The Newbie's Guide to Hunting Bombers in Arcade mode

[Isamu_Shosa 248]

First off, this is written for patch 1.41 - your mileage may vary in later patches.  This guide also assumes you want your team to win the match, not just get points/kills to the exclusion of your team.

 

So you may have heard about how bombers dominate (or ruin) matches in arcade.  What's the deal with that?

 

In short, bombers can end many matches very quickly by bombing the enemy airfield.  It's a very effective mechanic, as evidenced by A) the number of people flying heavy bombers from roughly Tier 3 onwards, and B) the volume of complaining on the forums (not necessarily in that order).  This post isn't meant to assess whether or not this is how the game should be, rather, it will approach the game as it is, and try to help you make the best of it.

 

Which matches does this occur in, and when do I need to start worrying about it?

 

Technically this mechanic exists in most domination matches from Tier I onward; however, the bombers at that level generally have a hard time taking advantage of it.  Only from Tier 3 onward do bombers with large enough capacity start coming into play, and from Tier 4 pretty much every nation can get in on the game.

 

As for which maps, there are 3 categories:

 

-Ground Strike with strategic targets. These are the three red bullseye markers (and corresponding blue shield markers) on the map.  These represent targets that must be destroyed by bombers before they can damage the airfield (more on this later).

 

-Ground Strike without strategic targets.  Very few Groundstrike maps lack those targets, but notably, Pacific Island Hidden Base, Crater, and Green Valley don't have those bases.  Bombers on this map can zerg right at your airfield.

 

-Domination.  There are no Domination maps to my knowledge that use this mechanic; bombers participate in the match normally.

 

So how do I deal with it?

 

Kill them all.  There are a few things to keep in mind with this:

 

-Prioritize.  Know who's the bigger danger.  There are several factors to this, though bombload is probably the biggest for our purpose.  Roughly, this is how I would prioritize for plane types:

 

Yer-2: Kill these ones first.  They have the largest bombload or are tied for it, depending on which variant.  Anybody flying one is probably going to have 4 in his lineup, so curbstomp them early and often.  It also has relatively weaker defensive armament than the other heavy bombers (and is technically a medium, but has a heavy payload).

 

B-24, Lancaster:  Roughly about the same in priority.  They're carrying an 8000 pound payload, functionally equivalent in terms of damage to your base.  They have good defensive armament compared to the jumped up medium bombers, but not quite the best.

 

Do-217E/K/M:  Another twin engine bomber with a 4000kg payload.  It has better defensive armament than a Yer, but less than the rest.  Note that it has a lower service ceiling, though, so we place it here in priority.

 

G5M:  Feel sorry for the poor xxxxxxx stuck flying this, then murderize his plane.  It has 4x800kg bombs, which are functionally equivalent to the other top priority bombers, and lots of turrets, but is a flying slug, and dies a lot faster.

 

B-17 series:  Heavily defensive, with lots of turrets.  6000 pound bombload.  People will argue back and forth whether this is better/worse than the G8N, but the key factor is that the guy flying one of these probably has others in his pocket, where the G8N guy doesn't.  Therefore, you should murderize this plane over a G8N.

 

G8N: Lots of defensive turrets, including multiple 20mm cannon mounts.  3x800kg bombload is unimpressive though.  Nicknamed "the Death Star" by past players for its ability to be a rather nasty gunship, though many would argue the B-17 functions similarly now.  Note though, it has a very high service ceiling, and can go up to 10km in altitude, at which point it can be very hard to catch (we'll discuss that in a moment).

 

Medium bombers always come after this, as their payloads are at most around 2000kg equivalent or less.  Don't even bother with them unless there are no heavies anywhere close. 

 

I mentioned strategic targets before, but here's how it works.  There are three of these targets, and each takes roughly 3000kg/6000 pounds of bombs to destroy.  I say roughly, because the size of the bomb matters, as well as the nationality.  3x800kg Japanese bombs is enough to kill one, but 12x250kg may not be enough.  Some of these bombers may not be fully upgraded, but there's no way to tell, so assume they have the max.  Thus, any of these medium bombers is going to need at minimum 2 passes to take one of these out.  Once these are gone, the airfield itself takes about 15,000kg equivalent to destroy.  Most bombers will be on a reload timer of roughly 45 seconds to 1 minute, down to as low as around 30 seconds at maximum crew upgrades.

