The Beam Attack

In-depth tactical discussion on how to lose the least

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ander75it
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Postby ander75it » Tue Oct 03, 2006 8:09 am

True Blue wrote:I belive he was refering to This.


Exactly, thank you.
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wwarnick
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wow

Postby wwarnick » Mon Oct 09, 2006 5:04 am

I hadn't ever considered that. I was almost there, but not quite. I'd send out some bombers into the ocean somewhere until they were almost ready to launch, but I never considered doing it with so many at one time with such a systematic approach. I'm on it. I'm trying it tonight.
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Postby GeneticFreak » Mon Oct 09, 2006 6:15 am

I use rally point for my bombrs.
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Corbeau
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Postby Corbeau » Mon Oct 09, 2006 7:50 am

I did that recently with a full four airbases.

It worked. Brutally. :twisted:
"Rule #13: do onto others." - The Seven Habits of Highly Effective Pirates
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Postby ander75it » Mon Oct 09, 2006 8:08 am

I did that tonight with four airbases as Africa. Worked like a charm.
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Postby Corbeau » Mon Oct 09, 2006 3:49 pm

ander75it wrote:I did that tonight with four airbases as Africa. Worked like a charm.


Funny. That's the same faction that I managed it with. Best way that I know of to put a damper on Europe's day.
"Rule #13: do onto others." - The Seven Habits of Highly Effective Pirates
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Postby DrFreedom » Tue Oct 10, 2006 2:37 am

I had no idea that this was called 'the beam attack' i just simply call it overwhelming the defense. i used it to great effect last night, launching all bombers from russia at defcon 3, aiming them toward the artic... i moved entire fleet (all russian navy assets) to the norwegian border... then when defcon one hit launched 3 airbases of fighters at europe... coming in right behind them were the bombers, and every single sub nuke i had (logic being, that at the very begining is the best time to launch these nukes...subs are not going to get any safer)

targeted radar and silos with bomber nukes...and the sub nukes laid waste to all cities and some assorted airfields that i could find. in short, europe took it completly in the shorts in the first 5 minutes of the game. they did manage to counterattack with subs, but i had bombers on anti navy patrol by that time and made pretty short work of them.

had no idea it was called 'the beam attack'
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Postby Crusader Scott » Tue Oct 10, 2006 4:57 am

True Blue wrote:I belive he was refering to This.



Thanks for the link! I never heard of this before.
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Postby ander75it » Wed Oct 11, 2006 5:41 pm

DrFreedom: it's just a name I chose, because when you launch bombers at 90° to the target the attack works pretty much the "beam defense" or "thach wave", but you can call it whatever you like, of course.

CrusaderScott: always glad to help a fellow military history aficionado :)
Ander

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Postby Corbeau » Wed Oct 11, 2006 7:48 pm

I prefer the simple term "coordination." :wink:
"Rule #13: do onto others." - The Seven Habits of Highly Effective Pirates
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Postby ander75it » Wed Oct 11, 2006 7:59 pm

coordination is attacking simultaneously
the beam attack is about attacking simultaneously from a specific direction :) or rather several specific directions

nevermind :)
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Postby hard8 » Fri Oct 13, 2006 2:51 am

great article. Going to have to try that.

Quick question for a newb... you can switch trajectories in mid-flight, correct?
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Postby ander75it » Fri Oct 13, 2006 8:47 am

sure you can
just remember that if you are in SRBM mode, at the end of the count the aircraft will launch at the latest target you set; make sure you are moving to a location and not attacking unless you want to
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stas
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Postby stas » Mon Dec 04, 2006 9:11 am

I think the Thach weave/beam defense actually has nothing to do with this, and
wouldn't apply to Defcon, as all planes have the same turning radius and, maybe
more importantly, planes don't have to shoot directly ahead! (in my experience)

The Thach weave allows two planes flying side-by-side that are being 'tailed' by
an enemy plane with better maneuverability to defend themselves: when they
figure out which plane is being targeted (the bait), they turn towards each
other until they cross path and make the tightest circle they can back around.
If the enemy follows the bait through the turn, they will find themselves in the
sights of the other plane (the hook).

In this game, it wouldn't defend bombers against fighters, since the former are
not armed with missiles, while if only fighters were involved, one could simply
turn both planes in the same direction and 'sandwich' the attacker. I think the
target range for planes might be 180 degrees in front of them, if not more, so
the inability to target your attacker never really comes up.

Not to mention that fighters have a large turning radius compared to their fuel
supply.. how many U-turns can a fighter make during its flight time?

Edit: Also, the fighters' missiles curve and seek, making the Thach weave even
more unnecesary.
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Postby ander75it » Mon Dec 04, 2006 9:37 am

Indeed. I am not advocating defending with the Thach Wave, as your post implies, but just saying that if you attack by launching bombers at a 90° degree with the target, you obtain parallel routes and simultaneous launches on the target.
BTW, I believe fighters can target 360° around them.
Regards
Ander

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