The Frontal Bomber Attack
or
How to Turn a Buff into Scrap Metal and Live to Tell the Tale
Introduction
This document is a primer on how to attack bomber formations using the Frontal or Head On (HO) attack in WarBirds. Used against buffs, the frontal attack is a proven and reliable tactic, both historically and in the WarBirds™ simulation. Some mention of squad tactics ancillary to the HO attack will be made, but the primary thrust of this essay is to give the beginner an understanding of, and lesson in, employing the frontal attack. Other effective methods of bomber attack certainly exist; however, they are outside the scope of this discussion.
History
The frontal attack method was originated by Hauptmann Egon Mayer III./JG2 in 1942. By the end of the year JG2 had perfected the technique in their FW190s and had developed a fearsome reputation as viermot killers. Mayer himself claimed some twenty-five heavy bombers before his death in 1944. (Jagdgeschwader 2 'Richthofen', John Weal, 2000, Osprey Publishing, pp93-106)
Under Adolph Galland, the fighter arm of the Luftwaffe employed various forms of the frontal attack method throughout the rest of the war, much to the dismay of allied heavy bomber crews. When employed correctly the frontal attack was devastating and subjected the attacker to a minimum of defensive fire.
The Frontal Attack in WarBirds
The same reasons that made the frontal attack such an effective attack in WWII are the same reasons that make it an effective attack in WarBirds. In fact, it is probably even more effective.
Much controversy surrounds the damage modeling in Warbirds (though this phenomenon is certainly not unique to just Warbirds!). Most "experts" agree that kinetic energy is a much more important factor than any other factor when Warbirds computes damage. That is to say the force with which a projectile impacts a plane is most important. The only way to increase this force is to increase the velocity at which a round strikes, and the easiest way to do that is to come at a target head on.
Another advantage of the head on pass is that it subjects an attacker to far less defensive firepower than a "six" attack. Given the way OTTO acquires and tracks targets, most believe the frontal pass to be among the safest for attackers in WB, just as it was for WW2 pilots. Additionally, many bomber nose turrets have very restricted elevation ranges. The classic 12 o'clock high attack can often be met by only the defending bomber's top turret.
"Great!" you say, "This sounds like the perfect attack method. It's not hard is it?" Well, it's not extraordinarily difficult, but it does require patience, a proper setup, and a bit of gunnery skill.
Thankfully, Warbirds has a very useful offline practice feature. One can select Practice Offline, Bomber Attack and use the dot command ".offbombermodel B17" to setup a practice session. Under the Setup tab, one can vary the altitude at which the practice takes place. The offline bombers maintain a reasonable formation, but they are known to make erratic course changes.
The "Long Run" Attack
We can examine the frontal attack by thinking of it in three distinct phases: Uphill Leg, U-Turn, and Final Approach. We will begin by explaining one type of frontal attack that I call the Long Run. It differs from the Short Run only in that one gains more extension in the Uphill (but more on that later). In each description it will be assumed that you have made contact in a position unfavorable to proceed immediately to a frontal pass. This is the most common situation, but often with good ground control intercept (GCI) or a fair measure of luck, a frontal attack can be made without all the troublesome setup. Many times bombers can be attacked several times in succession by the frontal attack. Each attack cylce requires the same careful setup, so it is worth knowing how to do this well.
Click on the small, crude diagram above to see a larger version of the same crude diagram
Uphill Leg
I call it Uphill mostly because one must struggle to get out in front of the bombers. One must also climb to an altitude slightly above, but mostly the grind is to get out in front. Starting near the buff group, put yourself on a parallel course but offset about d10-d20. Hint: In S3 events, enemy id icons appear at d20. If you can see an id icon, you are close enough. If you are taking fire from OTTO, you are too close. Generally speaking, too much offset is better than not enough. You won't take OTTO fire and you can use a wider U-turn when the time comes.
Click on the image above to see a fullsize screen capture.
Click on the image above to see a fullsize screen capture.