 

Also, keep in mind what they're doing - you want to kill the bombers that are going for airbase bombing first, then worry about the ones killing ground vehicles after.  You can't always tell which is which, but anyone climbing to high altitude is going to be your first concern - you can get the ones on the deck later, and any respawning fighters can go after those.  Second, anyone not flying anywhere close to a strategic target or the airfield is probably not your primary concern, either.

 

 

So how should I take them out?

 

Standard anti-bomber tactics have been discussed elsewhere, but I'll reiterate the basics here:

 

-Don't just sit on their tail.  This is asking to get your plane chewed up, even if they don't shoot you down outright.

-Come at them fast and at an angle, preferably from above, but below can work too.

-Aim for the wings, not the body.  The body can take a lot of damage, but take out the engines/wings, and it's going to have trouble staying in the air (or at least, trouble hitting anything).

-Hit and run - dart in, blast away, and pull back, especially if you're out of ammo.  Stay at least 1km away (preferably more) while doing so, so his gunners can't easily target you.

-Climb at the start of the match.  Bombers start with an altitude advantage, and many of them will climb for dear life until they hit service ceiling.  If they're high enough above you, you'll never catch up before the match is over.

-Don't chase them needlessly.  I can't reiterate this enough.  If a bomber at altitude dives, and there are other bombers up there, don't chase him down!  He's trying to lead you away from the others.  Likewise, if he turns and flies off to the far edge of the map away from everything else, think twice about chasing him.  I constantly see multiple fighters chasing some bomber off to the far side of the map - he's just managed to take all of you out of the fight for however long it takes you to finally hunt him down.  Meanwhile he'll spawn back at the start, and you're stuck flying back.

 

Is there anything else I should know?

 

You may want to consider flying escort for your own bombers at altitude.  Any enemy fighters that are climbing to go after them probably are going to assume you're a threat anyway.  This may mean a short match, too, but winning that way is far preferable to losing that way.

Edited August 20, 2014 by Isamu_Shosa

[Old_Crow51 336]

Any suggestions on the best aircraft to use? I don't mean like a few options, I mean the best and only one in your opinion?

[Isamu_Shosa 248]

There's a few considerations, in my mind, just offhand.  Some of it depends on what tier and nation, but generally:

 

-Gun size.  Bigger guns do more damage, and some of the massive ones (30-37mm or bigger) can kill a bomber in a single shot.

-Aircraft type.  Some aircraft are considered 'bombers' by the game, and get the same altitude boost, which can make the initial climb a lot easier.

-Climb rate.  Anything with a ridiculously fast climb rate is pretty good.

 

But if I had to absolutely pick one and only one?  Probably the Me-163.  It was designed explicitly for bomber interception, after all.

[Fifty_Calories 619]

So much bomber hate...

[Isamu_Shosa 248]

Don't get me wrong, I play a lot of bombers.  That's part of what informs this - I'd rather people look at it from the perspective of what they can do to help win, rather than ranting and raving that bombers are OP, while their idiot teammates go running off to chase that medium bomber on the deck to the edge of the map.

[Old_Crow51 336]

The only problem with that though is that the Me-163, with its massive BR won't be facing too many B-17s. What about something in the Tier III-IV range?

[Isamu_Shosa 248]

You did ask what one plane was best overall, not the BR.  That being the case, the Japanese version might be better suited at a full 1.0 BR lower.  Again though, that's not a lot of help to anyone in the Tier III range where this tactic first comes up.  That said...

 

To provide a few more choices that may arrive a bit earlier, here are the ones I'd go for by nationality around Tier III, with BR listed.  Note that these are only presented in terms of their advantages vs Heavy Bombers, not for any other purpose:

 

USA:  Tier III

- P-63 series (37mm cannon) BR 4.0

- F4U-1c (20mm cannons + high climb rate) BR 5.0

- BTD-1 (Premium plane, but starts at Bomber Altitude, good climb rate, and 20mm cannons) BR 4.3

 

Tier IV US the F8F-1B is probably the best of the lot, armament wise, but they all have pretty good climb rates.

