gameonmag war thunder

Issue 50 • December 2013 1 • GameOn Magazine

Battlefield 4 Review

http://www.gameonmag.com/url/gameonmag

Introduction to War Thunder

Within the heart of War

Thunder is a multiplayer online

combat game for aircraft

and armored vehicles.

Developed by Gaijin

Entertainment, this game is

available across a variety of

platforms: from Windows to

Macintosh OS X to Linux, as

well as on the Playstation 4

console, with casual game

modes in arcade battles

to realistic and simulator

battles for the enthusiasts.

The game spans the

era from the Spanish Civil

War to the Korean War,

with a huge emphasis on

the Second World War.

Players cross swords in

historical maps of impressive

scale ranging from the city

outskirts of Stalingrad to the vast

oceans surrounding Pearl Harbor.

With hundreds of accurately-

rendered vehicles available

and more being added with

every update, players are spoilt

for choice when it comes to

cutting-edge planes to take

to the skies, or menacing

tanks to tear up the earth.

Relive the action in huge

aerial dogfights and armored

spearhead clashes with friends,

learn about the rich historical

significance behind the wars

through War Thunder.

2 // War Thunder Community Magazine The GameOn Magazine

letter from the general

Welcome to the very first issue

of the War Thunder Community

magazine. What can we expect

from the magazine, we hear you

say? Well, each month we will

be looking at giving you “how to”

lessons on almost anything, from

101 on maps to 101 on planes

and everything in between.

We will also be looking back

at the war and reporting what

happened way back when and

then there is going to be a chance

for you to read interviews from

real war veterans. And if it’s

fictional writing you’re into then

one of our staff has even stepped

over the boundaries to that genre.

There’ll be cartoons each

month and of course the chance

to win some prizes! This month

we have a caption competition

for the latter, so jump on in! We

are hoping this month’s issue

will keep you fully occupied.

We will be wanting more

people to help out with future

issues, so please check the “Staff

wanted” page if you’re interested.

The magazine will be free

every month, we just need

you to support us by sharing

and downloading it.

Please do email us with any

ideas of things you would like in

future issues of the magazine,

or even just to let us know if

you liked or disliked one of the

articles, all feedback is wanted.

War Thunder Community Magazine The GameOn Magazine // 3

Contents PageTeamwork Tactics: .............................

Bait and Hook ................................... 6

This Month in World War II: ...............

January 1940 .................................... 8

War Thunder 101 Game Types: ........

Arcade Air Battles .......................... 10

An Interview with a Veteran ........... 16

War Thunder 101 Map Types: ........ 20

What do I do in ...................................

Arcade Air Battles? ........................ 20

Plane Profile #1 Bf-109E-3 .......... 28

Six World War 2 Facts #1 ............. 30

The Mechelen Incident .................. 32

War Thunder 101 - .............................

Research and Lineup ..................... 34

Zeros Overhead .............................. 48

War Thunder 101................................

Machines - Tank Types .................. 50

Wordsearch .................................... 56

War Thunder 101 ...............................

Machines - Plane Types ................ 58


CONTENTS


http://www.gameonmag.com/url/staff

TEAMWORK TACTICS:BAIT AND HOOK

An important aspect of War Thunder is

working together. There is no questioning

the efficiency of a well coordinated team,

whether in the sky or on the ground.

A squad working together will easily best an

equal, if not greater number of enemy pilots,

provided they use proper techniques and strategies.

In this series of articles, we will be presenting

teamwork tactics, to help you and your teammates

work together efficiently, and effectively.

This first teamwork tactic that we will be

presenting is called “Bait and Hook”.

1. Maintain a distance of no less than ½ km and

no more than 1 ½ km. Being too close to each

other will cause both players to come under

attack simultaneously, and there is no overwatch

and no one to jump on the attacker in the case

of an assault from either squad member. Being

too far from each other would mean that the pilot

under attack may not be in range of relief.

2. Get to the altitude(s) designated by the flight

leader, with enough distance from the enemy to avoid

interception/detection during the climb.

This is generally a position with an altitude

advantage compared to an enemy aircraft (see

diagram 1). Individual altitudes may differ, but

remember the distance rule so that you can

defend your teammate or receive support!

3. Leader assigns target, using squad chat, or chat

commands (hit keys in this order: X [locks target],K,7)

DIAGRAM 1


ARTICLE

4. Leader dives down, while wingman maintains

altitude, and makes a pass on the target.

Wingman’s role is to watch leader’s tail.

5. Wingman stays above flight leader until you

regroup at altitude. If an enemy decides to chase the

leader from his dive, the wingman makes an assault

from a wide angle (see diagram 2).

If there’s more than one attacker, start from the back

and work your way to the first enemy chasing the

flight lead.

Be careful when firing on an enemy close to your

flight leader though, as you may accidentally hit your

flight leader.

We don’t want any teamkills resulting

from the use of this tactic article.

6.Repeat steps 1-5, by cycling the roles through

different squad members. This can be implemented

with squads of any size from 2 to 4 planes! Make sure

there’s order and clear wingman numbers within

the squad, so that 2 guards 1, 3 guards 2, 4 guards

3, keeping the distance rule between each pairing.

May you command your vehicles successfully,

and remember to work together!

DIAGRAM 2

By Cade Rosenbalm


THIS MONTH IN WORLD WAR IIJANUARY 1940

On the 1st of January, 1940, the Empire of Japan

launched a counter-offensive operation in the Shanxi

Province of northern China as a part of the operation

known as the “Winter Offensive.” A force 10,000

strong attacked the Chinese forces in an attempt to

support the Japanese 36th Division; the attack failed,

and was driven off by the Chinese forces within days.

In the skies, backed by Soviet air forces supplied

by the Soviet Volunteer Group, the Republic of China

continued to resist air raids made by the Empire of

Japan, and managed to make several raids of their

own against Japanese-held targets such as Nanning.

Though having been prepared for previously,

with ticket books issued in October 1939, and fuel

already being rationed, Britain began rationing

food items in January 1940. Items such as

bacon, cheese, butter, sugar, and tea became

precious commodities, and more items would be

rationed in the months to come. This rationing

would continue in some form until 1954.


ARTICLE

On the 21th of January, 1940, while escorting the

cargo steamer Cyprian Prince, the E-class destroyer

HMS Exmouth was spotted and was attacked by the

German U-boat U-22. The submarine managed to

torpedo the vessel, which was lost with all hands.

Because U-22 began to fire on the Cyprian Prince,

the steamer’s captain deemed it too dangerous to

search for survivors and left the area. This marked

the greatest victory for U-22 and its commander,

Lieutenant Commander Karl-Heinrich Jenisch.

At the end of January 1940, in the beginning

of what would quickly become one of the darkest

periods of human history, SS-General Reinhard

Heydrich was appointed by Adolf Hitler to find an

answer to the “Jewish Problem.” On the 30th of

January, 1940, a meeting was held by Heydrich with

other Nazi leaders to discuss the organization for

the evacuation of German Jews to Poland, where a

number of concentration camps had already been

established, marking the start of the Holocaust.

By David King


WAR THUNDER 101 GAME TYPES:

ARCADE AIR BATTLES

So, you are new to War Thunder and you’ve heard

that this game is a flight simulator, an action game

with tanks and planes, a massively multiplayer

online game. Which exactly is it? Short answer:

It’s everything rolled into one with a matchmaker

that offers a wide range of choices to players.

The arcade battle mode is targeted at the casual

gamer, and it is one where you can find the most

players in. The teams are a mix of planes from

different nations playing together in a random pool,

and are not sorted according to their historical

alliances or countries (unlike in Realistic Battles

and Simulator Battles). Like its name suggests, it

offers an arcade-like experience for anyone looking

to jump into the game without having to worry

about the difficult bits. However, to be a master of it

you would eventually have to pay attention to finer

details as part of the transition into realistic battles.

Line-Up:

The first feature of arcade air battles starts

right when you prepare your lineup for the

game: You are allowed as many planes as the

number of crew slots you have. From fighters

With arcade, realistic and simulator battles in War Thunder, there’s just something for everyone. War Thunder 101 looks at arcade air battles

today and gives an in-depth analysis of this popular mode.


GUIDE

to bombers to attackers, you can mix and

match your lineup and use them in battle.

These crew slots can be initially bought with

Silver Lions (earned from battles) up to the fifth

slot; subsequent ones will require the use of

Golden Eagles (the in-game premium currency)

and scales the more crew slots you get. It is

definitely recommended to get up to the fifth

crew slot once you get enough Silver Lions.

Once you are sufficiently proficient in the

game, it is usually rare that you will use past 5

planes as an average session does not last that

long. Therefore, make your crew slot purchase

after getting a feel of the game and how many

crew slots you need for an average match.

Matchmaking and Battle Ratings:

The second feature of arcade air battles is in its

matchmaking. As of version 1.45, it utilizes a system

of Battle Ratings (BR) to determine who you are

matched up against. This is a fairly new introduction,

replacing the 20-tier system previously used.

The BR of a plane is an indication of the its

effectiveness in battle, and it changes between

patches for game balance purposes. For arcade air

battles, a weighted average BR for your top 3 aircraft

is calculated and you are matched up against players

with similar BR within a range of 1.0 BR difference.

More details about the Battle Rating system can be

found in War Thunder 101 - Research and Lineup.


Aiming:

Shooting down an airplane in combat is no

easy task; it requires the players to understand

the concept of ‘leading a target’. Put simply, when

firing at an enemy aircraft a certain distance away,

there is a need to take into account the target’s

movement while the bullets are still travelling to

the target. Therefore, the player would have to aim

ahead of the enemy aircraft and ‘lead the target’.

In arcade battles, some of the guesswork is done

through an assistant called the ‘lead indicator’.

This is a white circle which predicts the location

of the target when the bullet lands, provided the

target continues at its current speed and direction.

This guides the player where to shoot to get a hit.

The lead indicator shows up at a range of 0.77 km

when the target is tracked. Selecting an aircraft to

track is on the middle mouse button by default.

If the aircraft carries bombs in arcade air

battles, a bombing reticle will also be available

in third person view to help the pilots aim their

bombs accurately, regardless of whether the

plane is equipped with a bombsight or not.

