The above planes are far and away the ones used almost exclusively for aba. This form of ABA is now extremely boring, and default aba is now taking over. People get sick of seing the same 3 types of planes after awhile. Since it is the prominent game however, it is easier to talk about

Load-outs:

F-111 (recommended selection: First plane) 4 6 or 7 packs or a combination of both in upper two loadout positions. 2 6 packs in bottom right hardpoint. 4 RBK – 500’s, or any other 700lb cluster bomb.

Generally speaking when multiple types of ‘packs’ can be loaded onto a hard-point, go for the one with the biggest number of bombs, or the bombs that spread out the most. Generally always load 2 7 packs onto at least 1 of the hard-points, this will almost assure the destruction of the super Hardened Shelter. 6 packs give a very good spread, better than the RBK 500 type Cluster bombs, so if you can load 2 RBK 500’s on a F-111 hard-point, but can also load 2 6 packs, go for the 6 packs. It’s about maximising the destructive force of your hard-point. The F-111 can take the extra weight of the 6 packs over the RBK 500’s, without much of a difference in airspeed if you use the F-111 as your first plane. However, if you can only carry 2 6 packs on a hard-point, versus 4 RBK 500’s on that same hard-point, the 4 RBK 500’s are by far the better option.

6 packs are a lot heavier than the RBK 500’s. Their destructive force is a lot more than the RBK 500, and they spread out easily just as far, if dropped from a height. It is more assurance that the cluster of tanks, sometimes not so close together, you are dropping them on will be destroyed than if you use the 500’s. The 6 packs are also of better use than the RBK 500’s in Greece, on bases such as Blue North, with the Bunkers, with their comm towers and it’s defending AAA piece, which are separate from the airfield targets.

A typical Target destruction list for an F-111 in Greece would be as follows:

Stay High, get above 15000 feet to bomb with the heavy packs, to avoid deadly M163 AAA. Target list

1. Depending on target layout, get rid of your 2 heavy 7 packs on the super hardened shelter.

2. 1 6 pack each for the Bunkers and their communication towers, and it’s accompaning AAA defence.

3. As you can see, you have now used up the top hard-points row, you still have the 4 RBK 500’s at your disposal, and 2 6 packs.

4. Use 1 RBK for the barracks Dropped approximately in the centre of them. 1 RBK for the Fuel tanks if they are your target. If not. Use them on the HAC shelters, dropped in between the ones that are MO’s

5. You still have 2 RBK’s left. And 2 6 packs. Drop them carefully in between the remaining MO’s. Check that you have got them all. If not, Kamikazee a final target with your pig. You should have destroyed the entire airbase now.

If you still have not killed the base. Revive in a f-22 to finish it off.

Some tips on the F-111.
- On long range ABA’s fly to 33 000 feet or higher, and afterburning all the way to target. You will almost be unstoppable. flying at very high speeds, It is harder and takes longer for high performance fighters to engage you. As opposed to flying at 5000 odd feet.

- It is far and away preferable, if you are going to use the F-111 in your line up, as your first plane to begin in.

- If you are going to use a F-111 any further down the list. Sometimes it is an idea to load some backfires, or AIM 9 X’s. As most likely your opponent will now be in very fast fighters, and if they see you in an F-111 they might choose to go after you if you haven’t yet got to altitude, and they have high airspeed.

- Don’t revive in an F-111 if they are over your airbase in a fighter, Or they will shoot you down just for the fun of it.

- If you really think you must use an F-111 mid way down the order, yet both of your opponents are in fighters, and are already airborne. Give serious thought to flying below radar with your Radar turned off and your RWR turned ON (shift F5) to keep track of your opponent via their Radar showing up on your RWR. use it to keep track of him and to avoid him (fly below radar at under 150 feet), and a little way off the direct flight path so they don’t spot you visually. See below for how to avoid radar.

- The F-111 can load air to air missiles and guns on all of it’s hard-points. If you want to be silly, maybe you can surprise them by becoming a fighter!

