Operational Organization & Basic 6DOF combat Theory

[ExiIe]

So, for those who don't like to read dry instructional type documentation; this may not be for you.
For those who love data, planning and simply gorge on information. Welcome!
I'll start off with the Order of Battle.

As an active military member, I have a decent amount of insight into the organizational aspects of combat. 

 

With that being said, I drew up a concept of operations in a google doc.

I'll share it with you all here.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1mPtnHlCnjhJC5CIDrh6AwDjBgsdfmNuguhjTnf574FI/mobilebasic

 

Secondly; and far more longwindedly; 

 

Forward

 

The following is a transcript of a document I created for Synergy members. I figure I might as well draw from a larger think tank and see what discussions can be added here.

 

Excuse the crude drawing

 

Preliminary Theories on combat in Star Citizen:

 

Any form of armed conflict has a series of stages; Perception of the threat, identification of the enemy and finally engaging the target and removing the threat.

 

When perception of the threat and identification of the enemy are compromised, initiative is lost and the fight is not in your favor. Therefore the latter is essential to retaining initiative; and is why we will, as often as possible, fly with at least one craft equipped with a powerful sensor package. 

 

Luckily for us, identifying the enemy should not be a terribly difficult task since the targetting systems and computers will likely take care of that once the threat is percieved or we are under contact.

 

Engaging the enemy and surviving the contact will be the primary concern of this conversation.

 

Spacial Awareness, Initial State and Angle of Attack:

 

Due to the nature of our existence; humanity has a limited understanding of 6DOF space. Becoming a skilled pilot in Star Citizen will require a fluent concept in six degrees of movement. Exploiting the inherent weakness and disorientation of other pilots is a key factor in tipping the scales of combat in our favor. 

 

After a jump, we can assume that ships will be positioned in a default state in relation to the system. The "Up" sensation will be imprinted into the average persons mind by this initial introduction to the stellar landscape. 

 

Planets orbit suns on a plane called an Accretion disk; formed by the spinning of juvenile star system particles prior to forging of planets in the early stages of a solar systems life. The centrifugal forces flattened the material and hence the planets formed thereafter all sit on a common plane. 

 

We can assume that ships will enter systems level with the accretion plane. With this in mind, we can assume that most pilots will consider the environment of this plane as they travel between planets; moving in a more or less two dimentional area, keeping "Up" the same orientation they had when they entered the system. 

 

In Combat, understanding where you are in relation to a fixed location is very important; it allows the mind to comprehend a determined position and relate range and angular momentum to target objects at a glance. We too will use a default concept of what is "Up" but in understanding what the majority of people will also use allows us to exploit this as a weakness.

 

We'll assume that systems will be cube or spherical in nature, with distances limited to the programming of the game. Nevertheless, it can be assumed that we will have the ability to travel in the Y Axis to the same degree as we would the Z or X axes. This means that to avoid common traffic, it would be prudent to travel in the -Y axis immediately after entering a system, to create distance from the accretion plane that most people will be travelling on.

 

The reason we choose -Y rather than +Y is because the forces of gravity will still be a danger to pilots, especially those flying in free mode, without the computer controlling high inertial maneuvers. 

 

The human body can take more positive G's than it can negative, which means if we are in the -Y quadrant of the system and come under attack, it is most likely going to come from above; from the accretion plane. The average person will try to maintain their "Up" orientation, and will therefore be diving toward us, incurring negative G's and moving toward redout faster than it will take us to move to blackout in a climb to meet them. 

 

Another reason for moving into the -Y quadrant is because if we choose to attack a target, who is assuming the default Accretion flight trajectory; we will attack from below, and most preferrably from below and behind; this is called a "Cold Six" angle of attack.

 

Only two ships currently have weapons that can fire into the Cold Six blind spot: The Idris Corvette and the Retaliator bomber, meaning that for the vast majority of vessels, attacking from below and behind will put them in a very vulnerable position. 

 

Furthermore, our opening posture after climbing to the angle attack should be to roll inverted in reference to the accretion plane. The enemy, after incurring initial damage or noticing the threat through sensors, will turn to meet us. Keeping their belly in our sights is a sure way to avoid their weapons and keep them in a - G scenario. When they move to engage, we will thrust ventrally, incurring positive G's while remaining "below" the target.

