War Thunder

[Oberon]

Not sure if we have a thread for it already, but here's Wonderwal...errr...I mean, War Thunder. A thread for discussing, showing pictures and...stuff.

[Oberon]

http://i.imgur.com/lzQo1wq.jpg?1
Suffered a few cannon failures before, but never seen this particular detail. Very Acme.

http://i.imgur.com/b5OAZl6.jpg?1
Ang-ang-ang-ang-ang-a-a-a-ang (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z6Ek3h4HTRE) :haha:

[Dammit_Carl!]

This is my go-to-game at the moment; like I've said elsewhere, the combined arms aspect of this puts this game light years ahead of the "other tank game," in my book. Loads of fun.

Things I've learned playing so far (tongue in cheek mode on!):

1. German tank designers really didn't like German tank crews; must have been issues regarding tankers stealing their girls or something and them getting their final revenge on those poor bastards.

2. That self propelled Soviet AA gun - the one whose name escapes me but which packs that 37mm and high rate of fire - is a total troll machine. Hate them.

3. Getting stuck in shell holes is as embarassing in the game as it would be in real life.

4. There is a blessed lack of "Rommels," "Wittmans," etc. that seem to populate the World of Tanks side of things. Expect this to change at some point but so far, I've been lucky.

5. The quad .50 American half-track AA gun is metal as hell. Pity they couldn't animate the crew to be throwing the horns and headbanging as it shoots.

:up:

[Oberon]

My games at the moment seem to go like so:

1: Spawn

2: Encounter Sherman

3: Die

4: Goto 1

[Dammit_Carl!]

Playing German, my game is more like: spawn and drive to whatever cap point seems to need support. Stop to look for enemy tanks or planes while in cover before committing to the cap point. Die by 122mm hammer or P-47 strike.

I won't complain 'bout bias or none of that noise as it detracts from the game overall but it does feel like things are stacked against the Germans from time to time (but this could also be the teams I'm with; the "spawn points," thing also seems to favor the non-German side too but again, this could be just me).

[Oberon]

Playing German, my game is more like: spawn and drive to whatever cap point seems to need support. Stop to look for enemy tanks or planes while in cover before committing to the cap point. Die by 122mm hammer or P-47 strike.

I won't complain 'bout bias or none of that noise as it detracts from the game overall but it does feel like things are stacked against the Germans from time to time (but this could also be the teams I'm with; the "spawn points," thing also seems to favor the non-German side too but again, this could be just me).

Nah, ain't just you. I've found the T-34s and 50s to take a lot more punishment and deal a lot more damage than the StuG F and Panzer IV F2.
Still, considering where the developers are HQ'd it really shouldn't come as a surprise should it? :03:

[Dammit_Carl!]

No surprise but it is tiring to an extent.

I do hope they don't go the "paper tank," route too much, though, as I like having fewer tanks to deal with (in both driving / module unlocking and fighting against).

[Oberon]

No surprise but it is tiring to an extent.

I do hope they don't go the "paper tank," route too much, though, as I like having fewer tanks to deal with (in both driving / module unlocking and fighting against).

Well, the match-making can be a bit questionable. Like when I take my Tier III Panzer IV and StuG out in an arcade battle and see the enemy with a Tier IV Hetzer...that kinda thing does put me off somewhat, I mean what the heck kind of chance do I stand with the disadvantage I already have of being in a German tank. :/\\!! I'd say bring on my Panther, but then it'll just be getting one-shotted by IS-2s and Su-122s. :dead:

[HunterICX]

Nah, ain't just you. I've found the T-34s and 50s to take a lot more punishment and deal a lot more damage than the StuG F and Panzer IV F2.
Still, considering where the developers are HQ'd it really shouldn't come as a surprise should it? :03:

I've found that I mostly get one shotted at long range by PzIV F2 and Stug III F's whilst driving my T34, the turret of a T34 is a showstopper as one shot through there and you can scoop out the crew with a spatula.

And as for taking damage well, eh....found myself too often being shotted somewhere which puts me dead stop in the middle of the last place I want to be. As for a T34 or T50 dealing more damage, ha....I found the T50 awfull unless you got up close and personal do any serious damage and with a T34 I wouldn't take my chances face to face against a Stug III F or PzIV F2 on long range.

Match making, having to face a tier up or tier down isn't that problematic imo...ofcourse it isn't fun to face a KV1, PzIV, Sherman whilst in a T26, Stuart or PzII but you still can do some damage and destroy tanks. Unlike in WoT when it comes to facing a tier up you become as useful as a Clay pigeon :shifty:

[Dammit_Carl!]

I can only hope that they come out with a "Cold War gone Hot," game mode where we finally get to throw down with the Soviets (sorry Fritz - no Nazi gear today! ) - higher tier Warsaw Pact vs. NATO kind of stuff. Wanna see Fulda Gap in all its gory glory!

That game would be awesome. :rock:

[Oberon]

I've found that I mostly get one shotted at long range by PzIV F2 and Stug III F's whilst driving my T34, the turret of a T34 is a showstopper as one shot through there and you can scoop out the crew with a spatula.

And as for taking damage well, eh....found myself too often being shotted somewhere which puts me dead stop in the middle of the last place I want to be. As for a T34 or T50 dealing more damage, ha....I found the T50 awfull unless you got up close and personal do any serious damage and with a T34 I wouldn't take my chances face to face against a Stug III F or PzIV F2 on long range.

Match making, having to face a tier up or tier down isn't that problematic imo...ofcourse it isn't fun to face a KV1, PzIV, Sherman whilst in a T26, Stuart or PzII but you still can do some damage and destroy tanks. Unlike in WoT when it comes to facing a tier up you become as useful as a Clay pigeon :shifty:

Odd, my T-34 seems to take shells like a brick wall, just takes a licking and keeps on ticking, whereas the Panzer IV always cops a shell in one of the parts where the German designers in their infinite wisdom decided to put flat facing armour, likewise the StuG. Might just be my luck I guess. Yeah, the T-50 is rather fragile though, bloody fast though, fairly good for BT-7 style runs.

I just wish that they'd kept the icons off event for the level I was on, I was rather enjoying it a lot, it meant that you actually could be sneaky and catch the enemy off guard, rather than flashing up on their radar like a flight of B-17s. :/\\!! Ah well, hopefully it'll come round again.

I can only hope that they come out with a "Cold War gone Hot," game mode where we finally get to throw down with the Soviets (sorry Fritz - no Nazi gear today! ) - higher tier Warsaw Pact vs. NATO kind of stuff. Wanna see Fulda Gap in all its gory glory!

That game would be awesome. :rock:

You mean something like:
http://aw.my.com/us ?

[Raptor1]

I find that with the Germans the Panzer IV F2 or the Panzer III J1 (and, I imagine, the long-barrel variant of the StuG III) can start penetrating the armour on the Shermans and T-34s pretty consistently, whereas beforehand you might as well have been hitting them with wet noodles. KV-1s are still a pain, but well, KV-1s. German armour protection is still (as it was historically) about as good as a piece of paper, though, so they still explode more often when the Allied tanks look at them funny.

[Arclight]

I keep underestimating the J1. I get in a situation where I know the armor will save me, as it would against anything short of a Su-122, but then the little blighter blasts right through. In style at that, with the shell punching clean through the front plate and embedding itself in the engine at the rear... Generally ends in a nice fireball.

APCR rounds can be quite good, but certainly not at range. Their high penetration makes me think of them as a "sniper" round, but then it just doesn't have the energy to cause much damage after penetrating. Fired from a shorter distance it practically goes the full length of the tank, and that is what makes it powerful.

* I remember when starting out, I saw that after-death animation thingy; the shell came in through the front, bounced off the bottom plate and ended at the back of the turret. It pretty much hit anything functional inside on its way through. Scary.

[Oberon]

I find that with the Germans the Panzer IV F2 or the Panzer III J1 (and, I imagine, the long-barrel variant of the StuG III) can start penetrating the armour on the Shermans and T-34s pretty consistently, whereas beforehand you might as well have been hitting them with wet noodles. KV-1s are still a pain, but well, KV-1s. German armour protection is still (as it was historically) about as good as a piece of paper, though, so they still explode more often when the Allied tanks look at them funny.

:hmmm: Could be that I've yet to get more than the primary shells on the IV F2, hopefully the armour penetrating stuff will work better. I have found though that generally though I get knocked out a lot easier than I knock others out. The StuG is fairly good though, but still, flat forward armour just seems to magnetically attract shells, which automatically murder everyone on contact.
That being said, when I penetrate an enemy tank, I see the enemy men get hit which if it had happened to me would either knock me out, or make me immobilised, and yet the struck tank will immediately start reversing. :/\\!!
That being said (again), there are a few one hit kill points, in particular for the HVSS Sherman, the rear of the turret (which is IIRC where the ammo is stored) will make it go up like a firework nearly every time. :rock:

[Arclight]

It could be there's quite a few people playing on a lower tier than they could. Their crews would consequently be a lot more "experienced" - i.e. they prolly pumped quite a few points into their vitality stats. Not sure how crew health works, but I imagine it increases the threshold where they get knocked out along with their maximum health.

[Raptor1]

:hmmm: Could be that I've yet to get more than the primary shells on the IV F2, hopefully the armour penetrating stuff will work better. I have found though that generally though I get knocked out a lot easier than I knock others out. The StuG is fairly good though, but still, flat forward armour just seems to magnetically attract shells, which automatically murder everyone on contact.
That being said, when I penetrate an enemy tank, I see the enemy men get hit which if it had happened to me would either knock me out, or make me immobilised, and yet the struck tank will immediately start reversing. :/\\!!
That being said (again), there are a few one hit kill points, in particular for the HVSS Sherman, the rear of the turret (which is IIRC where the ammo is stored) will make it go up like a firework nearly every time. :rock:

I use the standard APC rounds with the F2. The HEAT rounds are only useful at very long range (if they even hit) or against unarmoured targets and the APCR is useful only if you aim it just right. It does seem like I get disabled much more easily than the enemy, which could be their crew vitality or just the German tanks being horribly protected. At the least the placement of the ammunition on the Panzer IV seems rather questionably thought out to me...

[Cybermat47]

Ang-ang-ang-ang-ang-a-a-a-ang (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z6Ek3h4HTRE) :haha:

Started watching Girls und Panzer yesterday.

It was... interesting.

------------------------

Anyway, War Thunder certainly appeals to me thanks to it's combined arms element.

But when it comes to games with playable planes and tanks... I do enjoy this game more: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=WEeRRD3iD88

But War Thunder should be getting a Navy soon, and I'll definitely try that out :cool:

[Oberon]

I'm going to have to grind for some Shermans soon...see if they're as indestructible when I use them. :shifty:

Seriously 7/10 deaths while I'm playing as a German tank in Simulated battles is by a Sherman, usually a HVSS or an A2. It's almost a relief to be plugged by a KV-2 or a T-34 prototype. :haha:

[Dammit_Carl!]

You mean something like:
http://aw.my.com/us ?

Looks like WoT but with "newer," stuff. Not interested at this point.

I like the "creeping though the woods, looking for enemy tan..OH GOD THERE IS ONE RIGHT THERE," sort of thing I get from WT Simulator mode as well as the challenge you get from having to do IFF as you zoom past in your plane.

If my Soviet lend-lease Sherman is any indicator, then yes, Shermans are indeed quite durable. I'm going to get a 105 Sherman ASAP for maximum derpability.

And if you think Girls und Panzer is odd, check out Arpeggio of Blue Steel for extra-special strangeness.

[Oberon]

Looks like WoT but with "newer," stuff. Not interested at this point.

I like the "creeping though the woods, looking for enemy tan..OH GOD THERE IS ONE RIGHT THERE," sort of thing I get from WT Simulator mode as well as the challenge you get from having to do IFF as you zoom past in your plane.

If my Soviet lend-lease Sherman is any indicator, then yes, Shermans are indeed quite durable. I'm going to get a 105 Sherman ASAP for maximum derpability.

And if you think Girls und Panzer is odd, check out Arpeggio of Blue Steel for extra-special strangeness.

It does make sense, to be fair, I mean sloped armour pwns flat armour after all. Just rather annoying to be the derp Panzer being eaten by Shermans...but, I suspect that I'm not playing this in the manner it should be, although the no-labels simulator mode is the best one for that because you can hide in the woods without a red label appearing above your head. :dead:

Oh, and Takao is best heavy cruiser. :03:

EDIT: I've been reading some talk in the WT forums that the German 75 and 50 mm rounds have been, if not nerfed, then certainly altered in a manner which makes them a lot less reliable. This could explain some of the problems I've been having with them....

[Cybermat47]

Played some WT tank battles today.

Turns out I'm a much better tanker than I am a pilot :D

Though I'm kinda upset that everyone on the server bullied me for playing a Girls-only game :(

[Captain Vlad]

Oh, and Takao is best heavy cruiser. :03:


Word.

[Oberon]

The heated seats provided to the crews of Marder III Hs during those cold Russian days was greatly appreciated:

http://i.imgur.com/bF3VpuL.jpg?1

[Oberon]

DEPLOYING DEMOCRACY! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NBFryJuYDlc)

http://i.imgur.com/KVptBUl.jpg?1

[Dammit_Carl!]

Call it what you want, but War Thunder can be one pretty game.

Anyone else enjoying the current combined arms event where its basically a short range knife fight? I know I am!

[Oberon]

Had a few close in fights with the M4A1, that was quite beastly.

Meanwhile:

http://i.imgur.com/0Lqv16i.jpg?1
My commander/commissar is Stalin himself!

http://www.quickmeme.com/img/9e/9e5cce88f8ff2c316081027d61026e08a013b4f3f48a6ce7c5 f686107fca2a9a.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/gOnONEH.jpg?1
HunterICX's beer takes its toll and he slides towards the river...can Raptor save him with his tow rope?

http://i.imgur.com/3laYsVJ.jpg?1
Errr...no. And somehow Raptor winds up on his side...while Hunter winds up at the bottom of the river.

http://i.imgur.com/AfFU6Kn.jpg?1
So I rescue Raptor, for science!

http://i.imgur.com/bgI55ki.jpg?1
Speaking of science...something...unearthly seems to have happened here...

http://i.imgur.com/LXppCsZ.jpg?1
And finally, my new Freedomobile.

http://www.helma.us/GuP/src/135338240389.jpg

[HunterICX]

http://i.imgur.com/gOnONEH.jpg?1
HunterICX's beer takes its toll and he slides towards the river...can Raptor save him with his tow rope?


Driving sober is for Fascists and capitalist pigs, in Soviet Russia .... *gulp gulp gulp*
http://i.imgur.com/59WMIVM.jpg?1

[Raptor1]

Speaking of fascists...

http://i.imgur.com/RvFPBuj.jpg?1

[Oberon]

I'm working on the Hetzer...now if only Allied tank crewmen weren't made of unobtainium I might be a bit closer... :/\\!!

[Raptor1]

Allied tank crews seem to be recruited nearly exclusively from the invulnerable cyborg ninja pirate population...

[Dammit_Carl!]

Finally past the stubby StuG! Yay!

[HunterICX]

Traded my SU76 in for a SU122, now just one more Tier II tank to go before I can move on to Tier III stuff.

[Arclight]

My team: my T-34 57mm, assorted less powerful T-34's and a few KV-1's.

Their team: Panthers, Tigers and the likes.

