User:U11670196

Hi! I'm ftsartek (just call me artek). I've played Warthunder on-and-off since release, although I only really got into it more recently when I first picked up ground forces somewhere around 2016/2017.

I originally made my way up through the Russian ground lineup without touching another nation until I reached the Russian Rank V, when I started grinding the British.

Over time I worked my way up and as of October 2019, I have full Rank VII lineups for the British, the Russians and the Americans; a Rank VI lineup for the Germans and a Rank IV lineup for the French. I pretty regularly play lineups at just about any rank, though, depending on how I feel at any given time.

I also play a bit of Air RB, although primarily with the intention of grinding aircraft to support my ground lineups.

I have a VR setup and on occasion play Air Simulator Battles with it until nausea (or the ground) gets the best of me.

My intention on the Wiki is to (where possible) keep info up-to-date where possible, clean up any grammatical issues or simply help ensure that people can rely on the wiki for gameplay suggestions and recommendations.

Everything below is my opinion only; take it how you like.

Favourite Vehicles

Centurion Mk.10: I have a special relationship with the Mk.10. It makes up one of my favourite lineups in the game; 7.3 British. I mean, look at this thing! It gets a stabilised 105mm with over 300mm of flat pen, a decent reload, perfectly acceptable armour... Sure, it's not the fastest thing around, but who even cares when you don't need to stop to shoot?

Vickers MBT: Pretty much the same story as the Centurion. Except this time, you get to run around in a stabilised 105mm with one of the fastest reloads for its tier. Paper armour can be overcome but well-placed APDS can't. I think this is actually my most played medium tank.

Conqueror Mk.2: THIS is what a heavy tank should be. A beastly gun, serious armour, decent mobility. Even better, not many tanks you'll face in this thing stand a chance in a snipe-off. And again, British 7.3.

IS-7: Okay, enough fawning over that British lineup. This thing is great fun. It's not really the best tank at 8.3, where every game's against 8.7 tanks and armour means nothing... But jeez, this defies expectations. No heavy should be this fast, ever. And no tank should be in possession of such a veritable armada of machine guns. Besides that, the fun of a 130mm APHE shell popping in the middle of a tank is pretty unbeatable.

T-80U: This thing is great. Unless you get shot in the side, but eventually you've gotta get used to it. The gun, the mobility, the survivability... Incredible vehicle, extremely competitive at top tier.

Challenger Mk.2 & Mk.3: These aren't actually amazing tanks, but they look cool, they snipe well, and the fact that they're not super fast means they pace your gameplay. They force you to play more carefully, more strategically.

FV4005: The HESH Barn is the single most inconsistent vehicle I think I've ever driven in War Thunder. HESH is weird. But I've had a love for this thing since the first time I got a multi-kill; a round hit the side of a Panther, killing it and the Ru 251 directly adjacent, AND a plane that was in the vicinity. I don't even think the plane was that close. Yet to repeat that, but I have had a couple double kills with it since.

ZiS-12 (94-KM): This is not an AA. This is a tank destroyer disguised as a milk truck. I've probably killed like 3 planes for every 20 tanks I've killed with this. Driving around like a maniac in a truck is stupid and amusing. So damn amusing.

T-34-57: Who woulda thought a 57mm could do so much damage? This thing's right at the comfortable tier where it still has somewhat effective armour, and that gun is incredible.

IS-2 (1944): 122mm of APHE on a properly armoured hull (unlike the first IS-2 where anything can go through that flat upper section of the UFP.) The Russians just get me.

Firefly Scorpion: To be honest, the 17pdr is dirty at 4.7. Yeah, okay, the thing can't take a hit, but jeez, nothing it faces can either. Plus the Brit 4.7 lineup is a GREAT SL grinder (if you're good with solid shot, at least).

Panther II: An 88mm on a Panther hull was the best idea ever. I feel genuinely sad that newer players might never have the opportunity to get this tank. Still, they'll get the opportunity to get blown up by it; better than nothing, right?

Tiger II (10.5cm Kw.K): This really doesn't have anything over the Tiger II (H) but there's a sorta prestige to having a bigger gun. It's not even the best 6.7 heavy out there, but it sure as hell makes quick work of those pesky T29s/T34s.

Sd.Kfz.234/4: Speaking of pesky, this is the king of it. This is like the Centauro before the Italians dreamed of a light, fast vehicle designed just to annoy people in War Thunder. And on top of being light and fast, it's got a really good gun that can actually do some work in just about any uptier.

