Red Baron II/3D - Tutorials

This series by WW_Sensei does an excellent job of discussing wingman tactics in combat. The series consists of 5 articles, and we highly recommend you read them all!

In this section, I will try and address the question of when does the Secondary transition into the Primary and vice versa. We already covered one scenario where the Secondary has had to engage a new fighter in the area and the Primary finished his kill. In that case the roles reversed because the scenario changed and it is a pretty obvious transition. In our initial scenario we had the 2 ship formation engaging an enemy target. The Primary starts the fight and the Secondary sets up a nice position at least 500 feet out, slightly higher and the fight at either your 10 or 2 o'clock position. (Slightly higher is relative to the aircraft. You want to be close enough to engage the enemy within 30-45 seconds maximum. Monos would obviously be closer than D7s or N28s.)

Ok, so when does the Secondary get in on the action? Here are the most common reasons:

1) The Primary calls you in because he can't make the kill in a reasonable time
2) Primary's Energy State is too low to convert to a killing shot. Typically occurs when you fight one of the no-energy bleed planes or you have stalled.
3) The Secondary sees the Primary going defensive.
4) The Primary calls for a 2 aircraft tactic.

In current doctrine, the Secondary can also enter the fight if he feels he has the better shot and calls off the Primary. This is RB3D, which has little to do with current doctrine and almost less to do with historical accuracy. :-) In current fighters every one has a potential one shot kill with missile. Rockets notwithstanding we don't have that in RB3D. A one pass kill is too rare (especially in the EM2 FM/DM) for a Secondary to assume he can make that call. In MMP world if the Primary is someone you don't know (i.e. you came up on a 1v1 fight and assumed the role of Secondary) and when you engage you run the risk of being thought a "kill stealer".

Let's cover each point in detail. Point 1-The Primary calls you in. This one is easy. He is asking for help. Maybe his other phone rang, maybe his/her spouse is on their 6, maybe their hand is tired, maybe they just don't feel in the groove for the kill-whatever the reason they want you in so you go in. In this first point assume the Primary is breaking from the fight. I would venture a guess that bingo ammo (winchester) is the main reason. It is now the Secondary's job to finish the kill. What about the Primary's role? Well, assuming he doesn't have to leave the game he should begin taking on the Secondary responsibilities. First and foremost is to establish Situational Awareness (SA). Even if you are bingo ammo you can still keep an eye out for bandits.

Point 2-Primary's Energy State is too low to make the kill. Most likely he has stalled out his aircraft or made a mistake to take him to a co-energy state with the enemy. In this case, the Secondary should engage and assume the Primary role and the Primary assumes the Secondary role while rebuilding his energy. Another common scenario is the Primary is facing one of the no-energy-bleed climbers and they have spiral climbed out of the fight. The Secondary should have placed themselves in such a position as to anticipate this and be able to engage them.

Point 3-The Secondary sees the Primary going defensive. This is the reason why the Secondary needs to constantly monitor the fight. The Primary in all reality is too busy to try and chat or ask for help. If the target has the Primary's 6 then the Secondary must engage. He will transition to the Primary role until the original Primary can egress the target's killing zone. He should then assume the role of Secondary and allow his wingman to finish the kill.

Point 4-Primary calls for a 2 aircraft attack. There are a variety of techniques for 2 aircraft to attack a single target. Describing these tactics is beyond the scope of this series. There are several references around the web and in books describing these various tactics. The key to any of them is practice, practice, practice. The only note here is that every body lining up on the target's 6, hosing away with bullets, and praying that Friendly Fire is turned off is most definitely NOT good offensive wingman tactics.

In conclusion, here are some key things to remember about Role Reversals. They can happen at anytime! They can happen more than once in a fight! If you truly want to be a good wingman leave the ego back at the drome! Don't press for the kill if you don't have it. Be ready to be the Primary or Secondary by knowing what you are supposed to do!

Part IV will cover some of the techniques of entering the fight and setting up egress.