Tailgunning: Keep that bomber alive
A Tailgunner's Guide
This guide will attempt to educate anyone who wishes to tailgun for a bomber. This guide is meant for anyone who wishes to form serious bomber teams.
Over the years that I've been playing tribes I found that flying a bomber is a very enjoyable thing to do, especially if it is flown well. I have experience being a pilot, the bomber, and the tailgunner. Without a tailgunner, a bomber is simply floating points to any would-be shrike pilot, therefore it is very important to know what you are doing when you are back there.
Table of Contents
I. Introduction
A. Beginners
B. Intermediate
C. Advanced
I. Introduction
First off, a bomber has three sets. One for the pilot. One for the bomber. One for the TAILGUNNER. The back seat that is the highest one up is reserved for the tailgunner.
The Tailgunner Should have the following loadout:
Armor: Heavy
Weapons: Chain Gun | Missile Launcher | ELF Projector | (Two Luxury Weapons)
Grenades: Flares
Pack: (Your Choice) Ammunition Pack | Repair Back | Sensor Jammer Pack
A. Beginners
Your job is simple if it's the first time tailgunning:
Throw a flare whenever you hear that annoying missile lock sound. That's it.
Your flares are your only means for protecting the bomber against getting shot down from missiles. If you don't even do that, you need to stop wasting the pilot and the bomber's time. Try to throw the flares down. Not up, not to the side, DOWN. Enemy missiles come from the ground, so if you throw the flare in the wrong direction, there is a chance it will still hit the bomber.
When you run out of flares, tell the pilot.
Once you get that down, you can start worrying about other things.
The three different Packs will be dicussed here:
Sensor Jammer | Repair | Ammunition
What Pack to use depends on what map is being played.
Sensor Jammer Pack is used to prevent your bomber from showing up on the enemy's command circuit. This means that there is no Red Marker above your bomber for the enemy to notice when they look at you. This also, most importantly, prevents enemy Base Turrets from shooting at your bomber.
Repair Pack is used to repair your bomber mid flight. Aim towards the bomber seat when you use it, otherwise it won't work properly. This is helpful on maps where you take a lot of fire from non-automatic firing turrets (I.E. Ground fire, shrikes).
Ammunition Pack is used to .. well .. gets you more ammo. More flares to avoid enemy missiles and more missiles to shoot down enemy shrikes.
Ammunition Packs and Repair Packs should only be used on maps that have no enemy Base Turrets to shoot at your bomber. Avoid these unless your pilot tells you otherwise (This probably means he is really skilled).
B. Intermediate
This section is for people who understand how to use flares, but have trouble shooting shrikes down.
The three weapons that were mentioned in the introduction will be mentioned here.
Your primary weapon to ward off shrikes is most obviously the missile launcher. Missiles lock on, missiles hurt. This is your first line of defense against shrikes.
You must be constantly scanning the skies for the signature jet trails that shrikes leave behind them when they are flying around. The moment you spot them, you need to attempt to acquire missile lock ASAP. The longer it takes you to find the shrike, the longer you give him to shoot you down.
Having trouble maintaining missile lock? There is a trick you can use that helps with this:
You need to use your armor's optical magnification to hold your reticle over the shrike easier. (AKA - press the default "a" to ZOOM IN)
However, you don't want to zoom in too much, so adjust your zoom depth to the lowest level of zoom. (You can adjust it with default "t")
This will allow you to focus on shrikes much easier, and you will mis-fire missiles much less often.
If you failed to acquire missile lock and the shrike is in close range of the bomber, now is the time to use one of two weapons: Chaingun | ELF Projector
Depending on the altitude of the enemy shrike, you will either use Chaingun or ELF Projector.
CLOSE RANGE ONLY - ***********************
If the shrike is below you, you don't want to risk shooting it with the Chaingun, so use that ELF Projector.
If the shrike is above you, you need to dish out some damage, use the Chaingun.
