Fallosophy

Today I had the opportunity to spend about an hour getting some stick time in with the Little-Bird. The map we were on was the big one with the cloverleaf interchange in the middle. Overall I am impressed with it but I think it will take some thinking to deploy it correctly.



Flight Characteristics:

I was curious as to how they would make this small aircraft fly. Those of you that are familier with the change in handling from the blackhawk down to the Cobra know it is pretty drastic. I wondered if the handling would be to that same scale for the oh-6 down from the Cobra- and if so would it be so damn snappy no one could fly it? However they seemed to have done something interesting. It is sharper than the Cobra but in a somewhat different way. The agility is clearly in the flight model. When you fly you definately feel as though you are in a much lighter airframe than the Cobra. I was easily able to take it under bridges and even fly sideways tracking and firing on a target. They are well suited to landing quickly although it has to be done carefully or it will take a ton of damage from the landing. I think they definately got it right when modeling the flight characteristics of the OH-6.


Mission:

Heres the tricky part. I think the OH-6 will be a very valuable tool on the battlefield as long as the temptation to use it incorrectly is controlled. I know we would all like to do Blackhawk Down style rooftop runs against infantry but I just don't see this as an efficient way to use the vehicle.

What I found was that the oh-6 might be a perfect command and control vehicle. It is after all a scout helo and not an attack helo. The built-in radar scan, just like a uav, has width - not depth. This means I was able to take the bird high into the clouds and hover over key points of the map that needed a radar. I was able to operate above the range and view of any AA vehicles and frequently went unnoticed by the enemy aircraft flying below me. This would be perfect for one person working with the commander to identify sneak attacks or flanking enemy.

The other mission I see this bird fulfilling is troop insertion. This would be a more dangerous role as it exposes the OH-6 to fire. But as I mentioned earlier, the handling allows this thing to be flown mere feet off the ground and sideways! Basically a good pilot should be able to swoop in somewhere, drop people off in a hurry, and get out of the area. I think the oh-6 would be perfect for deploying squad leaders to far away unguarded bases or deploying specops near assests or bridges.

I believe there may come an opportunity when infantry may be identified out in the open and the oh-6 can make some strafe runs, but so far it seems to me that command and control and quick insertions are where this new aircraft will excel.

TG_JBRanger

BROTHER! How the heck are ya?

Awesome review of the little bird. I'm itching to pick up the expansion just for this. Thanks.

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Snail88

i couldnt agree more about the chopper. I was seeing it being used too heavily against infantry instead of being a support role with the UAV. I really owuld like people to understand its not the point to kill with that thing, its to SUPPORT and gather intelligence.

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Eggplant999

Today, had me and my brother in it. I was flying & suppport kit, he was AT on the side. We took out a lot of tanks this way. Only gotta worry about all the linebackers.

PanzerHans

I agree wholeheartedly on its potential as a intel gathering device. However this thing is a potent infantry killer as well, so we should not look away from that aspect. Using this to transport one spec op. and one support guy to take commander assets is also fair use in my view.

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VI VI VI - the number of the beast

UnDeaD77

Also works well with Support and Engineer dropping at mines by armor.

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FBmantis

Ya that was fun for a test on a pub undead but I think most would agree we don't want to see that on TG. Plus it won't be anywhere near as effective since mines will hurt friendlies and would cause more trouble than good.

I think one of the best uses will be a multitasking 3 man squad. SL as medic I guess with a support plus spec ops. The support and spec ops could be dropped off for asset destruction and the SL could support squads with the UAV while the other two are off blowing assets. Also if the commander sees an open flag you could zip in and take it. Plus they are great for harassing enemy attack choppers if they are really tearing apart the ground troops somewhere.

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PanzerHans

Silver and I tried using it by manning me as AT on the side of the chopper(on a public server). Worked pretty well to take out armor from the air if the chopper was held steady. Would this be regarded fair conduct here? Thoughts anyone?

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VI VI VI - the number of the beast

Bodofooko

I was flying the MEC attack helo on operation harvest last night and FattyBear was tearing me up in this thing. Granted, I didn't have a gunner, but he was zipping all over the place like a mosquito, and peppering me with his guns. Those guns do quite a bit of damage to helos and the itty-bitty profile makes it a pain to hit. Sure, this shouldn't be the primary role, but they are indeed effective at it.

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I read all of Rick's post, and all I got was this lousy sig.

JMJ

I came up behind an MI-28 in it and took it down. they are indeed powerful. Granted, the MI-28 was being manned by icky and Beatnik, so that's probably not saying much

TheFatKidDeath

Good ideas. I think having a tank-busting OH-6 chopper squad could also be effective. Have the pilot be support and the two passengers AT. The AT's could disembark behind/side of a tank, destroy the target, and get back into the OH-6 for a quick get away.

Lots can be done with that little bird!

Exploding_Silver

There are lots of fun possibilities for this chopper. I reckon the war turning feature will be the radar and the dull flying high to provide intel win do the most to help the team. This radar feature the most interesting thing about this epansion because it offers new tactical possibilities beyond just new maps & rifles

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perry

One thing for infantry to do when the littlebird is flying overhead is to make sure you spot whatever the littlebird shows on its radar.. So when the chopper moves, you still have the intel. I really like the possibilities that this chopper has. Just wish it wasn't so hard to land and didn't turn over on liftoff when you look at it funny.

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Exploding_Silver

I just played 30 mins being a personal UAV for my squad, by flying really high I hardly got anyone even firing at me, I also found it was more effective to fly by looking at the minimap 80% of the time. This type of UAV flying is pretty easy.

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Fallosophy

^ yep . thats what i found as well.