It's less that the planes were garbage and more that their armament was anemic. Their flight performance was, and still is really good. I'm positive that a few of their planes are going to see some BR increases.
If you like attackers, you should eventually consider looking at Germany's He-219 if you have some golden eagles burning a hole in your pocket. The premium plane is armed with quad 30mm cannons and twin 20mm cannons. Two of the 30mm are the mk103 cannons that can use HVAP rounds that are capable of defeating the side, roof, and engine deck armor of some tanks. In air battles, it can take out everything up to medium tanks with its cannons. In mixed battles against player tanks and their more intricate damage models, you can damage heavier stuff. Normally by hitting the crew compartment through the roof or repeatedly setting the engine on fire.
Like, personally, I am so, so glad that they finally addressed 50s.
I primarily play Americans, and, for some reasons, American airplane manufacturers just didn't adopt widespread cannon use (probably because they didn't need to), and it was super disappointing to play and unload, like, half your ammo load into something only to maybe see it smoke a little bit. And then some German / Brit in a plane two BRs lower breathes in its direction and it explodes because cannons.
I expect that to change, just like how they back pedaled a bit with boats and started looking at upping the size of the ships to destroyer class vessels.
Here's hoping; it's just frustrating seeing a game mode I was curious about show up only to find out that my complete and total lack of interest in score-obsessed gamer clans is enough to exclude me from it.
Does anyone else find the mounting of Italian planes' guns weird? Compared to anything else with the standard couple-guns-in-the-nose I find I under- or overshoot a lot, especially at close ranges. Lining up's less intuitive than with a lot of planes.
Also, re: American 50s? In the bomber-swarm survival mode, the F-82 with the gunpod is hilarious. I think my record is nuking six Do-217s in the first firing pass through one of the bomber waves...
I believe that the Breda shoots bullets that are appreciably slower than American fiddies, making them a bit harder to get on target and more prone to sparking.
Edit :
Where the American gun relies more on kinetic energy to inflict damage, the Italian and German counterparts rely more on the chemical energy of their tiny explosive rounds.
Yeah, I've been finding that the Breda really relies on being nice and up close with solidly meaty deflection attacks to get work done precisely due to their slow velocity and lack of kinetic oomph and I pretty much always need to lead a little further and higher than I normally would. Oh, and get those upgraded belts ASAP so you can switch to stealth rounds because the tracers on the Breda will really fuck your aiming up, or at least they did for me. I always found them super distracting and routinely caused me to misjudge shots. Once I went to stealth rounds my hit ratio got waaaaaaaaaaaaay better.
I just noticed that Gaijin is doing summer sales right now.
It looks like for the next 48 hours or so you can get some deals on Axis bundles.
There are three bundles for sale at 50% off.
"Fangs of Steel" bundle for $31.49 which includes the following:
FW 190 D-13 (Rank 4 Germany) + 1000 Golden eagles + 15 days premium time
Hs-129B-2 (Rank 3 Germany) + 2000 Golden Eagles + 7 days premium time
Bf 109G-2 (Rank 3 Germany) + 500 Golden Eagles + 7 days premium time
As a rank 4 plane, the D13 makes for a good grinder for late tier german planes. I don't own it, but it should be a superb energy fighter although it will have to deal with the plague of spacefires at that tier. It notably has hydraulic assisted control surfaces.
The Hs-129B-2 (the Duck) is a ground attacker. It's slow but it has a very robust airframe. Really the whole plane is a testament to just how AMAZING the Mk103 30mm cannon is. It is capable of killing player tanks and AI medium tanks with its 30mm HVAP rounds. I also have a stupid number of air kills because of people who insist on flying head-to-head against it and novices who waste their energy trying to stay on the tail of such a slow plane. It's hull is also robust enough that it is a plane that I am 100% confident that I can repair/rearm faster by rushing to the airfield and belly landing instead of slowing down and making a proper landing. It is essentially identical to the regular Hs-129B-2, except it has the silver lion and RP boost applied. It does have the potential to be a lucrative lion earner with its ability to devastate AI tank columns with its 30mm cannon.
The 109G-2 is arguably the pinnacle of the Bf109. Depending on who you talk to, the best is either the G-2 or the F-4. The upgrades in the later G series or K series 109's arguably are nowhere near worth their increase in battle rating. Almost identical in performance to the 109G-2/trop in the regular tree. It's one of the flagship fighter planes at its matchmaking tier. You can probably earn some good lions with this if you're talented at fighting in 109's.
