(please note, this is NOT about gunners being able to replace the dead pilot and flying the plane!)
Especially in mixed battles, and especially for seaplanes, it can be fun to have landed in a capture zone and defending it with the gunners. Of course, if the pilot is dead, we would not be able to take off again, but we can press “J” anyway if we want to stop fighting.
I recently played a naval battle, and landed a big flying boat, was about to capture a zone, when a small enemy torpedo boat approached. I switched to gunner view, and started firing. I almost killed him, his gunners were dead, the boat on fire, most of it black or red, it was at about 10% health, I only needed one more second until the kill, but then he landed a lucky hit on my pilot. Despite all other crewmen being alive, the aircraft in good condition, it instantly exploded. And, to make things worse, this even decided the outcome of the battle!
I think if a plane is landed, and the pilot is killed while other crewmen are still alive, the aircraft should stay grounded, but not destroyed unless the player wants to. This should not be a difficult change to make, and it would have next to no effect one game balance, but it could be a fun gameplay element, and it would also be realistic.
[Would you like to see this in-game?]
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A nice idea, thought I’d rather it be the case that if you’re landed (the timer has started) you can’t be killed
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What timer? What I meant is when you land somewhere in the field, not back at your airport. For example, landing in a cap zone, or on the sea. There will be no timer there.
Gunners are not trained at all to fly the bombers. They taught how to maintain their post, and how to maintain and clean the weapons. There’s a possibility that a few did have prior experience flying planes however for a bomber with 4 propellers it wouldn’t mean much unless in an emergency. If one of the pilots is injured, incapacitated but alive, or simply dead.
So this makes little to no sense.
No, that makes no sense at all. The “fight through it” mechanic is already bad enough, and this is 100 percent a niche thing. You would have a new mechanic that players would want in AB or RB, and that would just make the “fight through it” mechanic even worse. If your pilot dies, it needs to be the same for all aircraft regardless of type out of fairness.
Oh! 100%! That makes more sense, apologies for misunderstanding!
Please read it again. It’s not about the gunners being able to replace the pilot and fly the game! It’s about a plane on the ground, with a dead pilot, and the gunners being able to keep firing the guns. Not fly the plane. Just firing the guns. Please read my example of a flying boat having captured a zone, encountering an enemy PT boat, almost killing it, and then spontaneously exploding because the pilot is dead, despite there being enough gunners to kill that pesky PT boat.
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wouldnt that imply some kind of death wish on the part of the gunners?
who would want to remain there as a sitting duck in a stationary target without any armour???
you would have to be completely mentally unhinged.
no, the gunners would abandon the plane and seek less conspicuous cover.
bravery has limits, beyond which self preservation takes precedence.
What about a timer then?
No matter how much I’d like to run away and hide, if me and many of my team are sitting at multiple heavy machineguns, and a light enemy vehicle shows by, I’m pretty sure I’ll open fire first, and run only after the threat has been neutralized.
i think its a case of game over, and you simply have to accept that.
if a plane lands in a field in a broken state there doesnt exist the means to repair it, the plane ought to be considered dead.
ive heard these arguments over and over in favour of ‘dead pilots flopping forwrd on the yoke pressing the trigger’, and ‘flopping forward releasing the bomb hatch’ etc.
its all B/S, dead is dead, or more the case, out of action.
out of action means quite simply, no further actions possible.