============
A. Introduction
============
So, you've decided to go the way of USN AA? Well, I don't envy you, but since you're
already here, let's make the best of it.
One of the things you most often hear is, USN AA sucks. This is both true and false.
While the USN's supposed national advantage is in AA and AAW, this doesn't completely work
out; USN sailors do get a +2 bonus to AAW upon classing, but most players find that this
bonus only helps marginally, to the point where it might as well not exist at all. Also,
currently AA gunner class sailors are pointless; as AA gunners lose Reload growth at each
classing, using them means that you'll be able to get off fewer salvos of flak at a target
while it's in range, which greatly lowers your performance potential. And seeing as how
the A variant guns for the USN perform only marginally better (or inferior in some cases)
to N, L, or D variant guns of the same type, there really is no point in using the AA
gunner class. As such, most USN players will use the Reload gunner class instead, and use
the corresponding N, L, or D variant guns.
So, what's the good part about USN AA? Well, to put it one way, it doesn't suck. While
they perform inferior to most KM AA guns, they are still deadly enough to clear the skies
just as well, if put in the right hands. While a bit lacking in range depending on which
gun and which variant you use, USN AA guns have a good combination of damage and reload
time, which allows them to effectively lay waste to anything that does come into range. To
put it simply: they may not be scout snipers, but they're excellent bomber squadron
killers.
Furthermore, many USN ships are extremely well-suited to be AA ships, or have the ability
to carry very potent secondary batteries. Out of the 38 ships in the USN ship tree, only
13 ships, 10 of them gunships, do not have the capability to carry effective AA. The rest
can either carry a secondary battery powerful enough to fend for itself, or be converted
into virtual floating flak fortresses.
=====================
B. Basic Pointers for Beginners
=====================
Now, to get started. The first thing I recommend that you do is to go to the following site:
www.nf-guides.com
If you're a new player, that site will provide you with all the information you need to
start properly. However, the main reason that I want you to go there is because of the
AA guide. Obst's beginner AA guide is clean, simple, and effective; I myself got started
with it, so I have Obst to thank for getting me to this point. I will be referring back to
Obst's guide throughout the remainder of my guide, so make sure you read it for the bare
basics.
OK, read it yet? Good. Now, let's continue.
First things first: for the USN, use Reload gunners instead of AA gunners. What will
matter more in the end is how quickly you can reload your AA guns, and Reload gunners are
the best choice for that. The faster your reload, the more salvos you can put on a target,
the faster you can kill it. Putting more flak on target is a much more important factor
than being able to bring down incoming TBs with AAW.
Obviously, the hardest part of AA will be leading a target; different guns will require
you to lead at different ranges, as well as engage at different ranges. All it really
takes is practice to do so; learn the range of your gun, the travel time to different
points in the air, and factor this into the plane's speed and fire accordingly. The best
way to do this is to imagine the plane on a track in the sky: you're trying to make your
flak burst pass through at a certain point at the same that the plane will; if you can do
this, then the plane will go down.
If you're in an AA ship (a ship primarily dedicated to AA-ing, as opposed to being a ship
which happens to have AA on board), expect to sometimes be targeted with priority over
other ships; CVs hate having their planes brought down by AA ships, and BBs don't like to
shoot blind, so sometimes you will be targeted even over a nearby allied BB. For this
reason it's important to learn how to dodge bombs, torpedoes, and heavy shells, which
relies heavily on speed and maneuverability; if you're fast enough to outrun air-dropped
torpedoes and maneuverable enough to evade bombs, you'll make the task of sinking you much
harder for the enemy, and cause them to waste their ammo and time on you instead of your
team's BBs, which will help your team to win. While a lot of it depends on luck, skill and
judgment can also go a long way towards ensuring your survival.
Now, let's move on to the next part.
============
C. Basic Tactics
============
So, now it's time to learn some of the most basic things about how to drive an AA ship. This
section should become second nature for most players after a while, so learning them early is
never a bad thing.
1. The direction of approach
It may not seem like it at first, but the direction of approach of an enemy plane can
matter a lot. In most cases, you will be in a situation where planes are flying directly
towards your broadside:
This is the simplest and easiest attack to deal with: simply fire AA once they enter range
and continue to do so until they're out of your engagement envelope, then maneuver as
necessary to evade bombs/torpedoes or to reposition once they re-enter your engagement
envelope.
There may be a time when planes will fly parallel to your course:
This type of approach is both easier and harder to deal with. In most cases, you will not
be in danger of being attacked if they're bombers (otherwise they would be coming straight
at you), so no need to worry about that. However, remember that the CV driver commanding
them might notice you shooting at them and change his aim towards you, so you'll need to
work quickly if you don't want to become a target yourself.
