Flight vs

A flight of pilots and their fighters- four craft in the skies acting as a single unit. These men and women are greater than a single element because of their numbers and thus- enhanced ability. You can now take another element not only from two sides- but four. You make it practically impossible for an enemy element to overcome you; a lone fighter might as well be committing suicide. However, one should know how to protect this flying force and some of the formations involved to keep the Flight together and functioning.

Know this- despite the overwhelming numbers, every pilot in the flight is still using one-vs.-one BFM when engaging a target: nothing has changed that. For the enemy fighter, it’s just a one vs. many situations where he's gone into Defensive BFM, taking on each enemy as they come. So, in order to defeat the enemy, you'll want to take that chance away from them, firing from two different angles to cut the fighter off and to make it difficult for them to evade anything at all times.

Let’s change it up though- say there are two fighters vs. your flight. For the both of them it’s going to be one-vs.-many head-on BFM, and its exactly the same for you and whoever your wingman is at the time. Depending on their formation, say they go into diamond formation and try to combine their strengths to take out one of our fighters immediately, it may be best to mimic their maneuver and create a larger surface area for them to hit so they have a hard time hitting a single target within the colossus. However- one should be mindful of this because if the enemy is able to launch a missile in close and its all-aspect, a concussion may go off nearby and disorient the group, allowing the enemy element an open shot. So- it’s all important that you don't let the enemy get that chance- maybe you'll spread out and try giving them aspect problems as well. Again: probably the best move is to attack the enemy from more than one side so they can't win.

How about flight vs. flight? Now you need to get tactical. Why? Deciding who gets to be on Offensive BFM first will be the deciding factor in this battle. Also, seeing how many fighters can be taken out in the first pass is up there with those deciding factors, once the first pass has occurred though- its every man for himself. A four vs. four turning battle... It gets rough. Let’s start on the first pass:

So, the enemy flight we're going to be looking at for now is going to be about equivalent because of their superior fire power and abilities in atmosphere- a Flight of X-Wings. Our Imperial flight will be flying the VEN Interceptors equipped with the pair particle and energy shielding to protect from energy weapons as well as projectiles. Also, the Twin Ion Engines have been tuned so that the acceleration rating is up to 120-122 MGLT where-as the Xs only have 100 MGLT. That gives you a significant speed advantage for now, however, we pick these first because of their shielding and firepower.

Now, we're going to say that the New Republic fighter group goes into what is known as 'Vic' formation or the equivalent to the Imperial 'Diamond'. In this formation, the Flight lead heads the group in the center of the group. Half of the flight will lead off below the leader and to the right while whoever remains will rise above the leader and guide to the left; both sides will gradually move their fighters back depending on their position from the flight lead. Thus, from the top it looks like a V, from the side it looks like a V and from the front it looks like one of the sides of the V is going the wrong way. What has this done? This separates the X-wings from each other so that they won't collide if a concussion missile explodes nearby and it also gives them a new angle of attack from each person. This creates problems for their enemies-

The Imperials are doing something similar though simpler- they go into what is called a ladder. The Flight lead is highest in this group with each pilot dropping below him like a ladder. Each pilot also goes a little farther backward so that the formation ends up looking like a staircase. Now, during this formation and others like the 'Diamond,' its common practice for pilots to switch position while in the formation to prevent missile locks from occurring as easily and it also makes it incredibly difficult to get a clean shot off with cannons' due to 'screening.' Screening is the art of cutting another person off, whether it be from long range or dog fighting. Now- what have the Imperials done here? While the X-wings had more dimensions which granted them greater aspect for attack, the Imperials have used their already slim forms to advance their positions. Their goal is to become as slim as possible while avoiding a radar lock or cannon fire- thus they may drift left to right as well as up and down like the usual one-vs.-one head-on BFM, but they'll be harder to hit. Their goal is to survive the first pass and use their far more drastic change in altitude to converge, and sandwich the X-wings while the rebels intend to overcome as many of them on the first pass as possible. Their formation is not nearly as drastic, so converging on an enemy that is more maneuverable will be difficult.

Now, as the two approach each other, the X-wings are very likely to squeeze together to try and take out the lead fighter with their cannons, or, if from a long enough distance yet, they'll switch to missiles and hope that multiple missile engagements will be able to take out the leader. Of course, they don't all have to engage the same target, they may very well have each man pick a target and fire or have an element fire on a single fighter. If both groups were successful, that would bring the enemy count to two and there would be a vast difference in power. On the Imperial side of things, the idea is just not to get hit, sneaking in whatever hits they can, perhaps a concussion missile or two and some linked burst to keep the X-wings from getting a good shot. They will also continuously interchange and perhaps attempt to change the angle of attack at the last moment like in one-on-one Head-on BFM. This would put the group on the offensive, but at least the dogfight would begin and they'd have the chance to use their crafts natural abilities to overcome the X-wings. The other option is to survive the first pass and instantly cut in, perhaps pressing further out of formation just before collision so that a better turn could be created. Even further still, either group could totally split up and become as wide as possibly to converge on top of the other through the first pass, though would probably overshoot after the first pass.

Now, that's just a common situation when dealing with the initial head-on pass. One might ask: why are the passes always head on? Chances are that you won't want to be on the defensive right away so angles when passing each other usually aren't that great, but also because the pilot isn't the only one in control of the battle, the enemy can turn to create yet another head-on confrontation.

After the first pass, the dog fight ensues- every man for himself though most will try to stick to their elements and outgun a single fighter to change the odds in their favor. However, here's the thing about larger engagements- people can slip out of the fight unnoticed. As was mentioned in two vs. many BFM, a wingman is good for more than additional firepower. Say your element acquires one of the enemy X-wings after that first pass and gets on to his tail. So- that means there are three other enemy fighters and how many allied to take those three out? Two. That means one man isn't being engaged. What he's probably done is separated from the battle so he could get a better position and fall in behind one of the Imperials. That means you better get your kill quickly or he's going to take one of your team members out. So: always watch your six and keep your wingman in close proximity. That way, should someone decide to drop onto you, that wingman can attempt to break off and start his own turning battle with that fighter. Chances are, despite how big the numbers are, things will come down to a one-vs.-one situation, no matter how little the time. So: always remember you're One-Vs-One BFM.

Below are some different events that could transpire because of formations, shields, engines and weaponry. You see- there is an innumerable amount of reasons why a battle could go differently- it’s your job to exploit that and use it to your best ability to get that kill.