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"One Life to Live" Twitch stream


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Hey guys!

 

I'm starting a new set of Twitch episodes called "One Life to Live." (Hint, it is heavily influenced by Barton's awesome "The Hunt for the Red Eagle" series.) Basically it is an attempt to fly on Wargrounds as if it was dead-is-dead - if my pilot dies or is captured, his streak ends. I thought it would be very useful practice for FiF, and also provide the groundwork for any JG1 members to join me in some "serious" flying where we work to apply the core principles of JG1 (as outlined by Moxy):

 

1) JG1 is a competition squadron - meaning that we take every tactical advantage within reason.

2) We fly dead-is-dead.

3) You come first - keep your wingman alive to keep yourself alive.

4) Implement a tactical priority list. (What is most important in this flight? What is 2nd most important in this flight? etc.)

 

This could be a good training tool, especially since we can review the stream afterwards.

 

Anyway, Luftritter and I flew together on Wargrounds trying to embody this mindset. You can watch our stream at the link below. (Note: I forgot to switch to screen-capture view at the start, so the title card is displayed until the 7 minute mark. :P)

https://www.twitch.tv/videos/167823739

 

Currently I don't know if I can schedule this stream, as it really depends on when Wargrounds is active. ;)

 

What are your thoughts guys?

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~S~

 

I had the pleasure of joining the stream tonight!

Kicking back, and watching form Leads prospective.

I watched intuitive leadership! Dbl attack, deuce, Comms to SA, a whole gambit of professionalism.

(including more preset views than I thought were possible lol)

 Dead is dead! poor enemy lol

Just all around, absolute kick arrs,

Dud

Luft

Lead

 

OH yea baby!

Mox

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A lot of fun flying with HL, Dudley and hearing from Moxy!  I haven't flown at all in a long time, and I was very rusty, and it showed in my gunnery and spotting skills.  Later, when HL had to leave, and Dudley had already taken a 2-seater, I lone wolfed it in my N28 for one flight that ended in my death.  I met up with J5_Klugermann in a Pfalz D.XIIf at high altitude.  Those 2 planes are well matched at height and their climbing abilities are both excellent.  After climbing up to him unobserved and getting slightly above him at well over 3 Km high, he dove down toward what I assume was another contact and I thought I might have a good bounce as I positioned to pass over him.  However he was not to be surprised, and I made some gun passes that may have landed some hits and eventually produced streaming on his part.  He had good performance and I fell off in a left turn, and from then on he was just out of reach above me, scissoring, and I performed pull up shots as he tried to get an angle on me for his guns, which I avoided up until the end.  While both clawing for altitude, I got almost to his level. He turned hard toward me and I turned into him, holding my altitude, anticipating getting my guns on him after his pass.  However he forced his shot hard and we collided.  I got credit for a shoot down, but went into a death spiral with damaged wings and oiled engine, although it was still running.  Having a long time to think about it, I tried everything to recover, and by increasing throttle I got the rotation to stop but just couldn't get my nose back up, and the extra stress broke my wings completely and sealed my fate.  He got credit for shooting me down then, and since I did not see a message for his death, I can only assume he survived the collision.

 

Thinking back, the smart thing to do would have been to dive out after I had him streaming.  I was thinking he had radiator damage, but he never did seem to lose engine performance, and so it must have been fuel, and since I kept him tied up for so long I doubt he would have made it back home.  An N28 can dive almost straight down it if done properly, and a D.XII cannot without breaking up.

 

Lesson (re)learned.

 

Thanks again all, S!

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This is an excellent idea Guys!

 

The core principles Moxy outlined are very important, and we should always be aspiring to improve on them.

 

Regarding #3,  "you come first - keep your wingman alive to keep yourself alive":

 

Moxy asked me last night for some details on this.  Specifically on how to make it a bit easier to say and understand.

 

So, I hope you don't mind if I go into some detail here...

 

To clarify, we don't mean that you should be self-centered, and refuse to assist your wingman!

 
To quote "No Guts, No Glory," pg. 9:
 
"While you are a wingman, think as a wingman and play on the team.  When you get to your Tactical Organization, you will find that being the best wingman in the Squadron is the quickest way to become an element leader!  Play on the team - No individualists!"
 
So, when we say "prioritize your life," what we mean is this:
 
  • You can't protect your wingman if your dead.
  • And if you're wingman's dead, he can't protect you either.
 