The reason that this type of approach is easier is because they will remain in your
engagement envelope longer, giving you more time to bring them down. However, it's also
harder since you will actually have to lead your targets instead of just pointing and
firing (as with the first case). You will have to gauge their speed, distance, and
direction of flight, and factor that into your own shells' salvo delay and flight time to
that same spot, so that you can time when your burst will arrive on target.
The most difficult direction of approach to engage, in my opinion, is when planes fly away
from you:
In this case, it's harder to judge when they will enter your engagement envelope, since
they do so from the opposite end, and your shells have to play catch-up with the targets
as well. Even though they'll spend roughly the same amount of time in your engagement
envelope as when they're approaching head-on, engaging them will require reversing your
timing somewhat, which, while quite possible, can be hard to do.
2. AAW torpedo shielding
A rather simple concept, but an important one nonetheless. While the USN AAW advantage is
far from decisive, it can prove very useful in many situations. For example, say that
enemy torpedo bombers are approaching an allied ship at sea level, and you are in the area
between them and their target. In order to shoot them down with minimal effort, you could
move your ship close to them and let your AAW do the work; however, there are smart and
stupid ways to do this. The stupid way would be to completely block their path with your ship:
While this would practically guarantee that they won't hit their target ship (unless
they're AAW-immune), it also puts you in the path of their torpedoes; there is nothing
stopping them from releasing their torpedoes early, pulling away before being shot down,
and catching you with their torpedo salvo. Instead, take the smart way, by pulling
alongside and parallel to their path:
This method does two things:
i. It ensures that you are never in the path of the torpedoes, even if they release early
ii. It decreases the relative velocity between you and the bombers, keeping them in your
AAW zone longer
3. Shell, bomb, and torpedo dodging
Of all the skills to master, this is probably one of the most important. As I said in the
beginning, playing as an AA ship will earn you the attention of many ships on the enemy
team, meaning that unless you're careful, you'll be sunk easily and thus cease to be an
asset to your team. Remember: the longer you survive, the more planes you will be able to
shoot down, the more you'll help your team.
In order to dodge shells, the best method to use is to zigzag: stay at high speeds, and
continually turn one way then the other. In general, this is only to be used when you're
being targeted by an enemy BB at range; at the same time, you should aim to shoot down any
enemy plane that may be spotting you for said BB; if the enemy is blind, they can't shoot
as well, and your survival chances increase considerably.
Dodging bombs is a bit trickier, since most CV players tend to use auto DB. While this
means that they will always use a direct approach making it easier for you to shoot them
down, they may attempt to approach you from a blind angle where not all of your guns will
reach. Competent CV drivers will never lock on to you from a distance, but only when their
bombers are right on top of you; they will also attempt to approach you from the rear,
which limits your firing arcs and increases the chances for a hit. In order to combat
this, executing radical turns and hitting the overheat when they're on top of you can make
you an extremely hard target to hit; dive bombers will tend to dive at a part of your ship
that's to the stern of the center, so moving your proverbial "ass" out of the way before
the bombs hit is the key to survival.
Please read this thread by btbenjo, "Guide to Divebomb Dodging", for more information on
bomb dodging:
http://www.navyfield.com/board/view.asp?Num=89931&Sort=D07
Torpedo dodging is also tricky, and comes with two approaches: move in close to dud the
torpedoes, or move away and evade them altogether. In order to dud them, a player attempts
to make the torpedoes hit their ship before the safety disengages, making them do no
damage; this is very risky since the CV player may recognize this and release the
torpedoes early. The safer approach is to spot the torpedo bombers, then turn away from
them; this gives them a smaller profile to hit, and keeps them in your AAW zone longer,
which may score you a few lucky bombers before they can drop. Once the torpedoes are in
the water, it also reduces the relative velocity between you and the torpedoes, giving you
more time to evade. The next thing to do then is to hit the overheat and turn away from
their approach; for larger ships with a low speed and turning force, the most common and
fastest way is as follows:
The objective of this maneuver is to to move the center of the ship slightly out of line
of the torpedoes, turn parallel to the torpedoes to move the stern out of the way, wait
for them to pass, and turn away from them altogether.
Note that the above method is best used for large ships that can't turn very quickly. If
you're small and quick enough, you can simply perform a continuous radical turn in one
direction instead of zigzagging, and completely clear the salvo. However, many factors
will come into play, such as how much overheat you have left and how close the torpedoes
were dropped. Simply use your judgment to determine the best method of evasion.
===================
D. Important Factors for AA
===================
Once you have the basic concept of AA down, the next step is, what factors make certain AA
guns or ships better than others? This will vary from nation to nation, and depends on
several factors. I will list what I believe are the most important factors, in the order
that I believe they are important:
1. Number of barrels in a broadside
2. Range of the gun
3. Golden angle of the gun
4. Reload time of the gun
5. Damage per shell of the gun
Note that this list is not absolute. In some cases, reload time will take priority over
range, and in other cases the golden angle of the gun will matter less. Regardless, these
five factors are what decide whether a certain setup is feasible or not. While no one
factor is ultimately more important than another, an effective combination is what
determines an effective setup.
