SamF7

Heh, and I thought the problem might be the new IE7 that "accidently" got installed on my system. Have you ever noticed how things seemingly go wrong JUST AFTER something changes in your system? SamF7

iplaygames2: I don't THINK so. Even with my little pea-brain, for those FEW games where the NME only has 2-3 "draw an extra card" => Even "I" can keep track of 2-3! Once they pull that last card, that seems to be it. SamF7

From what I can tell, this is always accurate: Draw an extra card x#. As he draws an extra card, # is always reduced by one. * EXCEPT * When he spends his last "Draw an Extra Card", the screen will STILL display: "Draw an Extra card". So you can never really tell if he is down to his last card or not! Bug? Dunno. An easy fix would be to ALWAYS have the program display x, even if it is 1 or 0! - Draw an Extra Card x2 - Draw an Extra Card x1 - Draw an Extra Card x0. A little klunky, perhaps, but I would prefer this to trying to REMEMBER how many of his "draw an extra card's" he has actually used! SamF7

Heh; I'm looking at the OOB of the Mediterranean Air Command, and ALL I can think of is what a logistical and maintenance nightmare that must have been. SamF7

My Favorite Skills : Leader ====== 1) Quick Reflexes 2) Marksmanship 3) Redline (great for hi alt's) 4) High Performance 5) Power Dive/Zoom Climb Wingman ======= 1) Teamwork 2) Sweep Tail 3) Leader Advice 4) Anticipation 5) Spoil Aim I've noticed a reoccuring pattern: When the enemy wingie gets to use most of his cards every round against me, I lose. When my wingie gets to use most of his cards against the enemy, I win. I buy the wingie skills to help my wingie/hurt his wingie. BTW - A P-47 with marksmanship is just evil. 6 bursts when you are on his tail.....(insert "Dr. Evil" Diabolical Laugh here...). SamF7

Hi ipg2! I seem to be able to get up to about 100-150xp without a lot of problems against the AI WITHOUT buying any cards or skills. I like to buy Quick Reflexes as my first skill, and I get there quicker without having to buy bloody redraws or Extra Cards. My pilots then usually begin a reign of terror up through about 300-400xp; then I hit a wall. My pilots start getting gunned down. I lose my Escape deaths. I start to get toasted. It's at that point I start buying Extra Cards and Redraws, typically about x4 each for each match! The XP comes slower, but it's the only way I can seem to survive against the 400xp+ AI opponnents. SamF7

ETA?

The Scenario that just KILLS me is the Dunkirk scenario as the Brits. The Germans have one pair of 109's that are crewed by Superman and his brother. They're nigh unstoppable. After REPEATED playings, I finally managed a TIE as the brits, but that was pure luck since I managed to avoid superman every round and pound his bombers until the last turn. Heh, on the last round I got superman and his wingie against four of my best Brits. I figured I FINALLY had em. The Germans shot all four of my boys down, however, garnering the TIE. Tough Scenario that Dunkirk... SamF7

Hurricane II's - I really HATE that plane. It has blown apart most of my hi end aces - a truly evil plane. My Brit pilots obtained "Marksmanship" early....and the top brit has quickly advanced and is currently piloting the Hurri II. Hurri II + Marksmanship = SWEET, sweet revenge. SamF7

I kinda like the 'ol "handful of turn" cards. "Good luck getting on MY tail!", I think. Even a LOOP still leaves me a bunch of cards to stop bullets. Only OTS and/or scissors/ace can stop a bunch of TURN cards. Which, of course, does happen every now and then. It actually happened to the AI the other day. I shot the AI down on the first turn, with the DESTROYED card, and he had EIGHT cards in his hand. Not one "dodge" card. Poor chap. I felt about this ->| |<- bad for him.... SamF7

SO - just out of curiosity, how many redraws and drawcards do you have your top pilots fly into combat with? I know I'm a stingy SOB, so my top boys get a whopping x2 apiece. I still DREAM of another skill or two ! Also, do you ALWAYS fly with a bought ACE card? Those things are EXPENSIVE. I've been trying to get away with a VR.....but VR doesn't really stop a LOOP very well, does it? SamF7

*wow* JUST last game. - V.Hi, 4 cards, I'm dealt all fires, plus my ace, of course. - Enemy ALSO started V.Hi, and went first, - loop-ACE-fire-fire-fire => I'm dead. Just like that. Again. It's getting VERY old.... (can I at least use a ReDraw I purchased for my opening cards????? - SOMETHING!). SamF7

