Clever little trick to sort of deal with Saipan's double strafe tactic

[vak_]

Anyone who has played carriers at tier seven knows how great (or @#%$ annoying) Saipan's double whammy strafe is. Lock with one fighter, strafe with the other and immediately strafe out the first squad. Boom, zoom, Saipan's opponent's fighters are dead.

 

 

However, over the weekend I encountered a pretty creative way of dealing with that tactic. Seems obvious in hindsight, but for some reason it didn't occur to me before.

 

Essentially, much like in djudo, you can use Saipan's strength against him. Lock up one of your fighter squads with Saipan's fighters. Wait for him to bring his other fighter close, and catch the moment when the second Saipan fighter squad begins the strafe run -- you can tell this is happening because the fighter will jerk oh so ever slightly. At that point immediately strafe towards that fighter (you should already have your strafe set up, just waiting to click), leaving the Saipan's first fighter stuck in place, about to get wrecked by his buddies.

 

Watch this short clip from my replay to  understand what I'm talking about: https://www.twitch.tv/videos/167066126 I got hosed and lost three of my own fighters for Hiryu's one! Of course, this tactic only works if the Saipan player initiates the incoming strafe BEFORE strafing out with the second squad. However, I think most people to do it that way (I certainly do), because this way the amount of time enemy airplanes are locked up in place after you strafe out is maximized.

[DoctorMcDerp]

... I'm out of upvotes.  I look forward to trying this in my Ranger though!

[Wyngs_2015]

Very nice. I myself completely stink at CV's and only play them in Coop, but its fun to see new tactics.............

[Yvonne_Swanson]

but but ... i already do this :D

[vak_]

7 hours ago, Yvonne_Swanson said:

but but ... i already do this :D

 

Oh, I'm sure people do this already, but this was the first time I've personally encountered this tactic :)

[tugdual]

I use this trick from 1 years, i just lose one squadron before or just straffe ennemy squadron in limit

 

[Edgecase]

Han strafed first.

[HKRevolutionOfOurTime]

You had enough time to tell your 2 squad to move out of the way

[TuxPenguin56]

And today, the forums discover why Saipan is so [edited]broken! It's almost like every single CV player with even half a braincell already knew this and considered it common knowledge. 

[awildseaking]

Or you could just stop challenging Saipan over open water. Seriously, all you have to do is zone against their TBs and they'll have to bring fighters to defend. Then you're talking about engaging over top friendly AA...

[JervisBay]

Why do you people insist on using the term "strafe" when describing air-to-air combat?
"Strafing" referred (and still refers) to air-to-ground attack....most notably with gunfire but it was also used to describe rocket and/or missile attacks.
The term was never used to describe one or more aircraft attacking one or more other aircraft.

If you doubt me, then refer to the generally-accepted etymology of the term:-
http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=strafe

[Saetre]

1 hour ago, JervisBay said:

Why do you people insist on using the term "strafe" when describing air-to-air combat?
"Strafing" referred (and still refers) to air-to-ground attack....most notably with gunfire but it was also used to describe rocket and/or missile attacks.
The term was never used to describe one or more aircraft attacking one or more other aircraft.

If you doubt me, then refer to the generally-accepted etymology of the term:-
http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=strafe

 

 

Strafe also has other definitions.  And the definition of "clan", according to many a dictionary, has nothing to do with online gaming.

 

Basically, get over it.

[JervisBay]

3 hours ago, _V12 said:

Strafe also has other definitions.  And the definition of "clan", according to many a dictionary, has nothing to do with online gaming.

Basically, get over it.

No, cretin......basically, become slightly educated and use the correct  - and long-standing - terminology.

And now that I think of it, what are the other definitions of "strafe" or "strafing" which are applicable in a military sense?

[Hunter_Steel]

6 hours ago, awildseaking said:

Or you could just stop challenging Saipan over open water. Seriously, all you have to do is zone against their TBs and they'll have to bring fighters to defend. Then you're talking about engaging over top friendly AA...

A half decent Saipan wouldn't challenge you over your friendly AA. With the size of one DB squad from a Saipan, he can afford to lose one or two bombers to your fighters while dealing damage and leaving. Like everyone tells me to do this against AS Bogues in my Zuihou, however, I have never once encountered a single AS Bogue that ever fell for the tactic to lure their fighters over friendly AA.

~Hunter

[RivertheRoyal]

5 hours ago, JervisBay said:

Why do you people insist on using the term "strafe" when describing air-to-air combat?
"Strafing" referred (and still refers) to air-to-ground attack....most notably with gunfire but it was also used to describe rocket and/or missile attacks.
The term was never used to describe one or more aircraft attacking one or more other aircraft.

If you doubt me, then refer to the generally-accepted etymology of the term:-
http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=strafe

 

What would you prefer us to use then? Something like dogfight or aerial combat maneuvers? 

 

Strafe works fine. Regardless of it's original meaning, it's been adapted to the game, and most understand what it means. No need to suddenly change the accepted meaning simply because it's supposedly not correct. 

Words can be adapted, you know.

[JervisBay]

9 minutes ago, RivertheRoyal said:

Words can be adapted, you know.

Oh, I know they can, pally.
"Gay", for instance, means that the word is no longer used  - and essentially cannot be used - in context with its original meaning.
What a shame the homosexual community didn't adopt the word "trump" as a shield behind which to hide.