Flight Model and Damage Model:

Understanding the differences between

the different modes and getting an in-depth

understanding of the game require the

understanding of these two models, the flight model

and the damage model. Players can enter the ‘Armor

Viewing Mode’ and ‘X-ray Viewing Mode’ in the

hangar to check the armor distribution (below) and

modeling of vital components (top) in the plane.


GUIDE

The damage model (DM) is the representation

of how different armaments are modelled in game

(cannon and machine guns, different types of

shells, muzzle velocity) as well as how these affect

different aircraft parts upon impact. This DM is

different from other games that utilize equivalents of

health points system commonly found in shooters;

a plane in War Thunder can be taken out by just a

single small-caliber machine gun round to the right

part (the pilot can be killed by a single bullet to the

cockpit, for instance), while a handful of high-caliber

cannon shells to non-critical structures (like the

fuselage) could result in severe battle damage but

not enough to take down the plane. The statistics

card of the plane gives an overview of the plane’s

The flight model (FM) controls the flight

behavior of the plane and affects how the

aircraft flies; this includes its engine behavior

and consequently its speed and acceleration

at different altitudes, how the controls behave

and respond, climb rate and turn time etc.

In arcade air battles, the DM is slightly more

forgiving; the aircraft is still relatively flyable with

slight difficulty if there are critical damages to

some aircraft parts, even the control surfaces.

Players are given reloads in the air; if all the

rounds in a particular gun are almost used up,

they can be reloaded in the air with a full belt by

pressing the reload key (the guns will also reload

automatically when all the rounds are used up).


The FM is simplified and more forgiving as well,

since a boosted FM is used instead of the realistic

FM, which improves the plane’s maneuverability.

Planes recover from stalls more easily than

other modes. Aircraft wings do not snap when

performing tight turns at high G or at high speeds.

Compressibility effects during high speed dives,

which cause stiffening of controls, are less

pronounced as well. In arcade air battles, the War

Emergency Power (WEP) feature of engines can

be used more frequently and does not damage

the engine, leaving you less things (such as oil

temperature, coolant temperature) to worry about.


GUIDE

Air Spawns:

Players in arcade air battles will have air starts,

meaning the plane starts off in the game in the

air instead of having to take off from the airfield

(although you can choose to start on the airfield).

Fighters and attackers generally start at around

2000 m of altitude, while bombers spawn slightly

higher at 4000 m. As such, the action begins shortly

after the battle starts, giving generally shorter

matches in arcade air battles. Thus, players

should fly out with the minimal fuel loads (a

heavier aircraft is less maneuverable and slower,

affecting the flight performance negatively),

which is almost always more than sufficient.

Views and Controls:

In arcade mode, players will have all views

available to them, although most will choose to

fly in the third person view, as it offers a greater

sense of situational awareness compared to other

views available (such as the cockpit view which

only offers as much visibility as the aircraft had

in real life). In addition, planes are spotted at

longer ranges and marked with a tag indicating

its name, aircraft type and distance to player.

All control schemes are available to the player in

arcade air battles as well, including the mouse aim

mode that simplifies flying and aiming extensively.

This allows the player to fly the aircraft using the

mouse to point at the direction the plane should

head towards, with a virtual instructor program

managing the more complicated control surfaces

such as elevator, ailerons and rudder. As the player

learns the control basics using mouse aim, more

advanced techniques to control the plane can be

slowly introduced, such as manually deflecting the

control surfaces for greater maneuverability and to

squeeze the optimal performance from the aircraft.

By Chock Wee Boon


AN INTERVIEW WITH A VETERAN

I interviewed 93 year old WWII veteran

Right Reverend Bickersteth, an AA gunner,

artilleryman and infantryman. This is the

result of the interview. I’m acquainted with

Mr. Bickersteth and heard his personal story

before, and I’ve decided to ask him some

questions to deepen my understanding of

what he went through during the war.

Where were you during

the battle of Britain?

I just left school in Spring of 1940 when

the Battle begun. I was living in Kent at the

time. I remember walking around and seeing

planes fly above our heads. We watched

them getting shot down by Spitfires and

Hurricanes. When I was drafted into the

military, I was in the Buffs, but our entire

unit got transferred to the Royal Artillery

to be AA gunners. I was mainly stationed

on the Isle of Wight. We shot down He

111s and Bf 109s during our time as AA


INTERVIEW

gunners. It was a terrible experience, being shot at

and hearing the whistling of bombs and shells, and

seeing fiery balls swirling down from the sky. I was

in the Royal Artillery for 5 years, from 1940 to 1945.

Can you describe your experiences

during the Invasion of Normandy?

I participated in the invasion of Normandy at D+5 (five

days after D-Day). I left England on D-Day, making me

one of the lucky ones. This was my worst experience

of the war, the hardest for me to surmount. A shell

landed two yards from me while I was an artilleryman

6-7 miles inland from the beaches of Normandy. That

was probably my closest brush with death. I felt the


pure heat of the shell on my face. It was terrible. It’s very

difficult to describe the horror of war, the terror that I

went through. I left Tilbury, England, on a boat riding

through the river Thames. We were in a convoy with a

fair amount of other ships. We had to wait a couple of

days until we could land on Normandy as the soldiers

who left before us had to establish a safe zone for us

to land in. We went 6-7 miles inland and waited for 5

days for the infantry to secure the towns before us as

the Germans were resisting with an incredible strength.

We began to move forwards into France later. I was an

artilleryman and infantryman during my time in France.

When did you meet General Montgomery?

There were about 4 or 5 of us when he arrived in

his iconic car. Montgomery told us to gather around

the bonnet of his motorcar so that he could tell us

how D-Day was going. General Montgomery was very

good in that respect. He knew how to communicate

effectively with his soldiers and how to boost morale

effectively. At the time I was an infantryman in France,

after D-Day. I was an officer, in charge of 80 men.

I heard of a story where you sat with a dying German

in France. Could you please tell me more about this?

He was wounded badly when he was on my lap, dying

before my eyes. I was just leaning over when he said,

“Kaputt, kaputt. Ich bin fertig.” Broken, broken, finished. I

told him, “Nicht kaputt, nicht kaputt!” But he died before

me. But I guess the moral of this story is that I survived

and he died, which I’m still very grateful of today.


INTERVIEW

Where were you during the German

capitulation/surrender?

I was actually in Holland. At the time, the civilians

were very happy and excited to see us. It was a nice

feeling of freedom. The people felt gratitude for what

we did, and we felt absolute freedom because of this

and because we didn’t have to fight anymore. The war

was over in Europe. It was over for the soldiers that

fought beside me. It was over for everyone. We still had

work to do though. We were rounding up hundreds of

German soldiers who were capitulating, giving up. That

was our job then. All the Germans wanted though was

to go home, to see their families. That’s all they cared

about, all they ever talked about. The Germans were put

on trains and sent home to their families a little later.

Where were you during the Japanese

capitulation/surrender?

I was in England in mid-August when the atom

bombs were dropped. I was on a course in England,

a sort of school that the military provided to us.

They couldn’t let too many of us leave the military

at one time as there weren’t enough jobs to supply

us soldiers with, so they released us in batches.

If you are interested in Right Reverend Bickersteth’s WWII

story, please read his book ‘Run of the Mill Bishop‘

By Ted Theisinger


WAR THUNDER 101 MAP TYPES:WHAT DO I DO IN ARCADE AIR

BATTLES?

There are two main categories of maps in arcade

air battles: Ground Strike and Domination. Knowing

these maps and playing according to the objectives

will help your team to victory much quicker, although

you can definitely win by taking out all the planes on

the opponents’ teams (which very rarely happens

in Arcade Battles with multiple spawns, but much

more frequent in Realistic and Simulator Battles).

GROUND STRIKEGround Strike is perhaps the most commonly

encountered map type in arcade air battles. As

its name suggests, the focus is on attacking

ground targets in order to win the game.

Early Battles:

In early arcade air battles (those of the Reserves

and Tier I aircraft), the key to winning ground

strike maps is to take out the ground units that

count towards the victory points (those targets

will have a yellow glow on your minimap) more

quickly than your enemy. There is also an indicator

at the bottom left hand corner of your screen

showing the number of ground targets left.

For beginners, the biggest frustration is to go into a game and not knowing what they need to do to win the game. In this War Thunder 101 series, we are going to break down the different map types available in arcade air battles to give you an idea how to drive your team to victory!


GUIDE

Very often, in reserve tier, the temptation is to fight

the first plane you see, but that usually distracts

players away from the victory objectives. Instead,

strafe the enemy ground targets or only attack the

planes that are hammering away at your ground

targets, rather than joining a dogfight that serves

no purpose (even if it seems very exciting and fun).

These ground targets are usually lightly armored,

such as armored cars, anti-aircraft artillery and

howitzers, which can be quickly taken out using

machine guns on any aircraft. Every ground target

destroyed will reduce the amount of victory points

the enemy holds (on the top of the screen) and the

team that reaches zero first will lose the game.

Mini Bases and Airfields:

In arcade air battles later on, three mini bases

will be added. They are also marked on the map

by a red crosshair and destroying them deducts

a small amount of victory points from the enemy.

Destroying all the mini bases allows your team

to commence bombing their airfield. Airfields

being bombed are significant, as this means

that particular side no longer can land to repair

without worrying about bombs raining down, and

more importantly, the destruction of your airfield

would mean a swift decay of your team’s victory

points right down to zero regardless of how many

points you have. The mini bases and airfields are

generally priority targets for bombers, as they

require quite a fair bit of bombs to destroy.


For this reason, bomber rushes are fairly common

in higher tier games, where bombers have heavy

bomb loads and can take out airfields in a few

drops. This is especially so in certain maps where

there is only an airfield and no mini bases; the

airfields can be bombed directly for a swift victory.

Vehicles:

On top of the mini bases and airfields, there

will also be a set of vehicles for each side, with

some counting towards victory points and these

can be identified on the minimap by the yellow

glow mentioned previously. (Do note that not all

ground targets in higher tier games count towards

the victory points, certain light targets this time

round do not and they are just red in color.)