The broadside salvo is arguably the most important factor that should decide how effective
a setup is. The more barrels you can put up in the air, the higher your chance of hitting
or saturating a target is, the easier it is to bring down planes. For this reason, the
Atlantas are among the prime AA ships in the game: they can put up 12 barrels of AA in a
broadside, which means almost certain death for any plane that strays into its range.
The range of an AA gun is also a very important factor. The longer the range, the further
away you can engage planes, the less danger you have to put yourself in. The best example
of this is the Yamato and Super Yamato of the IJN: these two ships are capable of mounting
AA guns that have the most range in the game, allowing them to shoot down scouts before
the scout is able to spot the ship; this is one of the biggest reasons that many veteran
players dub the Yamato and Super Yamato as the best BB4 and BB5 in the game, respectively.
This also gives less warning to bombers and fighters, which may not be able to see what is
shooting at them, and thus makes it much harder to avoid the incoming fire.
For more information, please read my thread "Range Report: USN AA Guns (repost)" and see
how much range each USN AA gun has for yourself:
http://www.navyfield.com/board/view.asp?Num=74234&Sort=A01
Note that while the D variants of certain guns will have the lowest range but shortest
reload time, the L variants will have considerably more range but longer reload times. At
low levels, using the D guns will be the best choice, since your gunners probably won't
have enough Reload ability to reduce the reload times enough. However, at high levels, the
reload times of all guns will be cut in half, so using the L guns with high-level gunners
will give you better results, since the differences in reload times will also be cut in
half but the ranges will remain the same. Plus, the range of the L guns for the USN are
quite potent, rivaling even KM guns in terms of range.
The golden angle of an AA gun is also extremely important. While a lower golden angle also
corresponds to a longer range in general, a lower golden angle also means a wider
"engagement envelope"; this refers to the area around you in which you can engage planes
between when they enter and leave your golden angle coverage. The lower the angle, the
wider the area, the longer a plane stays within your attack zone. For example, compare a
low golden angle:
to a high golden angle:
Reload time is sometimes listed as the second-most important or even the most important
factor in choosing an AA gun. This is because a shorter reload time means that you can put
more salvos on a target, making it easier to bring down planes. This is also important if
you have multiple targets approaching; if you can put enough flak in the air at a single
moment, you'll be able to clear entire sectors in a few seconds.
The amount of damage that an AA shell does can be an extremely deciding factor. After all,
if it just takes a couple of high-damage shells to bring down a plane, then reload time is
almost a non-issue, since you could just fire a single salvo to shoot a plane down, and
not even need a second salvo. The more damage an shell does, the fewer salvos it takes to
bring a plane down, the faster you can eliminate a target.
Note: when looking at the damage values for an AA gun, make sure to check whether it used
to use AAA or AAC. In the past, AAC shells came in 50 rounds per bind but did less damage
per shell, while AAA shells came in 35 rounds per bind but did more damage per shell. Both
have been merged now, so that any guns that could use both AAA and AAC now only use AAA,
while any guns that could only use AAC still use only AAC. However, guns that use AAA are
limited to 35 rounds per bind, while AAC guns continue to use 50 rounds per bind.
There are more factors that are important in effectiveness, but which I don't feel are as
decisively important as the above five. Nonetheless, they do deserve mentioning, because
doing otherwise would be negligible.
The firing arcs of a ship can hinder your effectiveness considerably; while for most ships
this is not an issue, it plays an important role in deciding how quickly you can turn to
face a new threat. The most notorious ship to which this applies to is the Atlanta; with
60 degrees overlapping in either direction, an Atlanta has to be practically parallel to a
threat in order to engage it, and turning to engage a threat takes time, by which time it
may have already passed out of your range.
The weight of a gun is also important. Obviously a heavier gun is less desirable as
opposed to a lighter gun, since more weight means less speed or available displacement for
armor. For an AA ship, speed is very important, since it determines how quickly you can
turn to face a threat, how quickly you can get to a hot-spot, and how quickly you can turn
to dodge/avoid incoming bombs and airplane-dropped torpedoes; armor (or at least bulge)
is important for those times when you simply can't avoid an incoming torpedo and have to
take the hit.
=========================
E. An Evaluation of Feasible AA Guns
=========================
The most obvious thing I should note is, different guns will perform differently. For
example, a 5-gun broadside of single-barrel guns with long reload times will generally
perform inferior to a 6-gun broadside of double-barrel guns with short reload times, and
different guns will have different ranges, which will affect your reaction and leading
times. While I could recommend that you try out every gun for yourself to see which one
you like, this would be a huge waste of time, so I'll simply give you a list of the best
or most-used AA gun sets.