"Die Hard" Bundle for 36.49
Panzer IV/70 (A) (Rank 3 Germany) + 2000 GE + 7 days premium
Panzer II Ausf. H (Rank 1 Germany) + 1000 GE + 7 days premium
Tiger II Sla.16 (Rank 4 Germany) + 1000 GE + 7 days premium
I actually think the Paner IV/70(A) is a bit of a dud. Its hull is a bit higher than the regular flatpanzer and that makes it too easy to spot and kill in my opinion. Especially since that height comes with a big flat section of armor on the front.
The Panzer II Ausf. H is great. The "Baby tiger" as a lot of its owners call it. It's armed with a 50mm Pak38 cannon. With APCR rounds it is capable of penetrating the side armor of tanks MANY battle ranks higher than it. IMO it actually performs better at higher tiers than at its own tier because many players trend towards more lumbering and heavily armed/armored tanks that trundle straight towards the objectives while this thing can quickly zip to a flank. Make sure you know your weakspots to quickly disable crews or cook off ammo. IMO it makes for a great backup tank in your lineup.
The King Tiger is a King Tiger. Except it's premium. Do I need to say more? This tank is an infamous foe at this matchmaking tier.
"Horrendous Bundle" for 37.49
Ki-87 (rank 4 japan) + 1000 GE + 7 days premium
Type 97 Chi-ha 12cm (Rank 2 Japan) + 1000 GE + 7 days premium
Heavy Tank No6 (Rank 3 Japaen) + 1000 GE + 7 days premium
I don't have any experience with Japanese vehicles at all. For what it's worth, I respect most Ki's in air combat. Heavy Tank No6 is a Tiger tank.
I'm inclined to agree that it's a poor place for the Fw-190 to exist. Rank 4 germany is all around a bad experience. Although that's mostly IMO because of the presence of all the spacefires. A lot of the griffons are undertiered IMO and should be boosted up towards the low tier jets.
Even still, it's a rank IV premium fighter. That's worth some notice. I also believe that it and the Fw190 D9 are considered to be some of Germany's best fighters in tier 4, even if they are still mostly outclassed by the opposition. Although personally I think that the He219 is a better grinder if you have a knack for Heavy Fighter combat.
War Thunder's summer event is supposed to be starting soon.
Here's a look at the first reward plane. The P-43. Note that the flight model in this video is apparently a placeholder that is borrowing the P-47's flight model. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QxsaGGiDQ6M
I'll be playing this weekend. My usual haunts are realistic ground and arcade air.
A friend and I both REALLY want that 75mm puma. Our tag team plan is to have one player rush a cap point in the 50mm Puma or a pzii, then 'j' out and respawn into a plane. The plane will spot targets with machine guns for the tank on the ground. That should pave the way for the tank player to get the 6 kills in one match achievement, while earning the plane the 5 squad assists for the supporting fire achievement.
On second glance, maybe not so much of a chance. Kill totals? Sure, that's easy. Supporting fire? Rare for me, but doable. Win 10 battles? I've had 4 total shitshows today already. That's a lot of dice-rolling to get 10 wins.
Supporting fire can be easy for planes if you're allied with a squadmate who is good at killing things. Just equip your worst belts. Pure AP and practice shells for days. Just stick to the teammate like glue and try to kill steal from him. Your garbage belts will keep you from securing the kill and you'll get the assist instead.
That said, pure misery awaits you if you're relying upon random squad mates and inevitably get paired with that guy who wants to fly low and slow to turnfight in his p-47.
I'm usually that guy, unfortunately. Start out hitting objectives with bombs and rockets, get caught up engaging an attacker, then frantically try to evade in the hope one of the nearby teammates will help me out (they never do.)
Also speaking of being THAT GUY, I could use some advice on what to do for ground battles in arcade. I went all the way down the American heavy tank and tank destroyer trees but it has just been a disaster. The T34 is admittedly pretty nice but I'm constantly 1-shotted in the T32 despite its supposed heavy armor. I thought it would get better with the M103 but it's like 75k rp just to get HEATFS which I hear is decent. On the TD side, I love the T95 but it's just too easy to kill for having a 20k repair bill. I'm not looking for any IS-6 levels of batshittery but a more forgiving playstyle would be nice and I have no idea what nation/line that is for AB. Oh, and AA/TD that don't immediately die to the inevitable AB kamikaze spam would be a nice bonus.
I'm usually that guy, unfortunately. Start out hitting objectives with bombs and rockets, get caught up engaging an attacker, then frantically try to evade in the hope one of the nearby teammates will help me out (they never do.)