These targets will usually be more difficult to kill

compared to those in early arcade air battles, as

they are mostly tanks (with light, medium and heavy

varieties), pillboxes and there’s even an assortment

of ships on maps with water bodies. These vehicles

will usually require more specialized aircraft such as

attackers, bombers or fighters specially configured

to carry bombs and rockets to reliably kill them.

Killing ALL the ground targets can win the game,

although it takes a significant amount of effort on

the attackers’ and bombers’ part as these units are

often scattered around the whole map, with some

deep into the enemy’s territory. This adds a layer

of variety to ground strike maps, as teams may opt

for a double pronged approach to kill bases and

ground units simultaneously for faster victories.

TIP: ONE THING TO NOTE IS THAT THE OPPOSING AI-

CONTROLLED GROUND UNITS CAN ACTUALLY DESTROY

EACH OTHER. THEREFORE, A VIABLE STRATEGY WHEN

FACED WITH MULTIPLE GROUPS OF ENEMY TARGETS IS TO

HIT THE ENEMY COLUMN SO THAT THE BALANCE OF

FIREPOWER SWINGS IN YOUR SIDE’S FAVOR. THIS ALLOWS YOUR GROUND FORCES TO OVERWHELM THE ENEMY’S

MORE QUICKLY IN A FIREFGHT AND RESULT IN A LARGER LOSS IN VICTORY POINTS FOR THE ENEMY (AND LOSING FEWER

GROUND UNITS OF YOUR OWN).


GUIDE

Fighters:

So far, the emphasis has been on the attackers

and bombers doing ground strike; what about

the fighters? Are they not important in this map

type? Nothing could be further from the truth. In

fact, fighters play a pivotal role in this map type.

It is up to them to shut down the enemy bombers

and attackers from attacking targets that could

cause a loss in victory points, and it is also up

to them to defend bombers and attackers on

their own team from being shot down by enemy

fighters. Fighters in this defensive role are often

called escorts and particularly valued by their

teammates for their teamwork, even if this means

forgoing some of the Research Points and Silver

Lions that you can get by getting into the closest

dogfight mayhem your engines can get you to.

Lonely Island and Pacific Hidden Base:

To end off for Ground Strike, there is one particular

map that new players always seem to have trouble

with as it is slightly different from others: Lonely

Island. It’s a location that has a capture point in

TIP: WHEN ATTACKING ENEMY BOMBERS, IT IS GENERALLY UNWISE TO ATTACK THEM ‘FROM THEIR SIX’, OR FROM

THEIR TAIL. BOMBERS GENERALLY PACK SIGNIFICANT

FIREPOWER ON THEIR TAILS AS ‘STINGER TURRETS’ WHICH

MAKE QUICK WORK OF ANY ENEMY FIGHTER THAT SITS ON THEIR TAIL. INSTEAD, ATTACK HEAD-ON (EXCEPT AGAINST SOME BOMBERS SUCH AS

THE B-25 MITCHELL WHICH PACK POTENT FRONT-FIRING GUNS AS WELL), FROM THE SIDES, THE TOP OR UNDER

THEIR BELLY. EACH BOMBER HAS SOME ‘BLIND SPOTS’ (DO

LEARN THEM, ESPECIALLY THE MORE POPULAR BOMBERS) WHICH ARE NOT COVERED

BY DEFENSIVE GUNFIRE AND THIS EXPOSES YOUR FIGHTER

TO MINIMAL DANGER WHEN ATTACKING THESE BOMBERS.


the center, and there are airfields on the island.

One big mistake new players tend to make is

in thinking this is a domination map and start

landing on the airstrip; it is not. This often results

in players getting shot down and giving up in

frustration when none of their landing attempts

result in the capture of the airfield. Here’s the

kicker: the capture point can only be taken by ships

and tanks landed on the island by landing boats.

The priority of this map is to take out the enemy’s

cargo ships (while defending your own), as these

cargo ships spawn waves of landing boats which

land tanks on the beachhead when it reaches the

island. The next important targets are the landing

boats, for obvious reasons, and any tanks they have

landed on the island. The destroyers are there to

escort the ships, and should be dealt with last.

Too many tanks landing on the island for one side

and reaching a pre-determined point will result

in a swift decay of victory points and a loss for the

opposite team, as well as losing all the ships.

Another map that utilises the same capture

mechanic using ships and tanks in [Ground

Strike] games is a map called Pacific Hidden

Base, although there is no airfield to confuse

players this time round. It’s a very distinctive

map with tall pillar-like mountain formations

complete with arches and crevices, which

makes for an interesting dogfight experience.

This map allows for victory through the

conventional way of bombing mini bases and airfields

as with other Ground Strike maps. However, there is

an added layer of tactical victory through capture of

the control point in the centre of the map by landing

crafts dropping off tanks on the beaches, so be sure

to attack them as well while guarding your own!


GUIDE

DOMINATIONDomination maps are slightly less frequent

than ground strike maps on the arcade map

roster, but they are a lot of fun especially if

you enjoy dogfights, as there are lots of it.

Capturing Airfields:

Domination maps usually start off with a number

of neutral airfields (from one to three) which can be

captured. Each team begins with a certain amount

of victory points; more captured airfields by one

team over the other will result in a decay in victory

points for the other, and the first team that reaches

zero loses. To secure an airfield, a team usually

has to control the airspace around the airfield

while one plane lands to take over the airfield. This

can result in fairly intense dogfights erupting over

contested airfields with planes trying to establish

air superiority while there’s always that sneaky

fellow trying to land without the enemy realizing.

Landing on an airfield is no easy task, and players

in arcade air battles usually do not have sufficient

practice on landing and taking off. It is advisable

that players actually try the tutorial on takeoff and

landing before trying to do so in domination maps,

as landing requires players to keep the plane as

level as possible and drop below a certain speed

threshold so that the plane doesn’t smash into the

ground. A more advanced technique to master is to

do a ‘touch and go’ landing where the plane touches

down on the airfield just long enough to capture

the airfield while maintaining sufficient airspeed

to quickly scoot off before the enemy fighters

pounce on the vulnerable plane on the runway.


Ground units and bombers:

Bombers play an important role as well. There is

usually a set of ground vehicles that count towards

the victory points as well. Destroying the enemy

team’s vehicles will cause them to lose a small

amount of victory points, although it usually is not

significant enough to ensure the complete loss of

the enemy team when all their ground vehicles are

destroyed. What players must be aware of, however,

is that ground units are perfectly capable of capturing

airfields as well (naval units cannot capture airfields),

thus players should definitely take out enemy ground

units that are fast approaching a captured airfield.

By Chock Wee Boon


GUIDE

CAPTION COMPETITIONEnter this issue’s Caption Competition to be in with a chance of

winning Golden Eagles and Premium Planes!

1st Place: 3,000 Golden Eagles and rank 1 premium plane of your choosing

2nd Place: 2,000 Golden Eagles and rank 1 premium plane of your choosing

3rd Place: 1,000 Golden Eagles and rank 1 premium plane of your choosing

Click anywhere on this page to enter!


http://www.gameonmag.com/url/wt-caption

PLANE PROFILE #1:BF-109E-3

The first truly satisfactory variant of the Bf-109

was the the Bf-109E, or “Emil” as it was called by

its pilots. The Bf-109E first entered production in

1938, equipped with a new Daimler-Benz DB-601A

engine the Emil was much faster than the previous

versions at the cost of being less manoeuvrable. Most

later variants were equipped with two MG FF 20mm

cannons mounted in the outer wings, replacing

the MG 17 7.92mm machine guns previously found

there. The Emil saw service as the Luftwaffe’s main

fighter from 1939 to 1941 in the closing stages

of the Spanish Civil War and the opening of the

Second World War. It was used as a fighter, fighter-

bomber, interceptor, and some were even used for

reconnaissance missions. In total, there were around

4,000 Bf-109E of various minor variants built.

Largely different when compared to previous

versions, the Emil featured a mostly redesigned

airframe because the new Daimler-Benz engine

generated a lot more heat and weighed quite a bit

more than the older Jumo engine. The designers

chose to remove the single radiator found under


PROFILE

the nose and instead added two radiators under the

wings to counterbalance the heat and increased

weight from the new engine, while leaving the oil

cooler under the nose. Because the radiators were

being moved to the wings, the wings were completely

redesigned and reinforced. With the newly designed

wings, the cooling systems were better, although

at the cost of more ducting and piping which could

be damaged in combat for disastrous results.

PROS• Excellent acceleration

• Outstanding rate-of-climb, will out

climb almost all opponents

• Good turn-time

• Lots of machine gun ammunition

• Nice, clutter-free cockpit, good

for Simulator Battles

• Amazing maximum dive speed of 750 km/h

CONS• Cannons can be very frustrating

to deal with at times

• Engine overheats very easily

• Fragile plane and seems to be

set on fire way too easily

• Loses speed quickly in a turn

RATINGFirepower: 8/10(Guns can be frustrating

and hard to deal with at times.)

Speed: 8.5/10(Dives very well but

struggles to retain speed in a turn)

Climb Rate: 10/10(Climb-rate is phenomenal,

4,000m in 3:00min when upgraded)

Manoeuvrability: 9/10(Can turn with most opponents)

Overall Rating:(8.9/10)(Great for beginners,

especially for new Simulator pilots)

SUGGESTED STRATEGYBoom and Zoom: The Bf-109E-3 can outclimb

almost every plane it will face and dive past speeds

of 750km/h, allowing for the pilot to very quickly

climb to altitude, dive on an unsuspecting prey,

and finally climb back to altitude before it has any

time to react. The pilot should only really turn-

fight with an opponent when absolutely necessary

because even though the E-3 excels at turning,

it tends to quickly lose speed while doing so.

By Daniel Hoffman


SIX WORLD WAR 2 FACTS #1 Germany: Heinkel He-280, the first jet fighter ever

produced, first flew under its own power on March 30,

1941, and was capable of speeds of over 800 km/h.

Britain: London was once bombed for 57

nights in a row by German bombers.

USSR: More Russians died in the Battle of

Leningrad than all the British and Americans

throughout the entire war combined.


ARTICLE

Japan: Japan and Russia still have not officially

signed a peace treaty after World War II.