:shifty:

Getting pretty frustrated with the lopsided battles on tier 3. You're either running a Sherman (or bigger sibling), Panther or Tiger, or you don't really matter.

*right so piece of advice on the Russian stuff: switch to heavies or tank destroyers for tier 3. A basic T-34 has difficulties. Even the later one with the D-5T does not improve on hull armor, effectively forcing you into defensive positioning.

[HunterICX]

Piece of advice of a T34, don't use it defensive, don't use it for long range shooting. (I one shotted a couple of medium tanks close range, but it took 4 shells to kill a PzIIC light tank long range!?!?)

I notice when I go up close and personal I fair a lot better then when I park and take targets on long range. If the map allows it for me to use natural covers or that of buildings I flank them, fire and move. Get close and you'll mostly do it in a single shot if not it'll deal enough damage to knock him out for a bit before he's able to return the favour. It are my better rounds when I go charge in get close up and personal...yes I get damaged a lot, when I'm all alone it won't work but I live longer then when I spot a sherman or PzIV, park and lob shells at it because on long range I have a weaker deck of cards then he does.

[Arclight]

The 57mm rarely accomplishes anything in 1 shot. Just doesn't have the power. 2 shells in the side, into a rack or fuel tank, sure. Kills it good.

But there's maps where you simply don't have many options. I love the urban maps, as the streets are perfect terrain for a relatively mobile T-34. But even on the ridge-and-valley maps you'll find yourself in front of something big sooner or later. Then you either nail that shot through the driver viewport and maybe kill him in 1 shot, or you're *redacted*.

By defensive I mean out of sight, waiting for them to present a flank. Not derping behind a ridge with a flimsy turret sticking out.

[Cybermat47]

Woah. I'm getting 1000 RP per match in Simulator Air Battles, even if I lose without getting a kill :o

Simulator Tank Battles are giving me slightly less RP, but I'm better at getting kills in a Panzer anyway :)

Although I did spend most of one match in my Panzer 38(t) on my side :oops:

[Dammit_Carl!]

Although I did spend most of one match in my Panzer 38(t) on my side :oops:

When the "Air War," event was going on, I managed to roll my AA halftrack twice, land on my treads and keep going - looked like I knew what I was doing :up:

Conversely, in another match, I rolled the halftrack on it's side, slid to the bottom of the hill and proceeded to do a "Curly," as I spun in circles on one side going, "Whoo - whoo -whoo!"

[HunterICX]

SU122

Slow, terrible reload time, tendency for ammo explosion when hit, horrible to drive long distance over difficult terain. But oh boy is it a bad day when you are on the business end of that 122mm, gun I love it. :haha:

[Oberon]

Having been on the receiving end of that 122mm shell on more than a few occasions, I can confirm that it rather stings. :dead:

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/c6/56/2e/c6562eae8b477ba6bdb0f1f86a850b68.jpg

[Dammit_Carl!]

Having been on the receiving end of that 122mm shell on more than a few occasions, I can confirm that it rather stings. :dead:


I can only imagine the odd feeling one would have of driving along and minding their own business, blinking and then finding theirself in the afterlife in that rapid of an order.

"Was ist? Hans, where are we?"
"Feldwebel...I've no idea, but there looks to be some sort of old viking long-house ahead of us there...I...I don't think we're in Lvov anymore. "

[Dammit_Carl!]

Holy...

After futzing out in my tanks in the Realistic event last night, I said, "what the hell," and hauled the M13 Gun Carrier out and proceeded to play like an angry, drunk Irishman - wound up getting one kill and several assists as I just machine gunned the piss out of whatever crossed my path all up-close like.

Bet that StuG owner was mad when I put a .50 round through the periscope and into the gunner's head.

The quad .50 GC is going to be a flippin' hoot! :yeah:

[Oberon]

Holy...

After futzing out in my tanks in the Realistic event last night, I said, "what the hell," and hauled the M13 Gun Carrier out and proceeded to play like an angry, drunk Irishman - wound up getting one kill and several assists as I just machine gunned the piss out of whatever crossed my path all up-close like.

Bet that StuG owner was mad when I put a .50 round through the periscope and into the gunner's head.

The quad .50 GC is going to be a flippin' hoot! :yeah:

The Stuart is quite fun to do that with too, although with the 'simulated' view it's like driving while drunk because the camera is part way behind the turret. :dead: But it's fast and small so you can appear where the enemy doesn't expect you and annoy them. :haha:

Meanwhile:

http://i.imgur.com/22QTiSX.jpg?1
Lurking with Hunters atomic cannon

http://i.imgur.com/YrnTzyy.jpg?1
A Sherman (what else?) puts a shell through my engine, so I get some...'help' :haha:

http://i.imgur.com/huFvien.jpg?1

https://31.media.tumblr.com/3362e8b0f22c28a65295eaee8fd64684/tumblr_mz0a9tbxtx1so2remo7_r1_500.gif

[HunterICX]

My T34 in pristine condition.

http://i.imgur.com/iKHEOfb.jpg?1

[Oberon]

My Sherman in....errrr....typical condition:

http://i.imgur.com/8tzM6IB.jpg?1

http://i.imgur.com/GvXiK52.jpg?1
Levitating Soviet anti-tank gunners

http://i.imgur.com/vzZdHw9.jpg?1
NOT ONE STEP BACK

http://i.imgur.com/SVDHuRL.gif

http://i.imgur.com/scydE50.jpg?1

[Cybermat47]

Oberon, where are you getting these Girls und Panzer skins from?

[Oberon]

Oberon, where are you getting these Girls und Panzer skins from?

Here:
http://live.warthunder.com/?q=%23girls_und_panzer

:salute:

[Oberon]

Panzer IV is Panzer Vor

http://i.imgur.com/uh9vfEZ.jpg?1


I'm just going to leave this here:
http://country-balls.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/country-balls-tanks-for-nothing.png

[zachanscom]

go jerk off to some more anime

[Kptlt. Neuerburg]

go jerk off to some more anime
If you don't have nothing nice to say it's better not to say it all.

[Oberon]

If you don't have nothing nice to say it's better not to say it all.

I don't think he actually knows how to say anything positive, his entire post history has been nothing but bile. :har:

[Kptlt. Neuerburg]

I don't think he actually knows how to say anything positive, his entire post history has been nothing but bile. :har: Indeed.

[Cybermat47]

Here:
http://live.warthunder.com/?q=%23girls_und_panzer

:salute:

Thanks :salute:

Panzer IV is Panzer Vor

http://i.imgur.com/uh9vfEZ.jpg?1


Yukari FTW :rock:

[HunterICX]

This is what you get when you give them Germans a Panzer :hmph:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=njzf9bm_imo

[Cybermat47]

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=G7d0UaVuFiM

Silly M16 :O:

[Oberon]

Since this thread seems to be the unofficial Garupan thread as well, I'll just drop this here, the 2nd trailer for the long delayed film (pushed back to November now :wah:) featuring the traditional bath house scene and turbo-Crusaders:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eHxZ9yYU3sw

[Oberon]

http://i.imgur.com/SnGILMN.jpg?1
The Molotov-Ribbentrop pact

http://i.imgur.com/UWJSUQR.jpg?1
Stalins atomic death punch cannon speaks

http://i.imgur.com/fHYPCeM.jpg?1
Unfortunate place to spawn, right there.

http://i.imgur.com/APZAdse.jpg?1
If you spawn in with a Hetzer and you see this line-up...

https://s3.amazonaws.com/static.carthrottle.com/workspace/uploads/comments/youre-going-to-have-a-bad-time-54b187940239e.png

http://i.imgur.com/agA2tUG.jpg?1
Well, this KV-1 isn't too concerned about camoflage...

http://i.imgur.com/LbUEfnm.jpg?1
The Great Patriotic Tug of War

http://i.imgur.com/IS81LUG.jpg?1
A hopeful Stuart... :03:

[Lionclaw]

My tanks at the moment. :)

My ingame name is Vargyl.


M2

http://i.imgur.com/e4w47s5.jpg


M3A1 Stuart

http://i.imgur.com/BmuAjxB.jpg

[Cybermat47]

Stalins atomic death punch cannon speaks

http://i.imgur.com/DKak6p8.png


Well, this KV-1 isn't too concerned about camoflage...


It isn't camouflage, it's...
http://i2.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/000/769/212/bcf.png

[Oberon]

I finally have my Panzer IV Ausf H with Oarai skin. :rock: Now I just need to practice my multi-track drifting.

Now it's time for the T-34/75 I think.

EDIT: Roll on August (last rumour I heard anyway) when the British will arrive!

http://stream1.gifsoup.com/view3/4594495/girls-und-panzer-british-o.gif

[Cybermat47]

EDIT: Roll on August (last rumour I heard anyway) when the British will arrive!

Yay!

http://img1.ak.crunchyroll.com/i/spire4/af0971221028bfd609afc770e5aa72a71363730076_full.jp g?_sm_au_=iVV0FLsqK6VDPrDr

http://stream1.gifsoup.com/view3/4594495/girls-und-panzer-british-o.gif

Ah, that explains what's taking them so long. They have infinite tea.

[HunterICX]

I finally have my Panzer IV Ausf H with Oarai skin. :rock: Now I just need to practice my multi-track drifting.


You and me both need to practice our driving first :haha:

[Schroeder]

You and me both need to practice our driving first :haha:
Are you even able to drive without a caravan trailer?:O:

[Oberon]

They have infinite tea.

To Infini-tea and beyond! :rock:

[HunterICX]

Are you even able to drive without a caravan trailer?:O:

http://i.imgur.com/LbUEfnm.jpg?1

:hmm2: Clearly I can't (I'm the T34)

[Betonov]

Mind if I join, I'm all geared up

http://i.imgur.com/5UJo7R7.jpg?2

[Cybermat47]

Mind if I join, I'm all geared up


Put on your Viking helmet, and sure.

[Schroeder]

Put on your Viking helmet, and sure.
Slovene Vikings?:doh:
Scary thought.:o

[Cybermat47]

Slovene Vikings?:doh:
Scary thought.:o

Indeed.

They're mentioned in the Book of Revelations.

[Betonov]

Danke sehr and I'll talk to Oberon on FB on server details.

A slovene viking engineer wielding a flaming kukri of death (it will be when I figure out how to make a pyro gel)

[Oberon]

Server wise it's not hosted by Arclight or anyone. We generally are pretty loose in when we play, last week I think we only had one or two games. We're starting to hit the problem of having different battle ranked tanks, and when you're a little StuG F going up against Sherman Jumbos...

https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8487/8226671737_ba55f3ac47_z.jpg

[HunterICX]

and when you're in anything but a Jumbo up against Sherman Jumbos...


Fixed it

[Cybermat47]

I love this thing.
http://cloud-2.steamusercontent.com/ugc/37492408383008210/DCA29F4587D7B0121933179B6DF16EE335E9CE17/

It's certainly pretty, but what can it do?
http://cloud-4.steamusercontent.com/ugc/37492408383008813/75283603A519DB04A7CB795CF58B0C904498B7E6/

Well, it does a lot of this:
http://cloud-4.steamusercontent.com/ugc/37492408383009057/A92FAFED1C49A158E9FA9866499232215F16E839/

[Dammit_Carl!]

Having just "discovered," the Pz II Auf H, I think I'm in love:

Small, zippy tank? Check!
Huge gun for something that size? Check!
Crew animations so you can see that your stick-up-his-ass commanding officer keeps his flipping hat on while inside the tank? Check!

[Oberon]

Some random pics.

http://i.imgur.com/4SgYPKg.jpg?1
Raptor nails himself an Me-410

http://i.imgur.com/nyVIuFi.jpg?1
Errr...

http://i.imgur.com/QOmHpTk.jpg?1
Not quite sure how that wing-tip is staying on...

http://i.imgur.com/0QSl1GI.jpg?1
I shot that Panzer II and destroyed it where the black smoke is, the momentum carried it on to where it is now...but the smoke stayed in place.

http://i.imgur.com/EAOnJaP.jpg?1
The Sherman M4, the ultimate SPAAG.

http://i.imgur.com/2SoWjEU.jpg?1
Gotcha I had to replay it to check if I'd hit the Stuka with my main shell, sadly I hadn't.

http://i.imgur.com/EMhSD7J.jpg?1
And that's why you don't dive on a AAA truck which has spotted you. That black mark on the ground is a Bf109.

http://i.imgur.com/KkjtdL1.jpg?1
Caution: Drunk driver in AAA truck

http://i.imgur.com/QFddVgO.jpg?1
En garde!

http://i.imgur.com/iJCcVAV.jpg?1
The invincible Sherman. HunterICX puts four shells into the rear and sides, it just laughs and drives away.

[Oberon]

Had some good games today, was even at the top of the leaderboard for a couple. This does not happen very often! :doh:

http://i.imgur.com/UmsbMEy.jpg?1
My humble Stuka got itself a couple of tanks. Here I'm landing just as another Stuka is taking off.

http://i.imgur.com/97qsz7q.jpg?1
And parked up for rearming and refuelling. WT is a damn beautiful game. :up:

http://i.imgur.com/4diqvyg.jpg?1
A P-47 had just lawn-darted itself, trying to go lower than the Wirbelwind could aim. It didn't work although the sight of a P-47 sliding along the ground past the Wirbel was quite amusing

http://i.imgur.com/goEjNte.jpg?1
It can be done! A Sherman goes up in smoke. I think it was a Jumbo too. From the front, impossible, but the flat sides can sometimes let a Pzgr. 39 through.

http://i.imgur.com/I8TZGQa.jpg?1
I couldn't resist...unfortunately about five minutes later I ripped my wings off coming out of a divebombing attack on a US destroyer...so...

http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_mcpydmuEE71rukw0mo5_500.gif

:oops:

[HunterICX]

http://i.imgur.com/KkjtdL1.jpg?1
Caution: Drunk driver in AAA truck

It's the only way to handle that truck.


http://i.imgur.com/iJCcVAV.jpg?1
The invincible Sherman. HunterICX puts four shells into the rear and sides, it just laughs and drives away. I still hear its laugh :shifty:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EbgHLNJYnbM

[Schroeder]

http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_mcpydmuEE71rukw0mo5_500.gif

:oops:

Let me guess, I don't even want to know what that is?:dead:

[Betonov]

I really got to visit Japan.

[HunterICX]

I really got to visit Japan.

Likewise :yep:

[Betonov]

Eat fugu, ride a bullet train and once in my lifetime appear normal :)

[Oberon]

Let me guess, I don't even want to know what that is?:dead:

It would break your highly organised rigid German mind. :salute: :yep:

[Betonov]

It's easy for a Brit to understand the Japaneese.
It's Monthy Python on shrooms tripping acid.

[Schroeder]

It would break your highly organised rigid German mind. :salute: :yep:
Or what's left of it anyways...:88)

[HunterICX]

It's easy for a Brit to understand the Japaneese.
It's Monthy Python on shrooms tripping acid.