- Don’t frag yourself by flying too low and dropping your bombs. At any rate, if the base is a blue base he has good AAA if the host set it, and you will be pannicking to drop your bombs before you get eaten up by the AAA. You will stuff up almost all the time.

F-15 E (Recommended Selection: Second plane if bases are closer together and F-111 hasn’t been effective. Or sometimes the First plane, if tanks are prominent, such as the Baltics)

Normal load-out. 1 Chaff/Flare Pod 11 RBK 500’s or clusters of same weight. 4 AA-11B’s or 4 AIM 9X’s

A good second plane when the F-111 has been eaten up, but still got some of the base, but not enough to let the f-22 to be able to finish it. A good first plane in Mmaps such as Vladivostoc and The Baltics and other Maps where tanks are placed close together. Also a good bombing plane down the list in medium to shorter range ABA’s, as there is often no time to climb to altitude to great effect, but it’s internal Gun and Air to Air load make it ideal for being able to defend itself.

It’s primary Offensive load are 700 lb Cluster bombs. NO OTHER ARMAMENT ON THIS HARDPOINT IS WORTHY. This load out is used first to destroy all tanks. If all tanks are destroyed, and none are left. Use the rest of them on the Super Hardened shelter. The F-15E is ideal for Korea, An F-15E alone can wipe out Blue East in Korea. An F-111 cannot. Generally Task the F-15E for destroying all the lighter targets. Use the clusters sparingly. 1 Cluster dropped in the approximate centre of two tanks will destroy them. If you don’t quite manage to destroy all the lighter targets with clusters. Use it’s internal gun to finish them off quickly. You don’t want that odd tank with 75% damage on it, hanging round at the end of the game, when you thought you had killed all the tanks. Hopped in your f-22 and killed the Super, and crashed into the ground. Only to find that you only needed 1 more % of the base to win the game. It happens time and time again.

Why the Aim 9 x’s are sometimes preferable to the aa-11b’s? Because most people expect you to load the backfires on the F-15 E. So don’t really pop their flared until passing adjacent to you. 2 aim 9 x’s can kill an F-16, or a mirage for example also. However, don’t rule out the backfires. Backfires are EXCELLENT for high altitude fights. And sometimes you will choose to fly your F-15E at altitude on long range flights.

Some Tips on the F-15E

1. Always load the Chaff pod. Your big load of clusters is worth it. Spoofing and not fighting, instead blasting past your opponent at high altitude, with no attempt at dog fighting, is often better than going head to head with guns at each other and then spoofing

2. F-15E can also be used as a first up plane to counter the F-111. You can still carry a devestating Air to Ground load, as well Air to Air missiles, and your internal gun. Gunning the F-111 down as it passes you sets your opponent back hugely. He will now often be forced onto the defensive. If you manage to kill the F-111 Follow the step 3 below, if you don’t kill it. DO NOT turn around and chase after it. The F-111 was made for scooting, the eagle wasn’t. Continue onto his base. With any luck, you hit one of his vital systems or Your AAA will have an easier time of it.

3. If you shoot him down. He’s going to want revenge. He is more often than not going to revive in a high performance fighter like an F-22 of X-31 to shoot you down to return the game to an even state once again, because if you shot down his F-111 you now hold the advantage over him. If you shot down his f-111 3 or so thousand feet of the ground, Dive to below radar (150 feet or lower) and continue onto his base, Following an indirect course. He will be searching for you in a direct line in between his and your base. If you shot him down at 15000 feet or more, climb up real high. He will have trouble climbing to meet you, and he will also have a limited airspeed trying to climb.

4. If you are between three and 15000 feet, Chances are he will revive in time to lock onto you and climb to your altitude. You have several options available to you. 1: climb anyway. 2: get your speed up as much as possible and try to blast past him. That way if he tries to turn around after unsuccessfully trying to shoot you down he will have slim chance of catching up to you before you drop your bombs on his base. 3: If there is a friendly base nearby, head to it, and use it’s defence to your advantage, if you are sure you are going to die any other way. See the section on buffer bases for this.