America: Adolf Hitler considered Henry

Ford his inspiration and kept a framed

picture of him in his office.

Hungary: After World War II, in 1946,

Hungary issued banknotes with a value

of 100,000,000,000,000,000,000 pengo,

the largest denomination ever.

By Daniel Hoffman


THE MECHELEN INCIDENT

By January 1940, in a phase known as “The

Phoney War,” the French military insisted upon taking

a purely defensive position along the French-Belgian

border with a British Expeditionary Force in support,

under the command of General Lord Gort. With the

Maginot Line supporting the southern flank, it was

expected that Germany would attempt to invade in

much the same manner as the Schlieffen Plan used

in World War. On the 10th of January, 1940, a German

Bf-108, piloted by Major Erich Hoenmanns and

carrying Major Helmuth Reinberger, lost its way and

crashed in neutral Belgium.

Major Reinberger was responsible for organizing

the supply lines that would support the German

paratroopers leading the way

for the upcoming invasion

and, unknown to Major

Hoenmanns at the time, was

also carrying secret documents

detailing the invasion plans.

Once on the ground, Reinberger

revealed to Hoenmanns that he

was carrying the documents.

Reinberger made several

attempts to set fire to the

documents but was foiled first

by a faulty cigarette lighter,

then by a pair of Belgian border

guards who arrived in the area.

The pair were taken into custody and transported

back to the border guardhouse and questioned.

Once again, Major Reinberger attempted to destroy

the plans by throwing them into a stove; this last

attempt was also unsuccessful and the plans

were locked away separately.Knowing his fate if he

was returned to the German military, Reinberger

attacked the captain of the guard in an attempt to

procure his sidearm. After being subdued by the

captain, Reinberger cried out that he only wanted

the weapon so that he could take his own life.

Upon inspection of the plans, they revealed that the

initial assumptions made by the French military were

correct. The German army was planning to advance

in an arc, sweeping up through Belgium before


ARTICLE

coming back towards Paris. More importantly, they

revealed the date for initial stages of this impending

offensive: January 17, just a week from that day.

In response to the incident, on the 11th of January,

1940, Adolf Hitler fired several division officers and

began assessing the damage done. The Belgian

government pretended that no information was

gleaned from the nearly destroyed documents,

so Hitler decided to proceed with the invasion as

planned. Little did he know that a few days later King

Leopold III of Belgium would secretly contact Winston

Churchill, who at the time was serving as the First

Lord of the Admiralty, and arrange the relay of the

information found within the documents to the Allies.

On 16th of January at 1900 hours, after

learning that the Belgian and Dutch militaries

had been suddenly put on alert, and with very

poor road conditions due to weather, Hitler

made the call to cancel the invasion just hours

before it was supposed to take place.

While the allies quietly celebrated the foiling

of the invasion, these events would prove to be

tragic in the long term. The Allies saw this as

a confirmation of their assumptions that Hitler

would follow older tactics, and did not alter

their defensive strategy. On the other hand, the

incident forced Hitler to realize he must change

his strategy entirely, and quickly realized he could

use their outdated intelligence to his advantage.

Instead, on the 10th of May, 1940, the Germans

used a feint attack on the Netherlands and Belgium

before spearheading a full invasion of France

through the Ardennes that included over 2400

tanks and 7000 artillery pieces. Because their best

troops had been dedicated to defending against

an invasion through Belgium, the Allied forces

were quickly outmatched. With the German forces

having pushed between the Maginot Line and the

Allied forces, the Allies found themselves being

flanked by 13 May. Just two weeks later, the German

advance would separate the British Expeditionary

Force from their French counterparts, and force the

newly-appointed Prime Minister Winston Churchill

to order a full-scale evacuation from Dunkirk.

By David King


WAR THUNDER 101 - RESEARCH AND LINEUP

Research Points (RP) in War Thunder is something

like experience points in other games; they mark

your progress through the game. Before we talk

about how it matters in the macro sense (big picture),

let’s discuss how research points are gained.

In any battle, any action grants you RP.

Some examples are, but not limited to:

• Getting hits on an enemy vehicle

• Shooting down or taking out an enemy vehicle

• Assisting a teammate in taking

out an enemy vehicle

• Killing a ground or naval target

• Bombing mini-bases or airfields

• Capturing airfields in planes and

control points in tanks

• Taking off and landing

• Taking part in longer missions

• Participating in combat (such as

shooting at enemies or getting shot at)

and being around the combat area

In this article on Research and Lineup, War Thunder 101 brings you through the few systems in-game relating to experience points and gives you a general idea where to place your points for your crew and planes, as well as how to plan your

lineup of planes using arcade air battles as an example and starting point.


GUIDE

Of course, higher RP gains come from more

significant actions, such as taking out an enemy

vehicle, killing targets that affect victory points or

capturing airfields and control points. Victories

also generally grant a higher RP bonus compared

to losses, therefore it is often wise to help push

your team to victory compared to chasing that

easy target that’s probably 10 km away from you.

RESEARCH TREENow, with that in mind, we will take a look

at how useful RP is in the macro sense. Firstly

and most importantly, RP allows you to research

your next vehicle. In the Tech Tree, you can

select the vehicle you want to research next.

When you first start playing, you’re supplied

with vehicles of the reserve tier. Let us take

a look at the US tree as an example.

Planes available for research are shown in blue

boxes, like the F2A-1, with its required RP of 2900

marked on the bottom right corner of its card.

Planes of a series, such as the P-36 are stacked

in a folder card (see the little tab on the top left

corner), which can be expanded by clicking on it.

The P-36A Hawk, the first of the P-36 series, is

also available for research with a cost of 4000 RP.

Choosing either of them allows the RP earned during

battles by the P-26 Peashooters to go directly into

the aircraft of your choice. Planes on the right in

brown boxes are premium aircraft; they are bought

using real money either in bundles or through the

use of the game’s premium currency, the Golden

Eagles, skipping the research process entirely.

The planes unavailable for research have red

cards. For example, F2A-1 has to be researched


before starting on the F2A-3. Subsequent planes

in a folder has to be researched this way as

well, such as the P-36G Hawk, which requires

that P-36A and P-36C to be researched. Players

can choose a different branch to research,

or continue down the same branch.

The branches in a country’s tech tree largely

symbolize the development and evolutionary history

of the planes. In the US tree classified according

to its services, the first branch contains fighters

of the US Army Air Force (and planes from its

subsequent organization into the US Air Force); the

second branch contains fighters of the US Navy;

the third branch consists of US Navy/Marine Corps

attackers and bombers; while the last branch

houses the US Air Force attackers and bombers.

TIER SYSTEMPlanes are divided into Tiers as well. Planes

like P-26 and P-36 belongs to Tier I while the

P-40E and P-39 belong to Tier II. The tiers broadly

divide the planes according to their year of service,

and six planes from the previous tier have to be

researched and bought before research on the next

tier can begin. The three P-26 available for reserve

planes have already been researched and bought,

therefore progress through Tier I is 3 out of 6 planes

as shown (3/6) on the left side of the tech tree.


GUIDE

TIPS AND TRICKS FOR PLANE RESEARCH

• If you’re flying the aircraft directly on top

of the one you’re researching, there is a

research bonus of 130%, allowing you to

research the plane much faster. This can be

seen on the plane’s card as shown below.

• Using a plane to research another in the

same tier and the tier below is usually the

most efficient. For example, using the P-36

(Tier I) to research the PBY-5 Catalina (Tier

I) or the A-20G (Tier II) gives good gains to

the research points. However, using the P-36

to continue researching the B-25J-20 (Tier

III) would not be optimal because there is a

penalty modifier (of 40%) to any RP gained

by the P-36. The penalty modifier gets

worse the higher the tier difference is.

• Researching backwards is usually not optimal

either (with the exception of premium planes).

For example (see the US tech tree), using the

P-39 (Tier II) to research the OS-2U Kingfishers

(Tier I) has a penalty modifier (90%) as well.

However, if that particular plane is very efficient

in gaining RP compared to planes of the

previous tier, it might offset the penalty modifier

enough to actually be viable to use a later tier

plane to research planes of the previous tier.

• Between planes, there is a slight difference

in RP earning rates as well. For example,

the Rewards for P-36A is 30% compared to

10% for the F2A-1. If killing an enemy plane

gives 200 base RP, the F2A-1 would earn

200 x (100+10)% = 220RP, while the P-36A

would earn slightly more at 200 x (100+30)%

= 260RP. Therefore, if unlocking new vehicles


is your priority, keep that in mind when

choosing the planes to include in your lineup.

PLANE MODULESWhen you first buy a plane, it comes in its stock

condition and totally not upgraded. The performance,

survivability and weapons are of a lower standard

compared to a fully upgraded one. To upgrade the

stock plane, players have to use it so that it gains

Research Points (RP). This is the exact same RP as

the one used to research new planes, but they are

not mutually exclusive; the RP gained for researching

new planes are also counted toward upgrading the

different modules of current plane you’re flying.

The items that are needed to be upgraded are

called research modules. There are different

modules to be upgraded for the guns, airframe,

engine etc. Researching the modules completely

gives you an ‘elite aircraft’ ( also commonly

called ‘spaded aircraft’) with its performance fully

maximized. You will gain a small spade icon on your

plane’s card as well. The benefits of a ‘spaded’ plane

can be sometimes significant, as seen in this Bf 109

F-4 comparison, where the climb rate has doubled

and an increase in top speed of almost 60 km/h.

Most planes have modules divided into Flight

Performance, Survivability and Weaponry.

Modules in the Flight Performance category

usually contain improvements to boost climb

rate, maximum speed and turn time, among

others. Survivability upgrades enhance the

structural strength of the plane, allowing it to

take more hits while giving modest performance

improvements. Weaponry research unlocks better

gun belts, improvements to gun accuracy and

reliability, as well as bomb and rocket load-outs.


GUIDE

In addition, completing the upgrades for a

particular level in a plane (for example, the

Fuselage Repair, Radiator, Offensive 7 mm and

ETC 50/VIIId bomb Level I module upgrades for

the Bf 109 F-4 example) will grant some bonus

RP towards researching the next plane.

