Which they do to a very limited extent.
Yeah, they probably rip a wing or tail 20% more often in one shot.
But thats hardly makes up for probably hitting 50% less than other cannons.
1 Like
It’s kinda hilarious that until recently we had and to an extent still have a 50cal meta. Because it can reliably knock out pilots and set planes on fire.
1 Like
Imho the skill ceiling for a proper usage of 109s is rather high - but in the right hands and properly flown they are a real pain to fight. In other words: Excellent players perform well, rather mediocre players struggle.
2 examples:
-
I met 2 weeks ago an excellent player in a G-6 - 161:5 kills in FL G-6. I was aware of his abilities as i checked the enemy lobby right after spawn. My SM 92 is slower, but turns much better, has less high speed compression and can be flown with infinite WEP. But the G-6 played it to its strength (high - 5-7 km) and played energy together with another good pilot. They stuck together, murdered half of my team and i could not afford to attack. Replay link.. I had to outfuel them and won with 2 lousy pillbox kills by tickets (1.226 vs 1.213 😂).
-
From time to time i meet the player Oscar_GD (StatShark - See All Player, Missile, and Vehicle Statistics) - mostly in full downtiers with my UK Hellcat. He wipes whole lobbies with the 2.3 109 E-3 and i have to play around him as the E-3 is a monster if he flies it. He is in the Top 20 regarding Kills-per-Battle…
Whilst i agree to your general assessment i do not share “virtually no damage” - i used them quite successful in the SM 92 even as this might be related to that usually the 2 center-mounted MG 151/20 hit at the same time.
This is 100% correct - Type 99 mod 2 & Co are way easier to aim. Imho the ShVak is still ruling around 4.0 - it is not unusual to see rather mediocre players with 5 or 6 kills with one ammo load.
This is correct, but “reliably” just on a long term view - imho gaijin steers fires with RNG based on player success.
As a frequent US 0.50 cal user it is imho obvious that even with full API-T belts 5-6 hits JP on aircraft won’t start fires. On average i need just 2 hits with P-47 (full API-T) and 5-6 with the Hellcat (partly API-T) - but i lost over the years enough matches with a hell of hits and no result. Yesterday 6 hits (based on summary) on a BP B7A2 - nothing. My own tends to burn after one hit😂
1 Like
Idk, I prefer by far autocannons because if you can aim them, you’re pretty certain to annihilate what you hit
Machine guns are easier to hit but they do far less damage
The E-3 through G-6 models are solid. The later variants require tactfulness.
It’s not a slat issue. FM-wise, they feel MORE agile than Il2 109s. The WT 109F4 feels very squirrely compared to Il2GB and more “violent” in how it responds to the same inputs.
It’s an instructor issue. We need to be specific about what needs fixing and what’s an issue.
Flown with sim controls, the slats deploy properly. You need to be have something like 13 to 14 degrees angle of attack for them to deploy and the instructor limits you to a lower AoA. Critical AoA is 17.2 in the 109s (theoretical. In reality, the engine’s left-turning tendencies will prolly limit you to sth like 16.5 or sth with careful rudder inputs).
This same instructor limit applies to a lot of aircraft, not just the 109s. It’s just very apparent in the 109s. Mustangs, Hellcats and corsairs also suffer from it off top of my head.
While I agree for Hispanos, Shvak and co. The German WW2 ones are really bad. Well not quite as bad anymore since recent changes but still not good. I’d honestly take almost any other gun over them.
4 Likes
Yeah they’re not amazing, I feel like they do the job though
Depends on BR and vehicle u are facing though, heavily. The 108 will get the job done if u managed to hit them. 151s, well more recently I have not really played them, but if they haven’t improved massively, I would still say since it is a single nose gun they actually need to do sort of more damage than other guns for it to work well.
1 Like
Not surprising. E3 is simply damn good. Ans around 2.3 it doesn’t have any real opposition, Yak-2KABB has 1 shot, but if it fails, 109 wins the dogfight eventually.
E3 is damn hard to counter. Though in Hellcat I would be pretty damn confident in just shooting him to hell using stealth belts in a head-on :P
Regarding 2 players killing your team - I think 2 good players in almost anything decent are an absolute PITA to face.
With Me163 Komet we once wiped 5 enemy jets and 3 6.0-6.7 props in a 2 v 8 fight using Ta-152Hs. It was not difficult, as enemies were not attacking all at once and it mostly felt like a few quick 2 v 1s and then some 2 v 2 action, because random lobbies are not abuntant in people capable of actually planning their attack. The right way of dismantling a deadly duo is dragging them down and then swarming/BnZ. Takes about 30IQ, which is like 22 more than average WT player.
However, I agree 109s can be deadly. If G6 can spiral climb people to death, it’s very fun. But if G6 has to fight goddamn US 4.3 jet-Zero hybrid, or a swarm of Yak-3s who have some idea of what they are doing and F4U4s and similar stuff then it’s just a world of pain.
I also absolutely hate the fact I have to run away from 3.7 BR Japanese premium pay2win “bomber” (I own one and it’s ridiculously good).
2 Likes
Yeah it’s definitely hard if you don’t have the pods. The nose cannon isn’t enough
Yeah but I mean just manoeuvrability wise u are so much worse off when u have pods. If u don’t there are a few fighters u may have an edge in turn fight ever so slightly, with pod I just feel like I am worse than everyone else in every way, just to bring firepower on par.
The only pod I enjoyed was the Mk103s on FW190F. Farmed like 10 3K games in a role.
ye, the MK103’s on it slap so much
i personally dont find the 109s bad, i find them the opposite when you first manage hit with the main guns
1 Like
Didn’t feel like I lost too much when getting the pods idk
GRB low-alt scraps in WT are all about turn rate—the 109 F/Gs are useless there. 109 E/T turn fighters dominate. F-4’s decent but Jap turn fighters easily shoot it down, right?
From what I heard japanese planes are food if you know how to play
I was told they’re just noob annihilators
1 Like
In theory, that might hold true under ideal conditions. But GRB isn’t that forgiving—you can’t take on Japanese fighters with idealism alone. It’s like telling someone to poke a bear in the eye with their finger if they run into one in the mountains. Only a Ninja could pull that off.
Idk about GRB as I only play ARB. But even though I haven’t played the Japanese props, planes with sub-par speed are often pretty vulnerable to attacks from faster planes and can only play defensive, which doesn’t really work against experienced players.
You can make a noob overshoot, but hardly an experienced player