So its full throttle from here to get ahead of and slightly above the bombers. In a low icon arena it can be quite difficult to judge the distance you have pulled ahead. When practicing a bomber attack offline, toggle the icon settings to give yourself a feel for how far out in front you are. As you become proficient, ween yourself from the icons altogether. Soon you will be able to estimate distances without the help of icons. As you move in front the bombers, take note of your heading and continue to look back at the bomber formation often to ensure they have not changed course and that your are in good position.
Special notes: An attacker is most vulnerable to escorts on the Uphill Leg. Always be on the lookout for enemy fighter escort. If circumstances permit, take note of the bomber composition, altitude, and course. Radio this information to your teammates. Also, you might take a moment to compute the reciprocal heading of the bombers. This heading can be useful for you when setting up your final approach.
The Turn
When deciding how far ahead to get before making the turn, remember to be patient. Turn in too soon and you won't get around in time to line up properly. You will have only wasted the precious position you have gained on the uphill. If in doubt, get a little further ahead before you make the U-Turn. d40-50 will almost always work. Shorter turn ins can be used in many circumstances, but more on this later.
A note on the proper setup before making the turn: Most planes that are capable of tearing a bomber apart are often not the most nimble in the plane set. It is important to keep turn performance in mind when calculating the distance before making your U. One must balance the distance in front of the bombers with one's relative altitude to the bombers, absolute altitude, and airspeed. Slower airspeed and higher absolute altitude will degrade your turn performance making your turn slower and more difficult. A greater altitude advantage relative to the bombers can help nullify this difficulty as one can drop a few hundred meters in the turn. Weighing these factors takes experience. Luckily one can practice many different settings offline. :)
The turn for a long run attack starts with an easy bank and turn. Start by pulling through 90 degrees of the compass to put you on a perpendicular course to the bombers. Look over your inside wing and find the formation.
Click on the image above to see a fullsize screen capture.
You are now on the "base" leg. As the bombers move from the side to the middle of your screen you are approaching a point directly ahead of their noses. Time the next 90deg segment of your turn to finish with the bombers on your nose. Timing the turn and maintaining sight of the buffs through the turn are essential. This requires practice. If you struggle with this, start by trying runs offline with perhaps a 109F at under 3km of altitude. Work your way up to higher altitudes with poorer turning aircraft, like the FW190 series.
On Final
Click on the image above to see a fullsize screen capture.
The ideal situation is this: You are nose to nose with the buffs, and still slightly above them. As you approach the bombers they grow larger and larger with no bearing drift, right down the pipe. You are just a bit higher than the formation (300-500m) and can clearly see the aspect and range of the target, ready to make any minor adjustments. You enter a slight dive, nose just ahead of your target plane(s). Your speed is between 300 and 600kph. You start shooting inside d15, well in front of the nose, and rake the target from stem to stern. As you are higher than your target, collision is not a concern. Simple right?
Click for animated footage
Corrections
Ok, so not every run comes out that way, but if you have made a long run attack, you should have the spacing and opportunity to make corrections on final if the need arises.
One possible scenario is that you come out of your turn onto the reciprocal bomber heading and the bombers are not right on your nose. Or you come out of your turn, put your nose on the bombers and you notice them drifting off to one side (the bearing to target changes). In either case it means that you are no longer right in front of them. You are not on their axis of advance.
Crude diagram is not to scale
The rule to remember is this: Correct early and correct aggressively. If the bombers are drifting to the right, get your nose right, get out in front of the target. If you correct early enough the buffs will drift further left, away from your nose as you get out in front. Cut back left to get nose to nose once you are on their line. This will lessen (hopefully close to 10 degrees) your deflection angle making for a much easier shot. Fire early. The closure will shorten the travel time of your rounds.
Crude diagram is not to scale
Usually, you don't have the space or time to make this dramatic correction. Remember that if your bearing to target remains constant you are on a direct intercept. So lets say you can correct far enough to get the bearing constant, a direct intercept. If you can do this and the bandit is not far off your nose, you can maintain course and take the shot like the gun camera picture below demonstrates. You have generated a nice lead angle. Fire early and let the rounds walk in. Note how rudder is used during the shot to "track" the target and squeeze a few more rounds on him:
Crude diagram is not to scale
Click for animated footage
Do not just put your nose on and "follow" the target as the bearing changes. This will leave you with a poor "beam" shot or rear quarter shot as you close into firing range. You must correct early.