UPGRADING TIPS FOR FIGHTERS• Always research the belt upgrades first at

Level I as fighters rely a lot on their weaponry

(Offensive 12 mm in the F2A-3 example). The

stock belt usually consists of rounds that

are not as effective, such as Ball or Practice

rounds which do not apply additional effects

on hitting the target. The subsequent gun

upgrade (New 12 mm MGs) is also of priority,

as it increases the accuracy of your guns

and reduces the possibility of jamming.

• Once Level II is unlocked (by researching 2

upgrades of Level I, progress can be seen on

the left), Airframe module is a much needed

upgrade to boost your survivability. Cover

module at Level IV provides a slight increase

to survivability as well and should be taken

after the Engine Injection module (see below).

• If the Engine Injection or Engine Throttle

module is present (not available on all

planes), make that a priority as well and

research once you reach Level IV, as it usually

provides a very big boost to climb rate and

top speed of propeller-driven fighters.

• After that, finish up with the remaining

Flight Performance upgrades before

researching bombs and rockets, as they

are of the lowest priority on your fighter.

A fighter’s flight performance is usually

severely impaired when carrying external

ordnance such as bombs and rockets.


UPGRADING TIPS FOR BOMBERS• Always research the bomb loads (such as the

MBC-8 for the Blenheim) when they become

available, as they usually allow more bombs

& better bomb configurations to be carried.

• Modules that boost bombers’ survivability

should be researched early on to improve

your chances of surviving hits, such as

the Airframe module at Level II.

• Any other research should go into Flight

Performance modules, with modules granting

access to good climb rates prioritized.

If Engine Injection or Engine Throttle is

available at Level IV, make that a priority as

the climb rate boost is usually significant

(although not as much as fighters).

• Research the turrets last as the turrets are not

that effective in taking down enemy fighters

who know how to weave and dodge. As much

as possible, you should be avoiding fighters

altogether or flying with fighter escorts as a

bomber, not take down fighters yourself.

UPGRADING TIPS FOR ATTACKERS

• Prioritize bomb and rocket upgrades (such

as the RO-82 and RO-132 rocket modules

on the IL-2M) as they provide a significant


GUIDE

boost to the ability to kill ground units.

• If the plane has cannons capable of taking

out ground targets, research the belts if

they give access to better armor-piercing

ammunition (for instance, the default 23 mm

belt on the IL-2M gives 1 armor-piercing

round in 2 shots; upgrading to the ground

target 23 mm belt gives 3 armor-piercing

rounds in 4 shots, allowing you to take tanks

out much more easily). The gun upgrade

is also important as well as it improves

accuracy and lowers the chance to jam.

• Prioritize survivability upgrades, especially

the Airframe module, as it gives a huge

boost to survivability from both ground

fire (which can take your plane out if you

are not careful) and enemy fighters. The

Cover module is taken after the necessary

Weaponry module upgrades are done.

• Flight Performance is not a priority as you

will usually be flying close to the ground.

These are maxed out last after finishing up

research in Weaponry and Survivability.

LINE-UPWe are looking at using 5 crew slots per nation,

as that is the maximum number of crew slots that

can be unlocked using Silver Lions. Planning ahead

is good as you can level up your crews according

to the plane type you’re flying. While some may

prefer to fly exclusively fighters or mostly bombers,

I prefer to fly a mix with an emphasis on fighters.

Thus, I usually allocate 3 slots for fighters, 1 slot

attacker/ heavy fighter and 1 slot for bomber. Of

course, this varies from player to player and there’s

no fixed ratio to follow. I prefer the 3-1-1 allocation

for its versatility and I can fly out different plane

types depending on the fortunes of my team.

There are different kinds of fighters as well, with

some optimised for performance at high altitude, and

some better at low altitudes, so do take note of that

when choosing fighters to put in your lineup as well.

The next few crew slots can be unlocked

using Golden Eagles rather cheaply (at 200 GE

for the 6th and 500 GE for the 7th crew slots)


depending on your needs. An extra fighter or two

may be helpful for Domination matches, while

additional bombers and attackers may be required

for Ground Strike matches as these are quite

vulnerable when attacked by enemy fighters.

BATTLE RATINGS SYSTEMThe matchmaking system in the War Thunder uses

the Battle Rating system as of version 1.45 to group

players into matches, and it is important to plan your

lineup around it so that you are not fighting planes

with vastly superior capabilities compared to yours.

Each plane has its own Battle Rating (BR) to

indicate its effectiveness in battle and appears

in steps of 0.33, thus the sequence of BR

appears as 1.0 (lowest), 1.3, 1.7, 2.0, 2.3 and

so on (rounded off) all the way up to 9.0.

For arcade air battles, the weighted average of the

top 3 BR values of your planes is used to calculate

the player’s BR. The formula is: Player BR = 0.5A

+ 0.25B + 0.25C, rounded off to the nearest .3, .7 or

.0, with A, B and C representing the top 3 planes’

BR in descending order (with A being the highest).

Players are matched up with other players with a

maximum difference of 1.0 in their player’s BR.

There is, however, a cap for the difference

in BR of the top 3 aircraft. If the difference is

2 steps (BR value difference of 0.6 or 0.7) or

more, the player’s BR will simply be (A – 0.33)

rounded off, with A being the highest BR. This is

to prevent players from bringing in planes with

extremely high BR into a battle by supplementing

the lineup with planes of much lower BR.

What does this all mean? As planes in the

Tech Tree are not arranged according to BR,


GUIDE

some planes at lower tiers might actually have

very high BR due to their effectiveness. Bringing

such aircraft causes you to be matched against

much stronger planes, and you might not have

planes in your lineup good enough to fight in

those battles once that top-of-the-line aircraft is

destroyed. It sometimes may be tempting to bring

a shiny new aircraft you’ve just researched into

the next battle, but it can be unwise to do so.

This is a big problem that new players always face,

as the inner workings of BR and matchmaking are

not explained clearly right at the start. Newer players

often get frustrated when being matched up against

far superior planes that they can’t handle with

their mostly reserve lineup when they inadvertently

bring themselves into a higher BR match.

For example, putting the new PBY-5 Catalina

(BR2.0) you have researched into your lineup (which

is actually the default option the game picks for

you) with P-26 Peashooter reserve planes only

(BR1.0) could actually set you up with battles with

much better planes, as the PBY-5 would raise the

player BR significantly. There is a chance that the

matchmaker may match the player up against

players with better planes like the F4F-3 (2.3BR),

A-20G (BR2.7) and P-40 (BR2.7) because of the BR1.0

range when finding players for matchmaking.

The planes more suitable to supplement the

P-26A Peashooter in the lineups would probably

be the OS2U-1 Kingfisher (and the OS2U-3 as

well) and the F2A-1 planes, which are all at

1.3BR, much closer to the P-26 Peashooters.

Eventually, the player would have to move

on to using planes with a higher BR. To utilise

the PBY-5 Catalina, the most effective way is to

supplement the lineup with better planes such

as the P-36A (BR1.7), P-36C (BR2.0) and SBD-3

(BR2.0) which are closer to it, providing a more

credible counter to the planes it can potentially face.

(Note: These values are accurate as of Dec 2014)

Therefore, a good way is to research a few new

planes (at least 3) of similar BR before bringing

them into battle all in one go, with your older

aircraft as a form of reserve. When it comes to


researching new planes, instead of choosing the

most mean-looking fighter (with a ridiculously

high BR) you can lay your hands on, choose one

that allows your lineup to gradually increase its BR

without facing significantly more difficult foes.

CREW POINTSPutting crew points into skills that are relevant

can be a huge edge against your opponents

in War Thunder. For starters, the pilot snipe

seen experienced in earlier levels can be

reduced by levelling up your pilot in vitality.

Crew points are brought over from one plane

to another and are not lost when you upgrade

that particular crew slot to a better plane. After

every battle, crews that have participated will

earn a number of crew XP points depending on

their actions (e.g. kills & hits) that can be spent on

individual skills, which will increase the crew level.

Expert Qualification for a particular plane after

meeting the crew level requirements is a big boost

to crew skills (found in the Qualifications Tab in

Crew) by increasing Keen Vision and Awareness (for

Pilots), Fire Accuracy and Precision (for Gunners)

as well as Repair Speed and Reload Speed (for

Ground Service) by 30 points, and this can be bought

using Silver Lions. A further Ace Qualification

(which adds 20 more points to the above-mentioned

skills) can be bought using Golden Eagles.

CREW TIPS FOR FIGHTERS• For the Pilot tab, Vitality is the most important

as it significantly reduces the chances of

a pilot knockout by a stray bullet. This is

followed by G-tolerance a close second, which

improves how your pilot adapts to high-G

forces and allows for better control responses


GUIDE

in mouse-aiming mode when the plane is

performing high-G maneuvers. Stamina is

also just as important, as it affects how fast

the pilot fully recovers from the red-outs

and black-outs from the high-G maneuvers

and accuracy of mouse-aim during those

maneuvers. Keen Vision and Awareness

affect the distance in which enemy planes are

marked and are relatively important as well.

• Gunners Tab is totally irrelevant as they are

only for additional AI gunner crews on board

the plane, which are not present in fighters.

• For Ground Service Tab, Reload Speed affects

how fast your guns are reloaded, which is very

important in Arcade Battles as you will be

reloading quite often in the air. In Realistic and

Simulator Battles, the Reload Speed is less

important as it only affects the time of rearming

on the airfield. Investing points into Reload

Speed quickly increases the points required,

so this is usually brought up to an acceptable

level before focusing on other attributes (and

using Expert Qualification to make up for it).

Weapon Maintenance reduces the overheating

speed and chance of weapons overheating,

making it a secondary priority in this tab.

• Repair Speed and Repair Rank is usually

ignored for the Ground Service tab, as

repair costs in Arcade Battles is usually

low enough to just pay for the repair. The

repair costs, however, become much more

significant in Realistic and Simulator Battles

and these skills will come in handy.

CREW TIPS FOR BOMBERS• For the Pilot Tab, Vitality is still the most

important, but Keen Vision and Awareness

will be useful as well because they help you

to mark enemy fighters with tags earlier. The


increase in spotting distance will definitely

be more helpful as the distances between

you and enemy planes are usually greater

and you are trying to fly away from them.