The bolded is likely your problem. Once you've exhausted your potential energy in your dive on the base, you don't want to waste your kinetic energy dueling planes. Just ignore them unless they litterally prostrate themselves in front of your guns. Your attack run should culminate in you speeding towards friendly lines like a bat out of hell. The p-47 is criminally under tiered and not only outruns everything at its br, but most everything up to br 5.0 by arcade brs. Once to safety, you either rtb for more munitions or climb to an attack position.
When it comes to evasive maneuvers, I see a lot of players making a lot of heavy erratic turns which really don't do you any good, make it harder for for allies to help out, and usually just sign your own death certificate. Unless your plane has a particular edge that it can leverage against the opponent, you just want to run. Get fast diving towards friendly lines. Just do guns defense. Gently rock yourself up down left and right, but not too extreme because that will rob you of speed. That will make you a very hard target to hit, but more importantly it will make pursuing enemies become textbook targets for any friendlies striking from above. If your friends don't help, just try to drag the enemy over your airfield AAA. This is particularly useful for the P-47 since it can potentially accelerate up to its top speed and leave pursuers in the dust.
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Armchair: 4098-3704-2012
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ElldrenIs a woman dammitceterum censeoRegistered Userregular
Nobody should be spending all their energy furballing to the deck, but big American energy fighters especially shouldn't do that
Also speaking of being THAT GUY, I could use some advice on what to do for ground battles in arcade. I went all the way down the American heavy tank and tank destroyer trees but it has just been a disaster. The T34 is admittedly pretty nice but I'm constantly 1-shotted in the T32 despite its supposed heavy armor. I thought it would get better with the M103 but it's like 75k rp just to get HEATFS which I hear is decent. On the TD side, I love the T95 but it's just too easy to kill for having a 20k repair bill. I'm not looking for any IS-6 levels of batshittery but a more forgiving playstyle would be nice and I have no idea what nation/line that is for AB. Oh, and AA/TD that don't immediately die to the inevitable AB kamikaze spam would be a nice bonus.
1. Only bring 45 rounds. If that ammo rack is gone most of your turrets vitals are hidden behind that nice heavy gun mantlet.
2. Find hull down as much as possible. The turret has much heavier armor than the hull. The hull is merely average.
3. If you have to engage in a hull up position, angle your hull sliiiightly to the left (like 15 degrees left) if possible. That will make shots on your ammo racks much harder and increase your angles.
4. Watch out for heavy barrel derpa guns (like the russians). If they have 128mm plus guns they can hit your lower mantlet with HE and angle the force into your hull roof (which is game over since that's where your really sensitive stuff is).
"The western world sips from a poisonous cocktail: Polarisation, populism, protectionism and post-truth"
-Antje Jackelén, Archbishop of the Church of Sweden
I got the warbond P-51 and 1 million SL from a daily login chest within 24 hours of each other so I'm feeling pretty good about things right now. Only about 14k left to HEATFS on the M103 now as well. Then maybe it can actually kill things.
I think I'm done grinding warbond vehicles, though. They just aren't worth all that hassle.
I missed out on the first set of event challenges because some work that I expected to last six hours on Saturday lasted 12 hours...
But that's OK because I only want the pakwagen and p-43, so I've got a lot of wiggle room.
I completed one set of plane tasks last night. Ironically the 11 kills in one match eluded me until I stopped spawning fighters and just decided to dogfight in a duck (Hs 129) . I guess people class it as a low priority threat. Sort of a "why be concerned about like a stuka or IL-2 when there are spitfires nearby?" mentality. The deadly answer is that for all that's left to be desired with the duck's flight model, what sets it apart from other attackers is that it's armed with twin mg-151 20mm cannons and most importantly an mk103 30mm cannon that will end you if it gets you in its sights.
I bounced off this game a bit coming from world of tanks, but I'm glad I've given it a second go. The tank combat is refreshing so far. Hope it stays fun throughout the higher tiers.
That's reeeeeally going to depend on which nation and trees you play as. I personally enjoyed 4.7-6.7 the most, though getting uptiered in 6.7 was extremely common due to how many IS-6s are out there.
I took out a Type-62 and nearly killed a FV4202 with a panzer II. I would have killed the FV4202 if it wasn't for the allied air spam.
I think I'm going to fail my tank challenges for this round though. The friend that I was expecting to get the supporting fire challenge sorted away in a round or two apparently gave up before the event even started.
edit:
Yep, I'm thrown in the towel for this round. I don't think I can solo the tank challenges in a day. With an ally the success rate would go way up, especially shifting that supporting fire challenge to something more easily achievable.
