Wesley's Head On Attacks

[Stephen]

Wesley, if you routinely head-on attack successful pilots on the rosters of other players (whether they're an ace or not is irrelevant), you will soon find yourself in a position where you will never succeed in the game.

Obviously, your victims will return the favor and every time you're at the table, they will head-on you with rookies. So essentially, your tactics guarantee that you will never succeed as a DP player.

Eventually you will tire of always being the only guy who can't get a decent pilot roster, always being the only guy that no one wants to fly with or against, and always being the only guy who's targeted at every game.

Your wingmen will get tired of always coming to your defense every time you do something dumb, and you will get tired of essentially flying alone even when you have four people on your side.

Isolated and discouraged, you will eventually quit the game. You will not be the first to follow that path, nor the last.

If you think that you're hard-headed enough to outwit people who were playing this game a decade before you were born, you are certainly welcome to try. But for your own sake, you should consider that the chivalry rules were written 30 years ago and have remained in place for a reason. It may be a reason that you do not yet recognize, but I guarantee you, eventually you will.

You seem to really enjoy DP and I'd like to see you play it for a long time.

[Stephen]

I'm not trying to persuade him. I'm trying to maintain his welcome at any table he wants to play at, and keep him as a DP player.

And we are not in luck on his tourney decision - he is. At least in tourneys, this attitude will help him be more welcome, especially at Gen Con and big games.

Yes, everyone likes to consider themselves a "loner," a "rebel" or a "maverick." But few are. The very fact that Wes games means he is not a loner. Mountain climbers, parachutists, racecar drivers, MMA fighters... now those guys are loners. Gamers aren't loners. Gaming is a social group activity by definition and those who participate are about as alone as a shopper in Times Square. Most of us just like the "loner" label because it sounds heroic, but when push comes to shove and we manage to completely isolate ourselves, we find that its not quite as fun as we thought.

And when someone makes load boasts about using rookies to wreck everyone else's roster, that's hardly an "unexpected" element of the game. Undesirable perhaps, but hardly unexpected. He's advertised so much that his head-ons will be... well... pretty much the same old predictable stuff from the same player.

[albpilot]

Nov 16, 2009 12:46:14 GMT -5 Michael said:

You won't be able to persuade him for a few reasons.

3: Wes does NOT care about anyone else's pilot roster.

I think one person who has a maverick style of playing brings an unexpected element to the game, a style that might change this great game for the better.

The reason this game is played is to build pilot rosters. Get a guy up in levels, see what flying an ace is like, that sort of thing. If he doesn't care about his own roster, that's perfectly OK. However, if he doesn't care about the other players having put time into their pilots and just tries to kill them all with HO attacks, it will more probably change a great game into a ghosttown as people opt not to sit at the same table with him. Imagine how apoplectic Ken would be if some rookie pilot killed a guy he's put 15 years into just cos the noob thinks it would be fun. Poor guy might croak on the spot.

I've taken my fair share of HO shots and their are times they are a great tactic. But I don't just do it for the sake of doing it, that's not a great way to make your mark fwiw.

[KevinR]

I am hoping Wes will reconsider this tactic. He tried to employ it against mine and Wayne's big French aces last week in our warmup gaming. I confess I felt a little frustrated at the thought that I was close to losing a guy I'd been flying for about 8 years and who is my best pilot. Not only that but the shot was within 200 feet and he was hoping for a collision too. I opted not to return the fire because I was more worried about the possible collision than the damage, (I'd taken none at that point in the game).

A few things to consider:

1. Wesley is a very good gamer, and he's picked up DP extremely well. I think he will be enough of a threat without using the head-on attacks.
2. Wesley is a great kid and I love his whole family, he knows this.

So in the end, I implore you Wes to reconsider the tactic, and only use Head-ons in the most dire of circumstances. Or maybe build a psychopathic pilot and only do it with that pilot. I've done that before. I had Guido "The Psycho" Malavisto. Guido always went for crazy shots and even some head-ons because I gave that pilot that personality. Ultimately Guiod finished his career something like 5-1 before he eventually got toasted being crazy. I had a good story background for why he was that way, survived a bullet to the head etc.....

This is one option to consider.

[KevinR]

I remember when I flew Guido I'd make sure everyone knew ahead of time he was insane. One time we were flying a mission and I pulled my wingmates aside. Stephen Dale was on the opposite side and when we came back he said, MR. K is flying an ace that's what's going on. He was wrong, I was flying my psycho. It still added some intrigue, but I let everyone of my wingmates know this pilot was off his rocker. I also would give little hints to opposing players, like "When you look into this pilot's eyes as he fires at you, you see they are wide and crazed."

But as I said, Guido had a very short-lived career.

[Stephen]

There is a quick and simple way to end this and unfortunately, we've had to do it a few times before. We all simply fly rookies every time and double attack him head on at 100 feet. But invariably, it goes like this...

At first, Mr. Head On laughs and says "Bring it, this is how I roll!"

Then he realizes that since he brought this on himself, his wingmen have no motivation to risk their pilots by helping him return the head-on attacks. So he's outnumbered 2-1 in head-on attacks every time and his games last exactly two turns.

He spends two hours sitting on the couch waiting for the next game to start and blaming his wingmen for not coming to his rescue.

Repeat four times and gaming night is over.