G-tolerance and Stamina are not needed in

bombers compared to fighters, as the degree

of tolerance and duration of the black-out from

pulling high-G forces is not that important.

• The Gunners tab becomes more important

for bombers. The number of experienced

gunners reduces the penalty to other gunner

skills when it is closer to the number of

actual gunner positions on the plane. This

is usually levelled to match the number of

gunners you have for that plane you’re flying,

so it may be wise to plan ahead to match the

number of gunners in your future bombers.

• For the skills in your Gunners tab, Fire

Accuracy and Precision affects gunners when

they are controlled by the AI. However, it doesn’t

affect the guns when the player controls them

(which should be the case most of the time

when you are under attack, unless you’re at the

final run-in for your bombing run). Fully maxed

out gunner crews can be especially deadly if

the enemy fighter does not perform evasive

maneuvers and they shoot at you while sitting

on your tail. Vitality is relatively important as

it allows the gunners a chance to stay alive

when they are being shot at. G-tolerance and


GUIDE

Stamina is not that important as you will not

be pulling tight turns much in a bomber.

• For the Ground Service tab, Reload Speed is

the most important item in Arcade Battles,

as it allows a bomber to halve its reload

time when fully maxed out. This effectively

translates to two times more damage on

the targets. Weapon Maintenance is useful

as well as it allows for greater accuracy in

hitting targets, especially if you’re bombing

moving vehicles (but not that useful for larger

targets like mini-bases and airfields).

CREW TIPS FOR HEAVY FIGHTERS/ATTACKERS

• My preference to use the same crew slot for

heavy fighters and attackers stem from the

reasoning that they largely share the same

crew characteristics (no big requirement

for high-G turns, has roughly the same

number of additional gunners) , although

you can of course allocate separate crew

slots for attackers and heavy fighters

separately if there are sufficient crew slots.

• Skill allocation for the Pilot tab is largely

similar to fighters, except that G-tolerance

and Stamina skills are not as important

as you are less likely to be pulling sharp

turns in a heavy fighter or an attacker.

• There may be one or two AI gunner

crews on board the attackers and

heavy fighters, so players may want to

choose to put a few points into this.

• For the Ground Service tab, Reload Speed

and Weapon Maintenance has slightly greater

significance than items in the Pilot Tab as it

affects your turnaround time to strike targets

when using rockets and bombs (for Reload

Speed), as well as the accuracy of your bombs

and rockets (for Weapon Maintenance).

After going through this lengthy explanation,

we hope you have a slightly better understanding

of the Research Point system for researching

new planes as well as upgrading modules

on your existing aircraft, as well as gain new

insights on Crew Points and how to plan your

lineup around the Battle Rating system.

War Thunder has many complex systems

binding the whole game together (which can be

quite daunting to newcomers; I was very much

perplexed by its complexities when I first started

out) but they can be fruitful and rewarding if you

take time to explore and understand. We will be

back with more in-depth guides in War Thunder

101 in subsequent issues, so stay tuned! ■

By Chock Wee Boon


ZEROS OVERHEADThe friendly Hawaiian air caresses my face as I

take my morning run around the base. Really, one

couldn’t ask for a more beautiful Sunday morning;

only a few clouds hang in the sky, which only adds

a little spice to it. I wipe some sweat off of my

right eyebrow. I believe there’s only one thing that

might possibly be wrong with these islands: the

overbearing humidity from the ocean. Even then,

there’s usually a light breeze from somewhere,

so it’s not that unbearable. I definitely need a

shower when I get back to the bunk. I check my

watch; it’s 7:45 AM, December 7th, 1941. My watch

doesn’t have the date on it, mind you, I’m just the

type to know what day it is. I need to be ready for

muster, and I’d left early from breakfast to take

a quick run. Besides, my comrades from VP-14

probably won’t leave without me. They usually

wait for the stragglers from breakfast, and Fat

Freddie takes his sweet time to get done. If we

strapped wings to him, he’d float just as well as

our Catalinas! At any rate, I’m approaching our

barracks at 7:48, plenty of time to get ready for the-

What was that? I look over towards the main

air base at Pearl Harbor, just to the west of our

airfield at Kaneohe Bay. I see a great big black ball

of smoke rising from one of the battleships. Could it

really be-? No, the Japanese aren’t stupid enough to

attack. We’ve been on a limited alert, patrolling for

submarines in our PBY-5 Catalinas, but there hasn’t

been much, just a couple of sightings every now and

again. It was probably some moron smoking next to

an ammo magazine.

I turn to return the Number Two Barracks, to go get

ready for muster. As I’m going down the dirt road,

a ‘38 Ford, owned by Chief Aviation Ordnanceman

John Flinn. He’d been requested at the airfield, and

decided to give me a ride. Soon after we started

driving towards the airfield, a small airplane

buzzes overhead, flying very low. I’m annoyed at

the pilot, and I inspect his aircraft so that I can

file an official complaint. Something is wrong.

I’ve never seen a plane of that shape before...It

has red circles marked prominently against the

dirty-white paint on its wings. My stomach drops

as I realize the horrifying truth: the Japanese are

attacking! And we are in no wise prepared.

CAO Flinn throws the car into high gear,

and we careen headlong into the chaos that was

once our airfield. All of the Catalinas have been

destroyed, and the Japanese planes are strafing


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the runway, the bases, the men...Hangar Three

suddenly explodes into a ball of flame. Hangar One

is burning to a crisp, and Hangar Two has bullet

holes throughout. The CAO leads us to the armory,

and hands out rifles. It’s all we have. We grab ammo

from a supply truck that has somehow survived,

and quickly seek cover to fire from. I look over at

the smoking hull of what was once my Catalina.

I see her, shredded to bits, burnt into a useless

hulk of charred metal. I catch a glimpse of her gun

barrel, sticking up from a cracked glass blister.

She may be permanently grounded, but we

can salvage the guns! I gather a few men, and we

dismount the Brownings from their turrets. We set

them up, and fire at the Zeros strafing the runway.

For the most part, we didn’t do much. But I do know

we took one of the buggers down; he caught fire over

our heads and crashed just beyond the airfield.

Eventually, the attackers slink back towards

the horizon from which they appeared. I survey

the carnage. All of our beautiful float planes are

in smoldering heaps, or have sunk to the bottom

of the bay. Many men have either been blown into

bits, or torn into shreds. Even the CAO took multiple

hits while defending the airfield. As I look at the

devastation in front of my eyes, smell the acrid

smoke of the burning airfield and remember the

unfamiliar red circles on the plane that passed

overhead earlier, one thing is certain: we are at war.

We tried to stay out, but at long last, and at great

cost, we are at war. And there is no chance that

we are ever going to lose. Because, just like in the

Spanish-American War and World War I, we have

something to remember. Just like the Maine, and

the Lusitania, we will remember Pearl Harbor.

By Cade Rosenbalm


WAR THUNDER 101 MACHINES - TANK TYPES

LIGHT TANKSIn World War II, tanks were generally

classified according to their weight and role.

Light tanks generally took on the role of armored

reconnaissance, designed to be fast and

inexpensive, often weighing 20 tonnes and below.

Light tanks often traded armor and firepower

for speed. The compromise in armor of light tanks

meant that it could only protect them from nothing

more than machine gun fire from the sides and

take smaller-caliber tank round hits from the

front. Their firepower often comes in the form of

smaller-caliber cannons, limiting their options

during engagements to lightly armored vehicles.

Flanking becomes very important for light

tanks, making use of their excellent mobility to

reposition themselves on the sides or even the

Just like air power, the role of tanks also came of age in World War II as nations sought to gain breakthroughs on the frontline, from German blitzkriegs using tank spearheads to

the massed tank formations of the Red Army. On the African front, the major tank battles in the Battle of El Alamein turned the fortunes of the Western Allies around, prompting Sir

Winston Churchill to remark, “Before Alamein we never had a victory, after Alamein we never had a defeat.” Such is the vital role of armor throughout the course of World War II.


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rear of enemies, where they can fire at the weaker-

armed sides and rears of armored vehicles.

In War Thunder, light tanks are mostly

used in capture of control points, a vital

mechanic on tank maps to secure victories.

Light tanks can easily outrun other tank

types to reach the control points first.

Reserve tier tanks are the first light tanks you

will encounter in-game (in fact, they’re the first

tanks you get). The Germans start off with the

Panzerkampfwagen (Pz.Kpfw) II Ausf.C, which means

Armored Combat Vehicle II, Variant C. The Soviets

have two light tanks for reserve, the BT-5 and T-26.

The Americans get the unorthodox angular-looking

M2A4 light tank with the introduction of the American

tank tree in the Steel Generals 1.45 update.

MEDIUM TANKSThe medium tank, as its name suggests, is

a balance between the light and heavy tanks,

with most of them around 20 to 40 tonnes. They

are designed with balances in firepower, armor,

mobility (and cost), and many successful examples

emerged out of World War II, such as the most-

produced tank of World War II, the Soviet T-34,

the American M4 Sherman of the hit 2014 movie

Fury starring Brad Pitt, as well as the German

Pz.Kpfw V ‘Panther’ that saw extensive service.


Medium tanks are usually armed with a main

gun (usually around 75 mm) that can match up

to most armor protection in-game. In addition,

they possess the mobility to move quickly enough

for flanking maneuvers although they may not

have the capability to keep up with the light

tanks. This combination of firepower, mobility

and decent armor protection makes medium

tanks a very popular choice in War Thunder.

The versatility and balanced approach of medium

tank design eventually led to the creation of a new

tank classification after World War II, the Main Battle

Tank (MBT), replacing the medium and heavy tank

classification in the modern context. The design is

exemplified by tanks such as the T-54 found in Tier

V of the Soviet tree, with a potent combination of 100

mm main gun and good armor protection, while still

having good mobility. The T-54 is the world’s most

produced tank (with the T-34 coming in second) in

its multiple variants and licenced-built versions. It

is still in use around the world by many nations, a

remarkable feat for a design at end of World War II.

HEAVY TANKSHeavy tanks are the absolute juggernauts

among tanks, usually weighing in above

40 tons. These tanks are heavily armored

and armed with powerful cannons, trading

mobility for firepower and protection.

