War Thunder Thread

[jomni]

I'm more of a pilot since beta. Haven't even touched the tank part.

[W8taminute]

I've been flying mostly but have dabbled in the tanks.

[endfire79]

My handle is endfire79 feel free to add me.  Just got a Stug III F, fw 109-a, and bf 110,  now we're cooking with gas :)

[Dread Rlyeh]

Gaijin is having another holiday promotion:  modules and crew qualifications are 1/2 off.  I think some of the bundles are reduced price as well, didn't look.  If you are ever going to pick up a premium and max the quals on it, looks like this is the time. 

 

[endfire79]

That was timely.  I used it to train my crews to expert status for a nice little boost.  Going up the German Medium & TD tree on the tanks side.  For aircraft, I'm concentrating on German Focke-Wulf fighters (along with a BF 110).

For you guys flying as medium or heavy bombers, any feedback?  I'm curious to try it out, but wondering if I should go Brit or American instead.

Two features I like about the game that made me stop playing World of Tanks for the moment:

- the shot penetrations display, showing the entry points, the deflection of shot or ricochets and the damage to the crew & tanks.

- mixing aircraft and tanks in the same game.  Playing as a close support fighter-bomber or dive bomber is plenty of fun.

-  the artillery.  You call it in (as opposed to SPG's that have a gods eye view of the battlefield as in World of Tanks). I'm using it to choke off the roads or areas that lead up to a victory point (after capturing the point and trying to hinder the counter attacks from the other team).   

So far I've stuck to Arcade mode as the Realistic mode wait times were pretty long.  As you can expect, it's arcady, but this isn't trying to be a real Sim.  The Realistic mode adds a bit more realism and limited respawns, but I would suggest a joystick for aircraft in this mode.  Joystick is a must in Simulation mode for Aircraft.  I haven't been able to get into a Simulation mode game yet (nobody in queue or wait times too long).

Recently had a close run in with a KV-1 in my PzIII-L.  As expected I had to really close in on the sucker along with 3 teammates to go in for the kill, and took a bloody nose before disabling him enough. 

[Silent Disapproval Robot]

I like to fly bombers.  I love my Lancaster!  Having said that, most bombers are just flying pots of XP gold on wings.  In the tight confines/short battle time limits of WT, climbing to high alt and bombing in formation really isn't an option so you end up lone wolfing it a lot and most bombers are easy meat for any fighter jock with even a bit of skill and common sense.  Sure, you do get a fair number of idiots who park on your six and try to blaze away at you. They're easy to knock down but they also tend to be the types who ram you out of spite if you set their engine on fire.

The only bombers that can really hold their own are the US heavies. Those .50s are deadly and if the player has spent the XP to train up the gunners to expert, B-17s and B-24s are some of the deadliest things in the sky.  The hard part is training up the gunners. The XP required to add one trained gunner is ruinously expensive. It starts at 240xp and goes up from there.  Getting a fully trained crew for a B-17 is either a year of daily play or $50 in gold eagles.

The other option is to get something fast.  If you don't lose focus, fast bombers like the Mosquito and the Me-410 can do well.  Climb up high over your base, skirt the edge of the map until you are behind your target area, then make one high speed diving run that points you straight home after you drop and you stand a fair chance.

Steer clear of the Japanese bombers.  Even though they do have some nice 20mm tail guns, the covered arcs are really narrow so there are lots of blind spots and most Japanese bombers burst into flames if you hit them with anything stronger than a paternity suit.

EDIT:  I'm having trouble flying much of anything right now.  I finally unplugged my MS Sidewinder 2 FFB stick in favour of my X-55 because the MS stick doesn't work correctly with Elite: Dangerous.  Flying without force feedback is like flying with only one arm.  I really miss the tactile cues letting me know I was close to stalling.  I also have to get used to the new button arrangements and new range of movement limits and I'm finding it difficult.  I've been using my Sidewinder for so long it's become 2nd nature and having to re-learn is proving to be a very frustrating experience for all my flight sims.

[endfire79]

I like to fly bombers.  I love my Lancaster!  Having said that, most bombers are just flying pots of XP gold on wings.  In the tight confines/short battle time limits of WT, climbing to high alt and bombing in formation really isn't an option so you end up lone wolfing it a lot and most bombers are easy meat for any fighter jock with even a bit of skill and common sense.  Sure, you do get a fair number of idiots who park on your six and try to blaze away at you. They're easy to knock down but they also tend to be the types who ram you out of spite if you set their engine on fire.

The only bombers that can really hold their own are the US heavies. Those .50s are deadly and if the player has spent the XP to train up the gunners to expert, B-17s and B-24s are some of the deadliest things in the sky.  The hard part is training up the gunners. The XP required to add one trained gunner is ruinously expensive. It starts at 240xp and goes up from there.  Getting a fully trained crew for a B-17 is either a year of daily play or $50 in gold eagles.

The other option is to get something fast.  If you don't lose focus, fast bombers like the Mosquito and the Me-410 can do well.  Climb up high over your base, skirt the edge of the map until you are behind your target area, then make one high speed diving run that points you straight home after you drop and you stand a fair chance.

Steer clear of the Japanese bombers.  Even though they do have some nice 20mm tail guns, the covered arcs are really narrow so there are lots of blind spots and most Japanese bombers burst into flames if you hit them with anything stronger than a paternity suit.

EDIT:  I'm having trouble flying much of anything right now.  I finally unplugged my MS Sidewinder 2 FFB stick in favour of my X-55 because the MS stick doesn't work correctly with Elite: Dangerous.  Flying without force feedback is like flying with only one arm.  I really miss the tactile cues letting me know I was close to stalling.  I also have to get used to the new button arrangements and new range of movement limits and I'm finding it difficult.  I've been using my Sidewinder for so long it's become 2nd nature and having to re-learn is proving to be a very frustrating experience for all my flight sims.