So by-all-means.....you and your fellow revolutionaries who are averse to embracing traditional terminology, spelling and grammatical conventions......you go off and have fun with your "git guds" and similar sodomised English expressions. It's a free world, after all. Well, part of it is.
 

 

[RivertheRoyal]

1 hour ago, JervisBay said:

Oh, I know they can, pally.
"Gay", for instance, means that the word is no longer used  - and essentially cannot be used - in context with its original meaning.
What a shame the homosexual community didn't adopt the word "trump" as a shield behind which to hide.

So by-all-means.....you and your fellow revolutionaries who are averse to embracing traditional terminology, spelling and grammatical conventions......you go off and have fun with your "git guds" and similar sodomised English expressions. It's a free world, after all. Well, part of it is.
 

 

 

You seem upset, or at least slightly put off.

It is okay to use strafe as a description for the mechanic in WoWs, by which a squadron of fighter aircraft rake a section of air with their  main armaments. Perhaps, it was not correct a year or more ago, before the term was introduced. However, since then our community has developed their own definition of the word, which exists parallel to other, more traditional definitions. Is strafe in this context a bastardized word?

For certain, it is. It didn't exist until recently. That being said, the word strafe itself predates the arrival of aircraft and their introduction to the military, so then it can't have always been relegated to simply having significance in that context, no? It was adapted to that role to begin with, so really we have a bastardized version of an already bastardized word. 

That's the beauty of language, you know. It never has one, single, static version of itself. If that were the case, dictionaries would never need to be updated, nor would so many individual languages exist. It always changes, and the people with it.

So, indeed, I cannot help but feel like you need to get over the fact that our community has taken a word and made our own definition for it. It happens all the time, and is the sign of a healthy and growing language. Trying to strictly adhere by the language as it existed in the past, not allowing for new meanings or turns of phrase, that's what kills a culture. 

In other words, "git gud, ya monk."

 

Don't be so ridged. It's bad for your health.

 

[Saetre]

3 hours ago, JervisBay said:

No, cretin......basically, become slightly educated and use the correct  - and long-standing - terminology.

And now that I think of it, what are the other definitions of "strafe" or "strafing" which are applicable in a military sense?

 

I guarantee I have a far superior grasp of our language, pal.  I'm not sure what your delineation for "educated" may be, but if I don't qualify as even "slightly educated" then you are somewhere in the ESL area.

 

Strafe has come into common usage to mean the act of sidestepping, literally - "sideways movement without turning".  Video games themselves popularized it.  

 

Okay, why am I bothering to even engage with someone whose entire contribution here is to make mountains out of molehills?  That's the real issue.

[Bril01]

7 hours ago, JervisBay said:

Why do you people insist on using the term "strafe" when describing air-to-air combat?

 

Probably because it is what Wargaming named the ability?   After all when one is discussing how to use an ability, it is pretty common to use the name given to said ability.   So if you want to ask that question of someone, ask Wargaming.

[Oberarzt_U511]

That tactic is quite good, except if you make the slightest mistake the Saipan will still wipe your fighters. What some people don't know is that when the Saipan performs the strafe out technique, your planes aren't actually locked in. They visually appear to be, but if you select the locked squadron and click to move in any direction (NOT click to engage the strafing out fighter squadron - that does nothing), your locked in squadron will move there. Do that first, then immediately perform a strafe against the squadron strafing out. It's an easy way to wipe out Saipan fighters - just takes a little bit of practice to do. 

[JervisBay]

1 hour ago, RivertheRoyal said:

......Trying to strictly adhere by the language as it existed in the past, not allowing for new meanings or turns of phrase, that's what kills a culture.

Really?
Tell that to the legal, medical and various scientific professions (botany, to name but one), all of which strictly adhere to an old language called "Latin" when it comes to terminology.

[RivertheRoyal]

36 minutes ago, JervisBay said:

Really?
Tell that to the legal, medical and various scientific professions (botany, to name but one), all of which strictly adhere to an old language called "Latin" when it comes to terminology.

 

That's not culture, those are professions. 

Even then, scientific names are universally accepted by all denominations of said professions mostly because it makes them sound more impressive then things might really be.

That aside, you're grasping at straws. That language is dead, and cannot change any longer, since it's been rather badly outdated and it's core culture changed too much to continue using it.

We were speaking of languages like English, while are still very much alive and changing. And adaptable enough to invite in a new definition of strafing which is used by WoWs players.

[vak_]

2 hours ago, Oberarzt_U511 said:

What some people don't know is that when the Saipan performs the strafe out technique, your planes aren't actually locked in. They visually appear to be, but if you select the locked squadron and click to move in any direction (NOT click to engage the strafing out fighter squadron - that does nothing), your locked in squadron will move there. Do that first, then immediately perform a strafe against the squadron strafing out. It's an easy way to wipe out Saipan fighters - just takes a little bit of practice to do. 

 

Yep, my clanmate pointed that out to me after I made this thread. I've been playing since closed beta, and still learn new things like that. 

[Edgecase]

11 hours ago, JervisBay said:

Why do you people insist on using the term "strafe" when describing air-to-air combat?

Since there's no real-life equivalent to the maneuver, people just called it by a convenient name that it vaguely resembles. The end.

[vak_]

13 minutes ago, Edgecase said:

Since there's no real-life equivalent to the maneuver, people just called it by a convenient name that it vaguely resembles. The end.

 

Maaybe a relatively close equivalent is when Luftwaffe fighters would fire unguided rockets into Allied bomber formations. But I don't know how that was called. Probably some very long and menacing-sounding compound German word.