Oh I've tried all that. Redraws, Draw card, ACE, VERY Hi....it just doesn't help when you're dealt ALL fire cards (ONE ACE doesn't save you for long when he's on your tail at VERY hi with ALL fire cards...just prolongs the agony). It's amazing. I've lost EVERY pilot on the opening salvo....everytime with a handful FULL of fire cards. It gets old. SamF7

Hi bartbert! Hopefully you are still checking this thread out. I had one of those "great ideas" the other day, that might be a very nice addition to the game at some point. Let me go cut and paste from a previous post since it cuts to the heart of the matter : Each time I'm shotdown, however, it always seems to follow the SAME pattern : I get dealt ALL fire cards at the start (my record is nine in my starting hand. NINE), and the NME invariably goes first, loops me, then pops me with the DESTROYED card. BOOM. Dead Plane. Turn one. Always. I suggest stealing an idea from Magic the Gathering : Add a button that is only active on the first turn. If you don't like your starting hand, you can request a redeal, but you get one less card on your redeal. You can keep clicking it until you like your hand or are down to one card. I would even suggest adding a modicum of AI to let them do the same. SamF7

"but spends 40-50 on extra cards and redraws every game so is moving up slowly" Interesting comment. My most advanced pilots for all sides are at about 500-600XP. With all nationalities, I've found that the progression goes pretty much like this : * At start, things go "okay". I got shot down every 5-10 missions or so, but usually it's not fatal two times in a row. * I hoard my XP points. I buy NOTHING. No cheap skills, no extra cards, no redraws. My first purchase is ALWAYS one of the biggies, Redline, Quick Reflexes, etc. I figure if I don't buy these early, I'll NEVER get them later. * Once I buy the first skill or two, My pilots generally go on a RAMPAGE. I'm talking the next 400xp or so comes VERY easily. My boys just seem to pwn everything in the sky. * Again, I buy NOTHING but skills during this period - no extra cards, no redraws, etc. * And then.....well.....no matter what nationality, no matter what plane I'm flying, once my guys hit about 500-600XP, I hit a wall. I start to get shot down. A lot. I actually lose a pilot once in a while. * Each time I'm shotdown, however, it always seems to follow the SAME pattern : I get dealt ALL fire cards at the start (my record is nine in my starting hand. NINE), and the NME invariable goes first, loops me, then pops me with the DESTROYED card. BOOM. Dead Plane. Turn one. Always. I'm figuring that once the AI pilots start getting 3-7 extra cards, maybe it's time to start filling my hand with the same. 2-3 redraws, 2-3 redraws. I've even been buying a bloody vertical loop to help with the "first turn - all fire card blues". It's been helping - I haven't lost a pilot in awhile, but boy, the XP sure comes a lot more slowly when you have to buy all that bloody stuff every round. SamF7

Done. Thanks Brian; I've submitted some other minor issues via the Feedback/Bug Report form on : http://downinflamesonline.com/DifPortal/Default.aspx I was wondering if those were received - I didn't get any feedback. Sam

Hey folks ! It sure has seemed that the AI gets to draw more "Draw an Extra Card"s than they are entitled. Of late, I've been catching a screenshot of the "lineup" and saving the the game log. I finally nailed them. In this game, each of the AI, Leader and Wingie, each drew TWO extra cards during the game when the lineup screen only showed them entitled to one each. I'm struggling enough of late against the AI as it is..... Where should I send the logfile and screenie? SamF7

Hi Inigo ! When my #1 Leader just bit the dust , just on a lark I purchesed "Eagle Eyes" for his trusty wingy, the NEW leader. After about 20 or so games, I can safely say that EE has been a waste of 100 pts. It has kicked in exactly "once", and even then, the nme went first and promply scissored me right off the bat! Big help that EE! Something has to change - your proposal sounds very good. SamF7

Okinawa - Option to get EXTRA bomb damage bonus (even if bomber damaged). But the pilot doesn't return .... The last turn of a campaign are going to be a killer for the USN, methinks... Can't wait for the expansion. SamF7

"a dozen new skills" ??? Oh NOW I'm curious.... Sam

I hear ya, lakespeed. When I'm in an "Agile" plane, and/or I'm holding a Scissors card and I'm advantaged, EVERYTIME I climb, I always seem to chuckle and say to myself: "Come on UP, said the spider to the fly". A Scissors/Burst combo is SO much easier when the NME has had to discard a few more cards.... SamF7 [ June 24, 2006, 06:05 PM: Message edited by: SamF7 ]