So, achieving mutual support within an element means understanding that no one person can be aware of all dangers, and that you need each other.  The wingman complements the element lead by helping the entire element better understand the threats and overall tactical situation.  And part of this is thinking tactically, and acting smart.  Don't just rush into things head first, thinking that your wingman is going to pull you out of it.  That's how you get both of you dead.
 
And this is where a basic "Wingman's Contract" comes in to play.
 
This isn't a "JG1 trade secret", so I don't have a problem posting it here.  Honestly, it's just common sense stuff.  So, if non-JG1 people want to get involved in the discussion, I'd love to have outside viewpoints.
 
Either way, the Wingman's Contract is an offensive and defensive agreement that happens between an Element Leader and his Wingman.  Usually, it happens before take off.  It can be verbal (where a real conversation takes place), or it can be non-verbal (where pilots who fly with each other all the time just "grunt and go").  But it should happen.  The Wingman's Contract should highlight your element's mutual discipline, as well as your goal of flexibility.
 
Here is my personal Wingman's Contract, which I always try and bring to the table:
 
MY WINGMAN AND I...
 
  • Will tactically support each other
  • Will keep up tactical Elemental maneuvering
  • Will work single bandits over using the Engaged / Free doctrines.
  • Will value each other more than we value the kill
  • Will set a soft deck and try not to go below it
  • Will set a hard deck and not go below it
  • Will escort each other back to base when damaged
  • Will fly our aircraft to their strengths
  • Will tell each other when we're not flying our aircraft to their strengths
  • Will keep up "Triple C" Communications at all times - clear, concise, correct.
 
For me, I kind of say some version of this as a mantra before I take off.  By saying it, I'm reaffirming it.
 
I hope that all makes sense.
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"While you are a wingman, think as a wingman and play on the team.  When you get to your Tactical Organization, you will find that being the best wingman in the Squadron is the quickest way to become an element leader!  Play on the team - No individualists!"
 
So, when we say "prioritize your life," what we mean is this:
 
  • You can't protect your wingman if your dead.
  • And if you're wingman's dead, he can't protect you either.
 

When I flew with VMF222 in AH, I flew wingman with the XO a lot in the main arena. He wouldn't fly FSO (FIF Style) So in FSO I ended up an element leader a lot of times.

 

 

 

MY WINGMAN AND I...
 
  • Will tactically support each other
  • Will keep up tactical Elemental maneuvering
  • Will work single bandits over using the Engaged / Free doctrines.
  • Will value each other more than we value the kill
  • Will set a soft deck and try not to go below it
  • Will set a hard deck and not go below it
  • Will escort each other back to base when damaged
  • Will fly our aircraft to their strengths
  • Will tell each other when we're not flying our aircraft to their strengths
  • Will keep up "Triple C" Communications at all times - clear, concise, correct.
 
 

 


This XO and I Would follow a lot of these things. We mainly flew F4U-1A we got to the point where we didn't say much during an engagement unless it turned to 2 v 2.

  • Will keep up tactical Elemental maneuvering                                     Usually loose duece
  • Will work single bandits over using the Engaged / Free doctrines.    The first will drop the second waits till the first is 1000M then drops anticipate the break and be there if not break off if no shot. Rinse                                                                                                                 repeat.
  • Will value each other more than we value the kill                               â€‹My K/D with him was great if its to hairy or no advantage leave
  • Will set a soft deck and try not to go below it                                      Had one
  • Will set a hard deck and not go below it                                              Also had it
  • Will escort each other back to base when damaged                           Did that also
  • Will fly our aircraft to their strengths                                                    Had to. F4u1A was a not good in a turn fight. But it was great in the dive and had speed. so you had to think vertically
  • Will tell each other when we're not flying our aircraft to their strengths
  • Will keep up "Triple C" Communications at all times - clear, concise, correct. Both offensive and defensive. Bandit high 6 lets reverse. Reverse how do you turn into or away from each other for a 180 heading.

This is why I keep flying. Just debating doctrine or trying new ones is always fun.

 

 

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With the post above you have to understand that in AH the sides where knights rooks and bishops. So it was never F4u1A VS zero's or KI-84's it could be any WW2 aircraft. So there where times it was the same aircraft fighting each other.

 

That game had icons at 4000 Meters if I recall.

 

FSO the scenarios where plane specific. It was 700M icons with plane type at 200M So you would know its a 109 but at 200 you would know it was the 109G6

 

I think our soft deck was 10,000 FT. Hard maybe 8,000.