5. When you go past a plane that looks to be attacking you, and you have no way of avoiding it, pop your flares out indescriminantly, this is where your flare/chaff pod saves your collective ass. Start popping your flares out rapidly at 2 nm from him head on. ALWAYS do this in high speed head on passes. Keep a few left against planes like x-32’s who like to hide an extra 4 AA-11b Backfires in their internal weapons bay.

6. Your F-15E can climb to altitudes higher than any other profitable ABA plane, to stay out of reach of planes like F-22’s and x-31’s. If you know the ABA player is exceptionally good and is attacking you in a high performance fighter. Do this. But get up to altitude long before he gets to you!

7. In medium/short range ABA’s, F-15E is very good because even thought here often isn’t time to climb to altitude after taking off. It still is quite able of defending itself.

8. If your opponent is about to die and you know it, and you are in an F-15E. Switch off your radar, and go to the rear of his runway. When he revives and AFTER he gets airborne. Dive on him, and gun him down. Repeat the process.

9. As with the F-111 stay as fast, or out of sight or out of reach as possible. Combat only when you know when you have a 3:1 average of winning the duel with little risk of damage to yourself. 10. If you are reviving, and your opponent is going high and in a faster air plane, and is sure to finish your base before you get close enough to his base, but he is still a long way from you. Climb up high and intercept him. Don’t climb directly too him. First of all you can climb directly to him, but as he gets within about 20 nm of you at high speed, turn around to place him on your 6, and climb further. You give yourself a slower closing speed, therefor more time to get to altitude before he gets to you, and when he does, you are within range, often right when he needs to slow down to try and bomb your base. Then shoot him. I completed a game earlier this morning, by finishing off an F-15E in a Tornado with that tactic. If I hadn’t, my base would have been destroyed. 11. Also as the F-111 bomb from an altitude. If the tanks are in clusters, bomb the very moment you see them, and jink, to avoid AAA, then climb again after you dropped a couple of bombs, and repeat the process. It is often profitable to kill the AAA with backfires especially, that you didn’t use in air to air combat. There’s no rule to say that you cannot do that, unless the host says otherwise. Don’t frag yourself! So many people ruin their bombing run and waste5 or so bombs, because they made their bombing run from too low an altitude. It’s a waste of your plane, and It also decreases your chances of winning.

F-22N (Recommended Selection: Second, or Third plane, base finisher) Recommended load out. 3 AA-11b’s. 1 7 pack, and 2 3 packs. OR 2 RBK 500’s and 2 3 packs.

The F-22 is used for an end of game plane. Almost always in conjuction of a two strike strategy with the F-15E or F-111F. It will always be used after a very high % strike with an F-15E Always expect to see your opponent revive in one after he makes a very good run on your base, regardless of what aircraft he used to do so.

The 7 pack and 3 packs is often used to finish of the Super after an F-15E strike. Or incase you just didn’t finish off the super. The 3 packs, for complementing it. 1 7 pack and 1 3 pack if aimed right will finish off an untouched super. And leaves you with a 3 pack to throw on a target somewhere else.

The 3 pack/RBK500’s are used mostly after a F-111 attack, to get tanks or other targets that the F-111 missed or got shot down before you could get at them.

The 3 backfires are used because you don’t want to try a head on pass in your base finisher when there is a high probability of dying. A vector pass with guns is something ABA’ers don’t usually do because we don’t have that great a knowledge of proper exploitation of air to air combat. But never the less. 3 back fires used in conjunction with a vectored guns pass at the same time popping flares, is the best option. Also, you want your base finisher to be capable of dog fighting in emergencies. Such as instances when you get shot down in your first plane by a bomb laden opponent. Also, for when you yourself are being faced by a F-22 N that holds the advantage by already having his speed up and well on his way to your base. You don’t have much of a choice in this circumstance, and you have to fight him to save your base.