M6A1: Y'know what's satisfying? Baiting someone out of cover with a fake shot. Works every damn time, and never fails to amuse.

XM-1 (GM): I'd be lying if I said I didn't like this. I mean, really, it's a filthy vehicle. Nothing at 9.0 should be allowed to do what this thing can do. It's a damn Ferrari with a gun on top!

Hated Vehicles

ADATS: Above and before anything else, I hate the ADATS. It's not the missiles; sure, they're bloody ridiculous. It's just that the damn thing won't die. I have to survive long enough to fire off my APFSDS round, reload a HE/ATGM round, and then shoot it again. And half the time, HE isn't even enough to finish it. I've had an ADATS survive 4 HE shots before (this was prior to researching HEAT or ATGMs on the T-80U).

Ru 251: I actually got used to fighting Ru 251s pretty quickly, but once in a while I get got by an Ru and it frustrates the hell out of me. It's mostly my fault, though, because I should know better by now.

AUBL/74 HVG: Imagine a Leopard 1. Imagine that Leopard 1 is given double its power to weight ratio, a stabilised gun and only moved up 0.3 BR. You have successfully imagined the AUBL/74 HVG. It menaced my 7.7 German games for two weeks (spawn once, die early, no respawn), it menaced my 7.3 Brit/German and 8.3 Russian games for two weeks (supercar is in your spawn before you leave it). Least the thing dies easy.

SIDAM 25 (Mistral): This thing should actually be illegal. What it does to planes is probably against the law in most countries... It violates them. Jeez.

OTOMATIC: What's up with this thing? I swear its breech doesn't actually die when it dies. I've shot one out and it just starts shooting blanks at me, blocking my view. It's weird, and also you never see the shots coming in a plane which is a little rude.

C1 Ariete & Ariete PSO: If you can penetrate the turret cheeks of a Challenger 1, you need to shoot someone that isn't the harmless Challenger 1. They never did anything wrong.

AMX-50 Foch: Oh, it's a CA Lorraine. Cool, easy kill... Oh. Oh, it's a Foch. Oh, I'm dead. Oh. (I have nobody to blame but myself for this one)

M10 GMC: I paid for a turreted tank destroyer, not a casemate. Whose idea was this?

Flakpanzer 341: Love the concept. Still can't reliably shoot planes down or deal with tanks. Maybe I'm just bad.

Archer: ???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

M48A2 G A2: This is the only vehicle that I honestly think is just hopelessly over-tiered. For 0.4 BR increase, you get a stabiliser, a hell of a lot of speed, and it's not like your armour matters in the first place.

Also, all of the French vehicles prior to the B1 Bis. Anyone else who has also had to grind the reserve vehicles in the French lineup will understand why.

Personal Considerations for WT

I enjoy War Thunder, and I'm happy to put time and money into it. Of course, no game can ever be perfect but there are some improvements I'd really like to see:

Quality of Life

• Dynamic Spawn Points: This is likely a complex implementation, but ideally open up the area vehicles can spawn into on subsequent spawns if there are nearby enemies. Initial spawns can and would work as currently, but respawning would be far more dynamic, denying teams the current 'lockout' ability they currently have if they take an early advantage. If enemy vehicles were detected near or in a spawn, or (using path-tracing) detected with a direct line of sight in a spawn area, vehicles would instead be spawned in a nearby, but non-affected area. This allows for more than 'just get a few kills then die' and avoids the current spawn sniping issues too.
• Cleaning up classic maps for modern gameplay: A number of maps which were made available to top tier in the recent update have areas which are unbelievably good but are simply too easy to get to with MBTs and later light tanks. These need to be further restricted. This also somewhat applies to some newer maps where there are extremely good sniping positions available to one side and no spots available on the other side.
• ULQ: Ultra Low Quality is game-breaking, especially with Thermal in the game now. Being punished for playing the game on higher graphics is sad. There needs to be a compromise, a way to avoid issues for players who genuinely do need ULQ and players who really shouldn't be using it. Pet peeve, but I like my games looking good.
• Night Maps & NVD: Night maps are great fun... for people with NVD. If you don't have NVD you're on the back foot, and if it's one of those pitch black maps, you're basically done for. That isn't fun.