**************************************************
It is up to the pilot to make sure the bomber is positioned properly, in order to maximize your chances to acquire missile lock. If in doubt, switch to the missile launcher.
Once you are satisfied with your shrike killing abilities, you can move on to the advanced portion of this guide.
C. Advanced
Advanced Topics:
Ground Vehicle Combat:
This is the job of the bomber and pilot. You can assist by shooting missiles or mortars if you have mortars.
Other Air Vehicle Combat:
Works the same as shrike combat, but if they can throw flares too, you need to switch to Chaingun and ELF Projector. It is mostly the pilot's job to fly ABOVE the enemy aircraft if it is not a shrike in order to stay alive, but that's the pilot's job, not yours.
Working with an elite bomber team:
Grab an inventory station and place it somewhere near your bomber route. Tell the pilot to land somewhere. Using the inventory station to reload and repair is an excellent idea. You can also assist with taking down enemy sensors and turrets by shooting missiles at them. Make sure the pilot is bombing them, or the generator is offline before shooting them, otherwise you are wasting missiles.
They are bombing, why can't I bomb too?:
If your bomber is in no danger of getting shot down, then you can bust out your mortars and shoot at whatever your pilot is bombing. It is very funny to take somebody out with a mortar from a bomber before the bombs land.
DO NOT WASTE FLARES:
If the missile is too far away to hit your bomber, don't throw a flare! Just let the missile die on it's own. Those things have a range you know.
Do not use a Shocklance or a Spinfusor while you are tailgunning. Imagine the bomber is trying to fly away from a shrike, or avoid missiles, and you shoot the bomber with your Spinfusor/Shocklance on accident. The bomber will rear up, or get knocked back, causing a huge loss of thrust. More importantly, you should be using the missile launcher instead of these two weapons. If you are seriously that bored tailgunning, and there are no shrikes, then spam something useful, like mortars. Honestly, you aren't going to kill shit with that Spinfusor when you are back there.
That's it for my guide. Tell me what you guys think.
Edited for Typos (4/21/09)
This guide will attempt to educate anyone who wishes to tailgun for a bomber. This guide is meant for anyone who wishes to form serious bomber teams.
Over the years that I've been playing tribes I found that flying a bomber is a very enjoyable thing to do, especially if it is flown well. I have experience being a pilot, the bomber, and the tailgunner. Without a tailgunner, a bomber is simply floating points to any would-be shrike pilot, therefore it is very important to know what you are doing when you are back there.
Table of Contents
I. Introduction
A. Beginners
B. Intermediate
C. Advanced
I. Introduction
First off, a bomber has three sets. One for the pilot. One for the bomber. One for the TAILGUNNER. The back seat that is the highest one up is reserved for the tailgunner.
The Tailgunner Should have the following loadout:
Armor: Heavy
Weapons: Chain Gun | Missile Launcher | ELF Projector | (Two Luxury Weapons)
Grenades: Flares
Pack: (Your Choice) Ammunition Pack | Repair Back | Sensor Jammer Pack
A. Beginners
Your job is simple if it's the first time tailgunning:
Throw a flare whenever you hear that annoying missile lock sound. That's it.
Your flares are your only means for protecting the bomber against getting shot down from missiles. If you don't even do that, you need to stop wasting the pilot and the bomber's time. Try to throw the flares down. Not up, not to the side, DOWN. Enemy missiles come from the ground, so if you throw the flare in the wrong direction, there is a chance it will still hit the bomber.
When you run out of flares, tell the pilot.
Once you get that down, you can start worrying about other things.
The three different Packs will be dicussed here:
Sensor Jammer | Repair | Ammunition
What Pack to use depends on what map is being played.
Sensor Jammer Pack is used to prevent your bomber from showing up on the enemy's command circuit. This means that there is no Red Marker above your bomber for the enemy to notice when they look at you. This also, most importantly, prevents enemy Base Turrets from shooting at your bomber.