Some tips for F-22N.

1. CHOOSE THE N MODEL! Bomb bay doors people always forget to open. And often it costs them their plane and the game.

2. Often on medium and small range maps. Even on large maps, it is NOT profitable to climb to altitude. You just loose airspeed by climbing too far, and you opponent in another F-22 can easily get his speed up at lower altitude, and blast to your base and get there very quickly. You are better off just going to a convenient altitude where avoiding the ground is easier.

3. Don’t try and turn after an F-111 or F-15 E at high speeds, when closing on each others 12 at speeds of up to 2000 kts. You will never catch them. Make it one pass and one pass only. If you are that desperate to shoot him down, you re better off ejecting and reviving in another F-22.

4. If you are in the desperate position mentioned in the F-15E tips section, where you are trying to defend your base against imminent death, follow the, climb to them, then climb away from them to their altitude, with them on your 6. Then turn into them, and then gun them down. The exception to this, is when they are directly over your base, then climb directly to them!

5. If you are flying escort for your partner, if your base has bee destroyed, or your base is about to be destroyed immenently, without question as to whether you defend it or not. Revive in an f-22. Head to your opponents base, and as he revives and gets airborne, shoot him down. It’s a bastad being stuck on the ground, because every time you get airborne and start to engage, you get shot down. DO NOT kill them on their runways. It is considered runway rape. See the section on runway rape on the menu. If then get airborne on their runway for certain and launch Missiles at you, by all means go hell for leather at them.

6. Far better to be still alive in a F-22 with your base destroyed than any other plane, unless you are certain you can get to their base without being spotted or not too much of a danger of you being shot down. Your partner will appreciate his high performance escort.

7. Conserve your f-22. Rearm it when you are out of ammo. Unless of course a HAS remains and the opposing team almost has his bombs away to win the game, then RAM the remaining tank, or target. Don’t realy bother ramming the Super. No plane can kill the super by running into it except the C-5 Galaxy.

Well. That’s my tips so far. A big big change from when I first wrote up about how to play aba!

Default ABA is now really accounting for the large amount of ABA games played.
Default ABA is where you keep the planes you are given by the computer, after you select your airbase. Do NOT change your planes. Default means you are NOT allowed to change the planes around you are given by the computer.

Always establish, before the select plane screen, whether or not you are allowed to change your nationality at the select plane screen. Why? Because some hosts will put on medium or high AAA. American AAA is much much better than soviet AAA. And generally speaking, if your host does not allow you to change your nationality, which is at the top of the right hand side of the page on the grey bit, then he is stacking his team and being unfair.

We all know that there are only ever two forces opposing each other in traditional ABA, that is American and Russian. So it is only fair that in default you have the right to change your nationality.

Try, after asking permission from the host to change your nationality, selecting your nationality as quickly as possible or people will grow suspicious.

In default ABA, the trick is, to use the faster planes with guns… as fighters. And stay high in them. It doesn’t mean that you have to load up in AMRAAMS.. Far from it. If your in an X-31 or F-22, you only carry 4 AMRAAMS which can most often be spoofed. So carry clusters or 3 packs in the AMRAAM position or maybe even a 7 pack. Which ever gives you the most destructive power. Go high inbound to their base… If you have a good plane first up… chances are they will go high as well and try to intercept you. So carry a chaff pod on planes like the x-31. Don’t engage them. Go onto their base and bomb it. The exception to this Of course… engage their plane if it is a bomber. Planes that are must engage with fighters if they are their first planes include MiG 27’s. Mig 29 M’s Mig 31’s F-15 E’s F-111’s, and any type of heavy bomber of B and TU family. Do try and fight to keep your good fast afterburning planes alive.

