Ron

Good points from Brian and Ray to get you started. Once you have played more you will start getting a feel for the flow of cards, AI and/or Player abilities and expected results/consequences. In a campaign you have no control over where you start and that will affect your decisions. I am assuming you are playing the AI. If you are faced immediately by both fighter elements, it is best to get to the same altitude as the bombers, then one of the fighter elements won't attack you and it is just 2vs2. The AI is predictable in its actions. If you strike first, you have to consider your hand and where you will be left. A combination of manuever/attack cards to take out the Wingman - A IMS:D/Ace combo to take out the Leader( I generally won't use this on a Wingman) - or as Ray said a shoot/scoot to damage and then pull away. All possibilities. If you have a poor attack hand but a good defensive one, it is best to pass on the Wingman and put the Leader in a disadvantaged position. That way you can weather the enemy Wingman attack and the AI Leader will pull away. You can let him go and then consider your options for another attack or follow. You will retain the initiative. If the AI strikes first you have to survive as best you can and try to get to the same altitude as the bombers to let them take some of the damage. Your Wingman can help you get out of a disadvantaged position where you will be able to have the initiative, instead of just reacting. Another thing to consider is the attack order. If you are number 2 then you should, if possible, go after the number 3 element to prevent them from attacking the bombers. Against a human you can expect his two Fighter elements to usually gang up on you and you have to survive as best you can. If your opponent has Quick Reflexes pass on the attack unless you are able to do something. No use giving him an extra card for free. There are many combinations and lots of strategy which makes this a great game. Nothing beats experience in becoming very good playing. Ron

Bully for you JJ, but guess what? You ARE the minority. Research shows and has shown that over 70% of gamers play solitaire against the AI. CM has been very successful with an even more 'rabid' set of fans than some of you guys, yet awhile ago Steve said PBEM may not make it in - other features were more important. Why? Because according to him that 'huge vocal minority' paled in comparsion to those that never played online. You can imagine the howls. If SC2 has no AI, or doesn't have a decent AI, it will get panned in reviews and most won't buy it. It's as simple as that. Ron

I got a good laugh Wait until Leyte is released and you will see Pierre aka Kuroi in action! Ron

Yes second that, excellent idea and would very much like to see it implemented. Ron

Round 2 battle between Zonso and FoolishDog concluded. British steel still impenetrable. Ron

Just played versus the AI who had the Randy, and noticed when Tailed or Disadvantaged, they still had 1 burst to fire even though my Wingman had Spoil Aim. Is this intended? Ron

Congratulations! It is fairly rare, as I know I have destroyed all 4 enemies at least twice before without having it awarded, but there are a few other Pilots who have the VC. The DSO seems to be handed out quite regularly, yet I have never seen the Military Cross even after successfully escorting bombers many, many times undamaged. Not sure what the requirements are for that one. Ron

It seems strange that you cant hold maginotline...especially since in this AAR the attack through benelux is made in the autumn. Shouldnt weather forbid too much movement? </font>

A recurrent thought I have whenever I am playing, and have Vertical Rolls in my hand, is why can't I do this? For example, when attacking I can break off and climb/dive away as many levels as I have VRs, yet I can't break away/dive to gather more energy and then climb back in to continue the attack because the 'Target' selection ended? In the same token, how come a player has to have a Target before using a VR? It would open up more play possibilities against human opponents - say a player started High and his opponent started Low, he could dive to Medium and then use a VR to dive further to Low to engage. With the AI it doesn't matter as they will always come at you, yet with a human there is that 'Mexican stand-off' situation because neither(with good reason) wants to get hit first! Or how come after using a VR to break off one attack a player couldn't engage another opponent if he so chooses/is able? When attacking a Leader your own Leader is limited to a max burst obtained from the advantaged position. Against the Wingman there is no limitation apart from how many Maneuver/Half Loop cards you happen to have. This, coupled with the usally low number of cards for the Wingman, makes them even more vulnerable than they are. I can understand this design aspect for Bombers but have a hard time seeing it for the Wingman. Regarding Wingman, has there been any decision or direction on their vulnerability as has been discussed previously? Ron

Yes that's happened to me also. IIRC bring up the Dogfight Preview screen then click it to minimize and then you should be able to select the card. Hope that helps. Ron

Nope, I can confirm that Germans are present and accounted for in this war! Very nice to see, thank you. Ron

Fixed, thanks again.

