In
World of Warplanes, there has been no other plane I have struggled with
and produced such an array of mixed results as the tier VII XP-75
Eagle.
I
have described this aircraft in the past as the Mustang's "overweight
and much slower cousin" and I still stick by those words (okay, might
not be an exact quote, but the essence remains intact).
However, I have decided to see if I can work with this, if I can.
With
my recent adventures above tier VIII in jet Fighters not quite being
the fun experience I remember, I have made the move to dial things down
and spend some time with this American Heavy Fighter. I haven't
abandoned my higher ambitions, just on hold for a while. One of the main
reasons for doing this is the mindset of visiting some challenging and
frustrating aircraft, in an attempt to add to the skillset moving
forward. And, the Eagle is just such an example.
In fact, the first battle out shows how I recreated some of my old
mistakes early on, before I woke up to help finish things off....
Although my first battle with the FJ-1
Fury was a successful re-introduction to the top tiers in World of Warplanes, it seems it was a
prelude to a wake up call as well.
Many
of the lessons that I learned from flying the Mustang H do indeed carry
over to the Fury, but the game feels radically changed all of a sudden.
Now, this isn't my first foray in to this territory, I have a few other
aircraft of this same tier. However, mistakes felt punished almost
immediately and the Fury didn't have any of the same resilient qualities
I had gotten used with it's predecessor.
This
isn't the game I remembered when I last played up here. To test out my
suspicions, after a good run of defeats in my new American jet fighter, I
switched over to it's counterpart, the Soviet Yak-19.
Although I would prefer to play in the
higher tiers, sometimes the frustration level becomes almost unbearable
and dropping down to the lower tiers to blow off steam, is the right
thing to do.
Take this video as an example of what I am getting at....
After a short but disappointing series of defeats in tier IX, I
decided I had enough and wanted to switch things up. Throwing myself
into the meat grinder versus more experienced and flighted players,
predicting the outcome to myself beforehand and watching all come to
pass, despite my best efforts, isn't a fun nor educational experience.
Sometimes you are the bug, other times you are the windshield of the big
rig, I have been around long enough to know this.
Nevertheless, I was taking a nearly equal chance by going into the
lower tiers too. Down there, are some experienced players who, for
whatever reason, don't advance into the mid or even higher tiers. They
go by many names and titles, none of them I will repeat here, but the
phrase "sharks in the kiddie pool" comes to mind.
My goal was simple, all I wanted was just a single win to end the day with....
Even though I have moved on to the tier
IX FJ-1 Fury in World of Warplanes, I will take this moment to remember the three month
journey in the Mustang H to arrive where I am at right now.
I
received some great advice on how to fly this particular aircraft and
applied that whenever circumstances would allow it. Granted, I had a few
relapses along the way and still tasted defeat by the hands of much
better players, but I walk away from this experienced with a very
changed perspective. Far from being a master of "Boom and Zoom," more of
an appreciative enthusiast of a playstyle I had resisted to try with
any level of seriousness.
Still, even during those
absent minded moments, the Mustang H seemed to later forgive undesirable
actions, which it would have severely punish me for early on into the
journey. And, I am getting the impression this trend just might continue
on with the Fury, fingers crossed.
As a farewell and thanks for the adventure video, I picked a battle from my mini-grind from just the other day.
It doesn't have me collecting the most kills of the sortie, nor would I
call it my best game ever in the Mustang H, it's not even one of my
usual "first win" episodes. Instead, I do believe it is a culmination
presentation, one where I demonstrate everything I have learned to do
with Mustang H, keep my health and altitude up, picking the right
targets and excising gun control for better damage effectiveness.
Call me a fool, but I was already so close, I just had to get this goal done.
In
the real world, I leave for work around the same time other families
sit down for dinner, then I come home right about the time the rest of
the world wakes up to start their day. Now that I framed the conditions
for this achievement, I only had a mere 12,000 xp to go and with the Birthday bonuses combined with the weekend special, this fool pushed through and collected my personal reward. Rightly, I should have been asleep hours ago.
Normally
when I get a new plane, I would fire up a Training Room or two and
throw in a couple of bots, to get a feel for the capabilities and
limitations of the new plane. However, I was in a rush to whip up a quick custom skin, get a battle out and post a video of the first flight. Despite one sortie in the FJ-1
Fury, I get the impression the journey to it was worth it, time will
either confirm or correct me on this initial assessment....
With just a few days remaining for the Birthday bonuses for the Mustang H in World of Warplanes, in conjunction with this weekend's Vladimir Kokkinaki’s Birthday
special, it was a real challenge to collect the maximum potential from
any battle. I ran into higher skilled players who made very short work
of me, players on my own team that didn't offer much in the way of
assistance and sporadic packet loss that just added to the frustration
level.