These tanks have very thick frontal armor

designed to protect them against shells of most

calibers. Penetrating them is not easy, however.

It takes a detailed study of their damage models

(accessible through the X-ray view in Hangar) to

exploit their weak spots and shot traps, such as

the driver port, turret ring or weaker side and rear

armor. Some tanks also come equipped with shells

that are designed to penetrate very thick armor, such

as the High Explosive Anti-Tank (HEAT) shell. Others

disable the heavy tank by shooting at its tracks and

gun before closing in, where their shells are much

more effective at penetrating, to finish them off.

Heavy tanks mostly suffer from poor


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mobility, with even the best engines at that

time unable to compensate for the emphasis

on armor and armament. They are very

vulnerable to flanking maneuvers and take

much longer to reposition when overwhelmed

with faster-moving light and medium tanks.

The main gun of heavy tanks usually fire high

caliber shells offering high penetration values

along with massive collateral damage. These high

caliber guns, such as the KwK36 88 mm cannon

mounted on the fearsome German Pz.Kpfw VI

‘Tiger’ tanks, could take out almost most tanks

with a single shot through its frontal armor. The

drawback is that these guns usually take much

longer to load and traverse much more slowly,

making them vulnerable when surrounded by a

faster moving tank rapidly changing its position.

MULTI-TURRETED TANKS

War Thunder also models some of the more

unorthodox heavy tank designs, such as the

multi-turreted Soviet T-35 and SMK heavy tanks.

These oddities, which looked more like land

battleships, had multiple turrets carrying main

guns which could be fired independently of each

other or simultaneously at once. With these many

turrets manned by separate crews, these tanks

were absolute monstrosities, crawling across the

battlefield at a very slow pace and were difficult

to maneuver, occasionally bringing its broadside

against an unlucky enemy unfortunate enough to

be at the receiving end of multiple large cannon

shells. These heavy tanks, while of limited tactical

value due to their extremely slow speed and armor

protection which is average at best, have immense

firepower and are incredibly fun to bring into a battle.


The American tank branch has their own oddity

in the form of the M3 Lee medium tank as well,

with a 37 mm cannon in a turret and a hard-hitting

75 mm cannon mounted in a sponson on the side

of the hull, making it look distinctively different

from contemporary tank designs in World War II.

TANK DESTROYERSA tank destroyer is a specialized type of armored

fighting vehicle separate from tanks, specifically

designed to take on the anti-tank role compared

to the tanks, which take on a more all-rounded

role in offensive and defensive operations.

Most tank destroyers have a powerful main

gun fitted onto a tracked or wheeled chassis to

provide a mobile anti-tank gun solution, as anti-

tank guns were more difficult to move around on

the battlefield. However, armor protection can

vary greatly for tank destroyers, from open-top

solutions with only thin armor protecting the front

from small-arms fire, to casemate structures

seen in Sturmgeschütz III (or commonly known

as StuG III), the most-produced armored vehicle

by Germany during WWII, thus outlining the

importance of this potent class of armored vehicles.

This sharp difference between the two schools

of thought is best exemplified by the Marder III and

Hetzer tank destroyers, both based on the same

Pz.Kpfw 38(t) light tank chassis. The Marder’s main

gun was mounted on the open-top chassis, with only

a shield plate protecting the front and sides against

shrapnel and rifle fire. On the other hand, the Hetzer

had a sloped front armor of 60 mm and all-round

protection from its casemate structure, which is

reasonably good protection even against tank rounds.

SELF-PROPELLED ANTI-AIRCRAFT

Another specialized type of armored fighting

vehicle is the self-propelled anti-aircraft vehicle (or

SPAA). This arose from a need to provide tactical

air cover to mobile forces due to strafing and

bombing runs by attacker planes. These vehicles


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have a crucial role to play on arcade and realistic

battles in War Thunder, protecting their teammates

from bombing and strafing runs by planes.

Initially, these were little more than machine

guns mounted on vehicles such as trucks and half-

tracks. Later in the war, more specialized SPAA

vehicles were produced on tracked chassis so that

these vehicles could keep up with rapidly advancing

armor columns and provide anti-air support.

SPAA vehicles are typically lightly armored

against shrapnel and small-arms fire only

as they are expected not to engage in direct

firefights with armored combat vehicles such as

tanks and tank destroyers. While tank combat

in SPAA is generally not advisable, some SPAA

vehicles do have armor-piercing rounds which

can do considerably more damage against

armor especially from the flanks. These rounds,

however, while effective against light tanks and

thinly armored tank destroyers, will struggle to

penetrate the armor of medium tanks and above.

In summary, armored vehicles are most effective

when played correctly to their strengths. Some

tanks are better off with utilising mobility to their

advantage, while others have firepower and armor

on their side. Using one type of tank for a role it is not

built for (for example, a light tank trying to engage

a heavy tank in a firefight frontally) often will not

be effective and will only result in frustration (and

shots bouncing off armor). We sure hope this article

gives you a better understanding in utilising these

fearsome machines on tracks (and a select few on

wheels) to dominate the fields of War Thunder! ■

By Chock Wee Boon


WORDSEARCHClick anywhere on this page to download the wordsearch


WORDSEARCH

http://www.gameonmag.com/url/wt-1-search

WAR THUNDER 101 MACHINES - PLANE TYPES

Many of you may have heard exploits about how

your grandfather took to the skies in World War

II, dodging the slashing attacks that came his way

in nimble fighters such as the P-51 Mustang, or

desperately firing away at Me 262 jet fighters as a

waist gunner in a B-17 Flying Fortress bomber.

You hop into War Thunder, wide-eyed and eager

to plunge into battle and relive the experience

as a hotshot pilot, only to be faced with this:

Wow. What in the world are all these planes?

Well, fear not! We are here to explain things to

you in this new series ‘War Thunder 101’, starting

with the different aircraft types available.

Every aircraft is designed for a certain role it has

to fulfill, from its weapons to its performance. This

is why, knowing the aircraft type will go a long way

in ensuring your success in the skies, as you will

able to choose the right machine for the right job.

From fighters to bombers to attackers, War Thunder 101 guides you through each of the different plane types so that you know your machine inside out.


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FIGHTER AIRCRAFTThese planes are by far the most common and

numerous of each nation’s lineup, designed to

establish air superiority over the battlefield. They are

generally fast, maneuverable and possess a strong

set of machine guns and cannons to dispatch any foe.

Most fighters are generally small in size compared

to other aircraft, and are usually powered by a

single engine mounted at the front of the aircraft

(with some exceptions, as we will see later).

Choosing a fighter aircraft can be tricky, as there

are various doctrines or schools of thought involved.

There are so many important characteristics that

are critical to a fighter plane, such as top speed,

acceleration, turn time, climb rate, control response

and energy retention (and the list goes on and

on…) that has to be taken into account. A country

may prefer one or more doctrines over the other

and there is generally no right or wrong doctrine,

but rather, more about whether each doctrine

is being exploited to its advantage. Therefore,

give some of them a try and decide for yourself

which breed of fighter suits your playing style.

Some nations may favor designing aircraft

optimized for maneuverability, often boasting

impressive horizontal turn times well below 20

seconds to loop behind enemy planes quickly.

Some examples are the early Supermarine

Spitfire fighters (British), the Nakajima Ki-43

Hayabusa light fighters, Mitsubishi A6M Reisen

series of naval fighters (both Japanese) and

the Polikarpov I-16 light fighters (Soviet).

Some nations prefer to have aircraft with more

powerful (and heavier) engines as well as harder-

hitting weapons and stronger airframes, trading

maneuverability for firepower at the expense

of weight. These planes perform admirably in

the interceptor role, climbing quickly to high

altitudes and taking out incoming bombers

with their substantially heavier armaments.


In between these two extremes, various degrees of

compromise exist in every fighter aircraft and some

players adapt more easily to one than the other.

At the most extreme end of the fighter spectrum,

there is a subclass of fighters that are heavily

armed and usually have two engines to power

their larger airframes across the skies. And, more

often than not, these planes, known as heavy

fighters, are substantially armored compared

to their contemporary fighter counterparts and

some are even equipped with turrets to defend

against enemy threats on their tails. Examples

in this game include the Bristol Beaufighter

in the British tree as well as the German

Messerschmitt Bf 110 Zerstörer (Destroyer).

These planes were not designed to keep

up with turning maneuvers of single-engine

fighters in a dogfight. Instead, they rely more on

positioning, tactics and careful play, bringing their

powerful guns to bear on unsuspecting planes

before taking them down with one short burst.

NAVAL FIGHTERSIn the American and Japanese tech trees,

you might invariably notice that there exists

another classification of fighters called naval

fighters, which deserves a short mention.


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Some countries employed aircraft carriers

as part of their warfighting capability in World

War II. As such, there are specialized aircraft

designed to take-off and land on the flat decks

of ships and these planes typically have shorter

take-off runs compared to their land-based

counterparts operating from airfields.

As part of the developmental roadmap of War

Thunder, the British tech tree is also slated to

receive naval fighters from the Fleet Air Arm in

future patches, so do keep a look out for those!

JET FIGHTERSNear the end of World War II, jet engines

(and rocket engines) were starting to be

used on fighter aircraft as they represented

the next quantum leap in performance.

The dawn of jet age ushered in a new group of

aircraft, and hostilities in the form of the Korean War

not long after World War II soon saw these planes

come head-to-head with each other, with jet fighters

such as the American F-86 Sabre locking horns

with the Soviet MiG-15 in the skies over Korea.

Jet aircraft have typically much higher top

speeds and boast significantly superior climb

rates compared to the propeller-driven aircraft in

World War II, and thus they are in Tier V, although

it is not uncommon to encounter some early jets

such as the Yak-15 basic fighter jet (later used

as a trainer by the Soviet Air Force), the Me 262

Schwalbe (Swallow) and the P-80 Shooting Star

when flying late-war propeller driven aircraft.

BOMBERSBombers are the next major class of planes in


War Thunder after fighters. Bombers are strategic

assets designed to take out bases and airfields, as

well as naval units and vehicles on a tactical level.

In comparison to fighters, bombers are generally

much larger in size and lack maneuverability.