Repeat this for two gaming nights and Mr. Head On is tired of Dawn Patrol and never comes back.

You can set your clock by it. Happens the same every time. But Wes is a ton of fun at the gaming table and if he can grasp the role playing aspect of the game we can avoid all this.

[KevinR]

All of this being said, I don't want to seem like we are piling on Wesley. (I think he kind of brought it with his signature), but there are times when a head-on is a good tactic to employ. Like moments of total desparation for example. But there's almost never a good reason to do it within 200 feet intentionally just because you have such a high risk of losing your own pilot.

Anyway, I'm done weighing in on this, and I hope my previous posts will give my young friend a lot to think about. I enjoy playing with you too Wesley, and I think you're on the road to being a great DP player. 2nd place in your first Armistice Day tourney is a great accomplishment regardless of the circumstances.

[albpilot]

Nov 16, 2009 17:02:04 GMT -5 KevinR said:

All of this being said, I don't want to seem like we are piling on Wesley. (I think he kind of brought it with his signature), but there are times when a head-on is a good tactic to employ. Like moments of total desparation for example. But there's almost never a good reason to do it within 200 feet intentionally just because you have such a high risk of losing your own pilot.

Anyway, I'm done weighing in on this, and I hope my previous posts will give my young friend a lot to think about. I enjoy playing with you too Wesley, and I think you're on the road to being a great DP player. 2nd place in your first Armistice Day tourney is a great accomplishment regardless of the circumstances.

Don't think I've met Wesley, and have nothing against him personally. Mine was in the nature of a friendly suggestion.

[KevinR]

Nov 16, 2009 17:06:32 GMT -5 albpilot said:

Nov 16, 2009 17:02:04 GMT -5 KevinR said:

All of this being said, I don't want to seem like we are piling on Wesley. (I think he kind of brought it with his signature), but there are times when a head-on is a good tactic to employ. Like moments of total desparation for example. But there's almost never a good reason to do it within 200 feet intentionally just because you have such a high risk of losing your own pilot.

Anyway, I'm done weighing in on this, and I hope my previous posts will give my young friend a lot to think about. I enjoy playing with you too Wesley, and I think you're on the road to being a great DP player. 2nd place in your first Armistice Day tourney is a great accomplishment regardless of the circumstances.

Don't think I've met Wesley, and have nothing against him personally. Mine was in the nature of a friendly suggestion.

Yes you met he and Michael at RBF at your house. He is the kid who won RBF's brother.

[Stephen]

Nov 16, 2009 17:02:04 GMT -5 KevinR said:

All of this being said, I don't want to seem like we are piling on Wesley.

Not at all... on the contrary, I want him to enjoy DP, be welcome at any table, and play the game for a long time. That was the goal of this thread.

[KevinR]

Nov 16, 2009 17:08:52 GMT -5 Stephen said:

Nov 16, 2009 17:02:04 GMT -5 KevinR said:

All of this being said, I don't want to seem like we are piling on Wesley.

Not at all... on the contrary, I want him to enjoy DP, be welcome at any table, and play the game for a long time. That was the goal of this thread.

Agreed! ;D

[Michael]

Nov 16, 2009 16:06:12 GMT -5 KevinR said:

I remember when I flew Guido I'd make sure everyone knew ahead of time he was insane. One time we were flying a mission and I pulled my wingmates aside. Stephen Dale was on the opposite side and when we came back he said, MR. K is flying an ace that's what's going on. He was wrong, I was flying my psycho. It still added some intrigue, but I let everyone of my wingmates know this pilot was off his rocker. I also would give little hints to opposing players, like "When you look into this pilot's eyes as he fires at you, you see they are wide and crazed."

But as I said, Guido had a very short-lived career.

Wes named his ADFT pilot Westley "Maverick" Xavier.
Although the first name does beg attachment.

[Flydude]

Here are my reasons for HOing people:
1. My pilots have very few kills and I've been playing for over a year now and my pilot with the most kills is like 3.

2. I know most of you guys won't return fire, so we avoid a collision, like Mr. Richseon. So in my eyes its just alot of damage output to my enemies.

3. I don't plan on doing this every gaming night, but I just don't want people to be surprised when I HO them.

4. If you think about it all aces will eventualy die, I'm just speeding up the clock.

5. and last but not least I think that HOing brings a fun element to the table and I think that people are so focused on winning games and getting kills that they lose the fun aspect of the game.

[albpilot]

Nov 17, 2009 11:14:24 GMT -5 Michael said:

Nov 16, 2009 16:06:12 GMT -5 KevinR said:

I remember when I flew Guido I'd make sure everyone knew ahead of time he was insane. One time we were flying a mission and I pulled my wingmates aside. Stephen Dale was on the opposite side and when we came back he said, MR. K is flying an ace that's what's going on. He was wrong, I was flying my psycho. It still added some intrigue, but I let everyone of my wingmates know this pilot was off his rocker. I also would give little hints to opposing players, like "When you look into this pilot's eyes as he fires at you, you see they are wide and crazed."

But as I said, Guido had a very short-lived career.

Wes named his ADFT pilot Westley "Maverick" Xavier.
Although the first name does beg attachment.

Dunno, three names from 3 different movie genres...at least he's not limiting himself.

[Flydude]

Nope, I'm not!