Just when I was on the verge of cutting my final loss for the day....
Project 302 was a mid-War Sovietmixed-power fighter/interceptor concept that would have used a liquid fuel rocket for take-off and ramjet engines for flight.
Originally designed by Mikhail
Tikhonravov over a two year period, the project was later taken over by
the politicaly motivated AG Kostikov, credited by some as the father of
the Katyusha, the mobile, repeating rocket weapon system. Tikhonravov would be later become infamous for coining and popularizing the term Cosmonaut, both inside and outside the Soviet Union.
In November 1942, Kostikov presented Tikhonravov's
design concept to Joseph Stalin (some sources claimed he passed the
project as his own) and was appointed chief designer and given funding
to build two prototypes. Two air-frames were eventually built, one was used for static ground tests, while the other would fly, as a towed glider, in August 1943.
Despite
the promising performance numbers of the air tunnel and glider results,
the ram jet engine tests were falling short of expectations and the
calculated flight time of an all rocket version was too short to be
considered an effective option. The project as a whole was falling
beyond schedule.
In in early 1943, the delays in the project were investigated by a commission, headed by Alexander Sergeyevich Yakovlev and the following February, Kostikov was found to be fully at fault, removed and imprisoned.
Later, Semyon Alekseyev would rediscover the design and research data of the Kostikov 302 and combined it with captured German engineering findings, creating the Alekseyev I-211 and I-215 fighters.
In World of Warplanes, the Kostikov
302 is a premium, tier VII Soviet Fighter, with an exceptional climb
rate, thanks to it's tail-rocket engine. The ram jet engines are capable
of getting the aircraft up to speed quickly, but require some time to
cool down. The nose mounted cannons should be fired in short bursts, due
to accuracy and heat issues. Avoid taking damage as much as possible,
since the 302 isn't very durable in combat and relies on speed as it's
main strength.
Here is a video that tried to cover all of these points, both the good and the bad ones....
Sometimes, unspoken teamwork takes place to win the day.
Case in point: a sortie from this very morning, where I took to the skies in the Mustang H. Low and behold, I spot
pyantoryng in a same tiered Me 329 on my team for the battle. With
cameras rolling, a video where the first part of this engagement was
mine, the last part was theirs, the victory was ours....
Color me surprised, it's been three months already?
Honestly,
it feels like it was just a short while ago since I put the Mustang H
into my hangar in World of Warplanes. I can certainly say the last ninety days in this
aircraft has been both and exciting and educational experience.
Educational to the point from watching and reading how others have
mastered the Boom and Zoom playstyle, importantly using high altitude to
a tactical advantage, to adjusting my old habits to experiment and
embrace this "different" way then what I am used to flying.
The exciting part comes from the biggest attractant for me to this game....the chase....
Making Ace in World of Warplanes, that is getting five kills in a battle, can be as easy as blinking your eyes, or as challenging as juggling multiple flaming objects and not burning yourself (no gloves for protection either).
There have been times where I have seen other players just fly through the sky and the enemy aircraft just drop dead around them, like some strange sorcery was used. I have the fortunate experience of this happening to me as well, on rare occasions. Other instances, I have to really work my controls to just stay alive, let alone remove a single enemy aircraft from the battle. I am not going to even mention those frustrating times when that fifth kill was just about to happen, only to be claimed by an ally or a game crash.
Like it's almost reliant on the roll of the dice. Not an Ace, but here is my throw of Double Deuces....
Once considered the most over-powered aircraft of the lower tiers in World of Warplanes, the German premium Messerschmitt
Bf 110C-6 Heavy Fighter has weathered well the changes brought with
nearly update since it's introduction. Despite heavy, sluggish controls
at low altitudes (not recommended) and a slow rate of fire from it's 30
mm cannon, it is still a very dominant solo aircraft in the right hands. In a Flight with a identical twin and highly skilled players, the results can almost be predictable for the team their are on.
Long ago, this plane gained some lasting notoriety for establishing the longest wining streak of any aircraft in the game, while in a three man Flight. Even now, after not flown it in I have no idea when, a rusty solo player can still make a unforgettable presence in the aerial battlefield....
Just like certain times in real life, some rules can be broken in video games. Okay, let's bend a few in World of Warplanes, specifically this battle....
I have spent a great deal of time practicing the "Boom and Zoom" playstyle, climbing up and beyond the optimal operational altitude with the tier VIII Mustang H, circling from up high and waiting to pounce on one or multiple enemies below. Far from an expert in this endeavor, but I do believe my proficiency has improved this past while.
However, I still suffer from the odd relapse and slip into a playstyle which is a total and complete opposite to what I have been practicing, other times, like this one, the canopy has to be flung open and the rule book thrown out while in a dive....