Here are some highlight reels from this evening. I've titled them: Panzer II, greatest tank of WWII. The first video is a clip of me fighting a Type 62 with a Panzer II ausf H. That's a rank IV BR 6.7 vehicle vs a rank I BR 2.3 Vehicle. A BR difference of 4.4!
The second video has me solo a T-34 85, and the third one has me rampaging through an enemy backline, collecting me a total of 4 kills (counting the t-34 85 from vid 2) before getting taken down. Sadly russian T-34 85 spam obliterated my team and successfully spawn camped me to death before I could collect two more kills for 6 kills in one match.
I've practically given up on the event now. Unaddressed balance issues are clubbing axis ground teams from BR~4.3-6.7 to a 35% win rate. Cap'n'CAS spam with the broken RP3's and HVARs. The only German vehicles fast enough to contest and otherwise completely uncontested cap by the allied teams are the Puma (IF there are paved roads leading to it due to its bugged performance on cross country terrain that it historically performed very well on), the Panzer II H (premium hidden behind special vehicle packs that might not even be available any more?) and the Ru251 (PTW premium behind 7k eagles and the only one on this list not fighting at a 3-4 BR disadvantage.)
What's most frustrating is that the 75mm puma would go a LONG way towards giving germany a fast vehicle with potent armament, and most every german main player is clubbed out of getting it.
Yeah that is exactly why I quit playing RB at 4.7. When the enemy did it, I got my shit smashed in by CAS. When friendlies did it, I became a massive target by being one of the few on the ground. I'm all for having a system set up where air can support ground but the way it's set up now is just a clusterfuck.
They need to do something. Perhaps reducing the reward from capping so that you can't immediately enter a CAS plane. Perhaps increasing the cost of fighter/bombers like P47's so that the cheap CAS planes are the dedicated attackers that are far more vulnerable to enemy fighter craft.
I've calmed down a bit and adjusted my tactics...namely by abandoning my German vehicles for now. Progress is SO much faster
Awhile back they had a big tank bundle on sale, and that gave me the T29 and M18 Black cat. So I guess I'm throwing fuel on the fire by using what I just complained about to help me get my Pakwagen. M18 spawns, caps, and usually kills some things. Then I have a spaded P-47 that brings in its whole crazy munitions load of 10 HVARs and 2500 pounds of bombs. I also have last summer's F7F-3 with the 3x Tiny Tims as a second CAS plane, and finally the T29 is something to spawn in to give me credit towards 2000 point game ground kills. I'm frantically researching the American ground tree to try to give me some other tier3+ ground units for my lineup.
I recognize the hypocrisy, but I just want my Pakwagen. I'd be more willing to put up with this if I wasn't on the clock to get these achievements done.
It's not really just a CAS problem though. It's a mix of problems, and the CAS issue just lets the allies capitalize on an early advantage to an extreme degree. The difference in air power could be fixed by giving some axis planes back the CAS munitions that are so conspicuously absent, especially from some of the FW190's. They might need to adjust some battle ratings for planes in RB ground forces as well.
There is a map control issue where the axis are just simply lacking fast vehicles at that tier. After playing several matches as the M18, it basically confirmed my impression that I had from the Axis perspective. If my opponent was the axis, then I could rush the cap points with wild abandon since I'd arrive long before opposition. I'd then have time to dig in to an ambush position. However if my opponent was Russia, then I'd be given pause since their T-34's have the speed to contest the point before I can finish capping it. About the only threat that the mainline axis vehicles within that BR could field against me were long range sniping shots into the point to kill me. However, if I realized the vulnerable sight lines, then I could throw up smoke to blind those lines of fire. The solution are fast vehicles that can force base rushers to think twice about their safety. The Ru251 fills this role very well, but it's an expensive premium. Maybe some light tanks or armored cars could fill the gap? They might need to be postwar ones...
Then there is the matchmaking black hole at 6.7. It's not a unique problem and it's just illustrating the problem of BR compression. There are other matchmaking holes throughout the research trees that give every nation hell, but the one at 6.7 is especially potent. The Tiger I's and panthers are pretty solid tanks at their BR, and probably too strong to have their BR's lowered, but 90% of the time they'll be uptiered all the way to 6.7 where their armor just isn't up to snuff.
Also, at 6.7, it takes a LONG time for players to accrue enough RP to push through the matchmaking black hole. So axis players are stuck here where they're always second to the point, which in turn always lets the allies field CAS to thin their numbers.
