WhiskeySix

aaahahahah!! funny but very insightfull stuff!

I particularly like the idea of having a crate dropped off in the woods somewhere, so you can hover there to repair/rearm instead of flying ALLLLL the way home to the pad!!


(content from http://tinyurl.com/bzwcx)
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“Thanks for being my gunner….now shut up and listen….”

A Chopper Pilot’s Guide to being a good gunner.

By: Strega
http://www.teamofgentlemen.com


1) Cockpit Familiarization:

Welcome to my gunship. Please keep your arms, hands, and feet inside the gunship at all times. When you enter the gunship, you should be in the gunner seat (F2), NOT the pilot’s seat. That seat is mine, and if you don’t get out of it, I’m gonna shoot you in the FACE with my AT Rocket (Yes it will go through the cockpit glass). I carry an AT so I can shoot you in the face if you don’t know what you’re doing. On the occasions where I have teammates or a competent gunner with me, I will fly as an Engineer, so that I can hover over friendly armor and repair them in the field.


2) What kit should you choose as a Helo Gunner???

I suggest you either pic Engineer, or Support as my gunner, so that we can repair/re-arm ourselves, and others. As double Engineers, we can repair armor very quickly (not ourselves, but other armor like Linebackers or Tanks owned by our team). It does neither of us any good for you to be a Sniper, Assault, or Anti-Tank. None of those 3 kits give us any advantage. If I see you walk up to my helo in a “Guille Suit”, I will shoot you in the face. Any of those 3 classes do us ZERO good.

If you want me to drop you off at their base, to blow up their commander sh*t, then sure, go Spec Ops, but PLEASE tell me that you are doing that. Keep in mind, that there are not many opportunities to do this on most maps, and that enemy chopper spawns 30 seconds after we kill it, so unless you’re on Ventrilo, TeamSpeak, TeamSound, etc., with me, this is not a wise choice. If you want to look like you know what you’re doing, walk up to my Chopper with your Ammo Bag or Wrench in hand, and I’ll know you’ve read my chopper guide and I can count on you.

There is a debate on using the Medic kit as a gunner. As my gunner, don’t do it. I think it is a bad idea, since I don’t plan on hovering over a big group of people to heal them. Let the commander drop supplies on their heads for that.


3) We’ve just lifted off, what do you do now???

Let’s just pray that you have a friend that can fly the helo, and the 2 of you have practiced on an empty server with the TV Missiles. You’re my gunner now and most likely, we’re on a full server. This IS NOT the place to learn how to shoot the TV missile. Host your own server and do that. If you don’t have any friends, load up Sharqui Peninsula, get in the MEC Chopper and go park it on the TV Station and practice shooting things. Hell, park it anywhere you want, just learn on your time, and not mine. Sure this sounds a little harsh, and I apologize. I’m here to play, and to kick some ass, I’m not here to try and teach you how to shoot. Let’s just hope a REALLY good gunner writes a tutorial of the same fashion for all the pilots out there that have no f’n clue what they are doing.

Remember to use the camera view while you’re flying so you can alert the pilot if you see a anything behind you, helo, armor, etc. Default key is C.


4) OMG, someone spotted an enemy HELO…what do you do???

A) He doesn’t see us, but we see him

If swear to god if you spool up that chain gun and start shooting at a full health helo that I’ve snuck up on, I’m going to shoot you in the face the first chance I get. This is something you don’t EVER want to do, and I’m going to explain why. The chain gun on the nose, is good for shooting at a smoking chopper that you want to “finish off”, or for infantry that you want to staple to the ground. If I’m lining up a rocket shot, and you start blazing away on the chain gun, the enemy helo is gonna feel it, see the big red mark on his screen indicating where we are, and he’s going to do whatever he can to out maneuver us. Thus, you’ve completely owned my chances at getting a solid rocket shot, and for that I will hate you and curse your mother.

If he doesn’t see us initially, I’m gonna put you in position for a TV Guided Missile shot. If you miss, and he doesn’t ‘jink’ after the missile goes by, I’m gonna stay lined up for a 2nd TV Guided Missile shot. I’m going to try to give you a rear quarter shot, so you have more surface area to aim for. After 2 tries with the TV and you miss, you’re f’n fired and I’m going in for a rocket run. Chances are, I’m going to at LEAST get that helo smoking, if not dead in that 1 run. Once he’s smoking, open up with that chaingun at any time, keeping in mind that I’m STILL going to try to line up a good Missile shot for you.