During a sortie in World of Warplanes, I was using the tier VII Gloster Meteor over the Mediterranean Coast and get into a high altitude tangle with a very evasive enemy Bf 109G....
Every once in a while, a battle in World of Warplanes comes along and it feels like rules and restrictions are temporally suspended for me. Power climbing over the operational altitude threshold is as effortless as diving to the deck, sharp and snap maneuvers don't feel inhibited by design or ingame mechanics, weapons that take just a little longer to overheat, to name a few. I don't know if it's some kind of consistency thing or a matter of perspective, even when reviewed through watching the replay immediately after, but this isn't the first time I have noticed it.
And when that happens, I am glad that just about anything goes....sometimes even in my favor.
I suppose I could count myself fortunate as to not having flown the most of the Mustang line during the "great nerfs" in World of Warplanes, so long ago now. I could have very easily gotten used to just how dominating these aircraft were, both in solo play and in flights. Then again, since I never experienced what they were before and how they were changed after, causing so many complaints from a lot of players who aren't even around anymore, it seems I missed out on those bad times, making new good ones of my own....
Thanks to battles like that and this weekend's special “Per Aspera ad Astra," it should help speed up the journey to my next goal.
In World of Warplanes, take a tier VIII Mustang H, strip off all but two guns, cut it's operational attitude down some and stick it in tier IV, you might come very close to the Curtiss Model 81A-1....
Despite receiving and following some great advice on how to fly the Mustang H more effectively in World of Warplanes, I still have the odd bout of relapses. Sometimes, it's triggered by target fixation, that wonderful moment in a battle where it is only you and the enemy you are trying to shot down and the rest of the conflict is blissfully ignored, until your plane starts taking damage or bursts into flames.
Other times, it comes from being pursued, under fire by a very determined enemy and the only thing that matters is not taking borderline panicking eyes off that opponent chasing your tail, mashing that Help button.
For me, the premium MesserschmittMe
109 TL is the one, high tiered aircraft I look forward to flying the
most (unless you count my recent adventures in the Mustang H).
As
an amateur enthusiast of jet powered combat planes, the 109 TL fits
right in, albeit never built and in an era that has become blurred in
history, thanks to games, book and electronic media. To add to the
fantasy, a woman pilot capable of controlling this magnificent aircraft,
who in reality, never would have seen active combat service in her
time. To round things out, fill the sky with allies and opponents, both
real and programmed, flying aircraft of historical significance to
obscure and forgotten prototypes....
After a long time of saving up in World of Warplanes (I can't remember the last event that involved spending the last round of tokens), the nest egg of tokens is exhausted. Although there is an option to buy more with Gold, I have a much longer term plan for that pile of shiny. Besides, there is a ways to go before "Thor's Hammer" is over and even if I don't collect enough tokens from playing (when I can find the time), I am relatively happy with the prizes I did earn, thus far.
In the meantime, I managed to be lucky enough to select a side for the daily Confrontation, but won't be able to actively participate (real life intrudes). Will I get anything for being on the roster? I guess I will find that out later/tomorrow.
Today I tried my hand at the Yak-7 again, but I just couldn't get it to work for me. A stroke of irony I suppose, after playing the Boom and Zoom aircraft this past while, seems I now struggle with Turn and Burn planes? Go figure....
An early and interesting development from the Loot Crates, winning back a previously owned aircraft?
Quite literally, it has been years since I last owned the tier V Yak-7 in World of Warplanes. I sold this plane long ago to make room in my hangar for new progression assets and never gave it much of a second thought. Nothing more than an means to an end.
However, since I was rewarded with it's return and an extra hangar slot, why not take it out and see how I do with it, after flying high altitude aircraft this past while....
My second day into the World of Warplanes "Thor's Hammer" event didn't quite turn out the
way I had hoped. Although I did collect some pretty good rewards from the loot crates, my attempt at a side mission wasn't as successful. The requirements were to collect
some kills/damage in a Multirole aircraft and for some reason, I thought
taking out the premium tier V, Lend-Lease P-40 M-105 was a good
idea....
Thankfully, I was able to make up for it with a later battle in the Mustang H.
June 2017 is going to be a busy month for World of Warplanes. First, Update 1.9.10 just dropped to start things off, those details can be read here. However, it's the new event, "Thor's Hammer" that holds a lot of promise for participation and possible payouts. More information on that can be found here.
Despite the increased real life activity also taking place in June, I hope to be able to make time to play and continue on here as well. My commentary this month will be pretty much as I have posted in the past and for video content, I have changed the format for which they will be presented. Opening with the event
loot crate winnings (unless I run out of tokens before hand), video intro and a decent battle that ties in with the event or possible token reward.