Air power in tank battles is one of those things like high altitude bombers in air battles that I feel like players should never be allowed into because it just makes life a pain in the ass. Player controlled everything sounds cool on paper but it usually tends to go badly. Having the overhead battles in tank fights being AI controlled would mean never having to worry about balancing players being able to access them and gives the AA gunners something to do. It would also mean being able to just always have a rad air battle going on with occasional CAS strikes being able to be used instead of having on demand artillery. Point, click, call in the CAS strike, and AA fighters/ground AA may or may not be able to deal with it. Fun and immersive without pissing anyone off.
Likewise, air battles with AI bomber waves means base strike missions have a controlled objective element better than "keep spamming your hangar full of bombers until you win." It's a contest of who can stop the bombers first instead.
I hope everyone's having luck meeting their event goals so far. Defecting to America and using the M18 has drastically improved my experience, although occasionally I'll play a few German matches where I'll bring a Pz II into a ~4.7 match, hunt the M18's that innevitably get matched against me, and then swap over to hunting CAS planes in my Bf 109 G6.
Here's a neat clip from where I took a break and got a few rounds of arcade air in. I managed to bait a Hurricane into stalling out in front of my guns, and I always think that it's neat watching a plane just sit there motionless in the air.
I left the audio in this time, but in the background you can hear the audio from a youtube video that I was watching at the time on my secondary monitor. The voice belongs to the youtuber "long5hot", and he makes some very high quality tutorial videos IMO.
In this video I'm piloting the Premium German captured La-5FN. It's a very good fighter that I lucked into getting a major discount for during last winter's event.
Apparently the "special reward" for daily login #100 is a "Veteran" decal. So cute that they would suggest I'm any good at it just because I've played for 100 days!
Well, to be totally honest, veteran just implies that you're experienced and not that you're skilled.
Speaking of such skill, I earned the "God mode" award and its 30000 silver lion reward for killing a vehicle 5+ battle ratings above me.
I had spawned in a Panzer II at br 1.3 in a 6.7 lineup with the intent of rushing a cap point, maybe killing a tank destroyer, and then swapping to my me262 sturmvogel.
I killed an IS-2 with a direct hit from an artillery strike. A masterful display of skill if I do say so myself :P
This weekend it won’t only be successful participants from the pre-beta closed test that will be able to take part in Naval battles. We invite all players who originally applied for the CBT up to the 11th of August (13:00 GMT) to participate with the original testers in this special “one off” access session that will be held from August 11th until August 14th. This will allow all interested players to view the progress so far. After this weekend, the pre-beta will continue with the standard access rules (pack owners and those who were accepted into prebeta before this weekend).
Players given access as guests for the above defined session will not have access to the normal CBT stage and testing will once again be done by the original successful testers.
Posts
If you like attackers, you should eventually consider looking at Germany's He-219 if you have some golden eagles burning a hole in your pocket. The premium plane is armed with quad 30mm cannons and twin 20mm cannons. Two of the 30mm are the mk103 cannons that can use HVAP rounds that are capable of defeating the side, roof, and engine deck armor of some tanks. In air battles, it can take out everything up to medium tanks with its cannons. In mixed battles against player tanks and their more intricate damage models, you can damage heavier stuff. Normally by hitting the crew compartment through the roof or repeatedly setting the engine on fire.
Armchair: 4098-3704-2012
It remains one of my favorite WW2 airplanes.
Steam: Elvenshae // PSN: Elvenshae // WotC: Elvenshae
Wilds of Aladrion: [https://forums.penny-arcade.com/discussion/comment/43159014/#Comment_43159014]Ellandryn[/url]
....
I'll be in my bunk.
I primarily play Americans, and, for some reasons, American airplane manufacturers just didn't adopt widespread cannon use (probably because they didn't need to), and it was super disappointing to play and unload, like, half your ammo load into something only to maybe see it smoke a little bit. And then some German / Brit in a plane two BRs lower breathes in its direction and it explodes because cannons.
Steam: Elvenshae // PSN: Elvenshae // WotC: Elvenshae
Wilds of Aladrion: [https://forums.penny-arcade.com/discussion/comment/43159014/#Comment_43159014]Ellandryn[/url]
It's squadrons only, with a minimum size per team per session of 26 players.
Oogh.
Armchair: 4098-3704-2012
Also, re: American 50s? In the bomber-swarm survival mode, the F-82 with the gunpod is hilarious. I think my record is nuking six Do-217s in the first firing pass through one of the bomber waves...
