One vs Many

Introduction

Single ship combat against multiple enemy aircraft is probably one of the most challenging air-to-air engagements a fighter pilot will ever face. One-versus-many tactics are difficult to execute but straightforward conceptually. At the moment, we're going to discuss one-versus-many tactics in offensive, defensive, and head-on situations.

Offensive One-Vs-Many BFM

First off, you know you're on the offensive in a 1-vs-many situation if the bandits you are fighting are all out in front of your aircraft. Keeping the bandits out in front is the difficult part. It's important to shoot as soon as possible at the nearest bandit and then maneuver to stay in control of the fight. If you shoot a missile at the nearest bandit and hit him, you improve the odds and change the mind-set of the surviving enemy fighters. If you miss your shot, then the maneuvering is even more critical because you have angered them and they still outnumber you...

A rule-of-thumb for maintaining control of the fight is to keep the bandits on one side of your fighter. This makes it much easier to keep the bandits in sight and makes it harder for them to sandwich you. In addition, you should also try to keep all of the bandits either above or below you in altitude to make it easier to keep track of the bandits and keep you from getting trapped. Another fine note is to have your shields moderate all around you because you don't know where your enemy will end up maneuvering to take a shot at you- if all your shields are on one half of your ship when someone suddenly drops in to take you out: you're in some trouble.

The question may come up: "What do I do if there are more than two bandits in a fight and I do not kill one before they all see me and start a turning engagement?" The answer is simple - separate from the fight. The way to do this is to pass the bandits as close as possible at 180deg of heading crossing angle at the speed of heat. What little power you'll have left over after draining almost all energy into those engines you should use on aft shields to protect you from enemy fire.

Another good rule is that if you are alone and there are more than two bandits, do not turn more than 90 degrees to get a shot and don't let that throttle drop below sixty percent. After 90deg of turn or when you are reaching sixty percent, get out of the fight. Separating from fights is more of an art than a science, but it's a critical fighter pilot skill that needs to be learned and mastered.

Defensive One-Vs-Many BFM

Now, a defensive 1-vs-many fight starts when a bandit gets behind your 3/9 O'clock line with their nose pointing toward you're rear end. Remember, bad stuff can happen to you when the bandit puts his nose on you and you're within range of his weapons! When this occurs, fight your best 1-vs-many defensive BFM. It makes no difference how many bandits are in the sky around you; the rule-of-thumb on defense is to fight 1-vs-1 BFM against the most immediate threat. When you have defeated this attack, you will probably have another bad guy saddling up on you so get ready to fight the next one. When you are fighting multiple bandits, remember that one may leave you in order to give the kill to another one in the group, probably a wingman, who is in better position to take a shot. So, if you see one bandit disengaging, keep checking your six because you're probably about to be engaged by his wingman. If this does not occur, then keep accelerating and separate from the area.

Head-On One-Vs-Many BFM

A head-on 1-vs-many fight has a very simple scenario. If you pass multiple bandits head-on, plug in those twin ion engines and keep on going. It is very foolhardy to start a 1-vs-many fight from a head-on pass. In fact, the only way you should initiate a 1-vs-many fight is from an offensive position unless you're flying a bigger ship and you've got shields and weapons up the wazoo. However, should it be impossible for you to separate or a mission objective can't be passed up or you're just that stupid- here's how you go about trying to stay alive:

This is where you fly your best offensive BFM. What the enemy will probably attempt to do is force you to pick a target so that they can drag you away and pick you up with their other fighters. However, if you pick that target and you kick it into full throttle, get you're shot and take it- hopefully you succeed. Why? Not only is that damage to that fighter, possibly a loss of an enemy fighter, but you'll have made them reconsider you as an enemy pilot. Now, even if you didn't kill that enemy, you're still at high speed- you can still separate from this battle. If you choose not to, you can cut your speed and immelman to come up on their tails- chances are they're already turning to get on to you. Or- you could just continue on at a moderate pace to bring them into range and bring you into defensive BFM where at least you know how to fight. If you stay offensive, deal with the immediate threat as was mentioned before- it’s just a matter of getting to either defensive or offensive BFM. Chances are, you'll be killed on the first pass or die trying to get a good shot off.

In short- be smart and you'll stay alive.