and NOW Zanadu tells me.... I've been learning this the hard way of late. I'm learning that when the enemy "dodges" your shot with a TURN/BR/VR card, it's not always so wise to plop down YOUR TURN/BR/VR card to cancel his. It depends... - How much damage is the fire card causing? - More importantly, how many defensive cards will you have left, and how many cards will his wingie get next turn? - What altitude are you at? How many cards do YOU get at the beginning of the next turn? If you are only drawing one card, don't "count" on it being a defensive card. "Hoping" for the right card WILL get you killed. Remember....ALL fire cards are playable by the enemy Wingie. I lost my BEST pilot, Suzuki, to a DEVESTATING Wingie OOS3:4 card last week.....the turn AFTER I used my last VR to GUARANTEE getting in a 1:2 fire card on his leader (which didn't even kill him; it only damaged him). Stupid stupid stupid. And NOW Zanadu imparts his wisdom. [ June 24, 2006, 06:03 PM: Message edited by: SamF7 ]

Hi Nikyu! Heh, noob myself here, but I now have a handful of 200-400XP pilots, so here's what "worked" for me : Skills for New Pilots ===================== * What planes will your boys be flying? With my current cadre of Japanese pilots, I noted that almost ALL of their planes have the agility rating (Oscar, Nick, Zero). This skill is mostly used AFTER you are advantaged - SO....I saved and bought EVASIVE as my first skill. It's hard to fly mission after mission with NO skills, NO extra cards or goodies, but it feels SO nice once that first hunky 100xp skill IS bought! * Although expensive, many of the Japanse and Germans planes can REALLY benefit from Marksman. This makes those 1:2 and 1:1 fire cards useful even when neutral. The +1 damage of many of the German/Japanese planes REALLY makes this skill nice. This skill probably isn't worth much to Brits flying Hurris and Spits early on who start with Burst 2. * "I" believe the key to the game is card flow. If you are "pulling" more cards than the enemy, you have a HUGE advantage. Therefore, here are skills that I always feel are excellent : - Anticipation/Leader Advice - Quick Reflexes/Evasive/Shake Him Off * I'm also quite fond of Team Work, as this is an EXTRA card every turn for the wingie, and those wingie cards are "free". I haven't done it yet, but I can't WAIT to get Team Work on some of those late war US planes with wingie attack values of 3! Hoo Ahhh! * The skills above are ALWAYS useful, ALL the time, in EVERY game. A lot of the other skills, although nice, might not ever see play each and every game. Natural Pilot, Check Six are NICE, but what if you never take THAT much damage or you wingie is NEVER attacked? Of course, note with what I've said, the GREAT skills are VERY expensive, while the good skills are MUCH cheaper. Heh. You get what you pay for, I guess. * What's interesting, is that I THINK I might have discovered of late that overdoing ONE aspect might not be wise, either. My best Japanese pair have ALL of the extra card goodies: Anticipation/Leader Advice/Quick Reflexes/Evasive/Shake Him Off. Sounds great, eh? Well....I ALWAYS have tons of cards, but I'm finding that I end up DISCARDING most of them while trying to find the "right" card. At high altitude, it sure seems silly to be discarding 4-5 cards to draw "one" (only 1 HP at Hi Alt in my trusty Zero). Maybe I should have considered Redline in lieu of one of the above skills? Maybe... * For some odd reason, after a few thousand games, the AI seems to be schooling me HARD in the use of altitude changes as a killer strategy. Now that I'm at higher skill levels, I'm fighting AI with LOTS of the altitude skills: Power Dive/Stay With Him/ Shake him Off/Zoom Climb. When my Zeroes pull a Scissors and get a good pop in, on the following turn he climbs, forcing me to discard up to THREE cards now to follow. I swear, he immediately follows it with a Vertical Roll, forcing MORE discards from my hand. If I'm not careful when I choose to follow, all the sudden I'm facing a very angry P40 with 5 cards....and my zero has 2. Mr. P40 always seems to then LEAD with a scissors, which I swear is always the LAST card I just discarded to follow him. I'm now in trouble and feeling stupid. I'm learning the hard way to just "let them go" when the AI changes altitude when I'm advantaged and he has too many Altitude skills... Maybe pursuing the "altitude" skills is the way to go? It adds a whole new "dimension" (pun intended) to the fight. I think my next group of pilots (US), are going to try this route. Ugh, I'm not looking forward to those first few flights in the P36, however! SamF7 [ June 24, 2006, 06:42 PM: Message edited by: SamF7 ]

*Sigh* Inigo......THAT part of the game I'm currently learning the hard way. I didn't plan my skills.... I just bought them as the points became available..... "Experimenting" I told myself..... I'm currently paying for that sillyness. I think it also explains why I've suddenly "hit a wall" with my pilots against the AI. My chosen skills just aren't complementing each other. I lost 5 consecutive missions last night. Both my pilots were gunned down in EVERY mission, once by the end of turn 2 (ouch). The AI "cleared the skies" of all four of us (2:2) in two of those five. Embarrassing. I'll choose my skills MUCH more carefully this time.....and I have a plan..... SamF7