-5"/25 Mk 10 N/D
While common sense would tell you that this gun would normally be an inferior gun because
it possesses only a single barrel and a very limited range, picking this gun does come
with reasons. The main reason that you should use this gun is, if you drive a USN ship
that has next to no space on its T mounts, like a New Orleans or a Nevada, then this gun
is the best bang for your buck. While you could also try for a dual gun like the 3"/50 Mk
27's, those have only a bit more range, a much higher space requirement, and a lot less
damage per shell; the damage of the 5" shell for the 5"25's is the second-highest of all
AA shells in the USN arsenal, which means that they pack a mean punch on whatever they
hit. However, any ship that uses this gun will have an extremely limited broadside, so it
takes considerable skill to hit anything with these guns.
Note (added by TimmyC): the 5"/25 can block, to a certain degree. Because the ships you
would use them on have 4 slots equally spaced, in order to get them to fly in a solid
block, you must set the gunlines PARALLEL to each other, not crossed. If your gunners are
sufficiently high, then it is possible for the shells to fly right next to each other,
lending 90x4 damage against a single plane, almost certainly enough to knock it out in one
hit. This, of course, is dependent on how good you are with deflection shooting and timing
your shots.
-5"/38 Mk 30 Mod41 N/L/D
This gun can serve as a higher-tier replacement for the 5"25. While it's still only a
single barrel gun, it has more range, a better reload time, and still does very good
damage per shell. The problem is, the 5"38 single requires much more space than the 5"25,
and weighs almost 3 times more at each tier. The space requirement alone means that only
two ships can feasibly use them, the Brooklyn and the Tennessee(1941). While your
broadside will still be somewhat limited, you'll be able to manage somewhat better than if
you had 5"25's on.
-3"/70 Mark 23 N/D
The 3"70's are one of the most-used USN AA gun sets in the game, because they have
extremely short reload times, almost half that of other AA guns. While the guns themselves
require a considerable amount of space, each bind of ammo requires very little space,
which means that these guns will rarely ever run out of ammo on whatever platform they're
used. Combined with decent range and average damage per shell, some consider the 3"70's to
be the best USN AA gun. However, it also comes with several downsides. First and foremost
among these is its shell damage; while average, it's still somewhat lacking compared to
heavier shells. You may unleash a storm of flak on a plane squadron but only manage to
severely weaken but not shoot down any planes. Second, these guns weigh a lot, more than
even dual 5" gun sets, which will slow you down considerably in situations where you may
need speed. Furthermore, when used to fire anti-ship rounds, these guns tend to do little
damage to anything bigger than a CL1, which means that if you use them as primary weapons,
you'll be almost helpless against anything bigger than a DD.
-5"/38 Mk 38 N/L/D
These guns compete with the 3"70's as the most-used USN AA guns, and are my own personal
choice of AA gun (more specifically, the L's). They have about the same range as the
3"70's, but come with a longer reload time and more damage per shell. They also have
shallower golden angles, which means that your engagement envelope is wider at each tier.
The higher damage per shell means that you will occasionally one-shot scouts, which gives
their owners next to no warning that their scout is under attack until the last second.
What's more, these guns are quite effective in anti-ship combat, and, when combined with
High Angle, will let you take on anything smaller than a BB1 and emerge victorious if
you're good enough.
-5"/38 Mk 29 N/L/D
The 5"38 Mk 29's perform similar to the Mk 38's in most ways. They have a bit more range
and slightly shallower golden angles, but are considerably heavier and have longer reload
times. For the purposes of AA, most players use the Mk 38's instead, since the extra range
isn't worth the cost in weight and reload time. However, when used in anti-ship combat,
these guns will perform better than the Mk 38's due to their longer range.
-5"/54 Mk 16 N/L/D
These guns are most often used for High Angle instead of AA, for various reasons. They
weigh quite a bit, even more than the 5"38 Mk 29 set, have a longer reload time, and can
only carry AAC. However, they also have a lot more range, which lets you engage targets
where they think they're safe. In terms of AA, these guns are only really good for killing
scouts due to their low damage per shell, and are rarely carried on anything except an
Atlanta due to the weight. However, when range and a shallow golden angle is needed, don't
discount these guns.
-6"/47 DP Mk 16 N/L/D
The 6" DP's are what one would consider the powerhouse of the USN. They have massive range
and HUGE damage per shell, allowing you to one-shot scouts at long range, and essentially
blowing any plane squadron out of the sky if used correctly. However, they come at a great
cost: a very long reload time, and an incredibly huge weight. These guns should only
really ever be mounted on a Brooklyn or Cleveland, since their weight keeps them off of
just about everything else.
Note: some guns have the same golden angle as others of a different type, so if you're
feeling bold you can mix different guns, set them all at the same angle, and throw out
asymmetrical salvos. While this will throw off your timing somewhat if you're used to
delivering symmetrical, deliberately placed salvos, it can also confuse and play hell with
whoever's commanding the planes you're shooting at. Be warned, though, that an
asymmetrical setup means that if you decide to switch targets and use your mixed battery
to shoot at ships, things get complicated since the guns will have different ranges.
