helicopter gunships

[Tontow]

"This means you can set your helicopters up as gunships,"

Except the helicopter has no mount point for the new gun....

Or is there a different version for aircraft and helicopters?

[Mr. Scoot]

The Petrel has the slot for it

[Ataxio]

It's only a 30mm gun, you arnt missing much. Borderline useless.

[Liao]

What Ataxio said, it's very inaccurate and unreasonably weak. The ammo load typically is enough to 'maybe' kill one Seal with it, considering the inaccuracy using it while moving at all or being at any appreciable distance.

[Peregrine]

Use it with one pilot flying, and a system operator using the cannon, come to a hover and fire on targets with the stabilizer engaged, you'll get far more than just one SEAL.

That said, even if you only get one, if it was CIWS armed, you've now made it significantly easier to use other weapon systems to reduce the enemies on the island.

So, use the OBS Camera on something, arm the Petrel with IR missiles and 1 20mm cannon for strafing, and then throw the 30mm where the OBS camera was for this bird, and now you have a gunship.

Kill the CIWS, fire the IR, use the 20mm, Miller Time.

[Ataxio]

Like. It's cool and all. Variety is great.

But you can still cheese the entire game using either helicopter with 20mm guns that absolutely decimate anything its pointed at from extreme ranges. Why do anything else when that works so good.

Broken mechanics can be fun, but 20mm being so good kinda invalidates the rest of the weapons and methods of dealing with an island.

[Liao]

Ever tried those 20mm cannons from a Manta? I think they maybe just forgot to give them a similar spread on other aircraft...

[Ataxio]

Originally posted by Liao:

Ever tried those 20mm cannons from a Manta? I think they maybe just forgot to give them a similar spread on other aircraft...

I have not as gun runs on the helicopter are far easier to use. Mainly use the mantas for rockets / bombs for anti-ship stuff or for spotting.

What do they do differently?

[Kazzik]

That gun can wreck an AI hangar full of craft in one pass at a safe altitude of 1200m. The only things that can reach to that altitude are AA missiles, so eliminate the navy first. And as an FYI, those rounds do a little splash damage so accuracy is less important.

As someone else pointed out, use those to kill CWIS equipped vehicles. Turrets take 100 hits to destroy though so not as efficient.

[Rampart]

Now that the turrets auto fire correctly they make great spotters during daytime. Put up an albatross with a cam and a petrel with a turret on a high orbit and you can easily find those random turrets or vehicles since the petrel will plink away at them.