Bf 109 F-4 Gunpod, worth or not?

[76561198048317226]

It is my first time I've use a Friedrich line at Bf 109 series and I'm impressed with its performance even when not upgraded. But... I wonder if most of player are prefer gunpods to increase its lethality or skip that one.

[Illusionyary]

I prefer to take gunpods on my BF 109s, although not on the F-4, as the F-4 only has 15mm gunpods (which I find to be pretty crappy). 20mm MG 151 gunpods are great on the G-2s though.

[76561198048317226]

Oh, I see. Well, maybe I skip installing gunpods on F-4, and progressing to G-2. Anyway thx

[Modaflanker]

Gunpods work great in arcade, their drag becomes more of a penalty in RB whereas if you want to pursue fighter combat, remove the pods, if you want to hunt bombers, put the pods on.

[Eftwyrd]

Publicado originalmente por Illusionyary:

I prefer to take gunpods on my BF 109s, although not on the F-4, as the F-4 only has 15mm gunpods (which I find to be pretty crappy). 20mm MG 151 gunpods are great on the G-2s though.

should be noted though that the 15mm cannons get much better armour piercing rounds with cermet cores. though you really dont want to be ground attacking with a 109 under normal circumstances the gunpods have surprisingly little effect on your flight performance and give you options when games get drawn out

[Waryth]

It depends on what mode.. If you're going to bring gunpods in Arcade Battles then it shouldn't be a problem.

However, in Realistic Battles.. it is a problem.

Others may say it may be worth doing for more firepower and ammunition which is risking your survival capabilities higher than ever before. You won't be able to retreat and run away and you'll be forced to head on all the time with those gunpods.

Once you run out of ammunitions with your gunpods, remember that they're still equipped and causing drag making yourself inferior to the ordinary Bf 109 without gunpods. Equipping gun pods aren't suitable for dueling and dogfights.

Whenever you encounter a Spitfire while having those gunpods, expect that you can't run away, outperform or outroll. This is why majority of the Bf 109 pilots doesn't carry them when dealing with Spitfires.

[Lain]

This is from an arcade perspective but, I never found them to do much else I couldn't do without them. Now on G-2 and up, I'd say definitely.

[Eftwyrd]

Publicado originalmente por Waryth:

It depends on what mode.. If you're going to bring gunpods in Arcade Battles then it shouldn't be a problem.

However, in Realistic Battles.. it is a problem.

Others may say it may be worth doing for more firepower and ammunition which is risking your survival capabilities higher than ever before. You won't be able to retreat and run away and you'll be forced to head on all the time with those gunpods.

Once you run out of ammunitions with your gunpods, remember that they're still equipped and causing drag making yourself inferior to the ordinary Bf 109 without gunpods. Equipping gun pods aren't suitable for dueling and dogfights.

Whenever you encounter a Spitfire while having those gunpods, expect that you can't run away, outperform or outroll. This is why majority of the Bf 109 pilots doesn't carry them when dealing with Spitfires.

as the bf109 is already one of the slower single engine fighters in the game(in a straight line), the teir 4 ones specifically actually being the slowest at their ratings i believe, the loss in speed doesnt actually change how you play. their important characteristics like climb rate remain untouched

[ErediN]

Well depends on your playstyle 109 where never supperior turnfighters so gunpods will give you that extra firepower when you get them on target. Also those ap rounds for 15mm have a decent pen i mnaged to kill quite a lot of tanks in ground rb. I also enjoyed it more than k4

[Waryth]

Publicado originalmente por Eftwyrd:

i believe, the loss in speed doesnt actually change how you play.

for energy fighting, speed is very important.

..Although you can still believe what you want to believe. Keep believing! I'm not stopping you

Publicado originalmente por Eftwyrd:

their important characteristics like climb rate remain untouched

Okay I don't know where you got this information but adding weight does decrease climbrate.

Not to mention, the roll rate from the gunpods has major impact on performance.

[76561198048317226]

So, the successor(G-2) with gunpods are more battleworthy than the F-4 with gunpods?

[Eftwyrd]

Publicado originalmente por Waryth:

Publicado originalmente por Eftwyrd:

i believe, the loss in speed doesnt actually change how you play.

for energy fighting, speed is very important.
..Although you can still believe what you want to believe. Keep believing! I'm not stopping you

notice the comma, the i believe is part of the previous statement

Publicado originalmente por Eftwyrd:

the slowest at their ratings i believe

speed is not the only factor of energy fighting, unlike the p51d and other speed focused energy fighters the bf109 is a 1930s airframe with poor topspeed already(and only loses ~8km/h with gunpods) and high-speed handling. its best advantages are climbrate, dive performance and low speed handling (the last of which isnnt very useful except as a backup plan).

Publicado originalmente por Waryth:

Publicado originalmente por Eftwyrd:

their important characteristics like climb rate remain untouched

Okay I don't know where you got this information but adding weight does decrease climbrate.

the primary factors of climbrate are thrust to weight ratio, while yes it does decrease it (marginally) the bf109 is generally known to be very little effected by it having a very powerful engine for its incredibly light airframe along with very light(~200kg) conformal gunpods. it still weighs less than the majority of allied fighters while having a very powerful engine with very efficient WEP

Publicado originalmente por Waryth:

Not to mention, the roll rate from the gunpods has major impact on performance.

your roll rate while slowed isnt too great a concern, on a fw190 i would agree with you 100% but thats because roll rate is their only redeeming factor, the bf109 is more of an all rounder, isnt even remotely close to being sluggish even with the gunpods and is still comparable to many of its oponents. if you really need it just make up the difference with a snap-roll

so anything that outclimbed you will still do so, anything that couldnt before you still outclimb, every other single engine fighter is still faster than you in a straight line anything that could outroll you still can etc. your major performance characteristics, advantages and disadvantages relative to your oponents are not changing so neither is your playstyle