Repair Pack is used to repair your bomber mid flight. Aim towards the bomber seat when you use it, otherwise it won't work properly. This is helpful on maps where you take a lot of fire from non-automatic firing turrets (I.E. Ground fire, shrikes).
Ammunition Pack is used to .. well .. gets you more ammo. More flares to avoid enemy missiles and more missiles to shoot down enemy shrikes.
Ammunition Packs and Repair Packs should only be used on maps that have no enemy Base Turrets to shoot at your bomber. Avoid these unless your pilot tells you otherwise (This probably means he is really skilled).
B. Intermediate
This section is for people who understand how to use flares, but have trouble shooting shrikes down.
The three weapons that were mentioned in the introduction will be mentioned here.
Your primary weapon to ward off shrikes is most obviously the missile launcher. Missiles lock on, missiles hurt. This is your first line of defense against shrikes.
You must be constantly scanning the skies for the signature jet trails that shrikes leave behind them when they are flying around. The moment you spot them, you need to attempt to acquire missile lock ASAP. The longer it takes you to find the shrike, the longer you give him to shoot you down.
Having trouble maintaining missile lock? There is a trick you can use that helps with this:
You need to use your armor's optical magnification to hold your reticle over the shrike easier. (AKA - press the default "a" to ZOOM IN)
However, you don't want to zoom in too much, so adjust your zoom depth to the lowest level of zoom. (You can adjust it with default "t")
This will allow you to focus on shrikes much easier, and you will mis-fire missiles much less often.
If you failed to acquire missile lock and the shrike is in close range of the bomber, now is the time to use one of two weapons: Chaingun | ELF Projector
Depending on the altitude of the enemy shrike, you will either use Chaingun or ELF Projector.
CLOSE RANGE ONLY - ***********************
If the shrike is below you, you don't want to risk shooting it with the Chaingun, so use that ELF Projector.
If the shrike is above you, you need to dish out some damage, use the Chaingun.
**************************************************
It is up to the pilot to make sure the bomber is positioned properly, in order to maximize your chances to acquire missile lock. If in doubt, switch to the missile launcher.
Once you are satisfied with your shrike killing abilities, you can move on to the advanced portion of this guide.
C. Advanced
Advanced Topics:
Ground Vehicle Combat:
This is the job of the bomber and pilot. You can assist by shooting missiles or mortars if you have mortars.
Other Air Vehicle Combat:
Works the same as shrike combat, but if they can throw flares too, you need to switch to Chaingun and ELF Projector. It is mostly the pilot's job to fly ABOVE the enemy aircraft if it is not a shrike in order to stay alive, but that's the pilot's job, not yours.
Working with an elite bomber team:
Grab an inventory station and place it somewhere near your bomber route. Tell the pilot to land somewhere. Using the inventory station to reload and repair is an excellent idea. You can also assist with taking down enemy sensors and turrets by shooting missiles at them. Make sure the pilot is bombing them, or the generator is offline before shooting them, otherwise you are wasting missiles.
They are bombing, why can't I bomb too?:
If your bomber is in no danger of getting shot down, then you can bust out your mortars and shoot at whatever your pilot is bombing. It is very funny to take somebody out with a mortar from a bomber before the bombs land.
DO NOT WASTE FLARES:
If the missile is too far away to hit your bomber, don't throw a flare! Just let the missile die on it's own. Those things have a range you know.
Do not use a Shocklance or a Spinfusor while you are tailgunning. Imagine the bomber is trying to fly away from a shrike, or avoid missiles, and you shoot the bomber with your Spinfusor/Shocklance on accident. The bomber will rear up, or get knocked back, causing a huge loss of thrust. More importantly, you should be using the missile launcher instead of these two weapons. If you are seriously that bored tailgunning, and there are no shrikes, then spam something useful, like mortars. Honestly, you aren't going to kill shit with that Spinfusor when you are back there.
