So I’m trying to get better at bombing with my Tornado IDS WTD61, what would be the fastest way to get to the enemy’s bases before my teammates does?
First off, dont expect to be beating an F-4 to a base. You might be better off looking for a “survive till base respawn” tactic. But…
The absolute bear minimum bombs you need for a base kill is 6x Mk83s. Meaning if your goal is max speed for 1x base, kill, dont take more than 6x bombs. You should also always run BOZ and 9Ls, even though they do typically add drag.
Tornado’s are fuel thirsty, So I would either recommend running around 45 minutes of fuel and no tanks, or around 25 minutes of fuel and tanks. (though finesse this based upon your playstyle) The advantage of the tanks is that you can punch them off if you need to defend against an attack, but have the disadvantage of more drag early game. So that is down to personal preference. If going for the “survive till base respawn” tactic. I would take the tanks.
That having been said. Look to see if its a downtier lobby first. You probably wont be the fastest thing on your team, and you still probably wont be beating other aircraft to the bases. But in a downtier, surviving is a lot easier and I would take the full 12x Mk83s and go for 2 base kills. (A handy tricky is running 6x Mk83 and 6x Drag Mk83s and then using ripple release to sequentially drop all of one type of bomb)
ARB though is a tough gamemode for any tornado. You lack the speed to reliably get base kills and the map is too small and dense for proper torando tactics. I would recommend trying out sim though. It excels in that gamemode