That confirms what I thought about heavy bombers - go US or brit for the defensive armament!  I was tempted by the german route but I'm afraid the Heinkel 111 and Ju-88's won't give much bang for the buck. I'll try the heavy-fighter or fighter-bomber route as suggested instead and get in & out quick.

Shame about the Sidewinder stick - that really was a nice product back then, much better than the stuff I bought from Logitech.  The X-55 combo looks pretty sweet for the price and what I'd like to do. 

[Silent Disapproval Robot]

Brit bombers are almost as defenseless as the Japanese ones.  They are able to withstand more damage than the Japanese planes but they are woefully under-gunned. Those .303s might as well be spitballs.  I only do well in my Lanc because I trained up the gunners to their max and I think some pilots get complacent when they see a Lanc, think free kill, and don't bother with high angle of deflection slashing or diving attacks and instead just come straight on from behind in their rush to kill me before anyone else does and then they get flamed by my tail gunner.  I still usually take a hell of a beating but quite often, I'm able to limp home on two engines. 

[Nefaro]

Brit bombers are almost as defenseless  as the Japanese ones.  They are able to withstand more damaged than the Japanese planes but they are woefully under-gunned. Those .303s might as well be spitballs.  I only do well in my Lanc because I trained up the gunners to their max and I think some pilots get complacent when they see a Lanc, think free kill, and don't bother with high angle of deflection slashing or diving attacks and instead just come straight on behind and get flamed.  I still usually take a hell of a beating but quite often, I'm able to limp home on two engines.

The .30s and .303s in WT are almost worthless unless you're at point blank range.  Even then you have to hose dead-on for quite awhile before achieving anything worthwhile.

It's especially noticeable in the British types with lots of .303s.  Blazing away with eight or ten of them from 400 yds just results in lots of sparks and that's about it.  You practically have to put the gun barrels up to the enemy's fuselage to get any results.

[W8taminute]

Some random thoughts on bombers and training up your gunners.  It is indeed true that bombers are XP and silver lion magnets provided that you had a successful mission.  To train up my 4 gunner bomber crews I've been assigning my target crew to either a fighter or light bomber or assault plane (TBF, Dauntless, or Stuka) and having them get their XP that way.  It's slightly faster but again dependent on how successful you are in your mission. 

Once I get close to the required XP needed to train a gunner (240, 460, etc) I put the crew back into the bomber I want them to fly (Welly, He-111 etc) and have them finish their training in that plane. 

I also think that due to it's decent maneuverability the Ju-88 can be used as a boom and zoomer after you unload your bomb payload.  Good targets are of course other bombers who can't turn away from you easily. 

Just my 2 cents.

[Tuna]

I didnt' know you could move crew.. or 'train' them individually. I must be missing something in the interface..

[GDS_Starfury]

IIRC one of the "problems" with the Ju-88 was that hitler wanted it to be able to dive bomb.

[Dread Rlyeh]

That was timely.  I used it to train my crews to expert status for a nice little boost.  Going up the German Medium & TD tree on the tanks side.  For aircraft, I'm concentrating on German Focke-Wulf fighters (along with a BF 110).

I'm a big fan of the German TDs.  When you finally work up to Jagdpanther you will be in heaven.  Fast, amazing gun (200mm pen APCBC at 500, 240 if you need it), and the sloped armor sheds a good amount of hits.   If you are at range, hiding your belly, its hard not to do well, unless you PO an opponent with a bomber streak :)

My favorite IV meds are the american though.  It's a horrible grind to get to IV, the bulldog pretty great (especially if you know vitals and try for racks and engine/transmission hits w/ the AP), but the Pershing really shines.  If you flank, the 90mm APCBC one shots like crazy.  I've even got a number of one shots from the commanders hatch.  Has paper armor though and I go with the <35 round no ammo in the turret trick.  You really have to work the terrain, but absolutely amazing reverse gears help with the shoot and scoot.   It's a snipers dream. 

[endfire79]

IIRC one of the "problems" with the Ju-88 was that hitler wanted it to be able to dive bomb.

Yes.  I don't remember if it was him or Udet or someone else that stressed a dive bombing requirement for all bombers, even big ones like the He-177, which leaves you flabbergasted.  They totally gave up all strategic bombing doctrine after Wever died.

Back to tanks.

I saw somewhere that if I reduced my ammunition count in my Pz IV, the model will actually reflect that in the tank layout (you can confirm in the vehicle selection menu).  I'll try this out and see if I can remove the shells stored in front of the commander & driver.  Hopefully leads to less ammo fires.

[Dread Rlyeh]

I saw somewhere that if I reduced my ammunition count in my Pz IV, the model will actually reflect that in the tank layout (you can confirm in the vehicle selection menu).  I'll try this out and see if I can remove the shells stored in front of the commander & driver.  Hopefully leads to less ammo fires.

Sounds like you may already know this, but you can check the various models via test drive and I believe the 'o' key by default.  You tank will become transparent and you can see where the shells are stored.  By firing and checking you can see at exactly what point the shells are removed from the turret, or whatever rack.   This is very useful for improving the survivability of the King Tiger and Persing I know of personally.   Even when shells aren't stored  in the turret, I generally reduce to around 30 (for the higher tiers) as you rarely need more than that in arcade. 

The transparent view and the hit camera are also useful for determining where you can place shots if you want to ammo rack foes, very important if you are firing APCR.