Their survivability comes from having more

armor as well as defensive armament in the form

of turrets, although a select few may possess

forward-firing machine guns or cannons.

Bombers are usually high-value targets, as they

can bring lots of destruction to the enemy team

when left unchecked. However, solo bombers

are highly vulnerable to fighter attacks, so great

care must be taken by players flying fighters to

escort the bombers to their targets so they do

not fall prey to the marauding enemy fighters.

LIGHT, MEDIUM AND HEAVY BOMBERS

Bombers are usually classified according to their

payload size and range (generally not a concern

in War Thunder as the map sizes are small).

Most bombers come with a bombsight which can

be activated in-game to allow for more precise


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bombing, with the exception of specialized bombers

such as dive bombers and torpedo bombers.

While there is no standardized notation among

countries, a general rule of thumb applies for

the bomber classification in War Thunder using

their bomb load, with some exceptions:

Light bombers: Around 1 tonne/1000 kg

(Examples: Sukhoi Su-2, SB 2M, Beaufort)

Medium bombers: Around 2 tonnes (Examples:

B-25 Mitchell, Heinkel He 111, Junkers Ju

88, Vickers Wellington, Ki-49 Donryu)

Heavy bombers: Around 3 tonnes (Examples:

B-17 Flying Fortress, B-24 Liberator, Avro Lancaster,

G5N1 Shinzan, G8N1 Renzan, Yermolayev Yer-2)

Do take note that bombers’ payloads in

War Thunder exist in two different units of

measurement: pounds and kilograms. To convert

easily from one to the other, simply use this:

1 kg = 2.2 pounds. This is important if you are

planning for different targets, as different targets

require different bomb loads to take out.

DIVE BOMBERSDive bombers usually dive directly at their targets

to allow for more accuracy in their bombing, a tactic

used to great effect by the German Ju 87 Stuka

in the opening days of World War II. This usually

allows them to hit pin-point targets or even moving

targets reliably as it allows for the simplification of

the bomb’s trajectory into more or less a straight

line from the pilot’s view to the target as opposed to

conventional bombers flying at a certain altitude.


However, dive bombers are usually limited to

smaller bomb loads of around 1 tonne, effectively

making them light bombers. Dive bombing also

requires the pilot to pull up sharply from the dive

after releasing the bomb, which necessitates

the use of air brakes, which are modelled in

War Thunder, so remember to use them if you

do not want to fly straight into the ground!

Most dive bombers also do not come with

the bomb sight, as they are not equipped with

equipment for a bombardier (except the Russian

Pe-2 dive bomber). In War Thunder, dive bombers

are especially effective against tanks and ships,

which can prove relatively difficult to hit by larger

bombers flying at a higher altitudes for safety.

TORPEDO BOMBERS AND NAVAL BOMBERS

Torpedo bombers are planes specially modified

to carry torpedoes for anti-shipping purposes, but

they are a rarity in this game for various reasons.

The Beaufighter comes under heavy flak fire from

the battleship as it closes in to release its torpedo

Firstly, torpedo bombing often requires the

plane to be flown within a strict set of parameters

(low altitude, low speed and level), making the


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torpedo bomber vulnerable to anti-aircraft

artillery and enemy fighters, while bombing

ships using conventional bombs (easily the

faster and more efficient way) allows the plane

to easily circumvent these restrictions.

Secondly, torpedo bombing usually requires more

lead and estimation as well due to the slow speed

of torpedo travel after release (you can actually

see a white trail just underneath the waves making

its way to the ship… slowly). It is very easy for a

torpedo to miss unless it is released from very close

range, which puts the plane under a lot of danger.

Lastly, carrying torpedoes restricts the

attacking options to ships only, while bombs

allow for more viable targets in tanks, bases

and ships (and the occasional plane on the

runway for the ‘Surprise!’ achievement).

Some examples of torpedo bombers in the British

tree include the Bristol Beaufighters and Vickers

Wellingtons that can deviate from their original heavy

fighter and bomber roles respectively, as well as the

venerable (and often vulnerable) Fairley Swordfish

of the Battle of Taranto Harbor fame and the sinking

of the Bismarck, the largest German battleship.

America and Japan possess several dedicated

torpedo bombers as part of their Pacific war-

making capabilities, such as the SBD Dauntless

and Nakajima B5N (Allied reporting name ‘Kate’).

These planes also have a secondary role in-

game as naval bombers dropping conventional

bombs, usually possessing shorter take-off

distances than their land-based counterparts

with comparable bomb loads. The Aichi D3A

‘Val’ is one example of a naval dive bomber in

widespread service with the Imperial Japanese

Navy, and despite being somewhat obsolete since

the start of World War II, managed to sink the

most Allied shipping among all the Axis planes.


JET BOMBERSSimilar to their jet fighter counterparts,

jet bombers boast extremely impressive top

speeds. Their operating principle is based

on getting to the targets fast to deliver their

payloads and escaping before enemy fighters

realize their presence and close in.

War Thunder had a big boost of jet bombers

in patch 1.43 recently, with many newcomers

such as the English Electric Canberra (British,

with the Martin B-57 license-built version for the

US), the Ilyushin Il-28 ‘Beagle’ (Soviets) and the

Yokosuka R2Y2 prototypes (Japan) joining the sole

German jet bomber, the Arado Ar 234 in game.

ATTACKERSThe last major class of planes in War

Thunder are the attackers. While attackers and

bombers share the same trait of being designed

primarily to take out ground targets, there are

still significant differences between them.

Firstly, attackers are designed to take out targets

on a tactical level as opposed to a strategic level

(as in the case of bombers). This means they are

better designed to dispatch ground and naval


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units rather than bases and airfields. As such,

they are better equipped for that role with anti-

tank cannons, smaller bombs and rockets.

Secondly, in terms of size, an attacker is typically

only slightly larger than a fighter, and much

smaller than a bomber. This allows the attacker

to generally fly faster and be more maneuverable

than a bomber. However, this does not hold true

every time, as there are fighter variants that are

used as attackers (Hawker Tempest V armed with

47mm cannons) and bomber variants converted into

an attacker role as well (B-25 Mitchell airframes

modified to the PBJ-1H with a 75mm cannon).

The iconic Ilyushin Il-2 Sturmovik, a Soviet

attacker, holds the distinction of the most

produced combat aircraft to date, and is available

in the Russian tree in two variants, with and

without the tail gunner. Its successor, the Il-10

‘Beast’, which took part in the closing stages of

World War II, is also available in Tier IV to rain

destruction on enemy tank columns from the air.

FIGHTER/BOMBER & MULTI-ROLE AIRCRAFT

Sometimes, you may come across aircraft labelled

as such, having multiple roles. These aircraft may

be configured to take on either a fighter role or a

bomber role. Other combinations are present in-

game, but a fighter/bomber role is by far the most

common multi-role type this game has to offer.

One example is the American P-47 Thunderbolt,

a deadly high altitude fighter with eight M2

Browning machine guns. This powerful fighter

can double up as a strike plane in an emergency

by strapping on 10 HVAR rockets and 2500 pounds

of bombs, enough to rival a medium bomber.

In addition, some fighters do have the capability

to strap on some smaller bombs even if they are

not labelled as such. These are good if you intend

to contribute to the team by taking out some

ground targets. However, it is not advisable to

strap on all the bombs if your intended role is as


a fighter as the plane typically takes a big hit to its

flight performance with extra ordinance hanging.

Decide on your role, and take the appropriate

weapons into the skies of War Thunder!

CLOSE AIR SUPPORT (CAS)This is a role that has not been given much

emphasis in terms of nomenclature for aircraft

roles (and not labelled in-game as well), but it

has been historically significant and will be a

decisive factor in winning games in War Thunder.

Certain planes excel at CAS more than the others

due to their performance at lower altitudes, handling

at low speeds, armor and armament, among others.

Attackers may be a perfect fit, but there are fighters

and bombers (typically the light/medium bombers,

with some armed with forward-firing guns) in-

game that are well-suited for this task as well.

As mentioned earlier, some fighters can

carry bombs in their fighter-bomber role to

engage smaller targets like tanks. Moreover,

some fighters are equipped with the capability

to kill some lightly armored units such as light

pillboxes and light tanks reliably with their forward

firing machine guns and cannons using ground

target belts, which usually contain more armor-

piercing (AP) rounds to penetrate these vehicles.

This is known as strafing in military-speak.

CAS is especially important in low tier &

reserve tier battles, where the winning objective

would be to take out armored cars, howitzers

and anti-aircraft artillery (AAA). With practice,


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a player can effectively dispatch ground targets

using only the machine guns on biplanes, which

are actually very suitable platforms for this role

because of their handling at low speeds.

HYDROPLANESThis article shall end with a mention of these

oddities, the hydroplanes. While conventional

aircraft are designed to land on runways, there

is a special need for some planes to land on

waterways. These planes are modelled in game as

well and can be used in regular game sessions.

On one end of the spectrum, we have the Vought

OS2U Kingfisher (US) and Mitsubishi F1M ‘Pete’

(Japan), small reconnaissance floatplanes lightly

armed with machine guns. On the other end of

the spectrum, there’s the Consolidated PBY-

5 Catalina (US, and available to the British and

Soviets as premium planes because these aircraft

were provided under the Lend-Lease Act) and the

Kawanishi H6K ‘Mavis’ (Japan) flying boats used

as medium bombers and torpedo bombers.

There is also a special version of the Mitsubishi

A6M2 Reisen fighter equipped with floats to

land on water, the Nakajima A6M2-N ‘Rufe’,

and it is potently armed with the same load

out as its more famous cousin at the cost of

poorer flight performance due to its floats.

From time to time, there are also events

which these planes can participate in, such

as the ‘Floats’ event, where these planes have

to land on water to capture objectives.

With this, we hope that you will have a

clearer understanding the next time you select

a plane for a fly-out in War Thunder. Do give

each of these roles a try and have an enjoyable

time in the skies of War Thunder! ■

By Chock Wee Boon


Issue 48 • October 2013 70 • GameOn Magazine

Brothers: The Thoughts of Two Gamers

Have a safe flight!See you in next issue.

gameonmag war thunder

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