 

Germany: Tier III

- It's really hard to go wrong with almost any German fighters, but you'll probably want to look to the Ju-87G with 2x 37mm cannons (BR 3.0).  These also lead to the Tier 4 planes specifically for bomber hunting - the Me-410 U4 variants with the 50mm cannon. (BR 4.3, 5.0)

 

Into Tier IV, the Me-109 G6 and G10 can also sport some rather cannon-heavy armament when fully upgraded (3x 30mm) with a good climb rate.

 

USSR: Tier III

- Yak 9T (37mm cannon) - BR 4.0

- Yak 9K (45mm cannon) - BR 3.7

The La-5F also has a high rate of climb at 22m/s, so isn't a bad candidate either.

For Tier IV, most of the main fighters are generally pretty good, though the I-185s and La- series tend to have better climb rates and similar armament compared with the Tier IV Yaks.

 

Britain: Tier III

- Typhoon Ib, Ib/L - BR 4.0/4.3

- Beaufighter Mk X, Beaufighter Mk 21 - BR 4.0/5.0

For Tier IV, the Tempest Mk V is really nice with twin 47mm cannons and a good climb rate, though the Mosquito Mk XVIII is also nice.

 

Japan: Tier III

- Ki-102 otsu (57mm cannon plus 2x 20mm) BR 3.7

For Tier IV, the Ki-84 hei with 2x 30mm + 2x 20mm, and the N1K2-Ja with superior climbing rate and 4x20mm, are good choices.

 

Again, these are just beginning suggestions.  Hopefully it helps a bit.

[CYKA_RED_OCTOBER 1,149]

So much bomber hate...

 

How is a guide for countering bombers hate? 

[CheapSushi 566]

Any suggestions on the best aircraft to use? I don't mean like a few options, I mean the best and only one in your opinion?

 

Anything with a 30mm cannon or up and/or rockets will take them out really easy.  20mm is hit or miss on kills unless you've got at least 4 and shoot the wing or tail. Most of the bombers lock up easily if the ailerons & elevators get destroyed and will end up crashing.   I know my B-17G gets one-shot often and or at least black bodied  against aircraft with 30mm and up. 4x20mm or more is usually enough to destroy wings but only from an angle. If you shoot behind the wing or body it'll take a lot of punishment. So always do a slash up or down attack on the wing instead. 

 

Think about how much thicker the wing is if a bullet or round is going from the back to the front.  It's much thinner depth wise. 

Edited August 21, 2014 by CheapSushi

[Bramborough 376]

Excellent post/topic, and I agree with 99% of it.  A couple of comments:

 

1.  The two B-17E's have the 6000lb payload that you mention, but the B-17G carries 8000lb, so if prioritizing by bombweight size, the B-17G should probably be bumped up in your ranking.  Because of the way the labels work, can't tell from distance whether an E or G model; I like to take a quick look at the player listing to see how many E's and G's are up.

 

2.  I'm not sure that prioritizing by number of aircraft variants is effective.  For example, you mention that B-17 is a higher priority than G8N1 because the B-17 player probably has more B-17s in his AB lineup, whereas the G8N1 only has one.  I think that's a reason to reverse the priority.  If you kill the B-17 first, you've killed a bomber...a bomber which will be quickly replaced with another quite similar.  If you kill the G8N1, however, you've killed a bomber player...or at least forced him to fall back on the significantly less threatening G5N1 or Ki-49.

 

3.  That said, I still agree with placing Yer-2 at top of the list, even if disregarding the fact that the player may have several lined up.  Just based on bombload weight.

 

4. Regarding good bomber hunters.  Several good comments on this already in thread.  Personally, I like the G6 and G10 as bomber hunters (haven't played the K4 yet, but I expect it will be similarly effective)...for me, they've got the best combination of firepower, climbing ability, and high-altitude performance.  Many like the Yak-9T/K; they've certainly got the firepower, but I find them lacking in flight performance at higher altitudes...that said, I'm working toward the big guns on the Yak-9P, and am expecting that it will join my Bf109s as preferred bomber-killers.