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In RoF, our "hard deck" ends up being.....well....the hard deck    :lol:

 

Seriously though, RoF is kind of unique, with it's clearly established lines.  Soft and hard decks are a must, if over the mud or enemy side!  Not so much when on defense on the friendly side, IMHO   ;)

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Also with my prior post when I said the second guy would wait to move after the first was 1000 Meters away. That will work in BoX not Rof. The closing speeds, the aircraft speeds, turn radius's are tighter here. The concept does translate. You just need to cut everything half maybe even 2/3.

 

Also more often then not the first guy in is not the shooter. Usually the second guy. Or the second guy makes the bandit break harder with the first over the top in a yo-yo and then the fist guy is back in for the kill.

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Classic deuce

push the bandit n press the attack (shooter)

 

But what were also talking here is not a series of rules (scenario chasing, do this when) as scenarios  are infinite

But the core concept of thought process of successful combat flight. IE the concept of flying with the "intent" of refly

(well if I get killed oh well hit refly) compared to flying as in Dead is dead. This alters and leads performance.

 

Unfortunately, new comers, and the current "gaming" scenario's , are encouraging this "refly" behavior.

Raz reading you comments: processing and flying as a combat pilot, Flying and processing "with in" success .

 With the concept of "life" , contract, and intuitive doctrines ....

(Moxy comment. a few written lines or spoken words and I know Raz and his friends are combat pilots. the vocabulary my be different,

the "style unique, but the soul is "on the same page")

 

case n point

 

we got to the point where we didn't say much during an engagement unless it turned to 2 v 2.

Speaks absolute volumes!

Comms... 2nd nature, as to what you need, as compared to "what should I do now" (scenario chasing, and cant remember this scenario lol)Help me! Cohesive flights, cause all on the same combat page....Learned the wheel, don't need to re-invent it lol

 

It all starts the moment you sit in the pit! "Are you in "refly" mode, or are you flying for your life

All else follows

 

 

Thanks RAZ

 

Moxy

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Comms... 2nd nature, as to what you need, as compared to "what should I do now" (scenario chasing, and cant remember this scenario lol)Help me! Cohesive flights, cause all on the same combat page....Learned the wheel, don't need to re-invent it lol

 

It all starts the moment you sit in the pit! "Are you in "refly" mode, or are you flying for your life

All else follows

 

 

 

The XO I'm refering to hated to get shot down. He never saw the point of diving into a furball in the hopes of getting a kill at the risk of getting shot down. I would agree. So we chose to hunt at high altitudes it may not be as fun as getting into a furball but we got stuff done. I personally would rather fly at high altitude and not see something in 1 hour then get shot down 5 times furballing in that same hour.

 

The oh well I got shot down doesn't work for this topics intent.

 

Basically if you want to do this in Wargrounds you have to ask yourself how do you fly FIF.  That will answer a lot of your questions.

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Most of the trouble I've seen people get into (and gotten myself into) involves rushing into a situation without taking in as much information as they can.  Every second up until the direct engagement should be spent surveying the area for threats.  Keeping my head up when trying to come down on a lower enemy has kept me safe a lot by allowing me to catch other enemies at higher altitudes.  Too often I see people see a contact and attack it like a dog on a three-legged cat and end up flying directly under another bandit with predictable results.  Then when they're staring at their wrecks as it burns on the ground they swear up and down he "came out of nowhere."  I've done it too and it ended the same way for me.

One thing I notice people doing is losing awareness as soon as they're under attack.  Just as they lock onto a bandit when they are offensive they lock onto the bandit trying to kill them and forget where their wingman is.  I have had easy kills made much harder by wingman who, trying to evade the bandit, made my shot needlessly difficult or impossible.  On the other hand, I have had very difficult situations made easy by a wingman who did what they needed to get the enemy into my sights.  I recall a fight I had with Archer in IL-2 1946 where we were flying Fw-190 A8s and while leaving the combat area were chased by a Spitfire Mk XIV.  He was gaining on us fast and we were in a bad spot on the deck.  He went after me first but I was able to use my roll rate to spoil the shot and Archer went at him.  IIRC the bandit ducked Archer's attack and then began pursuing him.  Both of us were just about in panic mode since either of us would be an easy kill if the other went down.  Having lost a lot of energy in our maneuvering it would not have been very difficult for a good pilot in that XIV to fight both of us as it was.  But Archer immediately asked me what I needed him to do and did it.  He was flying away from me and I was in a right hand turn trying to come back to him so I called him to come left and I leveled out to cut his corner.  As he crossed my nose I had him break hard right and the Spitfire followed.  I got a beautiful picture of the plane as he followed the turn and got in a lethal deflection shot with what may have been my only opportunity to kill him.   