That's it for my guide. Tell me what you guys think.
Edited for Typos (4/21/09)
Comments
I HIGHLY recommend getting a script called flaresay. It offers two keybinds, one tells on teamspeak how many flares you got left and the other does the same thing except tossing a flare. It is really helpful to the pilot especially when the enemy is missile turret happy.
And when you have missiles after you and they are behind you zoom in and see if they are getting bigger or smaller. Their max speed is 288 KpH and good pilots will almost always stay above that. Missiles coming straight for you will almost always hit so watch for those, toss a flare BELOW your bomber if you see one coming straight at you. I've seen bombers get shot down by a TG tossing a flare above them when the missile is coming from straight below (it is quite funny
If you want to flaresay script just search for it on Slingscripts
I recommend getting that script if you are a die-hard tailgunner. I personally don't find it necessary; I update the pilot just by telling them in chat.
Thanks for bringing up the point that flares always need to be thrown down, otherwise the missile may still end up hitting the bomber depending on where it was fired from.
It is also benificial to have Shike escort to engage enemy Shikes. Setting up a forward Supply base is also crucial to the longevity of sustained bombing runs.
Tailgunner tips - Switch to 3rd person for a better view of the skys. The FreeLook script is very useful. Keep a watch behind as this is a blind spot for the pilot. Pack a Remote supply Station on the first run and have the pilot find a suitable area for a forward remote base. Avoid the temptation to bail out if the situation gets hairy. Be prepared to carpet bomb behind the craft as the pilot flys past the enemy base.
Pilot tips - Line up a couple of targets, fly straight, level and steady, avoid excessive manuvering. Let the bombadier drop well placed bombs. Practice bombing runs. Use the terrain to mask enemy radar tracking. Know when to disengage and escape to a safe zone for repair. The TG needs a nice smooth ride to be able to get sucsessful missle locks. 3rd person view and FreeLook script is very useful.
Bombadier tips - Don't exhaust the Thunderswords energy by carpet bombing leave this to the HeavyTailgunner as the pilot make way from the target. Point out hard targets with the laser so the pilot can line up another run. The Cannon is practicaly useless and drains energy, avoid using it. Carry a Repair pack to help repair the craft as soon as the pilot gets to a safe zone.
A good Thundersword crew can keep the same vehicle for an entire game. ...as long as the pilot doesn't do any stupid manuvers. There are quite a few scripts for the bomber crew. Find and use them.
Now we just need a good bomber pilot's guide! And Bombadier! (I'll contribute to that)
The cannon (bombadier) isn't useless! Sure it's not the most powerful of weapons but if you hit what you're shooting at, a shrike is dead quick!
To fire, the shrike has to use it's energy pool. The shield run off the energy pool. The shrike fires on your bomber, damaging it's shields as the pilot takes evasive action. The TG goes for a lockon with the missile launcher or whips out the CG. The Bombadier readies the cannon in case the shrike dives down to attack from below (the best place to hit a bomber.).
It's not useless. Like all weapons, it takes practice. Like all vehicles, it takes teamwork.
Nice Work.
so, if they have good shrikers, dont bother with flying bomber..
btw, bombadier is rly easy, it all depends on the pilot... if u are a beginner, just wait till the reticle is moving across a HARD !!!! Target. usually your pilot will target VPAD, BASETURRET and MPBs in the first runs, and u need to use ALL BOMBS on the target. so dont waste bombs and they just drop 2 of them on the vpad, it wont kill it...
if the hard targets are down, u can spread your bombs and try to kill deployed stuff.
u can use the laser for targeting the hard targets, so your pilot can get u their better...
use voicecommands to tell the pilot if some hard targets are beeing repaired....
the board cannon is very usefull against enemy vehicles, but it takes alot exp to hit something. so, if u are new, try to hitwith it, target some far away hill on the route and such stuff