WarBirds goes into its 20th year of service with a new 2016 version

[Slick Wilhelm]

AH2 has the advantage of being online all the time, with everyone on a level playing field.  Where AH2 really falls short IMO is that the global servers, I can't remember what they're called now but the most popular one, is a Late War server that features the whole planeset, 3 fictional countries on a fictional map, with no restrictions as to what plane you choose to fly individually.  What this means practically is that you can easily be flying an F-4U for example and come up against an enemy P-47 or P-51.  There is no attempt at historical match ups. 

Now then, from a pure dogfighting perspective this is fine as it encourages you to really understand the strengths and weaknesses of your plane.  This in and of itself can last you years.  There are some terribly good pilots on AH2, some of whom have specialized in a specific plane for a very long time, and will kick your ass no matter what you fly, unless you fly very well.  On the other hand, there is certainly no historocity going on.  So if you can kind of go at it like a dogfighting video game version of ARMA 3's KotH server, you can have a lot of fun.  That fun only goes up if you hook up with a squad and can implement even rudimentary teamwork.

AH2 is a lot of fun, but you have to go into it with the right mindset.  It is not a WW2 Online type game.  There is an Axis vs. Allies server in AH2 that features realistic planesets fighting on a realistic map, but when I played the server was rarely populated.  If you get on a server with 300+ people on all at once it is just a freaking blast.  Getting on a similar sized map with 12 people is simply boring as hell.  The chaos of a fully manned server has to be experienced to be believed.  It is a ton of fun.  But very ahistorical.

Again, you just have to try it to see what I mean.  I caution you that the regulars at AH2 are very, very good at the game.  Be prepared to be humbled a bit at first until you figure the system out.

Very accurate assessment of AH2, Toonces. I agree completely.

I'm having a hard time believing that experienced AH2 pilots are jumping ship for War Thunder and World of Warplanes. Those two latter games are arcade shooters, nothing more. Not that there's anything wrong with that, of course.