When flak starts exploding around you it is best to keep a cool head, and only a veteran pilot will be able to do so. Getting stunned or scared will be the death of your HS if the pilot panics. Since the plane is quite tough, it will shrug off most hits, however the rookie pilot can still suffer from effects that cost you the plane. it is dedicated for air-to-ground and excels at this mission.ģ.) Take this plane at a decent veterancy. Unlike some of the other Air-to-Ground planes, this one cannot do double duty. Remember to evac this plane early as it can be somewhat slow climbing out, and will be run down easily by most Allied fighters. Even bi-planes can out fly this attacker, and as such all enemy air-to-air contacts should be avoided. These will shred this plane, since no amount of resilience will bounce a round that large.Ģ.) The HS 129 cannot dogfight! Though it has been known to get a lucky shot off in an aerial joust (a head-to-head approach) with enemy fighters, if it comes down to a turning battle, you will almost always be shot down.

Beware the late game 85mm, or any of the larger autocannons. Since most of these heavier guns are Phase B or later, it can pay off well to call this in earlier, rather than later. Even the smaller AAA cannons like bofors or 20mm will have trouble downing this aircraft unless grouped or overlapping. 50 calibers or Maxims are ignorable by the plane. A few things are key to using this aircraft:ġ.) The high resilience means that you have little to fear from most ground fire.

It will not accomplish a 'fire at area' order due to a lack of real AOE capability, but is fantastic when actually targeting most vehicles. The Blast rating on the heavy cannon allows for good suppression and the occasional splash kill or cook off when assaulting light vehicles or entrenched infantry (such as in buildings or trenches) and can be used very effectively when combined with good reconnaissance to keep a unit well sighted for the plane. With good resilience and a very good cannon, this is best deployed in an early or mid game against light to medium vehicles. It was continuously upgunned to keep pace with Allied and Soviet weapon development, replacing the original MK 101 with MK 103 30 mm cannon and eventually the famous BK 3,7 proven on the Ju 87G. At first indistinguishable from B-1, with a mix of changes between the two, the B-2 eventually accumulated enough to come into its own. The B-2 variant of the Hs 129 entered service in May 1942, after just 50 units of the B-1 were delivered. The pair of counter-rotating engines were also armored and provided an excellent, stable platform for tank-busting weaponry. The cramped cockpit was almost impossible to move in, with some of the instruments and the gunsight mounted outside the canopy. It was built with survivability in mind, with the entire nose area enclosed in steel armored plating, angled to increase effective protection from anti-aircraft fire. The Henschel Hs 129 was the result of this program, created after three years of experimentation and iteration.

The concept of a dedicated ground-attack aircraft, once balked at, was vindicated by the Kondor Legion and its use of the Henschel Hs 123 against Republican targets, spurring the development of dedicated aircraft. The experiences of the Spanish Civil War were instrumental in the development of the precepts of modern warfare in Nazi Germany and aviation was no exception.

Hs 129 b1 tank buster