 

5. As far as escorts.  Climbrate, high-alt performance, and speed are needed, and most Rank IV fighters have these (but not all...A6M5 and F-82E come to mind as notable exceptions).  Recently I've enjoyed using the FW190 D-9 in this role.

 

At the risk of going off on a tangent from the topic, I'll mention something for the bomber players in the context of fighter escorts:  If you've got an enemy interceptor coming after you, but you also have friendly fighters up at altitude in the vicinity, don't dive.  Jink, turn, whatever, to make it harder for the guy to hit you, but maintain altitude.  I know that often there's no friend around and diving is an effective defense (at least for the moment...once you get down low, then you've got other problems).  But if there's blue fighters up that high, then realize that player took the time and trouble to climb...he's up there specifically in an interceptor/escort role, actively seeking the very guy who's after you.  Usually your ally will come to your aid...not necessarily to help, per se, but because he's looking for kills.  If you dive and take your pursuer with you, however, your ally is probably not going to follow (even if he does, you've made his job much harder).

 

I don't know how many times I've been closing in on a red interceptor fixated on a blue bomber, a really juicy kill opportunity...and then just before I get within firing range, the bomber dives, taking my quarry with him.  I rarely follow, as I don't want to give up the altitude I spent lots of time obtaining...I just look for somebody else.

[Kazumi_ 6,575]

 

Wellingtons are too easy to kill in bf-109's, just saying. pop off an engine, rattle the body, and it's dead.

Edited August 23, 2014 by Undead_Phantom

[PiotrV 201]

My 2 cents about effective bomber hunters (my own experience):

 

 

USA

Thunderbolts IF you keep your lineup at 3.0 BR. They won't have to deal with B17s, Yers, etc. and 8x12.7mm is more than fine for wrecking Wellies, and anything on those BRs. Just be carefull with B-25s - they might require a couple of extra hits to take down so avoid the gunner fire.

 

Airacobras - somehow less effective after BR nerf but still an interesting choice. Grab the rockets while you're at it. Aim carefully with the cannon, pump rockets into anything that refuses to die from 37mm.

 

Kingcobras - similar to their younger siblings. Aim carefully, don't spam the cannon. Higher BRs so you're in danger of meeting B17s that will be a pain in your a$$. 

 

 

Japan

Ki-45 Otsu, Hei, Tei

 

Climb well, decent turning, 2 engines and 37mm cannons. Most important: they're made of paper - avoid gunner fire at all cost. Use 37mm wisely - it will be your main source of kills (20mm sux) but you have very limited ammo count. Note: Tei has Schräge Musik and some people can use it effectively (not me ;D).

 

Brits

I honestly used only premium Typhoon for bomber hunting. It's op as fck with sick climbrate, 4x20mm and only 3.7 BR. BEAST

You can try to use Beaufighters (that climbrate, tho :/) or Spits (low ammo count).

 

USRR

 

Yak-9T/K No-brainers, nice climbrate and cannons of death. You can't go wrong with them + you can win most of the fights vs enemy bomber fighters if you turnfight.

 

I-185 UFO with sick climbrate and 3x20mm that can deal with almost any enemy. B17s might be slightly problematic.

 

La-5/7 As long as you stay away from B17s you can go nuts.

 

Pe-2 Peshka with rockets - troll plane, although I've had some issues with rockets for a while. Either it's just me or they got nerfed :/

 

 

Germany

I've too random results vs bombers to give any decent advice.

[SBS 10]

A nice little guide. Hopefully it will help people with taking down the bombers, rather then just hate on them.

 

I especially like the advice on prioritizing bombers. Haven't really unlocked any bombers yet except B25, I mainly play fighter. So knowing what threat they posses is really welcome information. Thank you!

[VikernesVarg 1,525]

Very nice! Here I have a prime example of bomber intercepting:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfoZQykG3bE&list=UU4UXGmGTMLIiJq6gN_M_u1Q

[Kazumi_ 6,575]

If they get all the Hs 129 variants to spawn at bomber height, that right there is the perfect bomber hunter. 2x 7.92mm's. 2x 20mm's (or a 1x 75mm on the hs 129b3 I think.) with an additional 30mm or 37mm cannon (the 37 I call the "Boom Stick". every shot will make your plane jerk back from the sheer power of the recoil)

[White_Wing_Death 27]

Could I thank all the guys that have replied to this post ? As a fairly new tier III bomber (Yer 2 105) I now know what fighters to avoid like the plague :Os !!!