 

 

This is the moment where 6DOF combat breaks away from conventional aerobatic maneuvers.

 

If the target is in Fly-By-Wire mode; we will be able to maintain weapons on target for extended periods as he banks to reposition for another pass; as a fighter jet would in atmosphere. Meanwhile, we will be rotating around an axis with the target as its center; orbiting the target and maintaining positive G's. 

 

If the target is in free mode; combat changes quite a bit.

 

The Furbal: Single Combat

 

Both ships will enter a rolling combat; each of them facing each other and firing weapons while jockying for positive G position. 

 

My assumption at the moment is that  a winning loadout will be one with powerful weapons that outrange the enemy weapons and a ship that has higher velocity. 

 

In Single Combat, the ideal situation in this rolling combat would be to outrun your enemy's weapon range while keeping him inside your own weapon range. Effectively making it impossible to hit you while you can still effectively hit him.

 

An alternative would be to have shorter range, but remain faster; so that you can break contact when shields are low; but come back in for another pass. 

 

Small Unit Tactics

 

Understanding single combat is a necessity; however, engaging an enemy on your own should be a rarity. 

 

Flying solo is equivalent to painting yourself with a giant bull’s eye.

 

The ideal ratio of manpower against an attacker is three to one. If our target location has two enemy vessels, we bring six. If they have ten, we bring thirty. This is the ratio used in armed conflict. 

 

By this standard, the minimum flight should be a three man operation; one flight leader and two wingmen.

 

Communication:

 

When squading up with a group, one thing has to be clear: Who is the leader? 

 

Organization and unified intent trumps individual skill. It is better to have a bad plan that is followed through than it is to break rank and lose cohesion. For this reason, a leader should be agreed upon, after which decisions are no longer questioned. 

 

If your flight is on route to destination and there is no threat; diplomacy and discussion is not discouraged. Work together and build a plan that everyone agrees on. However, once the weapons are firing, there needs to be only one single vision; one single voice that all others comply with and follow. The alternative is a shitshow of lone wolves more concerned with their personal goals than the objective.

 

Formation

 

Historically formations existed for several reasons: Instil discipline, encourage precision in habitual flight, deceiving radar, maintaining eye contact for hand gestures and most importantly: situational awareness and overlapping cover of each other during combat.

 

Vee formation is pretty near an international convention used among nearly every air combat unit in the world; and we’re no different. It’s simple, effective and proved itself in WWII and other theatres. 

 

The concept is as follows: The Flight lead is up front with his wingmen slightly rear to both sides. The flight leader is the primary offensive craft, while the first (right) wingman wears two hats; joins the flight leader in offensive action when under low threat; or joins the third wingman in defensive action when there is heavy opposition. 

 

The formation should be as tight and clean as possible while in low-threat areas; mainly as a show of professionalism and discipline. We market Synergy at all times. 

 

In a threat area however, the formation loosens; allowing each craft maximum visibility and freeing them from concentrating on the formation itself. Ideally, weapons range would effect the spread of the formation; each ship must have overlapping archs of fire. Being as spread out as weapons range allows will also extend sensor range so that the enemy can be identified more quickly. 

 

When a flight is comprised of three skilled pilots who all know each other well; an alternative form of leadership can be used. 

 

In this fluid formation, the flight leader position shifts between each pilot based on who was first to identify the threat; the logic being that this person has the most situational awareness at the given moment. Instead of relaying information for the flight leader to act upon, and losing precious time in the process, the individual pilot who first identifies a target becomes the flight leader for the duration of the engagement and directs the wingmen as required. 

 

During combat, the formation must be held; meaning if the flight lead is rolling over and burning ventral to remain under his target; the two wingmen are doing the same. With the loose formation during combat, enemies will likely target the lagging wingman; which will require the formation to shuffle so that the targeted vessel is no longer in the rearguard, and covered by the second wingman; all the while the offensive against the original target remains the primary focus. 

 

Even with enemy on your tail, you maintain formation with the flight leader until his target is dispatched. 