It's easy as well for us Dutch as we trip on shroom acid whilst watching :D

[Hans Schultz]

I play WarThunder pretty regularly on PS4 and PC
my name on there is Palmettopilot

[HunterICX]

PzIV Pulling!

http://i.imgur.com/VvPaeTZ.jpg?1

[Oberon]

Yeah, there's a reason my Steam name is Capt. Slow...

https://31.media.tumblr.com/3a8ce03bf67efdafb965b0c4490ae195/tumblr_nfiiprBw3C1s7cb35o4_400.gif

[HunterICX]

The wrong way would inquire being welcomed by Shermans at the most inconvenient of times :03:

[Oberon]

The wrong way would inquire being welcomed by Shermans at the most inconvenient of times :03:

Is there ever a convenient time to be welcomed by a Sherman? :O:

[HunterICX]

Is there ever a convenient time to be welcomed by a Sherman? :O:

http://i.imgur.com/j02yExU.gif

[Oberon]

http://www.quickmeme.com/img/f8/f8b9540a38e61a032164340116b92f7eab181ffb3327f40573 154faecf442bc9.jpg

So, Mozdok (for the millionth time), and my Panzer IV had already been shot out from underneath me by the customary Sherman, so I brought out the Hetzer. We were losing by cap so I rushed over to help another guy grab it.

http://i.imgur.com/gBcnPJ1.jpg?1
As I arrived I noticed he was backing up, curious I stopped and looked forward...

http://i.imgur.com/dFP62bI.jpg?1
Ah...an F6F with two nasty looking bombs...this is going to hurt...

http://i.imgur.com/MBJDatU.jpg?1
Ordinarily I'd open up with my MGs...but for some reason the Hetzers don't work, so I used the big gun instead...

http://i.imgur.com/tLIBuNj.jpg?1

http://i.imgur.com/ILajQN8.jpg?1

http://i.imgur.com/WmijMFY.jpg?1

http://www.quickmeme.com/img/7a/7afd63f6bd27931274a1e10f5a908363ecaac69f310d37e8ea 662149d2bb6481.jpg

[HunterICX]

:o Now that's a brilliant shot!

Pilot's response was surely like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=afBENV1V4kI

[Oberon]

http://i.imgur.com/FKGPtwt.jpg?1

http://t.qkme.me/3v04qr.jpg

[HunterICX]

http://i.imgur.com/Nluk2aq.jpg?1

http://i.imgur.com/BAGCoC7.jpg?1

http://i.imgur.com/S11jxaY.jpg?1

http://i.imgur.com/5VBtL76.jpg?1

http://i.imgur.com/CF8XKC8.jpg

[Oberon]

In six years, not a lot has changed... (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nEVq_EeLGFg) :haha:

[HunterICX]

We stall them into the ground. We shall crash in France, we shall crash them on carrier decks on the seas and oceans, we shall burn alive with growing confidence and growing flames in the air, we shall litter our island, whatever the cost may be. We shall burry them on the beaches, we shall fail on the final approaches, we shall leave wrecks in the fields and in the streets, we shall fly them into the hills; we shall never land proper.

-LoLwaffle's oath.

[Oberon]

"And if the Lolwaffles and their pilots, should last a thousand years, men will still say...This was another great victory for the German luftwaffe...hahahahaha."

Meanwhile:

http://i.imgur.com/ZakWn5j.jpg?1
I finally have my Tiger H1, it's so nice to be able to one shot most things...except the front plate of some Shermans...and of course IS-2s which just laugh and then one shot you.

http://i.imgur.com/1GvTsvz.jpg?1
Optimistic Su-122 is optimistic. I drove through the arch-way a few minutes later to show him how it's done. :haha:

[Raptor1]

Let me try that...

http://i.imgur.com/sIY1Qui.jpg?2
Flak truck is not sufficiently stronk to tow Tiger

http://i.imgur.com/CKDyOao.jpg?1
Just like they taught at flight school

http://i.imgur.com/Qhh6Qu9.jpg?1
A highly accurate reenactment of II SS Panzer Corps' attack on Manhay

Meanwhile:

http://i.imgur.com/aCJ32OL.jpg?1

http://i.imgur.com/Z0qDdvd.png

And then it gets eaten by a T32...

[Oberon]

Oh dear, he has the moving pillbox. :haha:

Well, it was nice knowing you, enjoy the T-32 and IS-3s. :dead:

[Oberon]

Just a heads up, some BRs have changed...I don't think it's anything that affects us too much, possibly a little less Jumbo spam since it looks like they're reducing the spawn limit on them, which is nice.

Full details here:
http://forum.warthunder.com/index.php?/topic/232317-battle-rating-economy-changes-14042015/

[Dammit_Carl!]

Nice seeing you at the BoB event there a few days ago, Oberon; hope you had a better time than I - it always turned into, "shoot the Hurri as he lands to rearm," for me.

[Oberon]

Nice seeing you at the BoB event there a few days ago, Oberon; hope you had a better time than I - it always turned into, "shoot the Hurri as he lands to rearm," for me.

Surprisingly better time, in fact, first time in that event I actually shot something down! :haha: Unfortunately I winchestered and was followed by a 109 as I tried to run back to Manston to rearm, with no-one else in the air to get him he soon caught up and took me down. :/\\!!
But yes, good to see you too! :yeah:

[Oberon]

And now some pictures from my grind to the M6, and a couple of other randoms with the Spit Vb (which still cuts out in forward dives? I think not (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miss_Shilling%27s_orifice))

http://i.imgur.com/j1a3z9q.jpg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zh_p20lHqtA

http://i.imgur.com/zFswL7C.jpg

http://vignette4.wikia.nocookie.net/unanything/images/0/0d/Over9000.gif/revision/latest?cb=20100503021317

http://i.imgur.com/HfSJGt9.jpg?1
Probably my most successful round with the A2, you can see that I've survived long enough for dirt to accumulate, a rare occurrence.

http://i.imgur.com/ZIpiu3w.jpg?1
It's not a Hetzer, but sometimes...when the enemys gun can't depress far enough, you've just got to Hetze...

http://i.imgur.com/8JxuWkw.jpg?1
*plink* *plink* *plink* *plink*

http://i.imgur.com/YGFqr1r.jpg?1
And pilots, you might think you can strafe a SPAAG, and if it hasn't noticed you then perhaps you can...but if it's noticed you, lining up to strafe it...it's a good way to die.

[Dammit_Carl!]

The American half-tracks never cease to amuse me - at a minimum, you can at least lay down a ass-load of .50 rounds on some some chump and probably get in a lucky shot here or there while tearing around and just being a general nuisance.

Can't wait for the TD version / line to come along so I can whoop it up Duke boys style with a 75mm cannon.

[james_nix]

I really want to try this, but I'm not good at twitch shooting. It looks like a Call of Duty but instead of a first person shooter where a guy is running around, it just a tank.

How accurate is that description?

I know it's not going to be Silent Hunter tank edition but I'm not good at shoot-em-ups. How sim vs arcade is it?

[Oberon]

The American half-tracks never cease to amuse me - at a minimum, you can at least lay down a ass-load of .50 rounds on some some chump and probably get in a lucky shot here or there while tearing around and just being a general nuisance.

Can't wait for the TD version / line to come along so I can whoop it up Duke boys style with a 75mm cannon.

I've been looking at the M15 CMGC, that thing looks quite beastly, with a 37mm surprise cannon. Might be what I grind next once I've got the Jumbo and beat the game. :03:

I really want to try this, but I'm not good at twitch shooting. It looks like a Call of Duty but instead of a first person shooter where a guy is running around, it just a tank.

How accurate is that description?

I know it's not going to be Silent Hunter tank edition but I'm not good at shoot-em-ups. How sim vs arcade is it?

It varies from mode to mode and from tank to tank. Arcade is pretty Call of Duty, quite a twitch fest at times because you can see the enemy labels and they can see you and it comes down to who can put the shell out the fastest and who has the better armour.
In Realistic and Simulator battles though, it's a lot better. In Realistic you can only see labels above friendly tanks and only friendly tanks appear on the minimap. So you can use surprise and stealth to your advantage.
In Simulator there are no labels at all, so you have to ID your target to avoid friendly fire, and the minimap only contains your tank so if you want to work in a group then communication is key.
Some tanks are harder to work with than others, in particular the German tank line is a struggle because of the Germans fondness for putting flat armour everywhere which attracts shells like a magnet. The Soviets can take a fair bit of punishment, and the American Shermans either explode on the first hit or are near impossible to kill (Especially if it's a Jumbo, that thing will just eat anything on the front armour and keep rolling).

Let's put it this way, it's a lot more realistic than World of Tanks, there's no hitpoints rubbish. And unlike WoT/WoA/WoWS you can mix two platforms together, so you can go into battle first with a tank, get that shot out from underneath you and come back in with an aircraft (depending on various things) and kick some arse with that.

Give it a bash, it's free after all, and see how you get on. It can be very frustrating at times, especially playing as the Germans, but it can also be very fun. :yep:

[Oberon]

http://i.imgur.com/r0uuki7.jpg?1

http://i.imgur.com/pF1WBCg.jpg?1

http://media.giphy.com/media/Tt92sbuFRpA4g/giphy.gif

http://stream1.gifsoup.com/view7/3429347/ron-swanson-computer-o.gif

[Kptlt. Neuerburg]

^
http://s6.postimg.org/4ofkhspvl/vlcsnap_2015_04_24_13h30m57s617.png

[Raptor1]

Panzer IV? Well, that explains it...

[Oberon]

Meanwhile:

http://i.imgur.com/3WN4ohv.jpg?1
Traditional beach episode...

http://i.imgur.com/PS7olpM.jpg?1
Well...this isn't the airfield...

http://i.imgur.com/EzDFfDZ.jpg?1
Air-dropped KV-1

And then...well...it happens again!

http://i.imgur.com/4pWkUZb.jpg?1
Chugging along in my Sherman, with another M4A2 who I'm supporting (read: watching where he gets shot at from in order to spot targets)

http://i.imgur.com/vtBoFWV.jpg?1
I notice tracers coming in from the sky, so I turn and open up with my MG...

http://i.imgur.com/NpwUzmN.jpg?1
And my main cannon which seems to do the job...

http://kurogane.animeblogger.net/image/fall12/garupan_06_05.jpg

The Sherman SPAAG rolls on! :rock:

[Oberon]

http://i.imgur.com/PpETQmi.jpg?1

UNLIMITED

http://content9.flixster.com/photo/10/98/52/10985235_gal.jpg

POW-

http://militarysource.vojsko.net/TECHNIKA/Pozemni/is-1-02.jpg

http://www.usmilitariaforum.com/uploads//post-68-1176070909.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/ub1rh9D.jpg?1

http://i.imgur.com/eKjBRm3.jpg?1

[Oberon]

M-M-M-MULTI-POST!!

http://i.imgur.com/GeLIvi9.jpg?1
No caption required...

http://i.imgur.com/UjdGfCC.jpg?1

http://www.quickmeme.com/img/03/0313b37ecc190e39ed79d5f9e844bbc7f289ee00b5a4725dea 2f930e9d341fcc.jpg

[Oberon]

MONSTER POST

http://i.imgur.com/qmA8y2N.jpg?1
They didn't say anything about this thing having a German engine...

http://i.imgur.com/bkTEOSi.jpg?1
And now for a demonstration of why it's a bad idea to closely tail an A20 when it's on a bombing run...

http://i.imgur.com/vMUeSRg.jpg?1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DT2X5b0tyDI

(I even got a bonus thing called 'Surprise!')

[Captain Vlad]

Hahhahah. I love doing that to people, but rarely manage to pull it off. Usually when I get 'Surprise!' it's cuz I dropped one on a guy repairing his plane.

Shouldn't get that close to an A-20 even without that danger. People always seem to forget that rear turret has .50 cals, not .303s.

[Oberon]

Doesn't seem to stop most of them...although I have to admit, most of my deaths with the A20 so far have been unexpected interactions with the terrain. The thing does not pull up as fast as I'd expect...

In other news, I may have found a weak spot on the Maus which enables something like a Hellcat to knock it out. Of course you have to be virtually on top of it, but if you ever find yourself up against a Maus, aim for the turret ring at the rear of wherever the turret is pointing, the shell will go straight into the Maus and take out the crew nicely.

Proof:

http://i.imgur.com/T5AgllO.jpg?1

Or you could wait for it to break down, which is the historical way of doing things I guess...

[Oberon]

http://i.imgur.com/0NG1fsJ.jpg?1

https://youtu.be/rT5PyTHPPZc?t=61

Fox!

http://i.imgur.com/vrLAQcr.jpg?1

Splash one bandit

[Oberon]

I like to call this one 'Terrible moments for your gun barrel to stop working'

http://i.imgur.com/km5U24l.jpg?1

We sat like that for about fifty seconds or so, he had no idea I was there, I even had time to write in the chat "Good Afternoon, sir. Do you have a moment to listen to the word of democracy?" Unfortunately before my cannon could repair, he backed up, noticed me and vaporised me. :/\\!!

[Oberon]

Here, have some more pics, what the heck:

http://i.imgur.com/4pDScYn.jpg?1
Trading shells with a Panther

http://i.imgur.com/VsFl9XI.jpg?1
Do you smell something burning?

http://i.imgur.com/ZmSxTjf.jpg?1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2P5qbcRAXVk

http://i.imgur.com/xaJAgAz.jpg?1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_bSEfx6D8mA

http://i.imgur.com/3ABYW1d.jpg?1
Eat MG!

http://i.imgur.com/RyJug6A.jpg?1
Um...

http://i1.ruliweb.daumcdn.net/uf/image/U01/ruliweb/51C04ABF4950B7001A


http://i.imgur.com/Y4XNb0N.jpg?1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WzdxeBTm6gk

[Oberon]

http://31.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_maiyhfTxG91rashrqo1_400.gif



So, Das NORMANDIE and the good ol' Hellcat is out for a stroll...

http://i.imgur.com/r9LfhjH.jpg?1
War Thunder is ridiculously beautiful, and in simulator mode the tanks are a lot of fun.

http://i.imgur.com/qMxXdqi.jpg?1
But anyway, there's a war on. The map is pinged by friendly forces (a nice new touch) and I notice trees being knocked down. The enemy is near!

http://i.imgur.com/nS2CfR4.jpg?1
Good afternoon, sir!

http://i.imgur.com/OBPHEJg.jpg?1
And goodbye!

http://i.imgur.com/ZSRMvl6.jpg?1
More scenery porn as I sneak into the B cap point in a wrecked hamlet, suddenly I stop capping the point...I am not alone...!

http://i.imgur.com/jnOfl1o.jpg?1
Ah...hi! A hasty shot into the front glacis of the Tiger just bounces off uselessly, so I back up and flank him.

http://i.imgur.com/rw4Bq0C.jpg?1
He expects this and turns his turret to meet me, but I can move faster than he can rotate and put two shells into his engine, setting him on fire. He extinguishes the fire (annoyingly).

http://i.imgur.com/woMDh1d.jpg?1
Unbeknownst to me however, he had a friend nearby...a friend who put a shell through my rear armour, cutting my speed dramatically. In the French undergrowth though I completely miss the white Tiger and assume that it was a lucky shot from the first Tiger that hit me.

http://i.imgur.com/cnot9Mk.jpg?1
I attempt to flank the original Tiger again, but he's ready this time thanks to my reduced speed and my right track is shredded. I grind to a halt and we both open up with MGs, whilst behind me...

http://i.imgur.com/iWUDfCn.jpg?1
Yup...I wind up as a Tiger sandwich...lovely...


My second outing ended pretty abruptly when a Stuka dropped a bomb on my head whilst I was trying to take B again... :dead:

[HunterICX]

That pesky Capitalist in the P-38 is annoying me!
http://i.imgur.com/1BroHhF.jpg

Ratatatatatatata
http://i.imgur.com/JerFQHj.jpg

Not Impressed by Communist Machine Gun fire??? Well eat this then instead!!
http://i.imgur.com/UNfVEAy.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/ifbqr8r.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/27kbun9.jpg

:huh:......

http://i.imgur.com/2S1mDql.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/9xDJ0SM.png

Next!