As an F2P I need silver lions, my Yer2 earns them in spades; it pays for tanks and wins games, which is why we play, no? Destroying a base single handed is mucho deniero. It's my only 'heavy' bomber as I like fighters for fun and also have a few heavy fighter/dive bombers for the 'realistic' battles as they are more versatile and can take a beating.

 

I do have a favourite Tier III 'bomber killer', can I recommend PE2's with 10 x 132mm rockets? It starts high, climbs like a monkey with all its mods, and it's nasty. It earned me the 'Blaster' tag and I wear it with pride.

 

For my fledgling Comrade bombers; :secret: ............advice earned through much death......

 

I rarely get shot early down by using the high altitude trick. When I do get shot it's by flying too low or too slow, simple.

If you can't get away from the enemy you can;

 

dive into friendly fighters and give 'em a good meal.

 

dive away and give your tail gunner some target practice. Try increasing your gunners 'vitality' (+damage taken b4 death), the amount of 'experienced gunners', and 'accuracy' with crew xp points. They will save your life, a lot. Most fighters will get on your tail so cockpits and engines makes sense for a target. I like AP ammo in my turrets, it will pierce cockpits and engines. If I had a decent graphics card i'm sure i'd see their brains splatter onto the cockpit glass.

 

Buy an experienced crew as soon as you have enough xp's (normally 150-200) - You reload bombs much quicker and have more accurate gunners as a whole.

 

Do not panic and loose speed by banking and turning sharply (this has got me killed many times) when being chased/strafed. Only bank if the enemy is reloading because if you're being a slow, triple large target with your most vulnerable surfaces exposed it's an easy kill, or suicide depending on your crew's point of view - their lives are in your hands.

 

Try to keep your profile small, fast and 'jinking' about but banking hard can work if the enemy looks like he will overshoot you at a high speed; bank when he's heading/facing away so your tail gunner can catch him instead when he's banking, slowing and enlarging his profile to return - if he hasn't used the target tracking key (alt) he may loose you for long enough for you to escape.

 

If you're on 'realistic' battles don't dive too fast, it's hard to pull up and you can rip off a wing or two.

 

If you do have to turn hard you can stay almost level by using full opposite wing down i.e. hard turn right, use full flaps on your left wing (A) - your profile stays smaller, and your gunners are more stable/accurate and not being chucked around. Once you learn this control technique you can use it for a tight turning bombing run, your bombs become far more accurate as banking tends to 'fling' bombs around in an inaccurate arc when they're released.

 

Thick clouds are excellent cover and allow lower flying, but stay behind the enemy spawn point. Shallow dive in on a bombing run to gain speed, release and bank/climb away in a 180 to regain height ready for your next reload/run, i like flying a long stretched '0' and start my return with a few seconds left until my bombs reload. If you can stay deep in the clouds when doing all this you will be invisible to all but the best eyes, bombing away at leisure. Learn to use your bomb-sight F7 - amateurs use the F3 view graphic circle, which means they have to go low, then they die in a hail of fire.

 

Hope this helps future bombers without helping those nasty little fighters too much?

 

Be lucky  :salute:

[kpdhoschi 47]

I agree with Asuma for winning the game, but most players will try to max out their points/kills, and basically leave it to own side bombers to finish off targets faster than the red side. In that case the priority list changes a lot.

 

When flying a single engined fighter, attacking the first wave:

- You have to reach the bomb level of 3 resp. 4,5 km as soon as possible. Don't climb to steep, as the game engine ignores air drag, so the best climb rate is at high speed.

- Target for uncovered bombers or with twin engine escorts. Me 410, Pe3  and Mosquitos have extremly low turning rates and will be very slow due the climb.

- You will end up dead behind the bombers simply because of the speed loss due the climb. If the bomber dives, it will reach 700-900 km/h and you're not able to follow, so stay up.

 

1. Go for He 111 and Wellingtons. Both are slow and have poor guns, so they are easy bait. They are not able to reach 5 km before you're near them, so no chance of climbing out of the way.