 

Never break away to engage a target solo.

 

Never break formation at all for that matter. 

 

If the threat is overwhelming, the flight leader will call a tactical withdrawal.

 

Withdrawal

 

A tactical withdrawal would involve each craft taking turns rotating on their axis, firing at the enemy and exposing themselves to enemy fire while the other two gain distance and recharge. 

 

After expending all ammunition/missiles/energy, the lagging craft will afterburn to the front of the formation and his position will be taken by the second ship. This ship will then do the same; maintaining angular momentum in egress while firing to the retrograde until all ammunition/energy/missiles are expended and then rotate positions again.

 

This allows maximum firepower while the two other craft recharge energy and shields for their turn to suppress the enemy.

 

This continues until contact is broken. 

 

The only time a withdrawal would occur is if initial assessment of the threat was grossly underestimated and the flight is found to be outnumbered. This is why assessment should always be made with the three to one ratio in mind. If you are three pilots, you should only be engaging a solo target.

 

Large Scale Operations

 

Our current fleet only has a few pilots, but we have many ships at our disposal, a lot of them with specific roles. It’s reasonable to assume that in the future, we will be able to field a squadron of large ships supported by fighters to undertake large scale operations against other large ships. 

 

The Idris is a big ship, the largest we have at the moment, however the role of each ship should never be ignored. Bombers will never be good against fighters, and nor will ships like the Idris. 

 

The Idris is an anti-cap ship and a command and control vessel designed as an HQ for larger operations, which is what we will use it for when undertaking such operations.

 

Squadron composition during a large scale operation based on our current fleet will likely be comprised of: 

 

The Idris as command and control/awacs with a flight of two fighters as escorts (probably my 2 Avengers manned by AI); 

 

Two Retaliators and any Gladiators as anti-cap would act as flight lead for two fighters in escort(probably AI again if we don’t have the numbers); 

 

Our main offensive forces would be comprised of two or more Constellation as the flight leader of the offensive flight, with two fighters in support as wingmen, not including the P52’s. 

 

Finally, we would field any other fighters in three man flights. 

 

The Idris would remain in the rear, using information collected from sensor packages installed on vanguard flights to coordinate the battle. 

 

The Retaliators and their fighters, would remain with the Idirs in anticipation of capital ships; other Idris Corvettes or large vessels that they can engage effectively. 

 

The offensive flights with Constellations would move forward under commands from the Idirs’s crew coordinating the battle. 

 

Depending on the types of enemy vessels, we would either send one flight of three ships against an individual target, or two or more flights of three ships against a single large target. 

 

A given flight will never undertake more than a single target at any time. Three ships, two of which would most likely be in offensive action, will bear down on a single vessel, concentrating fire until it is destroyed and then moving on to the next. The third wingman will be lagging in defence; jockeying with the second wingman when under enemy pressure.

 

 

On AI and the nature of Instanced Gameplay

 

Due to the nature of instanced gameplay, using AI pilots for our escorts and in gunner positions will be a necessity; and a tactical advantage in terms of being able to field more ships in a single engagement. 

 

It’s assumed that instance slots will be based on player connections, not on ship numbers; therefore if we field ten players with two AI wingmen each, we can easily field a large amount of fighters with fewer slots taken up by our organization. 

 

Maxing our personal number of members in an instance with AI wingmen could potentially allow us to greatly outnumber an opposing force who fields their entire number of ships all piloted by player characters with no AI wingmen.

 

This, however, is mainly conjecture; we are not yet certain about what will be considered occupying an instance slot; be it players or ships.

[LukaP]

this guy, i like you please join us in the RSI chat so we can talk more

[thedomsaww]

okay so i havent finished reading this yet but id just like to say this is perfect, and when multiplayer comes out i would love to fight with you and learn/practise these maneuvers and strategy.

[TheDigitalRealm]

I like this a lot, we should be friends, you and me.

[thedomsaww]

@Slick pin this plz!!

[ExiIe]

Thanks for the positive feedback. 

I hope some good conversations about tactics themselves can also come out of this later one; once we've wet our appetites a bit on DFM's release.