Edit :
Where the American gun relies more on kinetic energy to inflict damage, the Italian and German counterparts rely more on the chemical energy of their tiny explosive rounds.
Armchair: 4098-3704-2012
A protip for Tigers: Reduce your ammo supply to empty those ammo bins in the upper hull.
Armchair: 4098-3704-2012
It looks like for the next 48 hours or so you can get some deals on Axis bundles.
There are three bundles for sale at 50% off.
"Fangs of Steel" bundle for $31.49 which includes the following:
FW 190 D-13 (Rank 4 Germany) + 1000 Golden eagles + 15 days premium time
Hs-129B-2 (Rank 3 Germany) + 2000 Golden Eagles + 7 days premium time
Bf 109G-2 (Rank 3 Germany) + 500 Golden Eagles + 7 days premium time
As a rank 4 plane, the D13 makes for a good grinder for late tier german planes. I don't own it, but it should be a superb energy fighter although it will have to deal with the plague of spacefires at that tier. It notably has hydraulic assisted control surfaces.
The Hs-129B-2 (the Duck) is a ground attacker. It's slow but it has a very robust airframe. Really the whole plane is a testament to just how AMAZING the Mk103 30mm cannon is. It is capable of killing player tanks and AI medium tanks with its 30mm HVAP rounds. I also have a stupid number of air kills because of people who insist on flying head-to-head against it and novices who waste their energy trying to stay on the tail of such a slow plane. It's hull is also robust enough that it is a plane that I am 100% confident that I can repair/rearm faster by rushing to the airfield and belly landing instead of slowing down and making a proper landing. It is essentially identical to the regular Hs-129B-2, except it has the silver lion and RP boost applied. It does have the potential to be a lucrative lion earner with its ability to devastate AI tank columns with its 30mm cannon.
The 109G-2 is arguably the pinnacle of the Bf109. Depending on who you talk to, the best is either the G-2 or the F-4. The upgrades in the later G series or K series 109's arguably are nowhere near worth their increase in battle rating. Almost identical in performance to the 109G-2/trop in the regular tree. It's one of the flagship fighter planes at its matchmaking tier. You can probably earn some good lions with this if you're talented at fighting in 109's.
"Die Hard" Bundle for 36.49
Panzer IV/70 (A) (Rank 3 Germany) + 2000 GE + 7 days premium
Panzer II Ausf. H (Rank 1 Germany) + 1000 GE + 7 days premium
Tiger II Sla.16 (Rank 4 Germany) + 1000 GE + 7 days premium
I actually think the Paner IV/70(A) is a bit of a dud. Its hull is a bit higher than the regular flatpanzer and that makes it too easy to spot and kill in my opinion. Especially since that height comes with a big flat section of armor on the front.
The Panzer II Ausf. H is great. The "Baby tiger" as a lot of its owners call it. It's armed with a 50mm Pak38 cannon. With APCR rounds it is capable of penetrating the side armor of tanks MANY battle ranks higher than it. IMO it actually performs better at higher tiers than at its own tier because many players trend towards more lumbering and heavily armed/armored tanks that trundle straight towards the objectives while this thing can quickly zip to a flank. Make sure you know your weakspots to quickly disable crews or cook off ammo. IMO it makes for a great backup tank in your lineup.
The King Tiger is a King Tiger. Except it's premium. Do I need to say more? This tank is an infamous foe at this matchmaking tier.
"Horrendous Bundle" for 37.49
Ki-87 (rank 4 japan) + 1000 GE + 7 days premium
Type 97 Chi-ha 12cm (Rank 2 Japan) + 1000 GE + 7 days premium
Heavy Tank No6 (Rank 3 Japaen) + 1000 GE + 7 days premium
I don't have any experience with Japanese vehicles at all. For what it's worth, I respect most Ki's in air combat. Heavy Tank No6 is a Tiger tank.
Armchair: 4098-3704-2012
Even still, it's a rank IV premium fighter. That's worth some notice. I also believe that it and the Fw190 D9 are considered to be some of Germany's best fighters in tier 4, even if they are still mostly outclassed by the opposition. Although personally I think that the He219 is a better grinder if you have a knack for Heavy Fighter combat.
Armchair: 4098-3704-2012
Here's a look at the first reward plane. The P-43. Note that the flight model in this video is apparently a placeholder that is borrowing the P-47's flight model.
Armchair: 4098-3704-2012
http://warthunder.com/en/news/4868-marathon-operation-s-u-m-m-e-r-awards-together-en
In addition to various cosmetic prizes, the following vehicles are up for grabs.