[Raptor1]

Earlier that same battle:

Bastard, how dare you kill Arclight when he was helplessly climbing up the hill?!

http://i.imgur.com/dQfW0wA.jpg

Die!

http://i.imgur.com/qWwBnWk.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/Pj8rtpu.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/PiU4XOu.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/PGZZcRm.jpg

[Oberon]

http://vignette3.wikia.nocookie.net/gup/images/d/d7/Anzu_Kadotani.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20121129083152

Now try doing it with a non-rotating gun. :O:

[Cybermat47]

-Shoots down plane with a Panther-

http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/32026044/images/1399691459579.gif

[HunterICX]

http://vignette3.wikia.nocookie.net/gup/images/d/d7/Anzu_Kadotani.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20121129083152

Now try doing it with a non-rotating gun. :O:

http://i.imgur.com/KTf6I72.png?1

And you try doing it while moving and the aircraft is flying away from you :O: (http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showpost.php?p=2335919&postcount=120)

[Oberon]

Contemplated grinding the Panther D...and I've been reminded just how utterly useless German tanks are in War Thunder. :/\\!!

[Raptor1]

The Panther isn't as bad as most of the German tree. The turret traverse is horrible on the D variant and it's full of shot traps but at least it actually has angled armour, making it somewhat better protected than the paper boxes lined with highly explosive ammo that make up most of the German arsenal. It's also got some of the best mobility out of the tanks I've used (unless you're trying the pitiful 3km/h reverse gear), though I imagine the Hellcat beats it in that department quite easily.

Naturally it still gets eaten by Sherman Jumbos and IS-1s but, well, it's still a German tank...

[Oberon]

The Panther isn't as bad as most of the German tree. The turret traverse is horrible on the D variant and it's full of shot traps but at least it actually has angled armour, making it somewhat better protected than the paper boxes lined with highly explosive ammo that make up most of the German arsenal. It's also got some of the best mobility out of the tanks I've used (unless you're trying the pitiful 3km/h reverse gear), though I imagine the Hellcat beats it in that department quite easily.

Naturally it still gets eaten by Sherman Jumbos and IS-1s but, well, it's still a German tank...

Aye, I'd love to get to the Panther G but I just can't see that happening when it's hard to get any decent amount of RP whilst driving a German tank. :/\\!!

[james_nix]

I'm slowing dipping my toe into tanks. I bought the M18 Blackcat because that was the coolest looking one I could play right away.

I want to use my Saitek X-55 HOTAS for controls but having a heck of a time setting it up. Any tips for setting it up, or tips for my new tank?

[Oberon]

Well, I found out how to play as the Germans! Von Ribbentrop with the Soviets. :yeah:

http://i.imgur.com/0UcEIyS.jpg?1
This is not a Tiger...mistakes have been made...

http://i.imgur.com/tFTSaSo.jpg?1

http://38.media.tumblr.com/9d038da2fe17c76095de64abb97da458/tumblr_no2uw0sUzG1sfvjpeo5_400.gif

[Oberon]

I'm slowing dipping my toe into tanks. I bought the M18 Blackcat because that was the coolest looking one I could play right away.

I want to use my Saitek X-55 HOTAS for controls but having a heck of a time setting it up. Any tips for setting it up, or tips for my new tank?

Can't really help you with the joystick as I tend to stick with mouse, you might want to have a look through their official forums, see if anyone else has had a problem with the X-55.

In regards to the Black Cat, if she handles anything like the Hellcat then you'll want to flank around the sides, use your speed to get into a good ambush position, shoot and scoot. A HE round or even well placed MG fire will ruin your day, AP rounds doubly so although sometimes they over-penetrate and you get a lucky escape. Learn the weak spots of your enemies and hit them there. Stick to the edges of the maps, sometimes you can even make it as far as the enemies rear and attack them from behind. Try to avoid spawn camping though because that's no fun for anyone.

You're one of the fastest tanks in the game (at the moment) so use that speed well, and your firepower is capable of hitting most enemy armour that you'll face, just remember that your armour is about two pieces of cardboard and some chewing gum. :dead:

[Cybermat47]

Hot damn, Oberon, I love that Hippo Team (episodes 3-4) skin you've got! Any chance of a download link?

[Oberon]

Hot damn, Oberon, I love that Hippo Team (episodes 3-4) skin you've got! Any chance of a download link?

No problemo, here ya go:

http://live.warthunder.com/post/20170/

[james_nix]

I'm really torn. I love simulation battles, but want the vanity cam of realistic battles now that I figured out how to make my own skins. :hmmm:

[Oberon]

So, back to Normandy, but this time with extra Communism:

http://i.imgur.com/wyNc3RG.jpg
Saw this StuG behind us, so I swung around and snuck over to it.

http://i.imgur.com/IAV8Cjd.jpg?1
We exchanged shells, he damaged my gun, I missed. Some bombs landed nearby him as I backed up, I was expecting him to either come straight down and take a shot or try to flank around, either way I'd see him....what I wasn't expecting though was...

http://i.imgur.com/mrNJhww.jpg?1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9F0yUhLJUaY

http://i.imgur.com/oUvPZWv.jpg?1
And that is how I was killed by a flying StuG...

[HunterICX]

More like ''StuGs of Hazzard''
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14ZHn_76QM0

[Oberon]

http://i.imgur.com/IH5f6B6.jpg?1
Suddenly we both feel rather inadequate....

[james_nix]

Kind of sucks that simulation battle simulation are events and not regular matches. Sometimes you don't have the right vehicle tier and you can't play for a couple of days.

You could buy a higher tiered vehicle but that gets expensive and adds to your battle rating which would push you into higher match ups you may not be ready for.

I tried realistic but not my cup of tea with the player names visible.

[HunterICX]

Suddenly we both feel rather inadequate....

You mean....
http://i.imgur.com/OLTtC0x.jpg


I tried realistic but not my cup of tea with the player names visible.

Realistic only show the player names of that of your own team, I don't have a problem with that.

[Oberon]

These are unedited screenshots (well, the labels and overlay are removed, but that's it)

http://i.imgur.com/bnPwJyD.jpg
To the steps of the Reichstag we roll!

http://i.imgur.com/AATdA9Q.jpg
I must go! My people need me!!

[james_nix]

Realistic only show the player names of that of your own team, I don't have a problem with that.

In RB, is the team mixed, or are they sometimes mixed? Will there be a panzer on my team for example? I'm still trying to understand all of the modes to play.

I've been reading that some people put their settings on low graphics so there is no grass just to see the enemy better. Sad.

I was also called a noob in Russian when I drove my tank into the water and drowned :rotfl2:

[HunterICX]

In RB, is the team mixed, or are they sometimes mixed? Will there be a panzer on my team for example? I'm still trying to understand all of the modes to play.

Teams are mixed but you're never fighting tanks of the same nationality as in your team so for example Your team can be either only Russian tanks fighting against the team that has both German and American Tanks or the other way around that you're teamed as Russian and German tanks vs the American tanks.

I've been reading that some people put their settings on low graphics so there is no grass just to see the enemy better. Sad. That they do, it's sad but some people simply don't play these type of games for fun.

I was also called a noob in Russian when I drove my tank into the water and drowned :rotfl2:I drove mine in the river once by driving through the barrier fence of the river in the poland map, Raptor1 tried to help me with tow...I ended up having a turkish bath and he ended up on his side :D

[Oberon]

There are reports that they're going to be fixing that ULQ exploit in the next patch, but how much stock to put in that is debatable.
Berlin is going to get destructible buildings though, which look interesting, and a new way to destroy those pesky IS-2s, T-32s and Tiger IIs which keep bugging you...although knowing the aforementioned tanks, they'll just laugh and one-shot in return.

This is the best place to get an idea of what's hopefully coming soon - http://forum.warthunder.com/index.php?/topic/252768-future-content-rumour-roundup-currently-153/

[Oberon]

So, the KV-2, or Broseph Stalins Comrade-loving Pimp Hand.

http://c0016417.cdn2.cloudfiles.rackspacecloud.com/355oi0.jpg

Has a profile like the Burj Khalifa, and the long range accuracy of a Scud missile, but take that thing into the streets and anything you find will be toast...providing that it doesn't find you inbetween shots because the reload time is longer than most Soviet Premiers live. So shoot, slowly scoot back and pray someone else is covering you. :haha:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aRCqeopqnPQ

[Oberon]

http://cdn-live.warthunder.com/uploads/47/ac476361af26bd5032cbc20fe14169adfddb6b_mq/feCZ4At.jpg

[NeonSamurai]

Decided to get in on this game, mostly for air combat though, so you ground pounders probably won't see much of me, mostly arcade till I get a better feel for the game.

Gotta say though, so far I am not very impressed with most of the low level players. In my first two engagements I was easily managing 6-1 or better kill ratios and ending up in the top 3, even with the lousy peashooter (which doesn't do much of anything well).

Also what the holy ****** is wrong with the prices in this game. To just unlock all the premium planes and tanks would cost about $1200 USD alone! That's factoring out the value of any added perks (premium subscriptions and Gold Eagles) from the packs, and does not include anything extra like spading or unlocking the other planes. Most of the high tier equipment costs $25 dollars or more per vehicle! By far the worst deals of all are the in-game vehicles that can be bought for GE (though, many of the store bought planes are also bad deals, except for the big vehicle packs, those are worth it by comparison), and the decals which cost about $2.50 each. Also stay far far away from the random chance trophy boxes, and never ever EVER use the convertible research points (one of the biggest rip-offs in the game). The premium account doesn't seem worth it either for cost vs reward.

This is as bad if not worse than some of the free to play mobile games out there, (you know the ones that want 5-10 dollars for a 10x10pix animation, and up to a hundred dollars for their crappy in-game money).

It's a pity too, as I really like the game so far. All prices like this do is encourage me not to ever give them any money. I'm sure I'm not the only one who feels that way, and it is a truly stupid move by the publishers/developers, as in the long run it won't make them more money, it will cost them sales.

[Oberon]

Yeah, you're pretty much fine on not paying anything in the first three tiers, but when you get around Tier 3 and 4 then the RP and SL costs get a bit crazy versus the rewards from battles. I guess on a business stand-point it makes sense, most people just get one or two premium vehicles and use them for RP and SL grinding, you get bonuses I think. You can also win premium vehicles in events, you can usually tell when that happens because they suddenly appear in their dozens in the game, the KV-1B for example was a reward in the recent event and the sods are everywhere. :haha:

Arcade air battles are good ways to grind SL, you will need those later down the line when the average aircraft and/or tank costs 200k. :dead:

I think where most of Gaijins money comes from though is premium accounts rather than vehicles, which means you get more RP and SL from battles.

[james_nix]

The M4A3 (76) is way over tiered with it's battle rating, I guess they have to do that or the Germans would have no tanks to fight. The Jumbo is jut too slow.

I had to go back down to the M4A2 (76) which is better at getting equal enemies scaled it seems like.

I only play sim. I'm trying to learn how to fly too so I have something to do when during the match. I can take off, just not land yet.

And it really, really, hard to see tanks on the ground when you are flying. I'm going to have to do some custom matches to practice.

[Oberon]

"YOU'VE GOT A HOLE IN YOUR LEFT..."

http://i.imgur.com/7fB95dY.jpg?1

"Um...nevermind..."

http://i.imgur.com/ht21Eb5.jpg?1

[NeonSamurai]

Yeah, you're pretty much fine on not paying anything in the first three tiers, but when you get around Tier 3 and 4 then the RP and SL costs get a bit crazy versus the rewards from battles. I guess on a business stand-point it makes sense, most people just get one or two premium vehicles and use them for RP and SL grinding, you get bonuses I think. You can also win premium vehicles in events, you can usually tell when that happens because they suddenly appear in their dozens in the game, the KV-1B for example was a reward in the recent event and the sods are everywhere. :haha:

The thing though is I think they would make a lot more money if they priced things more fairly, like 50 cents for a decal or 12 dollars max for a premium plane, and got rid of the blatant rip offs (or made it more fair value) like the lottery boxes, or the CRP. The player base would also be a lot happier too I suspect. Basically cut most of the prices in GE to 1/3rd or so. Of course you would have to do something to appease the people who already bought this stuff. As it stands right now, they just feel as sleazy and greedy as those horrid freemium mobile games that charge crazy pants amounts for what they deliver, which generally is a shallow skinner box that is barely fun.

I may at some point pick up the 80 dollar package deal or something as those are pretty good deals when factoring in the value of the gold eagles and premium, as grinding the upper tier levels is bloody difficult without the premium plane bonuses.

Arcade air battles are good ways to grind SL, you will need those later down the line when the average aircraft and/or tank costs 200k. :dead:
From what I've seen you can make pretty good money in HB, if you know what your doing, and don't get screwed over by RNG tier grouping. So far anyhow I have been doing quite well at about 5000-12000 SL per match at tier 1 non premium in arcade. Sometimes it just goes bad though where most of the enemy opposition just totally outclasses what your flying in capability and armament. In those cases my K/D ratio plummets, though I still do well in the final scoring because I will manage to kill at least 3 or 4 higher BR planes.

I think where most of Gaijins money comes from though is premium accounts rather than vehicles, which means you get more RP and SL from battles.I'm honestly not entirely convinced yet that premium is worth it, as the bonuses do not seem all that great. But maybe I'll change my tune later who knows.


And it really, really, hard to see tanks on the ground when you are flying. I'm going to have to do some custom matches to practice.

It's much easier to do with head tracking gear like TrackIR (practically essential for sim piloting), but the best way is to watch for movement or shots being fired in an area you suspect has tank activity rather than scanning for tank shaped objects. Think like a tanker and try to anticipate their actions.

[Oberon]

The thing though is I think they would make a lot more money if they priced things more fairly, like 50 cents for a decal or 12 dollars max for a premium plane, and got rid of the blatant rip offs (or made it more fair value) like the lottery boxes, or the CRP. The player base would also be a lot happier too I suspect. Basically cut most of the prices in GE to 1/3rd or so. Of course you would have to do something to appease the people who already bought this stuff. As it stands right now, they just feel as sleazy and greedy as those horrid freemium mobile games that charge crazy pants amounts for what they deliver, which generally is a shallow skinner box that is barely fun.

Fully agree, and I think it would certainly help create some good feeling in the community which is always a good thing. Especially since there has been some accusations of a disconnect between the developers and their audience of late.

I may at some point pick up the 80 dollar package deal or something as those are pretty good deals when factoring in the value of the gold eagles and premium, as grinding the upper tier levels is bloody difficult without the premium plane bonuses.

I've gotten to the lower half of Tier III so far without spending a single coin...but I've put in a lot of hours. :dead:

From what I've seen you can make pretty good money in HB, if you know what your doing, and don't get screwed over by RNG tier grouping. So far anyhow I have been doing quite well at about 5000-12000 SL per match at tier 1 non premium in arcade. Sometimes it just goes bad though where most of the enemy opposition just totally outclasses what your flying in capability and armament. In those cases my K/D ratio plummets, though I still do well in the final scoring because I will manage to kill at least 3 or 4 higher BR planes.

