WNx Sentinel Primer: Movement / Aircraft: Formations

The team will use Three separate formations when flying in mostly NON hostile territory. The First is called the Echelon formation and consists of a wing of fighters flying from the point man backwards to the left in a diagonal line (always to the left lagging). They will line up roughly 30-50 meters from one another and use their altimeter brackets in their first person view to focus on the flyer in front of them. You will center the pilot in front of you midway between the brackets and the right edge of the screen. Once set each successive mosquito after the first will glide upwards from the ship in front of them until the last ship is some 50-100 meters above the first flyer. This gives the team a multiple altitude angle of attack over incoming enemies.

The second way is the Vic, this one you line up your point man the same way you do with the Echelon. However you do not raise your altitude up or down from the lead man, you remain on a fixed axis relative to the front ship. So when flying, all ships will come in on the same level exactly, lagging 30-50 meters between each other. The vic can end up looking exactly like a FLATTENED echelon except for the one or two fighters on the right side of the formation. The pilots on the right side are the rescue unit and will be the first ones to break formation to attack the enemy, the rest will hold position.

The final formation is the Stack, sometimes called the C stack. It involves each successive pilot flying atop the previous one. To do this, position yourself much like the echelon except that your lead pilot will be directly south of your site, slightly above the bottom row of icons & buttons. Stack is how the team will attack ground targets. The first unit will fly in to attack the target and then afterburn off after his ordinance has been released. The others will follow to the target, once the target has been passed (this is most likely a YELLOW mission run) then the team will form up again and get back to the rally point.

Vic (above) & Echelon Formations

Outside Amerish Warpgate

Note the height difference between the aircraft in the echelon formation. Each one 15+ meters above and behind the previous one

The following is the SOP of aircraft travel in the Sentinels.

For getting the units together at a rally point:

The SL will lay down a standard waypoint four (rally point) where the air units will gather. They will gather one of two ways depending if the SL deems it a HOT area or not. If the area is mainly clear of enemy activity then the SL will use the signal ‘Rally down’ to indicate he wants his team to form up on his PORT (left) side on the ground in a neat line. If however the area is still showing decent enemy death spam, the SL will more likely use the following signal ‘Rally up’ to tell the squad he wants them to HOVER over the rally point in what's called a floating star. Its basically where the units will all face each other at 20% altitude over the rally point until ready to move out.

For getting the units to take off at the same time and maneuver into position:

In order to make the Squad move as one the SL will call (or more often type because of the lag from TS) ‘stations or positions’ meaning they will now get into starting positions. To do this, after the call is given, if the squad is on the ground, they will raise to 1/2 altimeter height off the ground. If they are in the air they will do likewise, just takes less time. Once there the SL will declare ‘half speed’ and start moving at one half thrust towards the target (key 5). In order from his left the other units will fall in line. Once the SL sees that the entire line is in formation he will declare ‘full speed’ (key 10) while adding more information about height and formation. Once at full speed it is recommended that you use your forward key rather than the max thrust so you can make adjustments in your speed to correct for the other units and stay in formation. Also, flying using STRAFE keys is vital for maintaining formation

Most missions will occur at max altitude (400 meters). The SL will state the number as he moves to full throttle. ‘Full Speed 400 Vic’ means he’s kicking it up to max thrust and max altitude in vic formation. At max altitude the only formation that can be accomplished is the VIC. So if you are moving to the flight ceiling, you will be flying the VIC formation. For Echelon he may call ‘Full Speed 300 Echelon’ giving enough room for his rear pilots to lag up to the flight ceiling.

What to do if the formation is attacked:

If an enemy is spotted and the code is yellow, it will be ignored unless attacked as per yellow fire discipline. The enemy will be called out as a CONTACT and a clock position is given relative to his position. If the enemy attacks the formation and the fire discipline is green, anyone is free to break and attack. If the code is yellow, ONLY the craft under attack will break unless the SL says its ok to break formation (see below). If the FD (fire discipline) is red, the enemy attacking will be IGNORED totally until the defending craft has taken 1/2 damage at which point he is permitted to defend himself and break.

Once an enemy has been spotted (usually in the air) and the SL deems it a good target he will call out ’ go green, break.‘ or just ‘break’. When this is called the team will split directions in the air hard port / starboard. The Leader of the squadron should always break LEFT. Using this as a starting point the pilot directly behind him will break RIGHT, and so on each subsequent aircraft splitting off left / right until all pilots are out of formation. When you break, you will circle around in third person to find the air target, once on him, focus back to first person and destroy or chase off the target.

When the SL calls reform, everyone will break off chase and falls back in behind the SL, who is moving at 1/2 thrust until the unit is back in formation. Then he will go full throttle and start towards target again.