Air :
P-43А-1 (American fighter that imo is reminiscent of the P-47)
Ki-94-2 (Japanese bomber hunter)
Ground
Sd.Kfz.234/4 (75mm Puma)
Type 65 AA (twin 37 mm AA guns on a T-34 platform)
Armchair: 4098-3704-2012
A friend and I both REALLY want that 75mm puma. Our tag team plan is to have one player rush a cap point in the 50mm Puma or a pzii, then 'j' out and respawn into a plane. The plane will spot targets with machine guns for the tank on the ground. That should pave the way for the tank player to get the 6 kills in one match achievement, while earning the plane the 5 squad assists for the supporting fire achievement.
Armchair: 4098-3704-2012
Supporting fire can be easy for planes if you're allied with a squadmate who is good at killing things. Just equip your worst belts. Pure AP and practice shells for days. Just stick to the teammate like glue and try to kill steal from him. Your garbage belts will keep you from securing the kill and you'll get the assist instead.
That said, pure misery awaits you if you're relying upon random squad mates and inevitably get paired with that guy who wants to fly low and slow to turnfight in his p-47.
Armchair: 4098-3704-2012
Also speaking of being THAT GUY, I could use some advice on what to do for ground battles in arcade. I went all the way down the American heavy tank and tank destroyer trees but it has just been a disaster. The T34 is admittedly pretty nice but I'm constantly 1-shotted in the T32 despite its supposed heavy armor. I thought it would get better with the M103 but it's like 75k rp just to get HEATFS which I hear is decent. On the TD side, I love the T95 but it's just too easy to kill for having a 20k repair bill. I'm not looking for any IS-6 levels of batshittery but a more forgiving playstyle would be nice and I have no idea what nation/line that is for AB. Oh, and AA/TD that don't immediately die to the inevitable AB kamikaze spam would be a nice bonus.
When it comes to evasive maneuvers, I see a lot of players making a lot of heavy erratic turns which really don't do you any good, make it harder for for allies to help out, and usually just sign your own death certificate. Unless your plane has a particular edge that it can leverage against the opponent, you just want to run. Get fast diving towards friendly lines. Just do guns defense. Gently rock yourself up down left and right, but not too extreme because that will rob you of speed. That will make you a very hard target to hit, but more importantly it will make pursuing enemies become textbook targets for any friendlies striking from above. If your friends don't help, just try to drag the enemy over your airfield AAA. This is particularly useful for the P-47 since it can potentially accelerate up to its top speed and leave pursuers in the dust.
Armchair: 4098-3704-2012
1. Only bring 45 rounds. If that ammo rack is gone most of your turrets vitals are hidden behind that nice heavy gun mantlet.
2. Find hull down as much as possible. The turret has much heavier armor than the hull. The hull is merely average.
3. If you have to engage in a hull up position, angle your hull sliiiightly to the left (like 15 degrees left) if possible. That will make shots on your ammo racks much harder and increase your angles.
4. Watch out for heavy barrel derpa guns (like the russians). If they have 128mm plus guns they can hit your lower mantlet with HE and angle the force into your hull roof (which is game over since that's where your really sensitive stuff is).
-Antje Jackelén, Archbishop of the Church of Sweden
I think I'm done grinding warbond vehicles, though. They just aren't worth all that hassle.
But that's OK because I only want the pakwagen and p-43, so I've got a lot of wiggle room.
I completed one set of plane tasks last night. Ironically the 11 kills in one match eluded me until I stopped spawning fighters and just decided to dogfight in a duck (Hs 129) . I guess people class it as a low priority threat. Sort of a "why be concerned about like a stuka or IL-2 when there are spitfires nearby?" mentality. The deadly answer is that for all that's left to be desired with the duck's flight model, what sets it apart from other attackers is that it's armed with twin mg-151 20mm cannons and most importantly an mk103 30mm cannon that will end you if it gets you in its sights.
Armchair: 4098-3704-2012
I think I'm going to fail my tank challenges for this round though. The friend that I was expecting to get the supporting fire challenge sorted away in a round or two apparently gave up before the event even started.
edit:
Yep, I'm thrown in the towel for this round. I don't think I can solo the tank challenges in a day. With an ally the success rate would go way up, especially shifting that supporting fire challenge to something more easily achievable.
Here are some highlight reels from this evening. I've titled them: Panzer II, greatest tank of WWII. The first video is a clip of me fighting a Type 62 with a Panzer II ausf H. That's a rank IV BR 6.7 vehicle vs a rank I BR 2.3 Vehicle. A BR difference of 4.4!