B) He see’s us, and we see him

I’m going to do my best to get as much altitude as possible, and get you a downward firing angle on him. It’s tough to shoot up as you know. Do me a favor, when you see the enemy helo, SPOT him for me (Default is Q then mouseclick). Spot him ANY chance you get, cuz that shows up on my radar and helps me maneuver for the kill shot.

For God’s sake, shoot him in the face with a TV Guided Missile. He’s no doubt coming straight at us and thinking the same thing. Initially, most don’t jink very much to try and get out of harm’s way. I love a gunner than can hit the long distance nose to nose shot. It sure ****es the enemy pilots off to no end.

Ok, let’s say you’ve missed your TV shots and I’m not choking you to death. We’re now tangled up in a maneuvering nightmare. Feel free to chain him any chance you get, but keep in mind that this entire time, I’m trying to line you up for another TV Guided Missile shot. That Missile is deadly, and 1 shot kills anything in the game. Airplanes, Helo’s, Armor, people, etc. Use it to OUR advantage. The better you gun, the better I fly, the more we help our team. I don’t plan on dying, so help me, help you. Don’t suck.


5) OMG, someone spotted enemy ARMOR…what do you do???

Please refer to section 4A regarding our initial sighting of the enemy. Do NOT, I repeat DO NOT open up on full strength Armor with the chain gun. You’re gonna do 2 things…#1, let him know we’re there, and #2, REALLY **** me off. So much of this game is based upon the element of surprise. That’s how I like to fly my chopper. I want them to have to look at the top left of their screen to see wtf happened. Chances are, if he see’s us, I’m gonna maneuver out of his line of sight, and circle back around, and catch him from the side he has his back too.

I’m gonna give you 1 chance to hit with the TV on a ground target. That thing is loud when it hits, and if you don’t suck, and you miss, you’re not gonna miss by much. He’s gonna hear it, and look for us. I am immediately going to haul a$$ in on a rocket run the INSTANT you fire that TV. If you hit, that’s awesome, if you miss, well, I won’t. =) Hitting a tank with Helo Rockets is like shooting a 12 gauge shotgun at the side of a barn. You’d have to be a complete tool to miss a stationary piece of armor (I’m exaggerating). Hitting moving armor is another story, lets not get into that here, lets just hope you’ve gotten some practice in..

If somehow, we both miss, after I’m done sticking pins in the Voodoo Doll in your likeness, I’m gonna leave him alone for a moment, and he’s gonna think we went back to re-arm (sometimes). Well, we’re not, I’m hiding behind a hill about to poke my chin over the top, so you can spank him with a TV Guided Missile (Don’t miss). This is generally how it works, not always….If you see me hovering for no apparent reason, chances are I’m setting you up for a shot. This is where being on voice coms really helps. Communication wins matches, if you don’t have it, you’re not gonna do very well, but we’re gonna do our best in any case.


6) We’ve taken some damage, and we don’t have a base to repair.

This is just unfortunate and I will most likely blame you. I suggest also shouting obscenities in team chat telling everyone how much they suck for not keeping your base up, hehe. Seriously tho, hopefully I’ve been smart enough at some point in time to request supplies in a remote location that we can go hover over. Or in the likely event that our Radar, UAV, or Artillery have supplies near them, that’s where I’m gonna go. If not, I’m gonna find a place for us to land. If you’re an Engineer, get out and help me repair so we get it fixed, FAST. If you’re in Support Kit, get out and toss some ammo on the ground below us. Then get in the Pilots Seat (F1), and keep the rotor turning. Once we are FULLY repaired, get BACK in the Gunner Seat (F2). This REALLY helps out a lot, if we get in trouble, we can get off the ground quicker if the rotor is up to speed.