Crude diagram is not to scale
A Word on Gunnery
Most beginning pilots will shoot too late and lead too little when first practicing the frontal attack. Generate lead and use it to either get a better line or create a firing solution. The closure to target going head to head is quite high. The bombers are also much larger than the fighters you are used to shooting. This can also throw off lead calculations for many new would be buff-killers, so keep that in mind. A suitible suggestion is to fire early and practice offline. Hmmmm.. practice offline. Are we sensing a theme?
When attacking from the front, most pilots prefer a "walk in" method by which they purposly spray ahead of the nose of the bomber and allow it to fly through the stream. This ensures that a bomber won't "get by you" and makes certain that the pilot kill is a posibility. Many pilots fire only cannon, avoiding the lightly hitting and distracting machine gun tracers. One pilot in JG2 has even set his MG tracers to a rather bland sky blue color to "hide them" from his eye. The thinking is that every little bit of MG helps, but one wants to guide only the "big" tracers in.
Once Through
After your run through the bomber formation, check six. Exposure to escorts is very great at this point. With all the dots buzzing around the formation it can be tough to tell friend from foe. Dots that make frontal passes at and fire cannon at the bombers are easy for escort fighters to distinguish.
After checking six, begin a turn to go back into Uphill mode again if circumstances permit. Wash, rinse, repeat until all the bombers are down, the escorts chase you off, or you run out of ammo or fuel.
Advanced Techniques
Short Runs
I define two types of frontal attack, a long run or a short run, but many attacks fall into the gray area between.
The long run, as described above, typically involves getting out in front to d40-50 or greater. One judges the turn based on course headings and bearing rates. The advantages of this technique are many. The extra spacing allows one to be slower and lower before making the turn. One also has extra time to correct a final approach if alignment is not perfect. The great disadvantage of the technique is the greater risk of losing contact with the bombers (no long range icons!). An attacker may also be caught off guard by even minor course changes from the buffs. Typically the long run is used at higher altitudes where attacking aircraft performance is attenuated or when the bomber course is thought to be more predictable. It is more difficult to climb or turn at the highest altitudes, thus the short run is often not an option. If, however, you can get an altitude advantage and use it with a long run, go for it!
With a short run attack, one does not pull out in front of the buffs quite so much but climbs a bit higher. The idea is to keep good visual contact with the target bombers, stay fast through the turn and then be able to go to right to guns on exiting the turn. One judges the turn more by seeing the actual aspect of the target than by judging bearing rates. The turn is often initiated under d30 with at least a 1km alt advantage. This greater altitude advantage is preferred to give the attacker more speed, and thereby more flexibility in managing the u-turn. Roll just past 90 degrees, pull hard to get lined up, ease off the G's as your nose comes into a lead position and spray away. You might want to practice that a bit. ;) There is little margin for error in a frontal short run.
Multiple Targets
Experten can generally line up several bombers in a single pass. When bomber elements are in a formation with depth (echelon, etc), this can be accomplished by flying a line that will lead the attack through multiple elements. Other times a pass can be engineered so that 2 or more bombers in a line abreast can be sprayed with deflection cannonfire, though in this case it is often better to concentrate firepower on a single element unless you have unusually heavy firepower (110G or 262, etc).
Click for animated footage
Stragglers are like Christmas presents. They often can be attacked by making course corrections after an initial firing pass. They are a rather "inexpensive" additional target, yet a decision must be made as to whether the additional time spent traveling "downhill" is worth hitting a crippled bomber while your
separation from (and subsequent "uphill" time to reach) the main body increases. It usually is.
Hals und beinbruch. Go out and knock one down for us.
Brought to you by Jagdgeschwader 2 'Richthofen'
