B-25J Ground Work Three The B-25 has all the traits necessary to be an evil vulching machine. It has enough bombs to whack the ack and a fuel cell with both sticks (or strafe the ack and knock out the ammo shed). It is tough, very durable, handles well at low speeds, and has 8 x .50 Cal MGs in the nose with plenty of ammunition. The hardest part of vulching is to get to the enemy field unnoticed. A fast ingress at 50feet or lower is probably the best if the arena is swarming with fighters. Head slightly past the airfield you are going to attack, circle around and come in from behind the direction the fighters are taking off in. Ask for contacts on the radio... you need to figure out that if an enemy fighter has just died and he has the option of coming up at the field you are going for you may run into him. Once the "vulchfest" begins try to remain calm. Over eagerness will get you killed if you pull too many Gs to get a shot on a fighter. You don't have to blast them as they first appear on the runway. Catch them as they are rolling, about to lift off, or just on take off. If they get away with the all important first turn into or away from you it can get a bit hairy. Planes to watch out for are the Spitfire and the Bf109. The Spitfire can turn real well to avoid your shots, the Bf109 accelerates and climbs very well. If the Bf109 gets into the air and behind you it will be difficult to remove him. The Bf109 and the Spitfire carry 20mm Cannon. It's best to nail the ammo shed then. Remove their "B-25 busting" rounds to stop them gaining the one-ping kill. Hover behind the entry point for the enemy fighters at about two to three thousand feet. You do not need to be any higher. Stay far enough out so that any fighter who appears will come up at 2000yds on the icon ranges. This keep you away from the Flak Panzers which will show up. Do not, under any circumstances, attempt to strafe or bomb the Flak Panzers. They are extremely tough and can take many, many 20mm Cannon rounds before they expire. They only need a few hits on you to ruin you. Even if you do manage to kill one the player will just grab another. Be careful as you swoop on a fighter that a Flak Panzer does not appear behind you as you blast down the runway and shoot. If he does he's taking a risk himself. Any other fighters will appear"over" him and if he shoots without moving away first then he will kill his allies. Attack the fighters from the side, curving in and down onto them. Lead them well and let fly from 750yds away. You know their flight path... they will be tearing down the runway... so just ease on in and shoot them. The Spitfires and bf109s will die with one blast... the P-51s and FW190s can take about four or five pings. The FW190 and P-51s are out of luck when a B-25 is over them. They cannot accelerate on the flat fast enough to get away and they cannot turn that well to avoid you. You will get to see a lot of augurs as you swoop. Take a look at the B25j.cam. Though the B-25 took a fuel hit right at the start, the P-51 suffered constantly. The B-25 was able to pull a high Yo-yo and get right into the P-51s rear quarter easily at one point. Note how the P-51 takes quite a few hits before going down. What was a P-51 doing so low in the first place? Not a good place to be in a P-51, especially if it runs into a B-25. The Yak is a good "vulcher buster"... it accelerates real well, climbs good, and has 20mm Cannons. It turns very well and can really hang on in there with you if it gets behind you. Yaks are pretty rare though. If you see one appear and another fighter comes up too then hit the Yak first. It's not that durable... a good burst will destroy it. After the vulchfest deteriorates into a mass of Flak Panzers watching you and your ammunition runs low it's time to get away. If no other enemy fighter has arrived to Boom and Zoom you down low then you have a fair chance of getting home. Most players will simply move away to another field and go off somewhere else. There is always one who will sit and stare at you through the Flak Panzer gunsight as you race away. You have probably nailed this guy a few times and he is after your blood. He's not going to let you get away. As soon as you clip 3,000-4,000 yards he is going to grab a fighter and chase after you. Here is where another allied aircraft comes in real handy... but the B-25 will usually be alone. The second he disappears from the runway then turn and head back. Sure enough he will reappear in a fighter and you will be close enough to get him. Then turn around and head for home again. Don't try to run away if he comes back up (he will catch you). Turn back and get him again. Keep punishing him. People who duel with vulchers don't consider the fact that though they may eventually get the enemy they are dying in droves to do it. They are the losers here... though some would say that vulching is a losers game anyway. Don't believe a word of it! The B-25 does not shine as bright as the fighters. When you get a chance to kill some fighter jocks take it. Vulch them before they get their gear up! An opportunity to vulch should never be passed up when you are a lone raider. Lone raiding is not the easiest thing to accomplish in the arenas with counters and radars. It's possible though, possible to get deep behind the enemy lines, waste their assets, and survive to return to base. The Pacific terrain is more suited to the lone raider role. It has more targets (ack and ships) to waste, and the atoll in the center of the terrain tends to attract the furballs, and the fighters, away from you. In the B25h.cam the B-25 heads away from the atoll and beats up A:62. Ingress and egress were low under radar (under 200ft AGL) and the A:62 tower/radar was knocked out too. The fighters were all over the atoll in the East. Three bombs were not enough to sink the transport ship. The B-25 raider pushed North into C-land in the B25i.cam. It cruised around at 1,000feet and cleared out the ack. No fighters showed up to disturb the B-25 on those two raids... which was a pity. There's no kill like a B-25 kill. [end]