Balance

• Dynamic Battle Ratings: This is, of course, a complex idea; probably requires lots of back-end work. Still, it'd be great for vehicles such as the M48A2 G A2 which is unbelievably out-classed until it gets APFSDS, and even then it's kinda over-ranked IMO.
• Early-Game ATGM Helicopters: I don't think early ATGM choppers are healthy for the game. They make people spawn into missile AA at the beginning of the game, which (unless you're in an ADATS) means your early game impact is basically limited to saving your defenseless teammates. Just doesn't really fit. Make ATGMs something you've gotta earn again. If nothing else, limit how many choppers can spawn simultaneously; it's frustrating for both teams when 80% of a team is in choppers.
• Decompression: Everyone asks about it, and for a reason. Vehicles such as the Chieftain Mk.10 shouldn't be fighting 10.0 vehicles, but at the same time it would probably ruin current 7.7 vehicles. Can't move it down, but it's not good where it is. Needs to be decompressed.
• Close Look at Top Tier Balance: I feel like some tanks could do with better rounds now that they've been essentially power creeped (M1/IPM1, Challenger 1s, Chally 2, M1A1....)
• Anti-Chopper Aircraft: Ensure aircraft (without anti-ground ordinance) are able to spawn for the same cost as ATGM helicopters. It's fair enough that there's a viable option to fight back against ATGM choppers besides ground-based AA (which may well be superseded with the advent of long range ATGMs coming up).

Additions/Updates

• A gamemode similar to Battlefield's Rush would be awesome in WT. It would probably require bigger maps, dynamic spawn points, etc, but god it'd be fun.

Protection Density Visualisation (WIP)

In-game Armour Visualisation & Composite

Protection Density Visualisation Scale

Limitations of War Thunder's in-game armour viewer

The War Thunder in-game armour viewer offers an accurate, easy-to-use visual of the armour density of vehicles, allowing players to preview any vehicle and easily tell where both the vehicle's strong and weak points are. However, from approximately Battle Rating 9.0 and above, vehicles begin to integrate composite protection, and often the armour viewer won't represent these additional and significant composite armour values.

An additional approach in dealing with composite and add-on armour

To compensate for this and to further improve the quality of the information available on the War Thunder Wiki, this information can be displayed in the form of a 'protection density visualisation' - a manually generated image which allows players to view the distribution of this composite armour upon the vehicle. This image makes use of colour or numerical spectrum to represent the density (or protection level) of armour in a given area of a vehicle. The closer to the colour green which is displayed the weaker the armour is and the closer to the colour red, the more difficult it will be to make a damaging or disabling shot. All values are measured relative to an average top-tier kinetic round (approximately 480 mm, the improved round for most tanks - 3BM42, L26, DM33), excluding outliers like the Leclerc and Ariete PSO.

This proves particularly valuable for late Rank VI and most Rank VII vehicles, allowing for easy visualisation of weak spots on vehicles, as well as the ability to directly compare protection between vehicles. One example of this is the Challenger 2 has turret cheek armour which can be considered an 8 or 9 on the scale, which would be displayed in a deep orange or red (the most difficult to penetrate), while the best armour on the Type 90 would be considered 5 or 6 on the scale at best and its strongest points would be displayed as a light orange or yellow only. As such, the vehicles can be compared directly with ease.

Visualisation Examples & Comparison

Below are two examples for comparison; the Type 90 MBT (known for speed and firepower, however only offering mediocre protection) and the Challenger 2 (known for upper hull and turret protection). By comparing these two images, we can see that the Challenger 2 offers significantly improved overall protection than the Type 90. Comparisons like this can be used to determine if a vehicle can rely on armour, and if so, what circumstances it will be reliable in.

Challenger 2 Density Visualisation

Challenger 2 Protection Density Visualisation

Sections such as the main cheeks of the Challenger 2 are marked red, as there is absolutely no chance of an average kinetic or chemical round penetrating them under any circumstances. There may be exceptional rounds which may be able to, such as the high-penetration rounds of the ADATS or the Ariete PSO (in absolutely perfect circumstances, the PSO's best kinetic round is capable of penetrating the Challenger 2's turret cheeks - but only from a particular angle).

Sections such as the Challenger's Upper Front Plate (UFP) are relatively well-protected, however, under certain circumstances (favourable angling, usually) it might be penetrated by an average round. However, the lower section of the lower front plate and the cannon surround panels will be easily penetrated, and will only provide adequate protection in exceptional cases. The cannon itself is marked in dark red as any shots that hit it will be absorbed.

Type 90 Density Visualisation

Type 90 Protection Density Visualisation

Meanwhile, the Type 90 offers much less in terms of protection. Its UFP and turret cheeks will only protect against normal rounds under exceptional circumstances and otherwise will usually provide minimal protection. The cannon does provide protection as with most vehicles, however, the vehicle's composite armour is easily visualised as something that cannot be relied on.