 

2. Aim for Ar, SB, Yer and Do. Attack from the side and below.

 

3. Ignore B-17, B-24 unless you have rockets or a truckload of cannons.

 

4. Ignore G5 and G8 as these have incredible climb rates and will be at 5-6km when you're at 4.

 

When the first wave is finished off either climb for the Jap bombers, try your luck with the american ones or dive for twin engine planes.

[punktowiec 3]

I just have found out that Zhukovsky's I-153 can cripple big bombers with rockets...

[Kazumi_ 6,575]

When will you people (and maybe forum staff, if needed, not naming names) realize that this thread is outdated, and in need of up-to-date info and stats, or a lock if there are no plans to update and expand?

[Capt_Bullship 0]

Best bomber hunters are BY FAR, imho, the Fw190 D line .. :) They are amongst the best prop climbers in the game and pack a wallop! Even at a 4.7BR the D9 can wreak havoc thru bombers, even the likes of the G8N1 and B17s with their crazy defense systems.. also the best investment I have ever made in War Thunder was to get the D13 premium.

 

To some lesser extent the Bf109-K4 .. it does have a great climb rate, and great weapons .. but I guess i'm more accustomed to the FW190 D line

 

If you want to stay at lower BR (in the 3.0 range) .. i'd suggest the P47s .. those things climb VERY well, have tons of speed and even withouth rockets can easily take out the bombers it encounters.

 

If you want to go at an even lower BR (in the 2.0 range) .. definately the Yak1 ..

 

Also, if you like to play bomber escort .. i would suggest your take a look at the Ki-43-III Otsu, it has a CRAZY climb rate .. one of the best, if not THE best, prop climber in the game. Has decent weaponry and is agile like expected from a Japanese plane. It DOES suffer in the armor department hence why I cannot suggest it as a bomber interceptor .. but if you play the plane appropriately your bombers will love you.

[__EasY__ 127]

Good article, informative, well constructed and put together thanks!

[WafflesToo 41]

Arrrgh! I hate bomber pilots like you. You make my job (of killing you) sooooooo haaaaard!

Keep up the good work #1

Could I thank all the guys that have replied to this post ? As a fairly new tier III bomber (Yer 2 105) I now know what fighters to avoid like the plague :Os !!!
As an F2P I need silver lions, my Yer2 earns them in spades; it pays for tanks and wins games, which is why we play, no? Destroying a base single handed is mucho deniero. It's my only 'heavy' bomber as I like fighters for fun and also have a few heavy fighter/dive bombers for the 'realistic' battles as they are more versatile and can take a beating.

I do have a favourite Tier III 'bomber killer', can I recommend PE2's with 10 x 132mm rockets? It starts high, climbs like a monkey with all its mods, and it's nasty. It earned me the 'Blaster' tag and I wear it with pride.

For my fledgling Comrade bombers; :secret: ............advice earned through much death......

I rarely get shot early down by using the high altitude trick. When I do get shot it's by flying too low or too slow, simple.
If you can't get away from the enemy you can;

dive into friendly fighters and give 'em a good meal.

dive away and give your tail gunner some target practice. Try increasing your gunners 'vitality' (+damage taken b4 death), the amount of 'experienced gunners', and 'accuracy' with crew xp points. They will save your life, a lot. Most fighters will get on your tail so cockpits and engines makes sense for a target. I like AP ammo in my turrets, it will pierce cockpits and engines. If I had a decent graphics card i'm sure i'd see their brains splatter onto the cockpit glass.

Buy an experienced crew as soon as you have enough xp's (normally 150-200) - You reload bombs much quicker and have more accurate gunners as a whole.

Do not panic and loose speed by banking and turning sharply (this has got me killed many times) when being chased/strafed. Only bank if the enemy is reloading because if you're being a slow, triple large target with your most vulnerable surfaces exposed it's an easy kill, or suicide depending on your crew's point of view - their lives are in your hands.

Try to keep your profile small, fast and 'jinking' about but banking hard can work if the enemy looks like he will overshoot you at a high speed; bank when he's heading/facing away so your tail gunner can catch him instead when he's banking, slowing and enlarging his profile to return - if he hasn't used the target tracking key (alt) he may loose you for long enough for you to escape.