RNG is a.... :/\\!!
Hopefully the rumours about the adjustments to tiering and the match-maker will be true and it will be taken to a 0.7 BR bracket rather than the 1.0 it currently is (I believe). At the end of the day though, you can have a good match even if you've found yourself uptiered. That's one of the big things that I like about War Thunder over the likes of 'World of Tanks', it's that you sometimes do stand a chance, even if you do find yourself ridiculously uptiered. It doesn't happen often, but a recent match with my newly acquired Panther-D and Tiger I Ausf. H showed that such things can happen.
I spawned in and immediately saw Tiger IIs and Jagdpanthers. My heart sank, I knew I'd be facing IS-2s, M4A3E2s, and the like. This being said, I managed to kill an IS-1 with my Panther, and gain enough spawnpoints to bring in the Tiger which went on a killing spree until it got on the wrong end of an Su-152. I do not know how I got so far, and did so well...I really can't explain it. But we won, it was very close but we won.
It felt very good. :yep:



I'm honestly not entirely convinced yet that premium is worth it, as the bonuses do not seem all that great. But maybe I'll change my tune later who knows.

I haven't really had much experience with it, or if I have it was a long time ago. Raptor might have a better insight, he did mention something the other day about having a weekend premium or something.


Here, have some replay files (https://www.mediafire.com/?893gwdd7b2xzclj), good for a chuckle:
Finlandball is the match I was just describing.
Saving Private Hellcat was a map on Normandy with a Tiger I which blew up while I was MGing it, and a Tiger II which was hilariously oblivious
I must go, my people need me is a match in Berlin where the Soviet Air Force very briefly gained a new member.

[Raptor1]

I've had about 4 days of total premium time from various events and I got through the entire Panther D, half the Tiger H1 and most of the Tiger II (P) just in that time alone. By comparison, I just got the Tiger II (H) without any premium subscription and that took many days of playing just by itself. Granted, I was playing more to make the most out of what I had, but the premium thing is definitely helpful when you get into the nastier grinds in Tier III and beyond.

As for the matchmaker, I think it's a somewhat borked system because it tries to provide some sort of gradual progression in BR in exactly the same places where it wouldn't work, leading to such nonsense as the Tiger E, which is identical to the lower-ranked Tiger H1 except for a second machine gun, and the IS-2, a tank fully capable of taking on most of the tier IV and V German tanks with relative ease, being on the same rating (6.0). As Oberon said, it's thankfully possible to still fight even at a disadvantage in this game, but you're still at the mercy of the RNG unless they come up with something that makes more sense (which seems doubtful).

[HunterICX]

As for the matchmaker, I think it's a somewhat borked system...

Heard they had the same problem in the Alpha, you'd think after 70 years of development they would've fixed it by now.

[sturmer]

its a great game, beyond tier 4 its an pain in the *ss to gain some xp. premium account is almost required to get some decent xp and silver eagles.
the matchmaking is indeed a bit messed up, most of the time you encounter russian tanks like IS 3 -4 when you only drive a tigerII(h) or even just a panther A.

[NeonSamurai]

Cheers for the replays, I'll check em out when I have some time.

Anyhow for one day in its gone pretty well. After doing all the tutorials, and flying in about 15 battles, I've made about 420k SL, spaded 5 planes, and unlocked 6, including a tier 2 fighter (not counting the freebie premium).

I agree the BR system needs some work, as some planes seem really over tiered and others rather under.

[sturmer]

i stopped playing the aviation mode, its just to frustrating to keep unlocking the same plane but different versions lik the bf109 from B to K or the Il-2 series. it gets boring very quickly.
but the best way to gain the most xp and eagles is actually in simulator battle but its very hard in aircraft with full controls (i did most in realistic). in the tank part its more easy but you dont have the external look.

[Captain Vlad]

Also what the holy ****** is wrong with the prices in this game. To just unlock all the premium planes and tanks would cost about $1200 USD alone!

Eh, I'm starting to get a fairly nice collection of premium planes and I think I paid full price for...none of them? I bought the P-47M when it was on sale for half, and I'm not entirely sure that, combined with that, my total War Thunder expenditure is any more than $30.

Just wait for give away events, half-off boosters, sales, etc. and you can start to build a fairly impressive premium line-up without much money at all. Oh, and don't forget stuff like Golden Battle Wagers, where you can get gold payouts based on how many victories in a row you can achieve.

I'll sure as hell take it over paying for vehicle slots like on World of Tanks.

[NeonSamurai]

i stopped playing the aviation mode, its just to frustrating to keep unlocking the same plane but different versions lik the bf109 from B to K or the Il-2 series. it gets boring very quickly.
but the best way to gain the most xp and eagles is actually in simulator battle but its very hard in aircraft with full controls (i did most in realistic). in the tank part its more easy but you dont have the external look.

I've been spreading out my attention on all the countries and leveling multiple fighter branches (no bombers yet, not very interested in that). So it's not so bad.

I'm not so sure about simulator being the most profitable. The reason being that sim and historical battles take a lot longer. Plus from what I have seen it takes a lot longer to get a game. So while you may get more from each individual battle, over time I think arcade has the advantage. In tier 1 air arcade battles I've made as much as 24k SL, and average 12k SL unless I am starting a new country. I focus entirely on dogfighting though, not ground attack, which is way more profitable so far anyways.

Eh, I'm starting to get a fairly nice collection of premium planes and I think I paid full price for...none of them? I bought the P-47M when it was on sale for half, and I'm not entirely sure that, combined with that, my total War Thunder expenditure is any more than $30.

Just wait for give away events, half-off boosters, sales, etc. and you can start to build a fairly impressive premium line-up without much money at all. Oh, and don't forget stuff like Golden Battle Wagers, where you can get gold payouts based on how many victories in a row you can achieve.

I'll sure as hell take it over paying for vehicle slots like on World of Tanks.

Ya, i mean the 75% off stuff is great, then the value is reasonable, but half off still isn't. Still I would rather they just offer fair value up front and drop the ripoffs that exist.

Also after 5 slots, you gotta pay for slots too. But ya, I didn't touch WoT for a number of reasons.


At some point I'll give tanks a whirl in the game, but for now I am having too much fun nailing the clueless players in arcade. I hope the player base gets better as I climb ranks, as about the only times I die is if I make a really stupid mistake (collisions are about the number 1 reason why I die). Some day I'll migrate to HB and then realistic, once I get use to the game and am in a position to set up my TrackIR and HOTAS.

On another note, maybe someday we should get the Lolwaffles going in WT

[Raptor1]

Heard they had the same problem in the Alpha, you'd think after 70 years of development they would've fixed it by now.

Should've gotten a clue when the German players started rage-quitting en masse.

As for Silver Lions, from my experience the Air Arcade battles are by far the most reliable way to make money. You can get a lot from a realistic or simulator battle you do really well in, but on average the arcade matches seem to be more profitable.

[NeonSamurai]

Too bad you can't unlock tanks using Air arcade.

[Captain Vlad]

Also after 5 slots, you gotta pay for slots too. But ya, I didn't touch WoT for a number of reasons.

Those are just crew slots, though, how many planes you can deploy in arcade matches or others that allow multi-spawn. What I mean is that when you unlock a new plane, you don't have to buy a new slot for it with real money if you ever want to fly it.

That's huge for me. If I unlock it, I wanna give it a whirl, not wait till payday to take it out for its christening run.

[NeonSamurai]

Yes I know, I was just stating that you do have to pay for slots too, not that they work the same as WoT.


I also gotta say, I really do not like the crew skill system. Talk about serious pay to win potential with that. You can give yourself one hell of an advantage if you pay to have your crews maxed.

[Captain Vlad]

Yes I know, I was just stating that you do have to pay for slots too, not that they work the same as WoT.

Well that wasn't clear; my initial post was referring to the 'no slots for vehicles' system being preferable, and your response seemed to imply a limit to that.

I also gotta say, I really do not like the crew skill system. Talk about serious pay to win potential with that. You can give yourself one hell of an advantage if you pay to have your crews maxed.

I notice the difference between a fully-trained crew and a bunch of newbies, certainly. Not really a complete game breaker; when I bought an extra crew slot I didn't have any trouble getting enough kills to train it up.

[NeonSamurai]

Well that wasn't clear; my initial post was referring to the 'no slots for vehicles' system being preferable, and your response seemed to imply a limit to that.

I was referring to crew slots, which I knew were different, but ya wasn't clear enough.

I notice the difference between a fully-trained crew and a bunch of newbies, certainly. Not really a complete game breaker; when I bought an extra crew slot I didn't have any trouble getting enough kills to train it up.

Are we talking tanks or aircraft though? I'm not sure that the impact is quite as significant in tanks. In aircraft every little edge can be crucial, like how quickly i recover from blackout, If I can spot the enemy before they see me, how often my guns jam and how quickly they can recover/reload, and all the other things the skills confer. That can make all the difference between winning a fight and loosing it if your up against equal foes.

[Captain Vlad]

I was referring to crew slots, which I knew were different, but ya wasn't clear enough.

Oh yeah?! Come at me bro! (If you see me in a match:arrgh!:)

Are we talking tanks or aircraft though? I'm not sure that the impact is quite as significant in tanks. In aircraft every little edge can be crucial, like how quickly i recover from blackout, If I can spot the enemy before they see me, how often my guns jam and how quickly they can recover/reload, and all the other things the skills confer. That can make all the difference between winning a fight and loosing it if your up against equal foes.

I very rarely play tanks, so I was talking about aircraft. Which skills are more important depends on how you play or what plane you're flying IMO. If you prefer boom and zoom like I tend to, the visual sighting distance is king. If you can't fly 10 feet without a break turn, the G tolerance is awesome.

Thing is...I can still spot the guy before the game puts a big red marker on him...and if you get used to doing that, the awareness and such is less important, IMO. And if you fly the right way, you don't always end up pulling enough G's to black out. This may not be as much of an issue for me since I tend to be an ambush predator.

The weapon maintenance and stuff IS very helpful, but that's actually pretty quick to rank up compared to the other stuff (it's my first priority when I get a new crew slots).

[NeonSamurai]

Oh yeah?! Come at me bro! (If you see me in a match:arrgh!:)

Sure :D

I very rarely play tanks, so I was talking about aircraft. Which skills are more important depends on how you play or what plane you're flying IMO. If you prefer boom and zoom like I tend to, the visual sighting distance is king. If you can't fly 10 feet without a break turn, the G tolerance is awesome.

Thing is...I can still spot the guy before the game puts a big red marker on him...and if you get used to doing that, the awareness and such is less important, IMO. And if you fly the right way, you don't always end up pulling enough G's to black out. This may not be as much of an issue for me since I tend to be an ambush predator.

The weapon maintenance and stuff IS very helpful, but that's actually pretty quick to rank up compared to the other stuff (it's my first priority when I get a new crew slots).

An edge is still an edge, though. It may not be an "I win" button, but it does skew the advantage towards the person that payed the money.

[sturmer]

in tanks its helps aswell to get a trained crew, passed out crew members recover faster, same goes for reloading shells and sighting enemies
so yeah its on both parts that it does count.

[Oberon]

http://i.imgur.com/qsbKrrn.jpg?1
Arclight: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-jO1EOhGkY0&feature=youtu.be&t=470 (https://youtu.be/-jO1EOhGkY0?t=461)

[sturmer]

yeah that can be a b/tch sometimes. didnt you ask for a tow?

[Oberon]

yeah that can be a b/tch sometimes. didnt you ask for a tow?

He did, but unfortunately I was on the other side of the map in the worlds slowest tank (KV-2) and Raptor was flying overhead in a P-63... :oops:

[NeonSamurai]

I got to say after playing for a bit (I've now managed to acquire a few tier II planes for each nation), the game is really starting to irritate the heck out of me with certain things.

First of all the game seems to have one of the most flukey damage models I've ever seen. Some flights I go out and I am practically death incarnate (like one air domination game where I got 12 air kills, and 13 assists, to 0 planes lost), and the very next match I can't seem to shoot down anything at all, or worse just fall victim to endless fluke shots that either sheer my wing off, one shot my pilot, cripple my maneuverability or engine, or cause me to spontaneously combust. More often then not the damage effect is caused by just one single random bullet according to replays. I've lost count now how many times I've had wings sheered off at 600m by 1-3 7.7 bullets, and I am not flying a biplane. I've also seen planes take crazy amounts of damage, sometimes upwards of 50 MG FF/M rounds and fly like they were hardly hit at all, other times they disintegrate from 1-2 rounds.

Because of this random damage my performance match to match can be pretty scattered as well, even though I can generally out-fly and out-shoot almost all the players I encounter. I know all the different planes weak points and shoot at/hit them. It doesn't seem to matter though, it feels like I'm playing an old PnP game where you just roll for everything, or that there is some sort of exploit.

I've also noticed that matchmaking appears to be particularly bad, where one side or the other frequently ends up with most of the higher tier planes in a match. I've seen cases where one team is mostly tier 1 and low tier 2 planes, and the other side has many mid-tier 3 planes such as P-47s, P-51s, and later model Bf-109s & Fw 190s.

Also what on earth is with the trees for the different nations, as some of them really get majorly shafted with their tier 1 plane selection. The worst by far is Japan, followed by Germany. Japan is the worst because all the Tier 1 fighters have absolutely terrible guns other than their heavy fighter. The Japanese type 89 is slow firing, hardly does any damage at all, and doesn't have its historical exploding bullets. They are easily the absolute worst guns in the game, and until you hit tier 2 you are going to be stuck with em. Germany also suffers from similar low armaments where most of its fighters are also carrying 2x7.92mm machine guns (or the lousy Italian breda 13mm mgs), the difference though is their mg's are not utter garbage as they do have fast firing rates and do reasonable damage, so you can at least shoot down planes unlike Japan, also their Bf-110 is pretty powerful if you know how to use it. England's tree is so so, they get saddled with a lot of biplanes, but the hurricane which you can get fairly early is pretty nasty if used correctly (problem is most don't know how to use them). Russia and the USA on the other hand get planes with powerful armaments very quickly (usually the first plane you unlock), packing either multiple m2 50 cal or a 20mm cannon.

I am also really getting sick and tired of air domination, mainly the one where you have to control an airspace. They are just utter chaos where skill becomes almost meaningless. They are especially horrid if you get stuck with a team that is utterly clueless as they just get wiped out in no time. The best part though, is you can't predict when you're going to end up in one of those missions, and can't change out your aircraft for something more suitable if you were trying to spade bombers for example. I also really LOVE how the game decides to penalize you if you drop before all your planes are trashed by making the country you were playing unavailable for 10 minutes because you decided you really don't want to suicide your bombers as that's all you have left or because the last 5 matches was this game mode and your fed up with it. On the other hand I really could care less about the penalty as I'm working on all 5 countries, so I can always just switch to another one for a game.

The mechanics for awarding the kill also make little sense at all to me, as it doesn't seem to be based on damage done, yet isn't necessarily based on who gets the killing blow either. It also seems really random too.

So honestly this makes me really wonder if I want to continue with this game or not, as it is starting to get just too aggravating. I figure I will try moving to realistic to see if things get better or not before I do. I tried out tanks a couple of times now but I honestly don't quite get it (especially the aircraft in it, doesn't make much sense at all to me. All of a sudden I'm in an aircraft while my tank stays where it was, then suddenly I am not any more). It also seems to be far more twitch based then the planes (at least in arcade).