======================
F. Which Ships Can Best Use AA
======================
While the AA guns that you choose are very important, no less important is the ship that
you decide to mount them on. In general, there are two ways to mount AA: as a primary
battery (and thus acting as an AA ship) or as a secondary battery (which tremendously
increases your survival odds in almost any battle). Not all ships can mount a good
secondary battery, and not all ships are well-suited to use AA guns as their primary
battery. I'll start by listing out which ships can wield a very effective primary battery,
then do a general description for application of a secondary battery.
*******
AA Ships
*******
-Somers
As a DD, all a Somers can really do is carry low-caliber weapons, most of which happen to
be AA guns at the same time. To this end, a Somers with enough extra ammo can act as an AA
ship at the same time. However, because of its limited R space, most players don't bother
putting on AA ammo, since it would mean running short of anti-ship ammo, even with
short-ranged guns. While the 5"38's are the most-used guns on a Somers, it can only mount
the N or D variants with enough ammo, and it doesn't really have enough usable
displacement to mount the 3"70's effectively. The only real advantage it does have is its
4 R mounts, meaning that it can put 8 barrels in the air, which can still be quite effective.
-Gearing/Gearing DDR/Timmerman
While the Gearings have more gun space, which allows them to carry more ammo, they run
into displacement problems faster than the Somerses due to having less usable
displacement. Furthermore, the Gearing and Gearing DDR can only bring up a broadside of 6
barrels, which is marginal at best and reduces its potential effectiveness. However, once
the player reaches the Timmerman, things start turning up, since it gets a hefty
displacement boost and an extra turret, allowing it to AA fairly well.
-DDX Project
The DDX can make a fairly good AA ship due to good displacement and gun space. While it's
not as good as it used to be before the OpenNF patch, its R mounts still have a goodly
amount of space that allows it to store a fair amount of ammo. Furthermore, it can bring
up a broadside of 10 barrels and is a very small target, making it hard to hit with
torpedoes or bombs. However, it's also quite slow for a DD, which means that you may have
to pick an escort and stick by it instead of being able to zoom around the map at will.
-Omaha
Many people underestimate the Omaha, but in the right hands it can play hell with the CVs
on whatever team it opposes. The first thing that should be noted about the Omaha is that
its R mounts are very weird, and most of them are so small that they can't store much
ammo. For that reason, the 3"70's are the preferred AA guns on the Omaha, since it will
allow you to store enough ammo for prolonged AA operations as well as several binds of
anti-ship ammo for when the occasion calls. Furthermore, the Omaha is a very fast ship,
and if used properly, can run very quickly between hot-spots and provide AA coverage where
it's needed very quickly.
-Atlanta/Juneau II/Oakland
The Atlantas are among the most feared AA ships in the game. This is because they can put
up a massive broadside of 12 barrels, which lets you take down just about anything that
comes at you. The Atlantas also have pretty big R mounts and a large amount of usable
displacement, which means that you can mount any AA gun on it short of the 6" DP set. The
most common setup is with the 5"54 L's which are used for High Angle, but Atlantas with
5"38's or 3"70's are also quite common. The Atlanta may run into ammo shortages, but its
remodels incrementally add more gun space, and the ammo shortage problem all but
disappears by the Oakland stage. Be warned, however, that the Atlanta can be quite slow,
and its firing arcs mean that you have to be extremely careful about allowing planes to
approach you from a blind angle where you can only bring 6 barrels to bear.
-Brooklyn
While not normally used as an AA ship, the Brooklyn can be outfitted with 6" DP's on its R
mounts, with a large amount of ammo. While it can only bring 10 barrels to bear, those 10
barrels have almost unrestricted firing arcs, and are carried on an extremely fast
platform (a good Brooklyn with a CL III Heavy Engine can easily break 50 knots overheat).
The 6" DP's take a while to get used to due to the long reload time, but if used properly
they can bring down fighter and bomber squadrons with relative ease.
-Cleveland
Also not normally used as an AA ship, the Cleveland can also use the 6" DP's as its
primary battery, and still maintain a high speed (it can carry the same engine as a
Brooklyn). While this may seem like a downgrade compared to the Brooklyn (8 barrels vs
10), the Cleveland can also mount a good secondary battery, meaning that it can, with
practice, put up 16 barrels in the air, which is quite formidable. Most people tend to use
only a secondary battery though, and mount an anti-ship primary battery.
-Pensacola
While not strictly an AA ship, the Pensacola bears special mentioning because of its
unique secondary battery, which allows for quick reaction time due to them being T mounts.
If used without a primary battery and run as an AA ship using only its secondary battery,
the Pensacola can be fairly effective at AA. While it can only bring up 8 barrels of flak
in any direction, running without a primary battery drastically increases its speed (into
the 50+ range in some cases), and it remains a highly durable ship. While it won't be as
effective in anti-ship combat, it can make a very good escort ship in the right hands.