My German Leader Rall was shot down and killed but when the Wingman Sturm was promoted he kept his Wingman skills and not reset like normal. Can this be fixed or must I delete them? Thanks, Ron

Just had the pleasure of flying one, good stuff, much better than the previous version. I like the prop animations. Ron

Please Kuroi, no one has or is asking on how to go from level 50 to 60. We are all adults here. It has always and only been about a rewarding gaming experience, not only for low to mid-level, but for all levels, whether 10 or 30 or 50 or 70. All the best, Ron

Well the game is the point, if not then why play? Your 50/50 chance of dying is equally applicable at any level past the beginning no? If I could use these higher Pilots with their skill set against humans then I would gladly, but obviously that rarely happens as getting the skills to matchup or even a willing opponent is like pulling teeth, so I am left fighting the AI if I want to use them at all. If that isn't part of the games design, then why are the better skills only reachable at higher levels? I have no interest to 'storm' the ladder as you say but simply to see the Pilots/Wingmen progress, if they die along the way then so be it. <shrugs> The disparity between the player and the AI re planes and skills is apparent early on, not just at higher levels. The brute force method is fine to a point but not every time and some variety in the planes being faced would be welcome. As a Brit flying The HurrII or a Yank flying the P-47 you are already facing tricked out Raidens and that never changes. If the whole design of the game falls apart at the higher levels then obviously something is wrong. Flying an Escort mission at higher levels is futile. The sweet spot seems to be from level 10-20 iirc yet the better skills are still further away. The AI has some glaring errors like discarding an overfull hand every time or using Ace Pilot too early. If, and that's a big if, the AI could be a little smarter then more variety could be introduced into the AI opponent and not just brute force. Ron [ October 24, 2005, 04:13 PM: Message edited by: Ron ]

That works for awhile then when you get over 50 something the Bots will have a different skill set and often start Very Low/Low also. Then when you start Very High they decide to do the same. Go figure! I agree though if there is some separation try and strike the Wingman first to at least damage him. I have been tending to buy a Vertical Roll card to climb away afterwards if things don't go well, having two is even better. Right now with my top level Yanks and Brits(50-60+) all I have been seeing since level 30 has been Raidens. Not a German in sight. Ron

I like it, thanks!

I don't agree that for top Pilots (50+) the fatigue model doesn't work. I have a set 50+, 50+, 40+ and 15+ and I have only had to fly fatigued once or twice IIRC, though flown more by choice obviously. It keeps you honest! Usually after 2-4 missions the Pilots are totally rested. I'm not sure why the outcry. I think Fatigue is an excellent design feature as is and makes sense realistically. It's well known that combat experience isn't an expotential curve, there are many examples from WWII showing the weariness, complacency, caution etc of veterans with time and from more combat. And from the game viewpoint, the roleplaying aspect of managing your Pilots through rotation is simple but effective. At some point that Ace will either retire voluntarily or be killed. Again seems realistic to me Ron Edit: Oh yes perhaps a valid reason to purchase Iron Man if fatigue gets to be that much of a problem.

I think the Wingman issue is much more fundamental than simply allowing an additional 'Check Six' to be purchased and/or purchasing multiple Redraws which are just a crapshoot. Kuroi has espoused on the matter extensively and much more eloquently than I could. He has identified possible solutions that to me address the problem in a satisfying manner and would allow the 'flight dynamics' to be part of the Wingman game. To recap, Wingmen are too lethal offensively and vulnerable defensively at higher XP. The apparent inability to regain Escape Death(bug?), gain XP in a meaningful way at higher levels(to even afford card buys let alone new skills!) and being the 'target of choice' against humans only exasperates this. Obviously changing the design aspects of a game is daunting but the proposals by Kuroi would go a long ways towards addressing this problem. Until then it is 'poor Wingy' indeed!! Ron

To further add to the ED/Wingman issue, this morning I observed something very interesting. My Pilot pair both lacked ED and during the course of the dogfight the Wingman shot down both enemies. Guess who received the ED? The Leader lol! Not to muddy this thread but a quick question. Is there any variation in the AI planes you face? I ask because I have some Brit Pilots flying the HurricaneII and they repeatedly face tricked out Raidons over and over and over, ad nauseum. It's a long way to the Mossy and some variation would be welcome. Ron

You won't be saying that at the higher Pilot skill levels where Wingmen(!) will be attacking with 6-7 cards. A Bomber getting shot down in one turn occurs often. Ron

Wow, count me in the suprised camp that's for sure. From the rumblings of the past weeks I had a suspicion the title may be modern as in a hypothetical Cold War scenario, but to be honest deep down I still thought it would be WWII. This fictional Syria background sounds a little corny but plausible I imagine. The 2 screenshots look great and I'm not even a graphics kind of guy, and I am intrigued by the single player Campaign being touted. My big worry about the setting would be the imbalance for multi-player, ie KingTigers versus Shermans kind of thing, as well as replayability of a title. BFC has the track record so time will tell. Ron

It is without a doubt happening and is easy to see. Hope it's fixed in the first patch. Ron

When playing the AI in the Demo at the higher Pilot levels, often the Bot Pilots have Draw Cards x2x3x4 etc. Now how exactly does that work? Do they get to draw that many throughout the dogfight or is that per round? Because if it's the former then something is definitely wrong. It makes playing against some of these uber-bot-pilots a little more than just a challenge! Ron