Anyhow some tips for anyone thinking of getting into the air side of the game. The easiest countries to start out in are USA and Russia. If you have the gold eagles (or the free unlock) I strongly recommend Thatch's F2A Buffalo as it is the best plane out of the bunch (seriously it is one evil little plane, the example I gave above of 12 kills was flying one against tier 2-3 planes), though the Russian Chaika is lots of fun too, that is when its wings aren't falling off (do not bother with the first Japanese or German premium unless you really want to fly only that country). Also make sure you understand the planes you fly and the planes others fly, as it is the key to doing well as you need to know what your plane's strength and weaknesses are, when you should turn and burn, and when you should boom and zoom. Understand and make use of the gun convergence settings, especially when flying multi-gun planes like the Hurricane. Also try not to fixate on targets, I've lost count of the number of planes I killed that were utterly fixated on the plane ahead of them and died because of it.

[Oberon]

Can't really disagree with you, the match-maker is very much broken. Before you leave though give the ground forces a bash. I tend to play them most these days because the air forces are very much down to Random Number Jesus. At least when you get blown to hell in a tank you generally have a good idea of why it happened.
Of course, RNG does rear its ugly head from time to time, I've had more than one occasion when I've raised my arms to the sky and asked the Gods why that KV-1B just bounced my 152mm nuclear bomb.
That being said, I'd rather have that than the HP system of WoT, I feel it lends a more authentic...if somewhat frustrating experience.

I wouldn't say Germany is completely shafted at Tier I, the He-112B-0 has a nasty little cannon on it which comes with some special fragmentation round which can really chew out enemies. The Romanian He-112B2/U2 is also nice but is a premium/gift bird...damned if I can remember exactly how I wound up with her. The Bf-110 can surprise people, the cannons are very nasty on it and can rip through some other Tier Is quite happily.
Compare that to the RAF which doesn't get any cannons in Tier I. :doh:
Yeah, the Japs get screwed over though...but to be fair, there's not that much you can do to help designs that were already not at the highest end of the tech tree...whenever the Japanese ground forces get introduced the same problem is going to be faced. :dead:
This being said, I've taken to taking the Tier I Jap aircraft out on the occasional Realistic battle lately and had some good fun with them. So long as you avoid the Russians you can hold your own providing you can drag the enemy down into a turning battle. :yep:

[NeonSamurai]

Can't really disagree with you, the match-maker is very much broken. Before you leave though give the ground forces a bash. I tend to play them most these days because the air forces are very much down to Random Number Jesus. At least when you get blown to hell in a tank you generally have a good idea of why it happened.
Of course, RNG does rear its ugly head from time to time, I've had more than one occasion when I've raised my arms to the sky and asked the Gods why that KV-1B just bounced my 152mm nuclear bomb.
That being said, I'd rather have that than the HP system of WoT, I feel it lends a more authentic...if somewhat frustrating experience.

It is very badly broken, I've also noticed a trend where certain players will bring one higher tier plane and a pile of low tier planes which brings down his total BR, so things like a zero show up in matches where most players are br 1.0. Needless to say they tend to get really high kill streaks going, at least until I get my hands on them (assuming I can get them to separate from their teammates long enough). I always love when people try to turn with me in biplanes.

Probably the most annoying is the squads/guilds showing up on a server en mass. Talk about shifting the balance of power.

I've tried Tanks, I mean its fun in some ways but really screwy, particularly in arcade with the planes and stuff. I agree though that I don't want hit points. But the damage model is just so borked I think.

I wouldn't say Germany is completely shafted at Tier I, the He-112B-0 has a nasty little cannon on it which comes with some special fragmentation round which can really chew out enemies. The Romanian He-112B2/U2 is also nice but is a premium/gift bird...damned if I can remember exactly how I wound up with her. The Bf-110 can surprise people, the cannons are very nasty on it and can rip through some other Tier Is quite happily.
Compare that to the RAF which doesn't get any cannons in Tier I. :doh:

Ya I have the He-112B-0. I honestly didn't think very much of it, though it does maneuver well. The biggest problem with it is it is buried fairly deeply in the tree, takes a fair amount of research points, and enemies have the annoying habit of flying through the shells (not to mention the extra long reload times). I've flown the Bf-110 pretty extensively, it was the first plane i chose to unlock in the German tree. If something gets in front of me with it, odds are very high they will get pulverized before they know what happened to it. On the other hand they are also very easy to kill. The gunner has poor coverage as he cant shoot directly behind, and once you get someone on your tail your pretty much screwed as they will be impossible to shake. It also has the nasty habit of having its wings come off with those lucky shots. Ive actually killed a number of them just using BR 1.0 biplanes, just stay under its tail gunner and saw its wing off. Their biggest problem is they just aren't quite fast enough to stay alive, and they have horrid energy retention, hell I've had even biplanes keep up and just pepper me endlessly, and that's with a spaded 110.

The RAF does get a lot of multi gun planes though, and in the right hands the first hurricane is exceedingly lethal if you keep your target in your convergence range. The hurricane can either out run or out turn whatever it faces, often both, and most targets don't last long if there in convergence. The problem is most people don't fly like that, they spray and pray with it. I've also noticed that wings tend to fly off with 7.7 rounds.

Yeah, the Japs get screwed over though...but to be fair, there's not that much you can do to help designs that were already not at the highest end of the tech tree...whenever the Japanese ground forces get introduced the same problem is going to be faced. :dead:
This being said, I've taken to taking the Tier I Jap aircraft out on the occasional Realistic battle lately and had some good fun with them. So long as you avoid the Russians you can hold your own providing you can drag the enemy down into a turning battle. :yep:

Well they could at least get their exploding ammo like they are supposed to have, also a lot of the Japanese planes are very over tiered, that and planes like the Hayabusa should be tier 1. It also doesn't help that the damn things tend to burst into flames if you look at them funny. The odds are horribly stacked against players who fly Japan because of that plus how fragile they tend to be, the good awful armaments many of the planes have, and how most of them have extremely limited ammo (like the zero, where you'll be lucky if you don't use more than half your cannon ammo on a kill).


TBH I don't see how Japanese ground forces could work in this game as they pretty much only used light tanks in WW2.

[sturmer]

in the air i love the zero, its a fun plane to fly so are the KI fighters.
in groundforces its just hopeless against any country IMO

[NeonSamurai]

Oh I don't disagree. Just don't get hit or whoosh flames everywhere.

[Oberon]

Anyway, here's some more pics.

http://i.imgur.com/9Jo50J4.jpg?1
What happens when you put cruise control on and get distracted...

http://i.imgur.com/xM5zwWI.jpg?1
Dead-sticking a Spitfire after catching some gunner fire off a Ju-88

http://i.imgur.com/nrywhVa.jpg?1
And finally a mission against the Japs, no airfields to rearm on until they get captured...our team was dropping like flies, so I had to...improvise...

http://i.imgur.com/goFpO7u.jpg?1
I can't believe I managed this, normally it ends badly.

http://i.imgur.com/DOKLe5w.jpg?1
What makes it better is that my Wellington was then rearmed, refueled and repaired and air-started behind the carriers. I was shot down by three Japanese fighters about two minutes later but pulling this off, in realistic battles, made my flaming death a bit more palatable.

[NeonSamurai]

You just made me think of the time I landed a B2 Spirit bomber on the deck of a Nimitz carrier in Jane's Fighter Anthology, except it was wheels down and the wings were twice as wide as the carrier's deck. I came within 1 foot of the superstructure before stopping. Trick was to make the aircraft stall hard right before the wheels touched :D.

Anyhow it would be nice if the tail hooks actually worked on most planes in War Thunder, right now most of them either don't lower, or don't lower enough to do anything.

[Oberon]

I managed to get the hook on the A5M4 to lower, but didn't have my tail lowered sufficiently for it to catch, plus I came in from the wrong side (mental note, island always on the right...) so I wound up in the drink.

Still...could be worse:
http://gfycat.com/NauticalSolidAustraliankestrel

[NeonSamurai]

Hahaha, I think he staged that though as he was going pretty fast and had a full load of bombs. Of course you notice he didn't catch the first series of wires either when he should have.

One of the big problems is the tail dragger hooks don't go down enough when they should be hanging almost straight down not going straight back as they do in game.

http://thanlont.blogspot.com/2011/12/brief-history-of-tailhook-design.html

They also really should make the hook manually deployable like the landing gear, as half the time the problem is the game not thinking your landing on the carrier and not deploying the hook, or even retracting the damn thing just as you reach the carrier.


But ya, superstructure on your right side always :D

[NeonSamurai]

So my adventures in War Thunder continue, well for now anyways. At some point I really want to pull out my hotas and try playing realistic or sim (or even realistic with mouse aiming), as I am getting sick of arcade.

I tried playing the tank part of the game some more (in arcade), even unlocked 1 new tank for each of the 3 countries, but to be honest, it really hasn't grabbed my interest much. It seems to just be mostly long distance sniping matches, so much so that sometimes I just get fed up and go cap & hold the objective by myself as no one else on the team can seem to be bothered to. I've also been reading horror stories about higher tiered/BR matches where people get to face tanks with nigh impenetrable armor, and people finding it difficult to keep up with expenses due to ammo and repair costs. I also really do not get the point of aircraft in that game as the game just seems to yank me back out of them when ever it feels like it.

I don't know why but sometimes I think the game has it in for me. It loves to set me up against much higher BR aircraft, so much so that i usually get the Balancer / Punisher award for killing higher ranked aircraft almost every match I fly. But it doesn't matter much, as now that I am mostly past all the garbage planes (like most of tier 1 japan), I can usually out fly and kill whatever I am facing, so long as I don't get bounced. I also seem to have this habit of easily catching on fire from a few hits, and burning up 9 out of 10 times (naturally of course most of the people I set on fire, go out without much damage, assuming someone else doesn't get the kill in between). The game also just loves to spontaneously rip my wings off, especially with browning 7.7s. I've lost count of the number of times I've had that happen to both wings at once from a short burst, at 700-800m, just utterly ridiculous.

My success rate is a lot more stable now, though I still sometimes get fluke sessions where I just instantly die the moment an enemy fighter so much as looks at me, or i just get absolutely nothing but kill assists (I've had some matches where I had not 1 kill, but 10-15 assists). Other sessions I am nearly impervious and just massacre the enemy. Between having planes that have some firepower (I've unlocked most of tier 1 and at least 2-3 tier 2 fighters for all the nations), and having learned how to shoot accurately while tracking using the mouse, I generally do quite well. I have a surplus of almost 2 million SL now and have been easily able to afford repair & ammo costs.

I still utterly hate air domination, even though generally I do quite well in them and they are very profitable. I hate though how often the game puts me in those matches as they are just chaotic fur balls that are almost impossible to survive in for very long because of the sheer number of aircraft coming at you from every direction. Ground attack isn't much better either as most of the times the matches end way to quickly as most everyone just rushes to the enemy side and tries to kill as many ground targets as they can. It is especially aggravating when trying to work on bombers and the game throws you in a domination match.

Speaking of bombers, boy have I really started to dislike flying them, aside from when the games gives me nothing blasted domination maps when I have like 1 fighter and 4 bombers. First of all the payout rate for them is terrible. You get hardly anything for destroying major targets, and even less for ground targets. Many of the bombers don't carry anywhere near their historic bomb loads, and the bombs themselves have ridiculously tiny blast radii. It also takes forever to spade any of them because of the low returns. Then on top of it they are exceedingly vulnerable, as they all seem to be made out of balsa wood, and because of the skill system they have gunners that are virtually worthless, so going low altitude is pretty much suicide as you may get one pass if you are lucky on targets before you get blown out of the sky, heck even high altitude wont keep you safe for very long either. Also good luck trying to fly the plane while manually shooting back.

Anyhow, for now I keep flying most evenings. But I wouldn't be surprised if I will need a break soon. I am already starting to get tired of the grinding, and the game's many problems grate on me after a while. Especially as I have so many other games I could be playing right now. Still it is fun, at least when the RNG gods aren't screwing me over, or deciding I'm going to fly nothing but domination maps for the next 5 flights.

[Oberon]

Can't argue with most of that, I've grinded my tank path up to the edge of Tier IV, I play pretty much solely on realistic and it gets pretty hard there in regards to expenses versus profits. I'm loathe to go the Russian bias route but the Soviet tanks do seem to be a lot easier to work with, the Germans, with the exception of the Tiger are horribly fragile, and the Americans likewise with the exception of the Jumbo. But, it's pretty realistic I guess, and most of my deaths in both the Tiger and Jumbo have been from flanking sods.
That being said, the balancing can be a bit whack, with entire teams of Hellcats versus entire teams of Tigers, but hopefully what I've heard of the new match-maker might well fix this, but knowing Gaijin it will probably break it even more.

Bombers, oh bombers, poor poor bombers. Yeah, they're completely ducked at the moment. They used to be very powerful and were match deciders, but too many people complained and so they were nerfed into oblivion and are not really worth much any more.

Arcade ground battles have time-limited aircraft, realistic have aircraft that you can use based on spawn points which you earn through various actions, capping and killing mainly. In Simulation you can use one tank and one aircraft, although since Simulation usually is in event form for ground forces it means that your choice of aircraft is limited by what they have available in the line-up.

I do agree on how random matches can be, I've had matches where I've torn through the enemy like a hot knife through butter and wound up in the top three on the leaderboard...and other matches where a T-34 points at me, laughs and I explode, all within the first three minutes.

It's like a flipping drug sometimes though, just can't give it up. :haha:

[NeonSamurai]

Ya we will see when the new matchmaker gets implemented, as the joke on the forums goes.
tomorrow
no really it will be tomorrow
all right all right it will be next week for sure
well ok actually six months from now... maybe?

I've noticed that the matchmaker just loves to skew the teams too as I frequently see one team having most of the higher br planes, like matches where it was tier 1 yaks & laggs vs a team fielding mostly biplanes (or one good plane and the rest biplanes).

Regarding the tanks, i think one of the reasons why it hasn't grabbed me much is the lack of control I have over a situation tactically. In a plane I can generally pick and choose my fights, or try to draw planes away towards team mates if I am not in a good position. I don't fly like a typical arcade player as I don't just suicidally dive in on the nearest enemy fur ball on spawn, or blindly race for the objectives as many of my kills do. In a tank I do not feel like I have that kind of control as much, because tank combat feels so lethal and because it is much harder to maintain situational awareness.

I wish though that Gaijin wouldn't make such knee jerk responses to things, like the bombers. A better solution rather than nerfing the bombers would have been to increase the number of ground targets by 2 or 3 times, double or tipple the hit points of main targets, and add maybe 2 more main targets, and give killing ground targets a decent payout. As it is even with the bomber nerfs matches still end way too fast if one team just goes out and focuses on killing ground targets. What is most aggravating though is how the bombers can't defend themselves worth a damn. Enemy planes can just tail sit on you until you die, I've even had the issue with blasted reserve biplanes doing that and slowly whittling down my plane.

The main thing though is that game devs need to stop listening to most player whining, as they always make stupid decisions because of it, and slowly destroy the game. I remember WW2 Online with the "glass gun" char-b whining from the allied camp because it was possible to take out the tanks guns by repeated fire, which was one of the only way of dealing with them, as the only thing the Germans had that could destroy a Char-B was the flak-88, as the tanks Germany had all were 37mm guns which couldn't penetrate any of its armor, even at point blank range. So the allies whined like crazy because we would force them to despawn by destroying the tanks guns (which would take multiple shots too), rather than killing the tank, because we couldn't unless someone had pulled up an 88 (we did field a lot of 88s in game though, as the axis players tended to cooperate a lot as we didn't have any choice as we were otherwise badly outgunned). The devs response was to make the char-b(and only the char-b)'s guns invulnerable to damage... :/\\!!

