The BV 238 is known for a number of things. It is the largest plane in WT for one, is a human fireworks display, and is very fun to use. Even though it is a meme, it is slow, turns and handles like a stuck pig, and is the XP-50's favorite lunchtime snack. So how is it played?
| Pros | Cons |
| Large number of defensive gunners. A ridiculous amount. | Handles terribly |
| 6 engines, providing a little bit of redundancy | Engines are somewhat underpowered |
| Large fuel load | Only one loadout for bombs |
| Large bomb load | Can only land on water |
| Can land on water! | Slow |
| Easy target for fighters due to large size |
Note: this is for Ground/Air RB.
Flight performance
The BV 238 is powered by 6x Daimler-Benz DB-603A engines, allowing it to reach speeds of 421 km/h at its maximum altitude, and 546 km/h in a dive. Why would you dive in this anyway? For a bomber, its speed is alright; however compared to literally anything else, it is slow. Acceleration is okay, and it is very hard to reach your top speed. The many engines provide redundancy, which is nice when an engine or two go out, however you should not rely on this saving you.
While it has a relatively tight turning circle, it takes a while to complete the turn, and your nose may begin to dip towards the ground while doing so. After the turn, you take ages to stabilize again, sometimes requiring the use of flaps to make you stable enough to release bombs or shoot the turrets accurately. Not only that, energy retention is bad.
Compression is horrific, anything above about 410 km/h is a death-trap (at least in a dive or when trying to decrease altitude). The wings rip easily, and the flaps and gear have a low speed tolerance.
Overall, it needs skill and careful handling to properly fly this plane.
Being a hydroplane, you should try to land in water if you can land at all. Usually it's incredibly hard getting down from bomber altitudes to land, so good luck with that.
Survivability
Survivability is almost non-existent. Even though you may feel like you are a literal flying fortress, this is not true. Anything above 12.7 mm will snap wings or rip your tail if they so much as look at you. You cannot dodge the bullets due to your immense size and slow turn time, so it is best to try to stay out of sight. Do this by climbing to high altitudes. This won't save you from interceptors or even certain strike aircraft, but it will help.
Armament
The BV-238 has a variety of defensive gunners. You have one twin 20 mm in the top, and 4 quad 13 mm turrets, one at the front, one at the back, and two on on the wings. These turrets provide an amazing amount of defensive coverage and have an insane fire rate, so if you can actually aim with them, you can absolutely shred any planes that try to attack you, or try what I call 'bomber-on-bomber combat' and try to intercept other bombers. There are very few defensive gaps, so many people will have a hard time finding them.
The few defensive gaps are towards the front of the plane, just in front of the wings, below the fuselage. While the turrets can rotate more or less 180 degrees up and down, that spot I have just mentioned cannot be hit by any of the rear-facing guns, or the ones on top of the plane (as it is below the fuselage). The forward facing turret would have to turn back into the plane to be able to cover it. Very few people try to really attack the BV-238 once they see the defensive guns, and even fewer if you are accurate with them, however anybody who knows the gap will exploit it. If the attacking vehicle is something like an XP-50, you are probably dead.
Tip: I would recommend setting the universal belt on the 20 mm turret due to the HE and IAI shells, and keeping to the default on the 13 mm as the other belt is armour-piercing which I have often found to be hit and miss.
The only suspended armament is twenty 250 kg bombs. This is a respectable payload, enough for 2.5 bases (8 bombs per base), or in Ground RB, enough to bomb entire stretches of map or saturate a point. There are no other bomb loadouts.
Armament comparison
If we were to compare the loadout to another heavy bomber the BV-238 could face, the Halifax B Mk IIIa, you would see that first of all, your defensive armament is vastly superior. The Halifax only has 7.7 mm machine guns as defense, and fewer of them (9 machine guns in 3 turrets, with a single 1 machine gun turret, and 2 turrets with four).
In terms of payload, the Halifax, without custom loadouts, can carry 12000 lb or 5443.1 kg of bombs in varying sizes. The BV-238 can carry twenty 250 kg bombs, or 5000 kg of bombs, a very similar payload. From this, it is clear that the BV-238 has possibly the best defensive gunners compared to its peers, and a very good bomb payload.
Playstyle
At its center, the BV-238 is a bomber and as such has a limited playstyle. However, there is lots of stupid stuff you can do with it, with only one of those being really strategically viable.
Ground RB
There are a couple of ways to do this. Either absolutely nuke a point, or carpet bomb sections of the map. There is always the option of trying strategic strikes, however this leaves you at risk of fighters finding you, which is never hard and can be surprising for you. Just make sure you have lots of altitude as accuracy is not necessarily essential due to the way you should be dropping the bombs (while stable or in a big lump at a time). Note there is almost no point in landing in this plane.
Air RB
Basic bomber playstyle, which is never really fun. It's just fly to a base, drop bombs, and repeat. This is rather easy, so optionally to make it more enjoyable you could drop down from your normal altitude of about 5km (what you should reach in-game) to about 2.5km and try to get fighters to attack you, to destroy them with the turrets. Air RB isn't really a bomber's home, however, so I would avoid it.
Parasite fighters
While there is lots of stupid stuff you can do with this plane, the only strategically viable one is this. By getting a friend with a small jet like the BI or He-162/Me-163, they can land on you and take off to intercept enemies as an escort. This is particularly helpful, especially as this can only be performed easily at higher tiers, making these escorts an invaluable surprise to the enemy.
Enemies worth noting
There are many enemies you will face capable of putting an end to you. Equally, many of these are dedicated interceptors, meaning they were designed to intercept bombers. Below are a couple to keep an eye on.
Only very specific enemies will pose a threat. Even though strike aircraft can climb and catch you, many will choose to stick low to the ground. This means that the most worrying planes are definitely interceptors due to their insane climb rate, and occasionally other bombers. If you climb too low, fighters like the P-51 or Spitfire might come after you.
1. The XP-50
The XP-50 is a premium American interceptor. It's a very popular vehicle, due to (in Ground RB) its ridiculously high spawn (it spawns at bomber altitudes), its top speed (680 km/h if at its max altitude), and its rate of climb that rivals late BF-109s and FW-190s (20 m/s). This plane will have no problem catching up to you, getting under you, and exploiting your defensive gaps, and due to its 2x 20 mm and 2x 12.7 mm guns, it can easily take care of you. If an XP-50 heads your way, turn so that you can get the maximum amount of defensive guns onto it to kill it.
2. SB2C
The SB2C isn't that much faster than you. The problem lies in that it spawns at roughly the same height as you, is more manoeuvrable and harder to hit, and has a pair of 20 mm cannons that can easily demolish you with a good burst. It doesn't need to out speed you, as it will attack in the head on due to it spawning more or less in front of you. While not as much of a threat as the XP-50, it can still be a nuisance to any player.
I hope this guide helped!
Credits
WT Live // Image by ShadowFalco First image
WT Live // Image by HC_Dwain lasers
