Ai planes are nearly unvulnerable

[matsher]

Originally Posted by Eklund89

Learn how to shoot (convergance and distance). I have no problems at all.
I dont understand all ppl whining about problems that dont exist. There is a ARCADE mode for noobs. use it till you learn somthing.

Easy there bucko. Thats a bit harsh.
One might think you never had to learn to shoot like the rest of us.
Go easy on the guy...

@ Luckystrike - If you want to change your name from Luckystrike to TheHammer
in the quickest time possible, here are one or two hard earned tips.

1. Its not only about correct distance and correct convergence. They are important,
however there are a few more things you should try if you want to have increased effect.

2. Correct positioning is VERY important. It is near impossible to down a plane
when you are directly behind it, especially with rifle shot. The bullets just go
through the empty fuselage and loose too much energy before they can get
to the vulnerable bits.

So whenever you can try not to shoot from directly behind, try get into an
off-centre firing position, and if you can, off-centre above or off-centre below
the target. The more off-set your attack angle, the more effect you'll have.

3. Another VERY effective tactic is to try and shoot the bugger when he is in a hi G
maneuver, if you can get a burst on target when he is turning hard, even a tiny burst
can be deadly. His wings are under heavy load and stress so even a small force
can tear them off.

If you can couple these tactics with good distance discipline you'll be an ace in no time.

Have Fun.

[Skoshi Tiger]

Also if you are getting hits, don't just exit the game when you run out of ammo, especialy with the rifle caliber MG's sometimes it can take a few minutes for the target to surcome to it's damage.

[drewpee]

I'm sorry if I'm harping a bit but until the damage model has been fixed blaming the lack of kills on just poor gunnery is a bit off. I can continually take out ailerons, rudders and elevates on spits without changing the way they maneuver. These are vital parts of an AC. Damage them and it should be a lot easier to make a Kill shot.
I might come of sounding like an amateur but I've been playing IL2 online with full real for a while now and have managed a reasonable Kill/Die ratio. At the moment you have to kill the pilot to be sure of bringing down a target. Some people are really good at it too. I'm not that good at at head shots so I go for easy shots then maneuver for another, voom and boom.

After getting the control axes set up properly I have had no problem shooting down enemy bombers and stukas from the 6 oclock position. Despite what many say 6 oclock was the most common position for engaging German bombers in the war, or any countrys bombers for that matter. Take out the tail gunner with a quick pass from above then sit on its tail and shoot an engine or wing till it comes off. The damage model is great except for when fighters keep flying like f-16s after losing an aileron or elevator.

The damage model itself is the one thing they seem to have gotten right on release. If your having trouble shooting down bombers then good, thats how it was and should be. .303's arent big rounds and the lack of HE shells means LOTS of bullets to bring down the more sturdy aircraft, unless you get lucky and break a control cable or something. Fighter aircraft on the other hand, they manuever so erratically and irrationally its damn near impossible to shoot them, luckily it only takes a few good shots to bring them down usually.

[CH_RoadDogg]

Well there may be some issues.

Last night I shot up a 109 pretty good parts falling off of it black smoke pouring out of it.

See the canopy come off the pilot eject and I followed that plane around for like five more minutes with it flying without a pilot.

And the speed and movement of the plane was like it had no damage.

I went to outside view looking at it close up spewing smoke no canopy no pilot and it was still flying when I despawned.

I got tired of following it waiting for it to crash or somthing and I was out of ammo.

[1.JaVA_Platypus]

Just an hour ago, I cut off a wing from a STUKA with my trusty old Hurricane. Default (limited) ammo enabled! And he had no bombs left on his body or wings.

Sorry mate, it must be your shooting. I admit that shooting aircraft down was a lot easier in Il-2 1946!

[Fusek]

Originally Posted by 1.JaVA_Platypus

Just an hour ago, I cut off a wing from a STUKA with my trusty old Hurricane. Default (limited) ammo enabled! And he had no bombs left on his body or wings.

Sorry mate, it must be your shooting. I admit that shooting aircraft down was a lot easier in Il-2 1946!

Seconding this. All planes in the game go down pretty easily if you hit them at the right places.

And I also feel IL2's planes go down easier, but that is expected with a relatively simple DM compared to CoD. In CoD you get more kills by damaging subsystems, which takes a bit longer to take effect than explosions or bits falling off.