Once you have offloaded your bombs on their base, Stay high, don’t eject into a new plane. Wait for them to revive… or if they have just revived.. and flown off and are in a slow plane… gun them down. Stay over their airbase… Once you see the message that say that the player whoose airbase that is has died (off bombing your base or whatever) turn off your radar and wait for them to revive. Once they are revived, lock onto them (without radar) and staying right above them. Wait until they get airborne and are on their way, then shoot them down. Don’t shoot them whilst they are not airborne. Often using this tactic they don’t spot you. When they have got their gear up and still haven’t spotted you is a good time to shoot them down. And it works well 99% of the time. The opposing player in default ABA will revive in his best fighter or bomber. After his first plane. If you can shoot it down without hurting yourself. That is good. And gives you a big advantage. Return to altitude quickly, or to his 6 o clock of his revive point, and repeat the process. But remember, don't shoot him whilst he is still on the runway. Unless he can actually fire missiles at you, and does while he is on the ground, and his missile are chasing you. Lots of people abuse their runway privilages. Some actually stay on the runway after re-arming for minutes on end, untill you run out of fuel or get shot down by the base defences. This is being a bad sportsman. If you take heavy damage over his base, and he has been sitting on his runway for a longish time after stopping at the re-arming point. Kamikazee him, especially if he an evident tosser. If he's a newbie.. go easy on him.

Remember those bombs on the fast fighters we were talking about? Usually it is a good idea, if there is AAA… to drop them on that, so you can fly around their base at low level. The last ABA I played and was completed, I was in an F-15 J eagle – It has a lot of rounds. The enemy had just flown off… And was too far away for me to warrant chasing after him. I landed at his airbase… Taxied over to his super hardened shelter. And killed it just by shooting it. Along with Hardened aircraft shelters, and a communications bunker. He revived in a hornet. But I hadn’t wasted my back fires. I took off and shot him down with back fires. After doing about 65% damage on his base with guns or more. He shot me down in an x-31 after that. But I revived in another F-15 J. which I had decked out for air to air. Firing my AMRAAMS only when the last one I fired had been evaded, I managed to run him out of chaff. And shot him down.

The main point in default is to use your relitively agile, faster planes with after burners, and take care of them. Use them for shooting down other planes. If you can. Stay high up so when spotting a plane you can quickly catch up to it, well before your base.. and shoot it down. Care full not to overshoot your opponent. And be wary of Backfire missiles. Always carry some bombs. The exception to this is the SU-35 when your opponents airbase is at longer ranges. Keep the default load out on the SU - 35. Except for load AMRAAMS instead of the AA-12’s. Also the X-29. Keep it as an air to air fighter. This plane can actually fire from the runway.. and rearm on the spot! Providing a constant stream of missiles. However, most people take off in it. F-15 C and J, some people like to use them soley as fighters. Others like to load 3 packs onto one of the hard points. And carry missiles on the other. It's a hard pick. Since the F-15 C and J are good fighters. But can't carry any chaff pods. And any bombs carried will immediately take away 4 of your air to air missiles. Basically it's up to you what you do.

For the bad planes, like AIDC Ching Kuo, BAE Hawk, the Alpha jet, F-8 J Crusader, and Mig 21’s Load them up with Air to Air. They carry too little in the way of bombs often, and will most likely be shot down enroute to target. Use them to shoot down bandits over your base when you are in danger of loosing the game. Often they are about 50% successful. Don't hang around in these planes if you don't need to. Or you have better planes. Eject in them. They are sacrificial. Unless you have run out of good planes.

If you get slow planes first up like A-10, A-6, or a7, and the opponent is in a plane with guns and afterburners, say for instance, a hornet. Or an eagle. Load a chaff pod on your plane, and load it entirely with air to air ir missiles. He will like to go after particularily the A-6 and A-7 because they carry a noticeable amount of bombs. Last mission I did this, I shot down a Hornet. And If you manage to make it past him… use the ir missiles on his base defence, especially if you have plenty of gun rounds. Then you can land at his base and rip it up with ammo.

If you have any comments you would like to make. E-mail them to me at davie_ash@hotmail.com