Yeah yeah yeah: A "You're Dead Card" = "2 hits: Destroyed". Heh. I was on the receiving end of THREE of those last night (it was not a good night for my pilots)...... I was like you, Jim, early in my DiF experience => I just didn't see much "skill" in the game. I was winning about 40-50% of my games against evently matched planes. But then I started to REALLY watch how the AI was playing - I REALLY started to analyze why the AI always seemed to have 5-6 cards, while my pilots only seemed to have 2-3 at any given time. "Strategy", in the game, really comes down to just a couple, simple concepts (IMHO), most of them based on always having more cards than the enemy. Examples: 1) Learning when NOT to play a card. If the AI is plinking you with a simple 1 hit burst, don't plop down your ACE or vertical roll to cancel it. Take those tinks, and save your "avoidance" cards for when it matters (to save your bacon from being "flipped" to damaged or dead). ACE cards and Vertical Roll (VR) cards are the ONLY cards that can stop those hideous "Out of the Sun cards" - hoard them like gold. Note the devestation to be had with a "Target Destroyed" card AND an ACE card in your hand. The ONLY thing that can save the AI is another ACE card. Don't be so quick to plop down that ACE card to avoid an enemy move/shot, especially if it gives the AI just a modest advantage. Have a scissors card? Let him burn cards to get in a maneuver. USE your cards to prevent him from TAILING you. On your turn you go from being advantagED to HAVING the advantage. 1 successful scissors = 2 maneuvers. Likewise, those half loop cards are GOLD. The computer can burn a LOT of cards to get on your tail and get some shots off. If you have effective "dodge" cards, one loop card on your turn puts everthing back to normal. I guess what I'm saying is watch for situations where you have a hand where the enemy has to plunk down 2 or more cards that can be countered by just one of your cards. 2) Know the intricacies of the cards: * Scissors trumps Tight Turn, but only TT's can dodge shots. * Ace trumps everything * Barrel rolls are the most common card and counter each other. * Maneuver, Half Loop, Bursts => Attack Cards * TT, BR, ACE, VR => Defense Cards * VR, ACE => VERY special cards. ACE trumps everything. VR can dodge, but also be used during your turn to change elevation. Let me give an example: the computer pops you HARD (3+ hits). You have a BR, TT, Scissors. Do you play the BR or TT? Both BR and TT will "dodge" the shot, but BR is easily countered (very common card), while a TT, even if the AI matches your TT, you can always trump it with SC. Essentially, the computer has to have BOTH a TT and SC to stop your TT. It's the better play. 3) Strategy : I don't claim to be an expert here, but there really are some interesting situations that can occur that can be capitalized on. Hand full of DEFENSE only cards, no maneuver or burst cards? Then LET the AI get on your tail and blaze away. DON'T counter his maneuvers, but let him just flail away with valuable burst afer valuable burst. This is when I have my Wingie go for his wingie and just let his Leader waste cards on my leader, who can't attack ANYWAY! I've had a hand of 2 ACE's, 2 Vertical rolls, and all the rest of Barrel Rolls and tight turns. Defense time. Time to target his wingie with your wingie and just let your leader bear the heat.....he's got the cards for it and he can't attack ANYWAY. Got a hand of "Target Destroyed", ACE, Half Loop? Yah, you can pop the enemy leader with this hand, but if his leader has a bunch of cards (lets say 5+), then why not use these three cards to target his wingie with his MUCH smaller hand? The ONLY thing that can save his wingie is another ACE card. Especially deadly against Japanese planes at high altitude (1 def card)! It's most likely a free kill. Advantaged? Tailed? Change altitude. A lot. Climbing forces him to lose a card. If you have a worthless card, this is a no-brainer. Diving MIGHT give you a card to save your bacon (a SC when you are advantaged, ACE, VR, HL any other time). Realize that the following plane ALWAYS loses an "extra" card when you are only advantaged. The evil VR forces him to lose an ADDITIONAL card. Climbing, yet another! Note that you should NEVER discard cards UNLESS it will get you more cards. Example; planes with -1 for damage find 1:1 cards worthless. I was ALWAYS discarding them at the end of my turn, even if the discard DIDN'T free up a draw! It took me a few games to realize that 1:1's are PERFECT cards to discard when climbing or following a baddie, even if my dinky guns carried the -1 penalty! In short, it's always good to have the AI burn more cards than you! Sam_F7