Ya, I agree the game is quite addictive. Fortunately for me I don't respond well to games trying to addict me, if they are otherwise super shallow (like say all the mobile games out there). I will get bored and sick of it very quickly and dump the game pretty damn fast, especially if it's nothing but a pretty skinner box. I don't think I'll drop War Thunder yet, as I do have fun with it (when it is not pissing me off with its problems), but I do see myself taking a break from it sometime soon.

[Oberon]

Aye, I think I'm getting to that point myself, CK2 has started to bite back into my life again. :yep:

[NeonSamurai]

Now there is a time sink of a game. :haha:

[HunterICX]

The main thing though is that game devs need to stop listening to most player whining, as they always make stupid decisions because of it, and slowly destroy the game.

You can pretty much write off the game if that's the road they take.
MW:O (Mech Warrior Online) suffered the same fate, instead of sticking to the table top rules or trying to follow it as much as possible and have the players use some of their available braincells to learn how to play, they instead listened to much to the community which brought some real frustrating changes which for me ruined the game.

Ya, I agree the game is quite addictive. Fortunately for me I don't respond well to games trying to addict me, if they are otherwise super shallow (like say all the mobile games out there). I will get bored and sick of it very quickly and dump the game pretty damn fast, especially if it's nothing but a pretty skinner box. I don't think I'll drop War Thunder yet, as I do have fun with it (when it is not pissing me off with its problems), but I do see myself taking a break from it sometime soon.

For me the fatal thing that either make me decide the MMO game overstayed its welcome or I decide to leave it aside for a while is the grind, when it starts to feel like a chore my interest in playing it drops.

MW:O at least made it more bearable for having only to grind for the in-game money to buy the mech's chassis you like and the weapons/equipment/mods you put on it to tweak it your style. No need to unlock a chassis first, if you have the in-game money you can drive what you want.

War Thunder, the whole research bit is just bullsh!t I bloody hate it it's just one big chore and to think about doing it for each nation separately too to get the tanks I like to drive? :dead: Worse part is on top of the already big chore by having it to do for each nation you have to unlock X amount of tanks of Tier (1,2,3,4) to advance further down the tree your tank is :nope:
It becomes a chore and I'd have to force myself to play it so instead I just put it aside for a while. Game's not bad in itself, I like the tanks more then flying the aircraft which even with sim & joystick feels off to me.

So it's something that's On/Off for me, I play it for a bit put it aside get back at it later till it feels like doing a chore again.

[NeonSamurai]

You can pretty much write off the game if that's the road they take.
MW:O (Mech Warrior Online) suffered the same fate, instead of sticking to the table top rules or trying to follow it as much as possible and have the players use some of their available braincells to learn how to play, they instead listened to much to the community which brought some real frustrating changes which for me ruined the game.

Well I mean I can emphasize with the devs too, as it can be hard to figure out what is player whining, and what is a genuine problem. So they kind of do need to listen to the player base, but also be sensible in their decisions as well. I've lost count of the number of MMOs that got totally screwed up either because the devs listened to whiners, or they just made boneheaded decisions and decided to radically change the base game. Planetside is the perfect example of the latter. The game they had at the end of the beta was nearly perfect. Battles happened between bases and one side or the other would get pushed back towards their base, then the idiots at SOE (a company notorious for torpedoing their games post release with utterly idiotic decisions, like Star Wars Galaxies for example) decided to change how experience was awarded which forced the player base to only fight around the bases or you didn't get any rewards, and the devs continued on from there until the player base dumped the game en mass.

For me the fatal thing that either make me decide the MMO game overstayed its welcome or I decide to leave it aside for a while is the grind, when it starts to feel like a chore my interest in playing it drops.

MW:O at least made it more bearable for having only to grind for the in-game money to buy the mech's chassis you like and the weapons/equipment/mods you put on it to tweak it your style. No need to unlock a chassis first, if you have the in-game money you can drive what you want.

Ya I am pretty much the same way. I dropped World of Warcraft after about 3 months as I just got fed up with the endless grinding in that game. First you grind up to level 80 (or was it 70 at the time), then you grind the instances for gear, then you grind pvp gear, then they release another expansion and you start all over again. The grind was just utterly tedious the monsters I was fighting were basically the same from level 1 to level 80, instances only work well in large organized guilds, and there was nothing to the game other then the grind.

Other times I will keep playing a game, even though the grind in it may be long and hard. For example I unlocked a jedi character (and maxed out his level, and maxed out a bounty hunter too) in SWG in the second era of the game. But I kept playing that game as there was a pile of other things I could do in it, like fight in space, work on my houses, build up an industry, roleplay my imperial character (i played on a roleplaying server), pvp (which didn't require a separate grind other than money to buy high end gear). I kept playing because of that.

By comparison the grind in War Thunder doesn't feel anywhere near as bad.

War Thunder, the whole research bit is just bullsh!t I bloody hate it it's just one big chore and to think about doing it for each nation separately too to get the tanks I like to drive? :dead: Worse part is on top of the already big chore by having it to do for each nation you have to unlock X amount of tanks of Tier (1,2,3,4) to advance further down the tree your tank is :nope:
It becomes a chore and I'd have to force myself to play it so instead I just put it aside for a while. Game's not bad in itself, I like the tanks more then flying the aircraft which even with sim & joystick feels off to me.

So it's something that's On/Off for me, I play it for a bit put it aside get back at it later till it feels like doing a chore again.

Ya I agree, I am not happy that they nerfed the progression rate (they should never do something like that, always a terrible idea). Nerfing in general is best to be avoided if possible. I think I hate the process of spading more than the unlock process as some of the planes and tanks are really crap when they start off. The bombers as i said before really suck hard now. In some ways forcing players to open multiple branches is a good idea (for arcade anyways, which it seems most players play), as it helps prevent the player ending up with a lineup of planes with wildly different BRs, like say 2 spitfires and nothing but biplanes. At least though spading and unlocking the next thing happen in tandem, and not sequentially. It would be nice if the extra RP from spaded aircraft went into the next craft you are researching though.

Otherwise ya I agree.

[Oberon]

Time for some screenshots.
I wasn't going to play WT today, but then I saw that the Battle of Britain event was on, which meant I get to take my IIa Spitfire out against some Germans, instead of the usual Soviet hordes that it would face in realistic.

Post music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_u4Md_aXVJE

http://i.imgur.com/ITHGwaC.jpg?1
I do love the IIa, the 303s are surprisingly effective.

http://i.imgur.com/dAW61ax.jpg?1
Took off his rudder and then...

http://i.imgur.com/wYiXipI.jpg?1
Well...this is where the replay broke a little. According to the replay we collided and I caught fire and burnt down...but instead...

http://i.imgur.com/ISfaaEw.jpg?1
He spiraled to his death and I got a bit of wing damage. Spitfire stronk!

http://i.imgur.com/vHgZtfg.jpg?1
My next kill is a 110, the replay was still refusing to accept I was alive here.

http://i.imgur.com/UDHUIbV.jpg?1
Another 110, this guy was smart, he tried to climb up to me at first, so I climbed harder, then he went for the deck and I dived on him. His rear MG screwed up my coolant a bit...but...

http://i.imgur.com/IWKIwny.jpg?1
My .303s screwed up his wing more, although I did have to land and repair afterwards since the coolant was overheating.

http://i.imgur.com/c86ojw4.jpg?1
Took off again, only to hear the base siren going off, looked behind me and in came a 109. I called my other surviving Spitfire wingman back and turned in. He was another smart one, knew the strengths of his 109 and kept climbing and speeding away from me. Eventually he did get me in a pass as I was turning away. We still won on points though.

http://i.imgur.com/TSeeNzn.jpg?1
The next match was relatively uneventful for me, aside from this after a two Spitfire collision on take-off.

[NeonSamurai]

Wow lot of people are really really angry with Gaijin with the new BR & matchmaking changes, where they decided to collapse the br ratings for many planes inward (by up to 1.3 BR lower), particularly with many of the premium planes which can be upwards of 1.0 BR lower than the free identical version (basically turning many of them into seal clubbers). This added to the messed up matchmaking system which still has a strong tendency to create totally mismatched teams. It is also going to hit tanks even harder because by collapsing down the BR range it means lower BR tanks can now face tanks that they can do absolutely nothing to at any angle or range.

It's funny, as the community has been asking for a long time that the BR range be spread out more, and that they fix the BR ratings for a number of planes that are either way too over-tiered or way to under-tiered. Instead Gaijin decides to to the opposite and make everything a whole lot worse.

Joy...

Here is a link to the changes for those that care
http://forum.warthunder.com/index.php?/topic/267615-battle-rating-economy-changes-september-2015/

[Oberon]

http://i.imgur.com/5zROb9z.jpg
Arclight: "I hear with my little ear something beginning with B."
Me: "What?"
Arclight: "Bomb"
Me: "I can't hear a bomb."
Arclight: "Listen very carefully."
Me: "Oh yes..!" *explosion*

http://i.imgur.com/rOX2O3Z.jpg
Random action shot, I'm in the 109.

[Oberon]

The battle of Hill AR-558

http://i.imgur.com/O4Eacdo.jpg?1
The team head out up to the hill that overlooks the town in which the battle will take place. They know it's a popular spot for American forces to try and take in order to rain down fire on the battle below.

http://i.imgur.com/wMotiqZ.jpg?1
It's also a handy spot to snipe passing tanks, in this case a Sherman Jumbo who was careless enough to expose his sides to my Tiger.

http://i.imgur.com/nfPAlcv.jpg?1
The Turret of the Jumbo attempts to kickstart the American race into space but fails miserably.

http://i.imgur.com/q1m1sf2.jpg?1
There's no time to celebrate though as contestant number two arrives, a premium Sherman Jumbo 'Cobra King'.

http://i.imgur.com/D1VZJUr.jpg?1
Whilst I'm dealing with the Premium Jumbo, an M19 SPAAG sneaks past and opens up on Raptor

http://i.imgur.com/GNNYxDK.jpg?1
The Panther Ausf. D is not known for its well armoured sides...and Raptor quickly comes to resemble a sieve.

http://i.imgur.com/Rq1ct49.jpg?1
Arclight in his IS-1 avenges Raptors untimely demise, but before the team can mourn (or laugh) at Raptors death at the hands of an Anti-Aircraft truck we come under fire again, from behind!

http://i.imgur.com/7QLsZkL.jpg?1
Arclight catches fire as an M18 Hellcat that had snuck around behind the M19 SPAAG opens fire directly into his engine compartment.

http://i.imgur.com/G2ezw6E.jpg?1
I turn to assist as Arclight extinguishes the fire but then a shell, I don't know where from, hits my engine compartment and knocks the engine out. Unfortunately Arclight is stalled between me and the Hellcat, so I cannot assist him. Hunter moves his Su-85M to assist and between the two of them and a passing T-34 they are eventually able to kill the Hellcat.

http://i.imgur.com/WMFrkg4.jpg?1
Meanwhile as I sit repairing and occasionally duelling long range with Shermans on the other side of town, a passing aircraft takes an interest. Fortunately for me, rockets are terribly inaccurate.

http://i.imgur.com/jMfTQmv.jpg?1
Not satisified with his first pass, he comes around again, and misses with his rockets yet again. I expect bombs next and wonder how accurate they will be...

http://i.imgur.com/C21Of3P.jpg?1
Fortunately I never get the chance to find out. But...again, before I can celebrate not being killed by rockets from the air, a call over teamspeak indicates that more rockets are incoming...from the ground?!

http://i.imgur.com/KLnkQDt.jpg?1
It's the Golden tank itself! The T34 Sherman 'Calliope' lobbing its load of 114mm rockets in our direction. Fortunately, like the aircraft before, its aim is terrible.

http://i.imgur.com/nIOXHOo.jpg?1
And with the element of surprise lost, the return fire is not so inaccurate. Money well spent there.
At this point we finally take a breather, astonished that 3/4 of us survived the onslaught which seemed to come from all angles. We rally around and push forward to the enemies spawn point.

http://i.imgur.com/65Xsobq.jpg?1
The enemy still has a sting in its tail though, as a passing Hetzer found out as a hiding Sherman put a shell into the side of it. But again, with surprise lost...

http://i.imgur.com/tHAPBQd.jpg?1
The several units in the area return fire and slaughter the Sherman, with the killing blow coming from a Panzer IV on the other side of the river. At this point the battle is pretty much over aside from a Yak-9 impaling itself on the mountainside...and...

http://i.imgur.com/Hx9c1YJ.jpg?1
Hunters traditional driving skills...and he comments on my ramming of buildings?

http://i.imgur.com/IVy0cAq.jpg?1
The match ends to cries of "No...nononono...don't you dare!"

[Cybermat47]

I love that Maho Nishizumi skin for the Tiger I :D

[Oberon]

Danke. :up:

Meanwhile in arcade mode:

http://i.imgur.com/skmoEHI.jpg?1
Me in a Bf109 (far right) turning to head on pass an F4U (small dot to the left of the left-most smoke plume) while being chased by a He-112 (the left).

http://i.imgur.com/HVeSbUV.jpg?1
I kill the F4U, but am unable to get out of the way of his wreck in time so it slams into me and kills me...

http://i.imgur.com/aFmzcTO.jpg?1
And then slams into the He-112 that was chasing me, killing him too. :har: :up:

[clayton]

I'm so done with this game and it's forum for awhile.
It's nice to be back on Subsim forums.

[Oberon]

http://i.imgur.com/zrVbAhO.jpg?1
Panzer IV/70 cannot into u-boat.

http://i.imgur.com/zGbw3ht.jpg?1
Killing a Lee in the most embarrasing way possible

http://i.imgur.com/GIHXsLl.jpg?1
Katyusha fun times on the premium trial days

http://i.imgur.com/QAsDTlp.jpg?1
Raptor can into fencing

http://i.imgur.com/E6bcwf7.jpg?1
Hunter adjust Raptors firing position

http://i.imgur.com/haFMobs.jpg?1

http://i.imgur.com/rDbB8AN.gif

http://i.imgur.com/lo6RAJr.jpg?1
Water overheated?! I'd say so, I could insta-cook my borscht on that!

http://i.imgur.com/VgZmDXs.jpg?1

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/68/12/b2/6812b235ace93c1a42d4da04b38cba1b.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/R3b27An.jpg?1

http://www.recaption.com/uploads/1687651a4b41b80dc8.jpg

[Oberon]

Ground pounders for the Axis team might want to have a listen to this:

https://vimeo.com/148914977

[Oberon]

Of happenings.

http://i.imgur.com/XbA8YRQ.jpg

[Cybermat47]

I found a rather interesting documentary on tanks. I never knew any of this stuff :o

http://youtu.be/BTT0rOgyBbg

[Oberon]

Nifty, will have to take a look Cybermat, also love your current signature, Wolfpack is an awesome song and that chorus at the end is the best bit.

Anyway, War Thunder, in two parts now, with part two containing the adventures of Spider-tank!

http://i.imgur.com/D2DYNC3.jpg?1
Hunter goes duck hunting.

http://i.imgur.com/ekErer0.jpg?1

http://i.imgur.com/S8IP6Af.jpg?1

http://vignette1.wikia.nocookie.net/gup/images/c/ca/Darjeeling01.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20130213113242

http://i.imgur.com/eYnuvLL.jpg?1
The 1942 Gumball rally gets off to a bad start...

