Oh okay, thanks a lot. I checked the server status page but it just said up.

I undertook a slightly unorthodox but unquestionably effective method of dealing with a fantastic heli/gunner combo just now. He was devastatingly good, and I knew I couldn't out fly him so I opted for the Jihad way. After a third successful kamikazee he inboxed me and called me a noob.

Yes you could argue it was a waste of a plane, but they weren't being used. I did the team more of a favor that way, plus its funny.

That's one of my pet peeves and not exactly unorthodox, for every 20 minutes I spend in a heli, I would expect to be "jet Kamikazee killed" at least once and I'm a distinctly average pilot. The problem is that the more people you kill in the heli, the more people will try to take you out by crashing a jet into you.

It's not just against helis either - check out the Javelin Squad's Caspian Borders video on youtube. People try to take out infantry by crashing jets into them! By the end of the round they're running around with bits of undercarriage and airplane surrounding them!

It's totally unrealistic. but I can see why people do it. It is annoying when you're happily racking up a streak and someone does it to you though.

Yep, definitely a noob tactic. There are many other ways to dispose of a chopper, especially now an unguided RPG/tank shell is now an instant kill.

Even equipping a stinger as an engineer, staying in cover away from an objective and continually locking on and firing missiles at them is enough to severely curtail most chopper pilot's dominance.

Even if they keep breaking/dodging the lock, they'll soon get fed up of spending their time dodging missiles rather than killing stuff and go and bother someone else on the other side of the map instead.

I find a lot of the time people (including me) are so set on playing a particular set up, whether to unlock kit, ribbons or medals, or purely through preference, that they aren't prepared to change a set up to counter an enemy's dominant play.

One of the aspects of BF3 that I really like is how balanced it is - there's a natural counter to pretty much any style of play (except perhaps high level teamwork), but I'm constantly surprised at how few people, including very experienced players, have mastered the different classes and kits.

I like to think that I'm proficient, if not exactly great, in pretty much any role from counter-sniper to meat grinding assault to anti-tank heli pilot. I haven't got the hang of jets yet, but it's rare that they pose much of a threat to winning a game and I can deal with them effectively enough in an attack heli. Nonetheless, after I've got a bit more time in helis I'll be donning the aviators and trying to work out how to kill infantry at 300mph+!

Nope, not a gun. It's for painting targets for guided missiles.

Actually the CITV station is excellent for scaring off jets and choppers too. I do chuckle if the panic into crashing and dying

Kharg Island is offline.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-17811565

Alright, who's responsible? own-up.

Yeah. Canister for closed maps, Guided shells for open maps with helis. You can still do good work with the CITV spotting and using thermals to hunt out camping snipers, SOFLAMS, etc etc, on maps even when the driver isn't using guided shells (rightly or wrongly). Plus I love hopping out and getting the tank kill with an RPG after the driver and gunner have done all the hard work!

So for the tank... what are the unlocks? I do like playing tank driver but just as with any assualt rifle for me its very much a case of, banjo, barn door, couldn't, hit, a.

At the moment I think when you first start you have the IR smoke and thats it. I think now I can press triangle to switch to the coax LMG and I think the HMG is the next upgrade. But where does IR vision come in and guided/canister shells and how do you equip them? There isnt a load out screen like there is for the 4 player classes.