The second video has me solo a T-34 85, and the third one has me rampaging through an enemy backline, collecting me a total of 4 kills (counting the t-34 85 from vid 2) before getting taken down. Sadly russian T-34 85 spam obliterated my team and successfully spawn camped me to death before I could collect two more kills for 6 kills in one match.
Armchair: 4098-3704-2012
What's most frustrating is that the 75mm puma would go a LONG way towards giving germany a fast vehicle with potent armament, and most every german main player is clubbed out of getting it.
Armchair: 4098-3704-2012
I've calmed down a bit and adjusted my tactics...namely by abandoning my German vehicles for now. Progress is SO much faster
Awhile back they had a big tank bundle on sale, and that gave me the T29 and M18 Black cat. So I guess I'm throwing fuel on the fire by using what I just complained about to help me get my Pakwagen. M18 spawns, caps, and usually kills some things. Then I have a spaded P-47 that brings in its whole crazy munitions load of 10 HVARs and 2500 pounds of bombs. I also have last summer's F7F-3 with the 3x Tiny Tims as a second CAS plane, and finally the T29 is something to spawn in to give me credit towards 2000 point game ground kills. I'm frantically researching the American ground tree to try to give me some other tier3+ ground units for my lineup.
I recognize the hypocrisy, but I just want my Pakwagen. I'd be more willing to put up with this if I wasn't on the clock to get these achievements done.
It's not really just a CAS problem though. It's a mix of problems, and the CAS issue just lets the allies capitalize on an early advantage to an extreme degree. The difference in air power could be fixed by giving some axis planes back the CAS munitions that are so conspicuously absent, especially from some of the FW190's. They might need to adjust some battle ratings for planes in RB ground forces as well.
There is a map control issue where the axis are just simply lacking fast vehicles at that tier. After playing several matches as the M18, it basically confirmed my impression that I had from the Axis perspective. If my opponent was the axis, then I could rush the cap points with wild abandon since I'd arrive long before opposition. I'd then have time to dig in to an ambush position. However if my opponent was Russia, then I'd be given pause since their T-34's have the speed to contest the point before I can finish capping it. About the only threat that the mainline axis vehicles within that BR could field against me were long range sniping shots into the point to kill me. However, if I realized the vulnerable sight lines, then I could throw up smoke to blind those lines of fire. The solution are fast vehicles that can force base rushers to think twice about their safety. The Ru251 fills this role very well, but it's an expensive premium. Maybe some light tanks or armored cars could fill the gap? They might need to be postwar ones...
Then there is the matchmaking black hole at 6.7. It's not a unique problem and it's just illustrating the problem of BR compression. There are other matchmaking holes throughout the research trees that give every nation hell, but the one at 6.7 is especially potent. The Tiger I's and panthers are pretty solid tanks at their BR, and probably too strong to have their BR's lowered, but 90% of the time they'll be uptiered all the way to 6.7 where their armor just isn't up to snuff.
Also, at 6.7, it takes a LONG time for players to accrue enough RP to push through the matchmaking black hole. So axis players are stuck here where they're always second to the point, which in turn always lets the allies field CAS to thin their numbers.
Armchair: 4098-3704-2012
Likewise, air battles with AI bomber waves means base strike missions have a controlled objective element better than "keep spamming your hangar full of bombers until you win." It's a contest of who can stop the bombers first instead.
Here's a neat clip from where I took a break and got a few rounds of arcade air in. I managed to bait a Hurricane into stalling out in front of my guns, and I always think that it's neat watching a plane just sit there motionless in the air.
I left the audio in this time, but in the background you can hear the audio from a youtube video that I was watching at the time on my secondary monitor. The voice belongs to the youtuber "long5hot", and he makes some very high quality tutorial videos IMO.
In this video I'm piloting the Premium German captured La-5FN. It's a very good fighter that I lucked into getting a major discount for during last winter's event.
below is the long5hot video that can be heard in the background.
Armchair: 4098-3704-2012
Speaking of such skill, I earned the "God mode" award and its 30000 silver lion reward for killing a vehicle 5+ battle ratings above me.
I had spawned in a Panzer II at br 1.3 in a 6.7 lineup with the intent of rushing a cap point, maybe killing a tank destroyer, and then swapping to my me262 sturmvogel.
I killed an IS-2 with a direct hit from an artillery strike. A masterful display of skill if I do say so myself :P
Armchair: 4098-3704-2012