to wingtip. The bomber will be unable to defend itself.

An RAF method is to spiral in from behind, using negative rudder and aerolons, then fire whilst applying positive rudder, before re-applying negative rudder again to avoid hitting the bomber. The tactic make it very difficult for even a player manned defence gun to hit your fighter.

Hitting the outer wings of a B-17 with concentrated cannon fire will cause it to break off very quickly.

If coming in a bit too fast for a landing, try side slipping the aircraft (called a slip landing) to scrub off ground related speed without losing actual airspeed.

In realistic and simulator modes, balancing an Fw-190 on negative rudder and aerolons whilst banked into a turn will enable it to turn inside a Spitfire.... you will need the controlls on 100% and well practiced reactions to try this.

Whilst a Il-2 and Il-10 have armoured fuselages, the wings aren't, so concentrate on hitting these.

Barrel Rolling towards an attacking enemy during a head on pass will make you extremely difficult or impoosible to hit, depending on the enemy''s shotting skills.

Pulling a well timed "Split S" during a head on pass will put you behind an attacking enemy aircraft.

Using the rudder, during a turning battle, will allow your aircrafts nose to lead ahead of the target. This is called "Slip Turning" and makes your aircraft fly slightly sideways. This was a popular tactic with the WW1 ace Manfred von Richtoffen ("The Red Baron") and WW2 US ace Ira Bong.

"Slip Turning", like all of the advanced aerobatic maneuvers, are not possible in realistic or simulator modes due to the screwed up game physics. It is only possible in arcade mode.

[Flagrum_3]

HI guys Newbie here! I need some help. Everyone seems to have problems with the Hornet's nest mission, but I can't figure out what the eel I need to do to pass the Deep Raid mission! I destroy the two airfields and AA and numerous equipment on the Stalingrad road plus fight off and kill several Bf 109s and still I run out of time and the objective is not completed...What am I missing here?

Thanks for any help


F_3

[kozzm0]

Originally Posted by Flagrum_3

HI guys Newbie here! I need some help. Everyone seems to have problems with the Hornet's nest mission, but I can't figure out what the eel I need to do to pass the Deep Raid mission! I destroy the two airfields and AA and numerous equipment on the Stalingrad road plus fight off and kill several Bf 109s and still I run out of time and the objective is not completed...What am I missing here?

Thanks for any help


F_3

Always go after the yellow targets, they are your primaries, the red targets are secondary.

After you bomb the fake airfield, and hit the flak guns on the 2nd airfield, the clock starts ticking toward your next objective, so don't waste any time on the real airfield, just knock out an AA gun or two and the objective will be complete. Order your wingmen to cover you and haul ass back to Stalingrad as quick as possible. Don't bother gaining altitude since you'll be ground-attacking when you get there, and the jerries won't follow you far.

When you get to stalingrad, as soon as the dude from Spain starts talking, you'll see yellow targets on your map. Those are German tanks and they're almost impossible to see in sim mode. There is one tank on the northeast corner of their group, sitting at an intersection right at the edge of the roadless area between the city and river. You'll know the spot cause just northeast of it is a flak gun in a big field. Fly over the intersection, spot the tank and some landmarks, then set up a bomb run and destroy it. Then the objective will be complete.

At this point, your engine will be shot to pieces by a whole squadron of fw190's that appears out of nowhere, and your next objective is to make it back to your hidden base without the fw-190's following you. They tell you to lose the Fritzes and fly below 150m, but Jerry won't lose sight of you. Don't worry about it, just fly back to base, it's just a design flaw. Once you reach base, mission complete.

[Flagrum_3]

^^^ Thanks bigtime for the detailed answer!! ...I was starting to get frustrated lol....They point you to the secret base I hope?!


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[kozzm0]

Originally Posted by Flagrum_3

^^^ Thanks bigtime for the detailed answer!! ...I was starting to get frustrated lol....They point you to the secret base I hope?!


_3

yes, it appears as a nice yellow objective circle on the tacmap. Just fly below 150m and fly right to it on military power to keep the engine from quitting.

After you finish this mission you get to beat your head on the brick wall called Hornet's Nest

[Flagrum_3]

Originally Posted by kozzm0

yes, it appears as a nice yellow objective circle on the tacmap. Just fly below 150m and fly right to it on military power to keep the engine from quitting.

After you finish this mission you get to beat your head on the brick wall called Hornet's Nest

Thanks for the help guys! Finally got past this friggen mission! I must have hit that particular tank 50 times for shitesake but never heard a ding lol....I got frustrated and just bombed the shite outta the thing from about 500M, several passes and it worked!! But I never got swarmed by any FW190's?? Made it to base untouched!....maybe the game took pity on me

Now on to the Hornet's Nest


p.s; I hope the patch will let me use my stick (Cyborg EVO), I can't stand the PS3 controller!


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