Too often I see us fly not as a group but as a group of individuals and I have been part of the problem by flying as an individual and also by not reeling in others who I noticed doing so.  Erich Hartmann's greatest accomplishment wasn't any or all of his 352 victories but never losing a wingman (besides a poor guy who was a bomber pilot thrown into 109s).  

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  But Archer immediately asked me what I needed him to do and did it.  He was flying away from me and I was in a right hand turn trying to come back to him so I called him to come left and I leveled out to cut his corner.  As he crossed my nose I had him break hard  right and the Spitfire followed.

 

This is a classic scissors set up.

I find when I find 2 people in a scissors. Fly straight through it don't follow. Timed right you should catch up in no time. Picture a dollar sign. You are the vertical line. $

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 In your attack on the Breguet your intercept angle was too conservative.  Should have come further right earlier to get above him.  From the angle you were at you probably could have closed in to take a 2 to 3 o'clock high slashing attack.  Continuing the dive and coming right from there would have put you into the low six position you were trying for If he didn't break or ran for the deck you'd have been able to get more shots from closer and if the gunner was concentrating on you Luft could have made a run at him.  

 

At any rate, your approach kept you alive and that's what you're aiming for ultimately

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Great news for me, HL informed me that on the second server, according to server stats, I did make it back to neutral territory while trying to survive the flak hit that took half of all three of my right side wings off. Pretty proud to have controlled it Barton-esque style, maintaining my life and streak.  Thanks for winging up once again, Hotlead! S!!

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  • 2 weeks later...

Well, since my schedule unexpectedly cleared up, I was able to fly another episode of "One Life to Live." Sadly, this turned out to my my pilot's last day on this good earth. You can watch how it all unfolded here:

https://www.twitch.tv/videos/173132232

 

His final score was:

39 sorties over 3 months

20 confirmed kills

3 balloons destroyed

2 times WIA 

 

Overall, though I am saddened by my pilot's death, I thought it was a fun experience. "One Life to Live" is not over! I have word that a new pilot just reported to the front. Let's see how far this new young lad will go, shall we?

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Typical no visual indication, no damage sounds instant death from AI gunner.  That's my biggest complaint about RoF.  You can't tell me you wouldn't KNOW you're getting hit, especially that severely.  In a computer sim, where you lack so many indications that you would have in RL, you need SOMETHING to indicate something is happening to you, even if that thing isn't exactly how RL would be.  And the AI gunners: they're either missing you by a mile, or if you get into the wrong place, blowing you to pieces in one burst.  Totally inconsistent.

 

The flak is at least as bad.  Can't tell me they can't make it so that it doesn't fire when a friendly plane is in the vicinity....like it would act in RL.  And the first shot, one shot instant death, again with no warning it's firing, is again stupid and frustrating.  It makes it so that the only choices you have are either no flak, or crazy effective flak; neither is realistic.  My last streamed sortie in the Dr.1 in an empty server attacking the balloon was a perfect example of what I'm talking about.  One shot, first shot, blown to pieces.  End of story.

 

The last thing is that it sure looked like you were hitting him HARD with your twin guns; yet there seemed to be no detrimental effect on him.  It's like sometimes the MMP game doesn't register hits for some reason....or at least most of them.  Seems to happen to me a lot.  Frustrating when it does.

 

Great streak though, very good job.  I think in RoF the game ends up killing you in some unrealistic or unfair way, just like it did with Barton.  In a sense, there's a lot of good luck involved in staying alive, and it has not a lot to do with your own actions in many cases.

 

S!

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Thanks Luft!

 

In hindsight, I probably should have let him go after hammering him in the initial phase like I did. He probably wouldn't have lasted long. In fact, the stats show he had to ditch it not long after we fought. As far as getting shot down...yes it was rather abrupt. However, I was pulling some decently tight Gs and my wings may have taken damage already that I was unaware of. As I said earlier in the stream, the Roland has pretty fragile wings. Also, I suspect No Comms might gun for himself much like I do. That would explain a lot! Remember how he blasted Dudley's wings off when Dudley was chasing him down in a SPAD 7?

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  • 3 weeks later...

Salute all! Here is the next episode of my "One Life to Live" series:

https://www.twitch.tv/videos/178251312

 

We ran some flights during our weekly Thursday fight nights with the US103rd. All told, we got some bigger formations of fighters together - 3 elements of 2 working together at the same time! Lots of fun as we filled the skies with the bright livery of the Flying Circus! 