 

As for RSI Chat, I was once a regular there in the earlier days. I suppose I could get on there more often. 

[LukaP]

Thanks for the positive feedback. 

I hope some good conversations about tactics themselves can also come out of this later one; once we've wet our appetites a bit on DFM's release.

 

As for RSI Chat, I was once a regular there in the earlier days. I suppose I could get on there more often. 

yeah do that, it would be fun talking to you

[thedomsaww]

question then.  if attacked from below the Accretion flight trajectory would rolling along main access, so that the belly of ship is now facing away from the attacker below, incur positive g's when diving towards enemy?  Because in atmospheric flight there is always a center of gravity (earth) so rolling and diving would still incur negative g's,  but in space with no gravity a roll would then make the dive a climb in a sense?

 

[Slick]

UH...

 

 

UHHHHHH....

 

/drool

 

 

PINNED.

[Jobobee]

Man, I'll have to read this when I get home.

How long did that take to type?

Also, I say that. Luka and Xiao are heads of intercepting.

Squawk 7777. Just don't squawk 7700.

[DamDirtyApe]

haha, Beast mode, Exile. This is absolutely amazing. Loving it.

[NICKT]

This, I like this, I like this a lot.

 

Hopefully when the Arena Commander comes there'll be a mode where we can jump in and practice maneuvers and things like that.

One thing I'll definitely want to do when that comes is fly around a bit to get a feel for the sizes of my ships whilst I'm in the cockpit, one thing I've always believed to be a vital skill in piloting is spacial awareness for your craft, and as someone that enjoys flying through asteroids and doing cool turns and going through tight fits, that kind of thing will be necessary for me but I do recommend other people get a feel for their ships too.

[Caito]

This, I like this, I like this a lot.

Hopefully when the Arena Commander comes there'll be a mode where we can jump in and practice maneuvers and things like that.

One thing I'll definitely want to do when that comes is fly around a bit to get a feel for the sizes of my ships whilst I'm in the cockpit, one thing I've always believed to be a vital skill in piloting is spacial awareness for your craft, and as someone that enjoys flying through asteroids and doing cool turns and going through tight fits, that kind of thing will be necessary for me but I do recommend other people get a feel for their ships too.

Yeah they said that there is a free roam mode and everyone gets access to that day one.

[NICKT]

Yeah they said that there is a free roam mode and everyone gets access to that day one.

 

Is it singular player only or can we jump in as groups?

I think it'd really benefit us a lot more if we can jump in as groups and get some formation drills happening.

[Caito]

Is it singular player only or can we jump in as groups?

I think it'd really benefit us a lot more if we can jump in as groups and get some formation drills happening.

I don't know. There is single player for sure but maybe in the v9 or whatever they can add multiplayer free roam

[rucdoc]

single only

[NICKT]

single only

 

Well ain't that a bucket of piss.

Someone should get in contact with CIG and tell them we'd really, really like multiplayer test flights.

[Maciek]

question then.  if attacked from below the Accretion flight trajectory would rolling along main access, so that the belly of ship is now facing away from the attacker below, incur positive g's when diving towards enemy?  Because in atmospheric flight there is always a center of gravity (earth) so rolling and diving would still incur negative g's,  but in space with no gravity a roll would then make the dive a climb in a sense?

 

I guess this rule should still apply. There's no earth's gravity but there's the inertia force that will push the pilot into the seat when pulling the stick. Anyway I think CIG will model the ships handling in a way that they have a tighter turn rate on -g than +g.

[CatCloud]

Didn't CR already confirm that V formation and such have little to no benefit in space aside from looks?

Maybe it was wingman...I only know that it was brought up once.

Anyway, fun read.

[benwp]

This is fantastic! Exactly why I joined LTT Conglomerate. I'm excited to fly with you guys!

[Artofinca]

Good stuff!

[thedomsaww]

Didn't CR already confirm that V formation and such have little to no benefit in space aside from looks?

Maybe it was wingman...I only know that it was brought up once.

Anyway, fun read.