****************
Secondary Batteries
****************
In general, secondary batteries should be mounted mainly on capital ships, but if you're
in a smaller ship that has that capability, there's no real reason that you shouldn't try
it out. Using a secondary battery can extend your survival probability considerably
depending on the situation; it's a highly useful skill to have in a capital ship, but
getting practice in a smaller ship can never hurt.
Every USN BB in the BB2 tier and up has the capability to mount an effective secondary
battery; The Alaska and Guam are the only USN BB1's that can mount one as well. The
Cleveland, Baltimore, and Pensacola also possess formidable T mounts that can carry highly
effective AA guns. While the other USN BB1's and CA's can't mount the larger secondary
batteries, they have enough space to carry single-barrel AA guns, though since they can
only present a broadside of 4 barrels at most, many people consider this pointless.
For more information on using secondary batteries, please read my other guide "Twin-Headed
Hydra: the Secondary Battery":
http://www.navyfield.com/board/view.asp?Num=91219&Sort=A01
While the above guide is a bit dated and aimed more towards general secondary battery
usage, reading it may give you a better idea as to how a secondary battery should be used.
=================================
G. An Escort's Guide to Protecting Their Charge
=================================
So, now that you have a good ship with a good AA setup picked out, what now? Obviously,
you should go out onto the battlefield and shoot down enemy planes when they approach, but
without a proper strategy, you could end up on a place on the map where no enemy planes
fly, or get sunk without hitting a single plane. In order to play as a good AA ship, you
should always head into battle with a plan: what types of planes will you prioritize?
Which enemy CV will you focus on neutralizing? Which allied ships are you planning on
protecting?
Generally, the safest way to play as an AA ship is by escorting. This means to pick a
ship, and protect it from planes. More often than not, the best ship to pick to escort is
a BB; not only are they more likely to attract the attention of enemy bombers, but they
are also the ones that are most heavily engaged in a battle. Escorting a CV is normally
pointless, since they can put up fighters to protect themselves, and they fight from the
rear of the battlefield, meaning that they're in a much safer position than a BB.
Escorting a DD or CL is similarly pointless, since they will rarely attract the attention
that a BB will. Escorting a CA is similarly dicey since they aren't important capital
ships, but doing so may have its merits.
For more information on general escorting tactics, please read my thread "The Lesser-Known
Guardians: a Guide to AA Escorts":
http://www.navyfield.com/board/view.asp?Num=63704&Sort=D07
While some of the terms are a bit dated, the general concept remains fairly solid.
There are also a few things that I want to emphasize:
1. Give the ship you're escorting some breathing room. If you're cruising side by side
with a ship, make sure that you leave enough distance between the two of you so that it
has enough space to maneuver; while in battle, a good BB driver will always zigzag to make
the job harder for their opponent, and if you're too close you'll end up crossing them.
While this doesn't mean staying half a screen away from them where your AA won't do them
any good, you should use your judgment and be ready to back off when the ship you're
escorting enters combat.
2. Constantly scan for targets. Don't just follow your escort around and only start
looking around when you hear "Aircraft in sight!"; keep your eyes peeled for enemy planes
that are visible but have not entered your warning zone yet. The farther out you spot an
enemy plane, the more time you have to get into position to greet it, the easier it will
be shot down. Remember that half the battle is getting the enemy planes into a situation
where the circumstances favor you; the other half is shooting them down.
3. SHOOT DOWN SCOUTS! Honestly, this is the single most important thing you can do for
your team. An enemy scout hovering nearby will spot your team's BBs for the enemy, making
it far easier to hit them, as well as bomb them. Whenever the opportunity presents itself,
make sure that the only enemy scouts near your position are dead ones. Obviously this has
its limits; you shouldn't go out chasing after enemy scouts, since that leaves you
vulnerable to being shot at yourself, and some BBs deliberately use this tactic to lure AA
ships into their range, but if a player is foolish enough to let their scout into your
range or leave it lingering behind your lines for too long, make them pay for that mistake.
4. Learn to distinguish between enemy and friendly planes. This may sound obvious, but
remember that shooting down planes may kill crew, and that those experts and vets cost
real-life money to buy. If you can, always avoid shooting down friendly planes (fighters
in particular), but remember that sometimes there will be no-win situations where you'll
be forced to fire regardless; if a single friendly fighter is chasing several bombers
about to hit a friendly BB, then sacrificing that fighter to save that BB would be a wise
choice to make. Just make sure to apologize for the fighter afterwards.
=============
H. Advanced Tactics
=============
This section is meant to teach you some of the more advanced tricks that I've learned over
my playing career; some of them may be hard to do or may require the use of better
equipment (namely, high-level gunners or really good engineers), so if you haven't quite
gotten the hang of using AA yet, then this part may be too hard for you. However, if
you've mastered the general tactics of AA-ing and would like to learn how to hone your
skills even more, by all means, read on.