7) Flag Capping

Sometimes it's important for a helo to swoop in and take an enemy flag. No i'm not talking about BlackHawk asshaterry...we all know how much that sucks (Unless you're one of the six guys in it). So I swoop into a flag area and I'm going to keep turning 360's around that flag, looking for enemies. Now, it is your job to do a few things. FIRST thing I'm going to do, is point you at a LineBacker, Tank, LAV, Tow Tripod, etc. Pretty much in that order. Work your threat order TOP DOWN. Unless you have friendlies there to jump in those vehicles, blow them the hell up. If I point you at a Tank, and I hold it there, I'm not doing it to show you my skills at hovering, I want you to kill it, NOW. You do that, and I'll buy you a cupcake at the Officers Club when the map is over. Good rule of thumb is this. If you can blow it up, DO IT, cuz most of that stuff down there could turn us into Swiss cheese in about 4 seconds if an enemy gets into it.

8) Conclusion

I make mistakes, and so will you. As long as you appear to know what you are doing, you can miss a lot of shots as long as you are trying, and you appear to be getting better. Thanks for reading Strega’s guide to being a better gunner in a helo.

Good luck, and see ya on the playing field!

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xTYBALTx

I like.

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Current good song: Justice - Stress

James315

Do I sense some frustration with the pub server gunners?

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TychoCelchuuu

Sounds good. Except for all that "I will shoot you" stuff I'd enjoy iti if every pilot was like this; makes it easier for the pilot AND the gunner.

Lekdevil.NL

Umm, well... There's obviously a lot of good tips in that post, but I'm not sure I'd agree with the attitude. It seems like the original author likes to think that the gunner is just there for the ride, handling the gun controls that the game makers unfortunately put beyond the pilot's reach.

When I'm piloting a helo (which happens not that often, I must admit), I'd like to see things a bit differently. To me, the gunner should be in total control over the tactical approach to things: he has the best view over the battlefield (full 180 degrees gun swivel and TV missle zoom), and is therefore best employed to pick out the best targets and firing positions. With the sole exception of evading imminent enemy threats (SAMs, attack helos, .50 cals, etc.), I view my role as a pilot to fully accomodate the gunner's wishes, letting him make the most of his weapons (and using the FFARs only as a secondary option).

Just my $0.02.

Varp

with that attitude u can fly solo

some good tips, but a bad 'tude

EDIT: lol Lekdevil...jinx!

I'm now looking forward to his Squad Leader's guide - "Motivating troops through the application of SMAW" and his treatise - "the correlation between calibre and motivation. Bigger is better."

he's like a WW2 Soviet commissar!

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The early bird gets the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese

WhiskeySix

yeah, but the author's attitude definitely made it a funny read...

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Iamthefallen

I agree that the prime job of a pilot it to set his gunner up for shots and make sure the gunner can do his job, the gunner should always be the killer of the team. However...

Gunners tend to get tunnel vision, as a gunner I'm often strafing a target to the side while the pilot turns the chopper towards another higher priority target without telling me. The target is outside my FOV and I have no idea what the pilot is looking at, I'll happily keep MGing infantry on the side while right in front of us a Cobra is setting up for a TV missile shot... While the gunner is engaging, the pilot should keep his eyes open for threats or higher priority targets and call them out when he sees them!

The best pilots I've flown with (RangerSix for instance) call out every target and its relative position no matter how obvious the target is. Vice versa goes as well, the gunner should call out every target so the pilot know what he needs to set the gunner up for. Both should acknowledge that they see/don't see the squadmates target. I try to use "no visual" for targets I can't see, "standby" after seing it but waiting for the right opportunity and a simple "copy" for seen targets that I'm engaging.

A team in constant communication will rack up an amazing amount of kills this way.

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| Wearing the TG tags | Reporting infractions | How to get started with PoE |

jepzilla

He's pretty obsessive about the gunner not using the chain gun. Yes, you should try to pop off TV missiles at long range, but if the enemy chopper is close by the pilot should just try to avoid the rocket fire. Most of the times I gun I can shoot down the enemy chopper with my chain gun long before the pilot gets a rocket kill. The chaingun does a lot of damage once you adjust for the reticle error.

Lekdevil.NL

<clueless stare>reticle error?</clueless stare>

Deveran

After you come out of TV Missle you have a "reticle error." Your shots don't hit or are way off even if they look completely on target to you. It's an easy fix of just recalbing by hitting all four corners with your mouse and you're back on track to kill some infrantry/buggies.