Not sure what they would have confirmed and if they did why? but after reading this a "V" formation would be used as a flight formation in order to maintain discipline and have a wide angle of coverage on potential targets.  As @Exile explains the actual attack formation looks somewhat like one lead pilot orbiting the target craft with the other two pilots orbiting the lead pilot to provide cover from secondary targets.  This is at least how i have perceived it.  

 

Having said that when flying below the accretion plane would a stacked formation be beneficial.  For example, Lead pilot/commander flying closest to accretion plane with second and third pilots flying directly below (with each ship as close as possible to the other).  Thus when viewed on radar or by direct sight from above only one ship is seen (lead ship).  From here i see two scenarios.

1.  The target ship seeing that there is only one other ship proceeds downward to intercept.  Stacked formation then begins to climb as one tight unit (being aware not to expose hidden ships) also to intercept.  Once effective weapons range is reached both lower wing-man exit the formation from opposite sides effectively encircling target ship.  Benefits being surprise and also assuming target ship is expecting a head on encounter and has forward shield on full,  the rest of the ship would thus be vulnerable to the 2nd and 3rd ships surprise attack.

2. Similar to situation one except the target ship is unaware of our location but tactics are the same.  Rise as a single unit until within range, then wing-man break off from opposite sides to encircle target.

[ExiIe]

Not sure what they would have confirmed and if they did why? but after reading this a "V" formation would be used as a flight formation in order to maintain discipline and have a wide angle of coverage on potential targets.  As @Exile explains the actual attack formation looks somewhat like one lead pilot orbiting the target craft with the other two pilots orbiting the lead pilot to provide cover from secondary targets.  This is at least how i have perceived it.  

 

Having said that when flying below the accretion plane would a stacked formation be beneficial.  For example, Lead pilot/commander flying closest to accretion plane with second and third pilots flying directly below (with each ship as close as possible to the other).  Thus when viewed on radar or by direct sight from above only one ship is seen (lead ship).  From here i see two scenarios.

1.  The target ship seeing that there is only one other ship proceeds downward to intercept.  Stacked formation then begins to climb as one tight unit (being aware not to expose hidden ships) also to intercept.  Once effective weapons range is reached both lower wing-man exit the formation from opposite sides effectively encircling target ship.  Benefits being surprise and also assuming target ship is expecting a head on encounter and has forward shield on full,  the rest of the ship would thus be vulnerable to the 2nd and 3rd ships surprise attack.

2. Similar to situation one except the target ship is unaware of our location but tactics are the same.  Rise as a single unit until within range, then wing-man break off from opposite sides to encircle target.

 

Actually, that seems like a pretty good idea.

I suppose what could happen is that this tactic would have some code name; like "Piece the pie" or what have you, and so if the flight is dealing with a single enemy vessel; instead of having the two wingmen remain with the lead; they would each take up a quadrant of the orbit as equidistant from each other as possible in order to each be hitting a different shield section; effectively nullifying the re-allocation of energy to shields (since they're all under attack simultaneously).

 

[thedomsaww]

Actually, that seems like a pretty good idea.

I suppose what could happen is that this tactic would have some code name; like "Piece the pie" or what have you, and so if the flight is dealing with a single enemy vessel; instead of having the two wingmen remain with the lead; they would each take up a quadrant of the orbit as equidistant from each other as possible in order to each be hitting a different shield section; effectively nullifying the re-allocation of energy to shields (since they're all under attack simultaneously).

 

Working upon this idea.  If lets say after engaging a second ship comes into the fight,  assuming the second ship can only attack a single target and that target is one of our wing man, then the pattern of attack would change from a single orbital pattern to a double orbit (figure eight).  Where as soon as one wing-man has finished it orbit on the second target and is moving back to the first the second wing-man takes its place at the beginning of the orbit of the second target.  While the lead or wing leader remains in orbit on the first target until destroyed and then all resume the single orbital attack on the second target.  Not only would this provide cover for the wing leader of at least one wing-man at all times but it would also mean the second target has at least one attacker at all times.

[rentaspoon]

Your better to fly in 4s or 5s, rather than in 3, 2 good enemy fighters can ween down 3 to 0 easily, you always want someone else able to cover your tail.

Just my thoughts.