1. High golden angle vs. low golden angle
While more range is usually better, it's not always the case. Take again, for example, the
Yamato. While it has the most range of any AA gun in the game, it also has one of the
shallowest golden angles in the game to go with it. While this means that its engagement
envelope is larger than most others, it also means that the shells will have to travel a
longer horizontal distance before reaching the engagement envelope. As a result, while a
Yamato can engage planes at a greater distance, the planes also leave its engagement
envelope at a greater distance from the ship, meaning that its interior blind area is
greater. To visualize this, take a look at the following picture:
As you can see, a shallow golden angle will let you engage planes at a farther range, but
they can also break through your engagement envelope earlier, increasing your
vulnerability closer in. For this reason, spotting your targets farther away is necessary
if your AA gun has more range.
2. Knowing when and when not to fire
While common sense will tell you that tossing flak all over the place randomly will simply
waste ammo, that's not the only reason not to simply shoot randomly the moment you see a
plane. While you should only engage a target when it enters your engagement envelope,
since that's the only place where you'll hit it, there are a few more things that you
should take into consideration.
First, as I like to put it, don't scare the "game" away. The concept is the same as
fishing or hunting: if someone is flying their scout near you and they see several salvos
of flak bursting in the area, they'll maneuver their scout away from there and you won't
even get a chance to shoot at it. Moreover, the moment you fire, you give away the maximum
range of your engagement envelope, since they'll easily see where the flak bursts, and can
stay just outside of it. Therefore, it's usually a good idea to memorize the exact range
of your guns, the area of your engagement envelope, and how far to lead an incoming
target. Then when you see a target, wait for it to get close enough, then pounce and take
it down.
There are different ranges at which you should usually shoot down a target. If it's a
scout, taking it out quickly while it's at the very outside edge of your engagement
envelope will benefit your team more, as every second it's alive is a second where your
team's position is revealed, but is also tricker since targets farther away are harder to
guarantee a hit on. If it's a flight of bombers, letting them in a bit closer before
opening fire will ensure good saturation and ensure maximum surprise, but risks letting
some of them break through as they'll have been in your engagement envelope scot-free for
a little while already.
Second, remember that your muzzle flash will also give away your position. This is a trick
that is used by BB players all the time: even if your ship is in the fog of war and the
enemy can't see you, the flash of your guns firing can be seen by everyone, and gives the
enemy a place to aim at. If you're in an AA ship you can hopefully maneuver away from the
area in time before their shells drop, but remember that every shell that hits you will
further reveal your position, so make sure that as few shells hit you as possible.
3. Clouds and cover
The clouds in NF aren't just for show; they can hide planes and even sometimes ships from
everyone else on the map, make your job considerably harder.
The problem with clouds is that, obviously, any planes that fly above them will be
invisible to everybody on the opposite team, and the only way to detect them is by using
fighters to sniff them out or to follow their engine sounds. On the flip side, a plane
that is in the clouds cannot spot anything visually, so they will not be able to spot
ships and will have a hard time bombing a target hidden in the fog of war, even if it's
right below them.
As an AA ship, clouds are among your worst enemies. When planes fly into clouds, you can't
see them or their shadows, and thus don't have a way to aim at them, so sometimes you
won't be able to shoot down bombers until it's too late. However, there are some tricks
you can use.
The most basic thing to remember is, shoot at the golden angle. Any planes flying above
the clouds will most likely be flying at the default height, otherwise you would be able
to see them under the clouds. So shooting at the golden angle will almost always result in
a hit if your shells cross paths with an enemy plane.
First, the easiest, is to watch their path before they enter a bank of clouds, then lead
them as normal after they're in the clouds. If you're good at estimating their course and
it hasn't changed, you'll be able to catch the planes while they're blind. The best thing
is that even though the planes' shadows don't appear, the shadows of your flak bursts do,
so if you hit something, you'll know, which gives you a good point to lead from.
Second, is to watch carefully and catch glimpses of the planes as they exit the cloud
bank. Remember that the clouds aren't completely continuous; there are gaps here and there
where a plane will be visible to everyone, and will be able to see everything within its
circle of radius as well. When a plane is moving between two banks of clouds, it will
become visible for a second, and you can lead it as above based on its position.
Finally, if you suspect or see enemy planes circling within a cloud bank, you can set your
guns to wide dispersion. The way you detect enemy planes circling above the clouds is by
watching and listening; if you hear plane engine sounds in a certain cloud bank but see
nothing (all friendly planes are always visible to their team, even when in a cloud), or
you catch a glimpse of an enemy plane as it exits and re-enters a cloud bank, then you
have a target to shoot at. Wide dispersion is done by setting your gun guidelines parallel
to each other, aiming at the center of their flying circle, and letting loose. While not
exemplifying of finesse, it does get the job done.
