Element vs
No, this isn't Chrono Cross or Final Fantasy- an element in our case isn't uranium or plutonium either. Instead, an element refers to a number of fighters getting together to form a unit of mutual defense, attack coordination and over all understanding. It's our way of saying "Two guns are better than One." So, what is our specific definition of an element? "In Air to Air Combat a fighter element is the smallest combat unit, it is the unit where the pilots are all directly tasked to look after each other. Members of the same element are called a lead and wing man. Fighter elements usually contain two or three aircraft with elements grouped into a flight, with a squadron being composed of several flights.
Imperial units prefer the di-TIE (Die Tie) element (di meaning two). During an engagement, the two TIEs will fly roughly parallel and/or side by side. This orientation permits each pilot to check his wing man's belly and tail areas that are not easily seen from the cockpit. Covering your wing man is a pilot's most important duty, even more so than the attack. During combat, the element is never supposed to separate, even when the larger subunit may choose to for tactical reasons. Why is this? Protection purposes as we've said before. Without your wing man, it's very likely you'll die very soon. Let's take a couple of scenarios-
Scenario 1 An NR fighter element is coming straight at a lone Imperial TIE Interceptor (Two vs. One). They begin to separate, putting space between them so that the TIE could not possibly engage both at the same time. So, the Imperial pilot must choose to either engage one of them or run. Let's say the Imperial Pilot decided to choose the enemy NR fighter to the right- after some maneuvering he falls into pursuit position behind the enemy fighter. The second enemy fighter from before has suddenly dropped in on the Imperials's tail though. The Imperial abandons his attempts to shoot down the first one because he is now the one being painted! However, only moments after he has stopped chasing the one fighter, that same fighter has come around to get onto the Imperial's tail. He is undoubtably defeated because he has two fully armed and operational NR craft hot on his tail.
Scenario 2 An Imperial pilot drops in on an NR fighter element. He is in pursuit while the other two are evading. However, they both have full shields and energy, so they can convert that extra energy wherever they want- probably the aft shields where the Imperial fighter would be pouring on the most fire. Despite missiles, it would still be difficult to take down both fighters at the same time. So, again, the Imperial is forced to choose one target and take it out. While he or she does this, that second fighter can break away and drop onto the Imperial's tail, which brings us back to Scenario 1.
(more ideas should be included)
This isn't to say that a solo pilot couldn't take on two pilots- it's very possible. However, the degree of skill and correct timing is somewhat astounding at times, making it very difficult to pull off. Thus, simple strategies like remaining in your element are essential for comfortable combat (If there is such a thing).
Two vs two
Two vs three or more