I think this guy is worse than me..wow. I disagree with three points he made. One--The gunner should never be in the third person view unless we're retreating and going back for repairs. Even then, if the pilot starts to turn around, hop back into gunning position to TV Missle some unexpecting Attk. Helo that may have given up on the chase. Two--The pilot should never sweep in for the attack with his hellfires. Only on last resorts should I see that and I believe this guy uses it too often. Three--...umm...well there was a three...maybe someone will state it..oh well.

As for Fallen.. when I fire at infrantry and do sweeping missions on them..if my pilot is keeping a steady course for more then 2 seconds I look up at the radar to see if there is any spotted armor and then I quickly hop into TV missle so I'm exactly what he's looking at. Usually I can get the shot off quick enough and take it out even without the pilot saying anything, but sometimes we just fly right on by because there was just too many infrantry.

Faultline

Didn't the recent patch address the reticle error?

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Iamthefallen

Yes it did, at least for choppers...

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| Wearing the TG tags | Reporting infractions | How to get started with PoE |

jepzilla

That's actually not what I meant. I call that the calibration bug, and yeah I think it was fixed in 1.03.

The reticle error is due to the fact that the chain gun is offset from the gunner's position by a fairly significant distance so there's some parallax between where you aim and where the bullets hit. When you're close to something you're shooting at the bullets land a little below and off to the side of where the reticle is pointing.

Yer Mom

We all know that Mom loves his helo's.

So... I have to put in my two cents on this guy.

He's right in a thousand ways. I've piloted a helo countless times with TG members and pub people. I can't even remember the times that both sides of the playing field would fire the chain gun instead of wait for a TV shot.

Normally, while you're firing that chain gun, waiting for a reload, I'm setting you up for a shot. You should be READY and FIRING when that shot is loaded. You SHOULD shoot the TV missle NO MATTER WHAT ANGLE YOU HAVE. There's always a chance. I can't stress that enough. When I see an enemy helo and my gunner starts shooting chain guns, I dive. I dive away from the helo and try my best to dodge his rockets, because I know for a damn good fact he's going to kill me. I don't care what tactics or weapons he is using, he is going to kill me because my gunner failed to take that TV shot.

TV Missles are the best asset to an attack helo. This guy has an amazing point on that. He WILL shoot you in the face if you start firing off the chain gun. He's right on the point of chasing the other helo with the chain gun, as LONG AS IT'S SMOKING. The chain gun should be used for jeeps and infantry only, and the occasional smoking helo. The TV Guided Missle is the MOST deadly weapon in the game. Period. Learn to use it if you're going to fly in my helo.

The gunner should also be using 3rd person views to see if the helo is chasing us, but not to directly look behind us as Strega said. If I am flying away from a hostile helo, I'm going to be using 3rd person, and so should my gunner. I'm using it to decide which way to turn to dodge oncoming TV missles, and the gunner should be using it to keep a location on the hostile helo so that if I decide to make a spin and try to take it out, he should be ready.

I agree fully with his attitude, because I see this everywhere I go. Be it TG or pubs.

Now, don't get me wrong. There are a LOT of good gunners in TG who KNOW the power of the TV Missle and KNOW how to use it. But on the other side, there are a LOT of bad gunners in TG who DO NOT know the power or how to use it.

Some people just weren't meant to fly.

It's amazing how well I do with a good gunner in a helo. I flew two nights ago on a pub server with a friend of mine from school. I ran 72-4 and he ran 265-4.

That was against a hostile helo, and infantry on the ground. We died a total of 4 times on a 3 hour game.

The skill of the gunner matters SO much to the pilot. If the gunner sucks, the pilot sucks. I can hover-run through streets surrounded by buildings and let you decimate ANY infantry who may want to stand in our way. I can nuke tanks, APC's, AA, or jeeps with my missles faster than you can shoot that TV Missle, but I have to be closer. That's the weakness. I have to go in for a shot, when you have to be at long range for a shot. That's what makes the TV guided missle so strong.

I try my best to set up point blank shots on armor on the ground, and I still watch people miss because they had to switch to the TV guided missle before they could kill the armor. YOU, as a gunner, SHOULD ALWAYS BE IN TV GUIDED MODE UNLESS I TELL YOU THERE IS INFANTRY ON THE GROUND THAT YOU NEED TO TAKE OUT.

I can't stress that enough. Seriously.

-Mom