4. Breaking the circle
This tactic require the use of AA gunners with good accuracy, otherwise it's somewhat
pointless to attempt.
The point of this tactic is to "break" a circle of death (CoD for short) situation (when
planes endlessly fly in a circle trying to engage each other until they run out of fuel or
ammo), without harming the friendly planes in the circle. The basic principle of this
tactic is the same as leading your aim at a flight of enemy planes, but different in that
you're using precision. Let's say that you encounter a CoD situation as follows:
For simplicity, the enemy plane is colored red, while the friendly is colored green.
In order to break the circle safely, you have to fire in such a way that your salvo will
hit the enemy plane with the best probability of a kill, but not the friendly one. To do
this, it's best to aim at a spot where stray shells won't accidentally hit a friendly. The
best way to do this is to combine two basic principles: direction of approach and path of
your shells.
Since the planes will be continuously flying in a circle, their direction of approach will
always change. However, you can take advantage of this by engaging the enemy when they are
in an approach that is favorable to you; namely, when they are moving towards you:
Remember, you have to predict when they will be at that spot, as well as time your own
salvo to reach it at the same time; depending on how skittish you are, you may have to
press the space bar at what seems like the wrong moment:
Note, this is only an example. Your timing will vary based on what gun you use and how far
the target is.
The best thing about this is, any stray shells that don't hit the target won't pose any
threat to any friendly planes after they pass through. For example, if you targeted the
center of the circle instead:
Any stray shells that don't connect with your target may continue on their path and hit
the friendly plane(s) on the other side of the circle.
Targeting the plane as it moves away is also not recommended:
Not only is this the least favorable direction of approach, but it doesn't always
guarantee a hit even if you time it right. As your shells have to play catch-up, the
target may pass into the next part of the circle before your salvo gets there.
5. Engaging sea-level targets
An extremely useful tactic for engaging a scout that's flying at the lowest height, as
well as incoming torpedo bombers.
While you may be tempted to simply engage a low-level scout with AAW by moving close
enough, remember that pilots give hit warnings when hit with AAW, but not with flak.
Shooting a scout down with flak will ensure that the only warning its commander gets is
that it got shot down; if it gets hit with AAW, its commander will switch over to it, see
that you're approaching, and move it away, denying you your food. Furthermore, chasing
after a low-level scout, like chasing after a default-height scout, may be a ploy to get
you within firing range of a BB.
As for torpedo bombers, using your AA guns will either force the CV player to drop the
torpedoes prematurely, giving whatever it's aiming at a clean escape, or at the very least
make sure that fewer bombers survive to drop their torpedoes. This applies to whether the
target is you or another ship.
The first thing that you need to know about engaging sea-level targets is the low angle.
This can be found at Trainworld, in the same section as the golden angles, listed as "The
Farthest" under the low angles. This angle, different for each gun, is simply the lowest
angle at which your flak will burst right on top of the water. For engaging sea-level
planes, you will be firing at angles lower than this.
Depending on how close they are, you will need to adjust your angle accordingly. The
lowest you will need to adjust to hit any target close to you is the angle under "The
Closest", which basically means that all shells fired at that angle will travel at the
same level as the approaching planes until they hit the water. As a last-ditch resort,
this is essentially the "point blank" angle for shooting down sea-level planes.
Shooting down sea-level torpedo bombers can be hard to get used to, but the trick is to
cross the guidelines in front of their direction of approach, but aim the angles as if you
were aiming at a ship behind them:
As your shells will splash the water behind them, they will be at the height of the enemy
plane(s) right before that moment. Furthermore, by crossing your lines in front of the
group, the salvo will cross at the instant at which they meet the torpedo bombers, which
ensure maximum saturation of the targets.
Note: the line crossing here is exaggerated greatly. For the most part, since you'll be
shooting point blank, simply touching the ends of your guidelines or firing parallel will
ensure that most of your flak will cross paths with the incoming planes. So simply aiming
your angles behind the planes will suffice in most cases.
6. Utilizing the red guidelines
This is widely regarded as the hardest trick to master in the AA book. However, once
mastered, you will be able to shoot down enemy planes at almost any height at almost any
distance within your range.
Many USN players will tell you that the red guidelines will only get in your way and that
you should just turn them off. However, they don't know the trick behind using them
effectively: visualization and trigonometry. If you're good at trigonometry and can
visualize the path that your shell will take based on its firing angle, you will be able
to pick off enemy planes that are flying below the default height:
Or flying inside of your golden angle engagement envelope:
I have consistently blinded the enemy by using the red guidelines to kill their scouts,
and I've also brought down bomber squadrons as well. There is no clear and hard-cut method
for using the red guidelines; it relies almost completely on intuition, visualization and
judgment. This is hard to accomplish and takes a lot of practice, but once you get the
hang of it, no plane is safe from you.