Why don't fighters attack bombers?

[ryanwfrederick]

In every game I've played recently, my Wildcats won't aggressively attack enemy strategic bombers. They fly toward them, then get annihilated by the bombers' machine guns without actually firing on them. Infruriating.

[Mordzielec]

Got the same. Wildcats wont fight with Bettys.

[Gelfrat]

The programming of the fighters isn't really good, especially when the enemy bombers are about to make a turn. When this is the case, the fighters try to get on the bombers 6 and at some point break off without actually getting within firing range. They do this repeatedly and are then shot down one by one by the bombers.

Therefore, some micromanagement is required if you don't want to lose your fighters pointlessly. To do this, the automatic attack must be deactivated and only let them attack when the bombers are flying in a straight line and then ideally from 12 o'clock.

That's a little cheesy, but the other way around it's just frustrating.

[Markus1987]

Originally posted by Gelfrat:

The programming of the fighters isn't really good, especially when the enemy bombers are about to make a turn. When this is the case, the fighters try to get on the bombers 6 and at some point break off without actually getting within firing range. They do this repeatedly and are then shot down one by one by the bombers.

Therefore, some micromanagement is required if you don't want to lose your fighters pointlessly. To do this, the automatic attack must be deactivated and only let them attack when the bombers are flying in a straight line and then ideally from 12 o'clock.

That's a little cheesy, but the other way around it's just frustrating.

The beta patch fixes the problem, you have to wait until it is live

[CellNav]

Originally posted by Markus1987:

The beta patch fixes the problem, you have to wait until it is live

I'm playing the beta, it doesn't fix the problem but complicates it further. My observations so far ....

Deflection shooting is bad, not enough wiggle room to shoot (too narrow firing angle). The fighter needs a 2 degree "cone" (left,right,up,down) to shoot, allowing the pilot to "kick the rudder" and tweak vertical behavior. A 2 degree wiggle = 20 yards at 600 yard range, enough to get a deflection shot. Fighters cannot deal with the target changing altitude, it's still pointing at the horizontal lead point, not the vertical. Example screen shot :
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3138543250
Intercept point too far ahead of bombers. When fighter is at bombers side (withing clock position 2-5 or 7-10) when range is below 2000 yards, then the point needs to be 600 yards BEHIND the bomber to allow the fighter to properly roll in behind. Note in screenshot above, that Zero needed to be pointing at least 200 yards behind the B17 to roll in properly, even if there was an altitude difference because the final approach would be shooting down.

Indecisive target behavior. Fighters will switch targets for a moment if their plane is behind another bomber (better attack angle) then switch back to it's target, but this behavior exposes the fighter to gunfire whilst accomplishing nothing.

Overtake speed too slow. Bombers fire within 2000 yards and are flying at ridiculous fast speeds, the fighter can't overtake the bomber fast enough. Bombers with a bomb payload aboard are pigs, not eagles !!!! (yes, pigs can fly, just not very well).

No plane critical damage. The guy with more health can almost win, all the time. Add a little random critical damage to nerf the airplane, maybe even kill the pilot or reduce the "flak" shooting. It can make a difference.

At the moment, bombers are DOG FIGHTING our fighters with precision formation maneuvers.

The only way to win the battle with minimal losses is to fly the fighter formation manually and roll in behind the bombers as they turn. At 600 yards, ATTACK .... boom, boom, boom, boom .... all 4 bombers downed within 10 seconds.

[YorT]

Originally posted by Killerfish Games:

Originally posted by boris.glevrk:

One more thing the Zeroes are pretty stupid when intercepting the B17s. They often approach without firing or automatically turn up/down and miss the chance to fire.
Far too often have I lost all Zeroes without even shooting down one B17.

That should be improved in the next update with fighters now approaching more aggressively and firing on their first pass.

[Ossa]

Reading the latest patch notes this behavior is not fixed yet, correct?

[Markus1987]

Originally posted by Ossa:

Reading the latest patch notes this behavior is not fixed yet, correct?

It should be fixed, my wildcats have just torn apart a Betty formation

[Andy]

Originally posted by Mordzielec:

Got the same. Wildcats wont fight with Bettys.

I find that planning a head on attack is a good way to whittle down enemy aircraft . I also pause game , then manually fire the guns ( Hot key 1 ) on each of my fighters early for max effect.
I also hot key 1 when skip bombing ships with Beaufighters / P 38 's ect ect , at about 3000 yards or so , Not only does this cause damage from distance , you can also spot if an aircraft is off course to hit the ship with it's bombs .