[Oberon]

http://i.imgur.com/LEw6RgZ.jpg?1
So, it starts out with the Archer in front of us knocking out part of the bridge while we were crossing it..

http://i.imgur.com/2UmCZUm.jpg?1
Hunter pushes Raptor out of the way...but then becomes stuck himself

http://i.imgur.com/6H8Ejf1.jpg?1
Wheeeeeee! Goes Hunter

http://i.imgur.com/UJyaXGq.jpg?1
At least the Archer who started this had the decency to right Hunter

http://i.imgur.com/mIWCAWS.jpg?1
My situation, meanwhile, has not improved....

http://i.imgur.com/PqqIjBz.jpg?1
Raptors attempts to save me instead create....

http://i.imgur.com/oIStVva.jpg?1
SPIDER TANK!!

http://i.imgur.com/ZW8ucaM.jpg?1
Take a look overhead, there goes Spider-tank!

http://i.imgur.com/JUGupEU.jpg?1
Eventually I climb down the side of the bridge

http://i.imgur.com/ah1F32P.jpg?1
And drive off again...

[SilentHunts]

At least the British tanks are here. I'm happy for that.:yeah:

[Oberon]

http://i.imgur.com/VqdnYzw.jpg?1
"I've gained additional armour!" *gets brutally murdered by a T17E1 hiding around the corner*

http://i.imgur.com/E7BtfoI.jpg?1
:D

Approximately two hours later once the cap point is reached:

http://i.imgur.com/SvBRLfJ.jpg?1

[Cybermat47]

http://youtu.be/U48cr1POfmw

Pacific Norway was a strange place in 1940 :o

[Oberon]

http://youtu.be/U48cr1POfmw

Pacific Norway was a strange place in 1940 :o

:doh:

https://morganrlewis.files.wordpress.com/2013/06/mpathg-0910.jpg?w=640

"Well, on second thoughts let's not visit Norway...'tis a silly place."

[Oberon]

So, I decided to have another bash at one of these 'Enduring battle' things, it's on simulator only at the moment so I plugged in the shebang and off I went.

Yeah, Gaijin really need to work on it, because right now it's a whole load of nothing. There's no real directive to things, it needs more AI to attack, unless I just happened to roll in towards the end of one of the battles, there was only a handful of people on anyway.
So, after derping around in an He-51 for a bit, I finally 'unlocked' the Bf-110 and took that for two bombing runs on an enemy base, by which time I was the only person on the mission so the biggest danger was the ever present flak.

The base was destroyed, and so on the way back I decided to have a bit of fun with the 110.

http://i.imgur.com/UNlKuV3.jpg?1

http://i.imgur.com/3UKXYos.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/wLNCU2O.jpg?1

http://i.imgur.com/ol3Nf77.jpg?1

http://i.imgur.com/xt89OfF.jpg?1
And safely back at base, seven or eight bridges without crashing, that's a new record for me I think.

[Raptor1]

I like the concept of the Enduring Confrontation matches. They need work and unfortunately you're unlikely to see very many people in the simulator battles, though. I think this sort of idea could have been extremely good with very large scale and high population tank maps, but that doesn't seem very likely to be implemented.

[Oberon]

Fully agree, although I think that you would need to put in some sort of moving spawn location like in some of the standard tank maps because of the large size of the Enduring Confrontation maps, but it certainly could work especially if the player count was high enough, a full combined air and ground scenario would be excellent, with multiple targets, ground units would be tasked with taking territory and holding it, while air units would have the options to hit factories, anti-tank defences and enemy aircraft.
Sort of a cross between WWIIonline and Battlefield 1942.

We can dream. :03:

[Oberon]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUnE5IZ73z0

:/\\!! :haha:

[ObeseMonster]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUnE5IZ73z0

:/\\!! :haha:

Aw man I know the feeling :hmmm:

[Oberon]

http://i.imgur.com/6yXJh3d.jpg?1
Try to drop a bomb on me will you?

http://i.imgur.com/Nb4MdvD.jpg?1
Eat the full power of St. Gloriana!

http://i.imgur.com/LlMS78w.jpg?1

http://forum.unitlost.com/uploads/gallery/album_4/med_gallery_2729_4_10470.jpg

[Mike Abberton]

There are few things as satisfying than to shoot down a plane with the main gun of a tank.

Nice shot.

Mike

[Oberon]

http://i.imgur.com/82vEUGn.jpg?1

http://i.imgur.com/JSHcR02.jpg?1
Rosehip away!

http://i.imgur.com/2q68Wfq.jpg?1
One tank down!

http://i.imgur.com/S5cXJ06.jpg?1
And another!

http://i.imgur.com/OTPYVLG.jpg?1
The Marder turns to face the threat

http://i.imgur.com/2VdhcpW.jpg?1
In time to receive its own present

http://i.imgur.com/ExYm7K0.jpg?1
A Gepard tries flanking...it doesn't work.

http://i.imgur.com/OKKUXVm.jpg?1
This guys flanking move however...

http://i.imgur.com/VbG4zMV.jpg?1
Oops

http://i.imgur.com/8gB5hlJ.jpg?1
So we try again and nab a StuG and this Panzer before a surprise visit from a Flakpanzer ends our fun

http://i.imgur.com/j6fiPNC.jpg?1
To the skies then! We strafe one flak truck and just miss this one with our bombs

http://i.imgur.com/Ulf9V66.jpg?1
This is why I usually avoid direct strafing runs...but...

http://i.imgur.com/dLFY9dl.jpg?1
I got the kill anyway...

http://i.imgur.com/KcPKW1O.jpg?1
And then...so did he...

http://i.imgur.com/VlyxWKA.jpg?1
Time for swimming!

http://i.imgur.com/MEzYqkp.jpg?1
So we switch to the Hurricane, with some rockets!

http://i.imgur.com/Sf9bgmm.jpg?1
Ok...ordinarily that would have killed that Panzer, how odd...

http://i.imgur.com/S0Qcp1u.jpg?1
Strafing the enemy forces

http://i.imgur.com/pynfWO7.jpg?1
Aha...don't need rockets to kill you...

http://i.imgur.com/DRxFknM.jpg?1
Simple .303s into the exposed rear will do the job

http://i.imgur.com/EqKRo09.jpg?1
Chasing a 110 which appeared, ran out of ammo before I could take him down, so left it. The map ended with our victory shortly after, with me having 12 ground kills and 2 assists to 4 deaths (Two in a Crusader III, one in a Matilda II and one in the Typhoon Ia). :o

http://i.imgur.com/Mlrcj4e.jpg?1
Just in case people think I'm actually a professional... :yep:

[Cybermat47]

I refuse to play this game until they make ferris wheel-senpai playable.

[Oberon]

Ferris wheel-senpai is best senpai. :yep:


Meanwhile:

http://i.imgur.com/ZWPwMdE.jpg?1

http://i.imgur.com/bTqLhAP.jpg?1

http://i.imgur.com/XCUk2dg.jpg?2

[HunterICX]

some things never change :nope::haha:

[Cybermat47]

I'm definitely buying this.

http://images.akamai.steamusercontent.com/ugc/269473510911389614/26BBC1E5227FE270DF9581300DF8375443DCC56B/

[Oberon]

The Brummbar does look good, but I want a Sturmtiger. :rock:

Meanwhile:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hoU8rcWELAU

http://i.imgur.com/nZml1bu.jpg?1
Turn a corner to hide up and run straight into a Soviet SPG... :doh:

http://i.imgur.com/JYpT0l0.jpg?1
HunterICX gets a Takbir (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUg42rTricw)

http://i.imgur.com/ZxmZALd.jpg?1
I leave a present for a Wirbel

http://i.imgur.com/pvSCt2E.jpg?1
Present accepted

http://i.imgur.com/YZBjwve.jpg?1
A Bf109 comes to give me a present as I break high while a Hurri comrade comes in low to try and return the favour on my behalf

http://i.imgur.com/Beh5p80.jpg?1
The 109 gives me a cannon shell in the engine, which is just what I wanted!

http://i.imgur.com/yQ1dINA.jpg?1
So...now where to land...well...wherever I land I guess

http://i.imgur.com/SVThVSs.jpg?1
I guess here will do

http://i.imgur.com/nIfxaxX.jpg?1
Perfect landing! Wait...is that a dip in the-

http://i.imgur.com/HMJN4mN.jpg?1
Bad things, bad things are happening!

http://i.imgur.com/MPXrnkt.jpg?1
...that'll buff out...

[Cybermat47]

The Brummbar does look good, but I want a Sturmtiger. :rock:


Well, in my opinion, the Brummbär has a major advantage over the Sturmtiger - I'm making a model of it :D

Also, we can always go even bigger than the Sturmtiger...

http://i.imgur.com/FR6hvxM.png

https://infinitemirai.files.wordpress.com/2016/05/vlcsnap-00156.png?w=630&h=354

[Oberon]

https://thumbs.gfycat.com/AdvancedWaryBluejay-size_restricted.gif

[Cybermat47]

That awkward moment when you meet a new person and immediately slam a 150mm round in their face.


https://youtu.be/0GoWsAMPisY

[Oberon]

War Thunder naval forces announced, somewhat disappointingly though it's currently going to be limited to small craft such as MTBs. :wah:

[NeonSamurai]

Ya... add another expansion instead of fixing their bloody game. :nope:

[Oberon]

"Why do you fly so low?"
"Because it's fun!"

http://i.imgur.com/7pqrCxj.jpg?1

[Oberon]

http://i.imgur.com/K9CStoy.jpg?1
Raptor: "T-28 heavy tank..."
Oberon: "That's got more armour than all of us."
*We both start using it as a shield*

http://i.imgur.com/bVfnQxR.jpg?1


http://i.imgur.com/EAZCqF8.gif

[PL_Andrev]

Playable "ships" are comming here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6DiX3r351sE

https://static.warthunder.ru/upload/image/!2016/August/pt810_05_1280_720_dc9117fc5d17bc76f6dd27b10ca885c0 .jpg

[Oberon]

http://i.imgur.com/9KhzAcN.jpg

http://reactiongifs.me/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/jim-carrey-liar-liar-oh-come-on-angry-its-enough.gif

[Mike Abberton]

I hate it when that happens. Maybe even more so when it's the Parts or the Fire Extinguisher mod that you miss by a couple.

Mike

[Raptor1]

Not exactly anything vital, but...

http://i.imgur.com/7Q6B6m8.png

[Oberon]

The money shot

http://i.imgur.com/j0vVEYk.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/qknrvCO.gif

[Oberon]

Some random shots from US aircraft tree grinding:

http://i.imgur.com/47tAlCK.jpg?1
Pfft, who needs undercarriage anyway?

http://i.imgur.com/50uak22.jpg?1
Valley hopping, a favourite pastime of mine.

http://i.imgur.com/8RGp2AD.jpg?1

http://i.imgur.com/W6AsYSU.jpg?1

[Oberon]

(Auto resizing? Nice one guys, makes it easier for me not to have to manually resize them myself :up: )

So, Kuban, and me and Raptor are playing as the US on my quest to grind the Walker Bulldog:

http://i.imgur.com/uMhTsIP.jpg
I'm in a Jumbo 75 and Raptor is behind me in the M18.

http://i.imgur.com/4lhxkZg.jpg
We're sniping...well...Raptor is sniping since my little 75mm derp gun won't do jack against German frontal armour (although I do nail a T-34/85 from the side) Suddenly a Firefly (unsurprisingly) erupts in fire next to me.

http://i.imgur.com/7NC04WZ.jpg
And a Panther Ausf. F storms down the hill at me, he shrugs off my AP rounds, but my MG manages to damage his barrel.

http://i.imgur.com/z6qOqkG.jpg
I turn to put my strongest armour towards him, but my gun is also damaged...and he will probably repair his before mine...I need to think fast!

http://i.imgur.com/GWEOiZB.jpg
Then I remember, behind him is a cliff leading into a lake...I put the Sherman in forward gear and push!

http://i.imgur.com/77go1rD.jpg
Keep pushing!!

http://i.imgur.com/gxQT4ZZ.jpg
At this point, his kamerad Tiger puts an 88mm AP shell into my flank, destroying me instantly...however the damage is done...

http://i.imgur.com/wOlrtW7.jpg
LONG...LIVE...THE...KING!!

http://i.imgur.com/UCEhesU.jpg
Panther Ausf. F Unterseepanzerkampfwagen

[Oberon]

http://i.imgur.com/Ls2CNFz.jpg
Mistakes have been made

http://i.imgur.com/8emKRvf.jpg
Mind your head, Hellcat!

http://i.imgur.com/AodG3wU.jpg
Rapid Unplanned disassembly

http://i.imgur.com/MsuWoIU.jpg
Taxi!

http://i.imgur.com/u4Ezb2L.jpg
Before the game kicked me out of the Stuka, I took the opportunity to jump to the rear gunner and managed to shoot down this F6F who I think was almost as surprised about it as I was... :doh:

[Oberon]

http://i.imgur.com/uoO2uNk.jpg?1

http://i.imgur.com/BWsI1mQ.jpg

[Dammit_Carl!]

Tell me they've got some new maps at least - I've not really done any time in this game for months and I'm getting the urge to play (poorly) again.

[Raptor1]

Tell me they've got some new maps at least - I've not really done any time in this game for months and I'm getting the urge to play (poorly) again.

They've added new maps in every recent major patch to my knowledge, though Carpathians unfortunately seems to show up just as often as ever...

[Mike Abberton]

They have some new-new maps (not sure how long it's been since you played) and some new configurations of old maps.

For example, they've moved the cap points and spawns on the old Mozdok map to breathe some life into it. Still not my favorite map (to say the least), but it's better than the same old thing over and over.

[Dammit_Carl!]

Checked out just before the brits came in...guess I haven't played longer than I thought,lol.

At any rate, I've come across a few new to me maps now so now it's time to get used to the wicked kill rate that is tanks.

[Mike Abberton]

If you left before the Brit expansion, I think you haven't seen much/any of the desert maps. Those are some of my favorites now. They generally have a better mix of urban and open areas with varying amounts of cover/concealment.

Definitely worth a revisit I think.

Mike

[Dammit_Carl!]

Yeah. I've been in a few of those now; good stuff.

Gettin' my lulz on with my German AA Half-Track has to be the best - hell, I do better with AA platforms than I do with tanks. Need to get that 88 wagon pronto.

[Mike Abberton]

The 88 Flak truck is a pesky bugger to go up against. Ultra-fast reload rate, lots of crew, and a deadly cannon at its BR. Really forces the tanks out there to take some HE shells along, not just AP.

[Oberon]

http://i.imgur.com/4baZloj.jpg?1
Choo-Choo!

http://i.imgur.com/onXKGEP.jpg?1
Advancing cautiously with Raptor

http://i.imgur.com/UsiiUty.jpg?1
Dogfighting in my 190A-4

http://i.imgur.com/jkUcuGF.jpg?2
After I zip my Fw-190 through the spires of Cologne cathedral, Raptor goes "Me too!" and threads the needle.

http://i.imgur.com/rLKATgf.jpg?1
Getting the 'Full King Tiger experience', broken track, broken turret drive, broken engine, broken gun breech.

http://i.imgur.com/e2Q64Q0.jpg?1