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Salute all!

Here is the latest Twitch stream from tonight's action! 
https://www.twitch.tv/videos/180023872

As usual, I had a great time. Good fights guys!

I have some good news and bad news: the bad news is I won't be able to attend the next 2 or so Thursday night fly-ins. Why? The good news: my family is on vacation to the Smokey Mountains! I'll enjoy my time there, but I will eagerly await returning to the virtual skies of ROF.

I'll still be able to participate in the last Black September event before I go though. ;)

 

Also, I've mentioned before that I'm making a video for ROF. I've decided to expand it to celebrate the community in general - not just the pilots who can fly during our North American Thursday night fights. So, if you have any cool flight tracks from this year's Black September, Bloody April, or Flanders in Flames, feel free to PM me the track files and I'll see if I can get them included in the video! Just keep it circa 2017 please. ;)

Salute!
JG1_Hotlead

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As usual, I had a great time. Good fights guys!

I have some good news and bad news: the bad news is I won't be able to attend the next 2 or so Thursday night fly-ins. Why? The good news: my family is on vacation to the Smokey Mountains! I'll enjoy my time there, but I will eagerly await returning to the virtual skies of ROF.

I'll still be able to participate in the last Black September event before I go though. ;)

 

 

Who am I going to steal kills from if your not around for 2 weeks. I guess I will have to steal them from someone else.  ;) My personal account I would say we shared 2 kills and possibly 1 kill on my own. 

 

The one thing I'm curios about I could have sworn the last stream I could fast forward through. This one I couldn't. I was curios how close where we to colliding because I was trying not to collide with the D7 so I have no I idea where you where or how close  we where. I only saw up to the bristol on the 2nd map.  Which was 10 mins in on the 2nd map.

 

Watching your video from your end, do you have a large monitor? I've been curios on how some guys can tell what the contact is before me. I have a 27 inch monitor.

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Who am I going to steal kills from if your not around for 2 weeks. I guess I will have to steal them from someone else.  ;) My personal account I would say we shared 2 kills and possibly 1 kill on my own. 

 

The one thing I'm curios about I could have sworn the last stream I could fast forward through. This one I couldn't. I was curios how close where we to colliding because I was trying not to collide with the D7 so I have no I idea where you where or how close  we where. I only saw up to the bristol on the 2nd map.  Which was 10 mins in on the 2nd map.

 

Watching your video from your end, do you have a large monitor? I've been curios on how some guys can tell what the contact is before me. I have a 27 inch monitor.

Lol! Seriously, I wouldn't consider those kills stolen. My first goal is to survive; kills are an added bonus. In a flight, sometimes one guy brings a plane down, sometimes the other guy. Both probably laid hits, but the game awards credit only to 1. It doesn't matter. Working together, we both brought down the bandits more efficiently than we could have on our own. That's why teamwork is so cool once it gets rolling and every one's working together "on the same page" as Moxy likes to say. :D

 

Regarding the stream, I think on the bottom, there should be a scroll bar where you can drag the slider to different parts of the stream. Maybe that will work?

 

Finally, like Luft said, I have a 27" monitor. It's a great monitor and I love it! Once I see a contact, I try to zoom in on it to see the outline. Usually, I can tell pretty quickly what it is once I clearly see the fuselage and/or wing shape. ;)

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Lol! Seriously, I wouldn't consider those kills stolen. My first goal is to survive; kills are an added bonus. In a flight, sometimes one guy brings a plane down, sometimes the other guy. Both probably laid hits, but the game awards credit only to 1. It doesn't matter. Working together, we both brought down the bandits more efficiently than we could have on our own. That's why teamwork is so cool once it gets rolling and every one's working together "on the same page" as Moxy likes to say. :D

 

Regarding the stream, I think on the bottom, there should be a scroll bar where you can drag the slider to different parts of the stream. Maybe that will work?

 

Finally, like Luft said, I have a 27" monitor. It's a great monitor and I love it! Once I see a contact, I try to zoom in on it to see the outline. Usually, I can tell pretty quickly what it is once I clearly see the fuselage and/or wing shape. ;)

 

HLCF,

 

Are you still using the tweaks we discussed?

 

S!

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HLCF,

 

Are you still using the tweaks we discussed?

 

S!

Mediator? Yes! I thought it might be affecting my FPS, so I uninstalled it, but there was no difference in my FPS, so I reinstalled it. I really like the way it sharpens the colors. Maybe that's why I have a easier time spotting?

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