If you're on 'realistic' battles don't dive too fast, it's hard to pull up and you can rip off a wing or two.

If you do have to turn hard you can stay almost level by using full opposite wing down i.e. hard turn right, use full flaps on your left wing (A) - your profile stays smaller, and your gunners are more stable/accurate and not being chucked around. Once you learn this control technique you can use it for a tight turning bombing run, your bombs become far more accurate as banking tends to 'fling' bombs around in an inaccurate arc when they're released.

Thick clouds are excellent cover and allow lower flying, but stay behind the enemy spawn point. Shallow dive in on a bombing run to gain speed, release and bank/climb away in a 180 to regain height ready for your next reload/run, i like flying a long stretched '0' and start my return with a few seconds left until my bombs reload. If you can stay deep in the clouds when doing all this you will be invisible to all but the best eyes, bombing away at leisure. Learn to use your bomb-sight F7 - amateurs use the F3 view graphic circle, which means they have to go low, then they die in a hail of fire.

Hope this helps future bombers without helping those nasty little fighters too much?

Be lucky :salute:

Arrrgh! I hate bomber pilots like you. You make my job (of killing you) sooooooo haaaaard!

Keep up the good work #1

Could I thank all the guys that have replied to this post ? As a fairly new tier III bomber (Yer 2 105) I now know what fighters to avoid like the plague :Os !!!
As an F2P I need silver lions, my Yer2 earns them in spades; it pays for tanks and wins games, which is why we play, no? Destroying a base single handed is mucho deniero. It's my only 'heavy' bomber as I like fighters for fun and also have a few heavy fighter/dive bombers for the 'realistic' battles as they are more versatile and can take a beating.

I do have a favourite Tier III 'bomber killer', can I recommend PE2's with 10 x 132mm rockets? It starts high, climbs like a monkey with all its mods, and it's nasty. It earned me the 'Blaster' tag and I wear it with pride.

For my fledgling Comrade bombers; :secret: ............advice earned through much death......

I rarely get shot early down by using the high altitude trick. When I do get shot it's by flying too low or too slow, simple.
If you can't get away from the enemy you can;

dive into friendly fighters and give 'em a good meal.

dive away and give your tail gunner some target practice. Try increasing your gunners 'vitality' (+damage taken b4 death), the amount of 'experienced gunners', and 'accuracy' with crew xp points. They will save your life, a lot. Most fighters will get on your tail so cockpits and engines makes sense for a target. I like AP ammo in my turrets, it will pierce cockpits and engines. If I had a decent graphics card i'm sure i'd see their brains splatter onto the cockpit glass.

Buy an experienced crew as soon as you have enough xp's (normally 150-200) - You reload bombs much quicker and have more accurate gunners as a whole.

Do not panic and loose speed by banking and turning sharply (this has got me killed many times) when being chased/strafed. Only bank if the enemy is reloading because if you're being a slow, triple large target with your most vulnerable surfaces exposed it's an easy kill, or suicide depending on your crew's point of view - their lives are in your hands.

Try to keep your profile small, fast and 'jinking' about but banking hard can work if the enemy looks like he will overshoot you at a high speed; bank when he's heading/facing away so your tail gunner can catch him instead when he's banking, slowing and enlarging his profile to return - if he hasn't used the target tracking key (alt) he may loose you for long enough for you to escape.

If you're on 'realistic' battles don't dive too fast, it's hard to pull up and you can rip off a wing or two.

If you do have to turn hard you can stay almost level by using full opposite wing down i.e. hard turn right, use full flaps on your left wing (A) - your profile stays smaller, and your gunners are more stable/accurate and not being chucked around. Once you learn this control technique you can use it for a tight turning bombing run, your bombs become far more accurate as banking tends to 'fling' bombs around in an inaccurate arc when they're released.

Thick clouds are excellent cover and allow lower flying, but stay behind the enemy spawn point. Shallow dive in on a bombing run to gain speed, release and bank/climb away in a 180 to regain height ready for your next reload/run, i like flying a long stretched '0' and start my return with a few seconds left until my bombs reload. If you can stay deep in the clouds when doing all this you will be invisible to all but the best eyes, bombing away at leisure. Learn to use your bomb-sight F7 - amateurs use the F3 view graphic circle, which means they have to go low, then they die in a hail of fire.

