Horten Ho 229

Fear the Wunderwaffe!

4 x R4M missiles

The **Horten Ho-229** was a German prototype fighter/bomber initially designed by Reimar and Walter Horten to be built by Gothaer Waggonfabrik. in late World War II. It was the first flying wing to be powered by jet engines.

In the game, the plane appears only flown by an ace (*Niko Nachtzehrer*) and can be seen as a final boss.

## Description

The design was a response to Hermann Göring's call for light bomber designs capable of meeting the "3×1000" requirement; namely, to carry 1,000 kilograms (2,200 lb) of bombs a distance of 1,000 kilometres (620 mi) with a speed of 1,000 kilometres per hour (620 mph). Only jets could provide the speed, but these were extremely fuel-hungry, so considerable effort had to be made to meet the range requirement. Based on a flying wing, the Ho 229 lacked all extraneous control surfaces to lower drag. It was the only design to even come close to the requirements, and received Göring's approval.

During the project, it was decided to arm the aircraft with cannons so that it could also be used as a fighter. Only a few prototypes were built, with one armed only with 2 x MK 108 (30mm).

The final production version would have had the ability to load bombs, switch the main armament to four MK 108 and have R4M rockets stored inside the wing.

## Behavior

The Ho 229 is sort of the final boss in the game. Which is why it is flown by an ace and appears more towards the end of the main campaign and in the final mission of the Secret Weapons Campaign.

He has quite a few different attack patterns, plus he's invisible to radar. So you have to find him yourself and then mark him. Also, your crew can lose sight of him when he's a bit far away and flying through a cloud, so you have to mark him again.

***Approach:*** Especially at the beginning, but also sometimes during the battle, it can happen that Niko gets extremely close to the bomber, but doesn't use any of his armament. He probably wants to draw attention to himself from the player. Which is especially helpful when you've lost sight of him.

***Standard Attack**:* Niko flies towards you and uses the two large caliber Mk108 cannons. These can be compared wich the Do 335's cannons and are dangerous as they can quickly take out engines as well as crew members and systems with a few hits.

***Rocket Attack:*** This attack is similar to that of the Me 262. The Ho 229 comes in from the rear of the bomber and flies directly behind you. An 8 second timer starts. When it hits 0, it fires 4 R4M rockets. These deal area damage and usually hit the wings.

***Guided Missile:*** While the Ace is flying around you or is flying towards your bomber, he fires a guided missile, a Ruhrstahl X-4, at your bomber.The missile approaches from behind and will damage your rear if it hits.

A direct hit can also take out your rear gunner, no matter how well armored he is.

The missile is comparatively slow and it is possible to shoot it down.

## Countermeasures

The Ho 229 is a tough opponent, but defeatable.

A well-armed and armored aircraft, as well an experienced crew, can make quick work of the Ho 229. Especially the 20 mm cannon turrets can be very effective.

It's also possible to dodge/cancel some of his attacks:

The guided missile can be shot down.

When he makes his missile attack, you can do a maneuver or by placing a manual navigation point where the plane has to do a sharp turn. Then the ace breaks off his attack.

Use Focus and better ammunition, if possible.

## Trivia

* **Niko Nachtzehrer** could be a vampire or atleast makes many references to it.
	+ He has teeth typical of vampires.
	+ He has a high collar usually associated with vampires.
	+ The name "Nachtzehrer" is the name for the undead or reborn in German folk beliefs, who are similar in many ways to vampires and share some similarities, with this possibility, his name in English will be "Niko from the Undead" or "Niko Reborn"

* The aircraft is sometimes referred to as the **Ghota Go-229**, after its manufacturer.
	+ However, the name **Horten Ho 229** is most likly the correct name, since in practice the production company was generally irrelevant for the naming. In addition, the aircraft was mentioned as Ho 229 in many documents.