Hope this helps future bombers without helping those nasty little fighters too much?

Be lucky :salute:

Arrrgh! I hate bomber pilots like you. You make my job (of killing you) sooooooo haaaaard!

Keep up the good work #1

Could I thank all the guys that have replied to this post ? As a fairly new tier III bomber (Yer 2 105) I now know what fighters to avoid like the plague :Os !!!
As an F2P I need silver lions, my Yer2 earns them in spades; it pays for tanks and wins games, which is why we play, no? Destroying a base single handed is mucho deniero. It's my only 'heavy' bomber as I like fighters for fun and also have a few heavy fighter/dive bombers for the 'realistic' battles as they are more versatile and can take a beating.

I do have a favourite Tier III 'bomber killer', can I recommend PE2's with 10 x 132mm rockets? It starts high, climbs like a monkey with all its mods, and it's nasty. It earned me the 'Blaster' tag and I wear it with pride.

For my fledgling Comrade bombers; :secret: ............advice earned through much death......

I rarely get shot early down by using the high altitude trick. When I do get shot it's by flying too low or too slow, simple.
If you can't get away from the enemy you can;

dive into friendly fighters and give 'em a good meal.

dive away and give your tail gunner some target practice. Try increasing your gunners 'vitality' (+damage taken b4 death), the amount of 'experienced gunners', and 'accuracy' with crew xp points. They will save your life, a lot. Most fighters will get on your tail so cockpits and engines makes sense for a target. I like AP ammo in my turrets, it will pierce cockpits and engines. If I had a decent graphics card i'm sure i'd see their brains splatter onto the cockpit glass.

Buy an experienced crew as soon as you have enough xp's (normally 150-200) - You reload bombs much quicker and have more accurate gunners as a whole.

Do not panic and loose speed by banking and turning sharply (this has got me killed many times) when being chased/strafed. Only bank if the enemy is reloading because if you're being a slow, triple large target with your most vulnerable surfaces exposed it's an easy kill, or suicide depending on your crew's point of view - their lives are in your hands.

Try to keep your profile small, fast and 'jinking' about but banking hard can work if the enemy looks like he will overshoot you at a high speed; bank when he's heading/facing away so your tail gunner can catch him instead when he's banking, slowing and enlarging his profile to return - if he hasn't used the target tracking key (alt) he may loose you for long enough for you to escape.

If you're on 'realistic' battles don't dive too fast, it's hard to pull up and you can rip off a wing or two.

If you do have to turn hard you can stay almost level by using full opposite wing down i.e. hard turn right, use full flaps on your left wing (A) - your profile stays smaller, and your gunners are more stable/accurate and not being chucked around. Once you learn this control technique you can use it for a tight turning bombing run, your bombs become far more accurate as banking tends to 'fling' bombs around in an inaccurate arc when they're released.

Thick clouds are excellent cover and allow lower flying, but stay behind the enemy spawn point. Shallow dive in on a bombing run to gain speed, release and bank/climb away in a 180 to regain height ready for your next reload/run, i like flying a long stretched '0' and start my return with a few seconds left until my bombs reload. If you can stay deep in the clouds when doing all this you will be invisible to all but the best eyes, bombing away at leisure. Learn to use your bomb-sight F7 - amateurs use the F3 view graphic circle, which means they have to go low, then they die in a hail of fire.

Hope this helps future bombers without helping those nasty little fighters too much?

Be lucky :salute:

[Ardjeh 2]

Great guide, thanks alot!

[Pz_KpfW 110]

Read some of the reports of Crashed German bombers here.  Some contain reports by the pilots who shot them down, or by the pilots who got shot down. Quite interesting:

http://www.aircrewremembrancesociety.co.uk/styled-15/styled-17/index.html

[banana_777 19]

note to everyone

ta 154 is one of the best bomber hunters at it's teir although it is a premium. It can climb like a turboprop and has them 30mm cannons

 

also around 4.3 there are few bombers that climb as there are a lot of fighters who can climb better then them so they all just dive at the beginning of the match