War Thunder (F2P Air/Ground combat MMO)

That it is not, but if you with to reach the targets before fighters reach you you gotta push it. Climbing is usually out of question with a bomber.
 
Alternately, you could spawn and circle around behind the friendly airfield and let the fighters get up and out ahead so you have cover.
 
Out of hundreds of matches only once have I been escorted by fighters. This is War Thunder, not real life.
 
Alternately, you could spawn and circle around behind the friendly airfield and let the fighters get up and out ahead so you have cover.
I say this to myself every time but never actually do it...

Had a match in the B17 on the Brit/US training map. Spawned in and headed due south with another B17G, and a B29 far ahead. Luckily we had a few hellcats that caught up to us and kept us safe, but the trailing B17 was too slow and went down fast. Then it was me, the B29, and one F7F left. The B29 base bombed one of the remaining fighters, and another crashed before I could drop my second payload.

Funny thing was, he almost got me but I got back to the north base and AAA helped me out.
 
It's definitely not played like a team game. That's why I usually end up with half the enemy team chasing me, while the rest of my team is either dead or climbing to space.

I'm not saying you should get escorts, I was just offering a suggestion of increasing your chance of survival.
 
FV4004 Conway: IS Hunter
The top-range British FV4004 Conway SPG, which was created to fight against Soviet IS-3 tanks, will be one of the new additions in War Thunder 1.57.



The Victory Parade in Germany and the new Soviet IS-3 tanks forced the allies to stop and think – if they were to go to war with the USSR, these vehicles would cause them a mass of problems. They had thick armour set at steep angles, round cast turrets and powerful cannons. The Americans and British engineers came up with their own ways of defeating IS tanks. One of these was the FV4004 Conway SPG, with a high turret on a Centurion chassis, it was a British attempt to provide an answer to the heavy tanks of the Soviets. How did it turn out? Let’s take a look at this SPG model in War Thunder.



A Centurion Mk 3 chassis served as the basis for the Conway. The SPG received the Centurion’s armour, ground wheels and engine without modifications. However, the 120 mm L1 cannon with its massive breech required a new turret. The engineers mounted the vehicle’s cannon and three crew members in a rather tall turret, which, in spite of its size, did not significantly add to the vehicle’s weight. The Conway retained the Centurion’s maximum speed of 21.5 miles per hour (roughly 35 km/h).



An undeniable advantage of the Conway over many other SPGs is its rotating turret. At first glance, the turret looks as if it provides no serious protection for the crew, but this is not so. We contacted The Tank Museum in Bovington for technical documentation on the Conway (incidentally, the only prototype of the Conway is also in Bovington). The documents found provide evidence of very reliable protection of the habitable compartment of the Conway’s turret – the front of the turret is over 130 mm thick.


When War Thunder update 1.57 is released, the FV4004 Conway will be placed at rank V in Britain’s SPG branch. Its excellent gun and rotating turret compensates for its low speed. The Conway will receive two types of ammunition: high explosive squash head (HESH) and armour-piercing discarding sabot (APDS). The SPGs crew consists of 4 members.

We’ll find out how the Conway fairs against the IS range and other heavy tanks at ranks IV and V as soon as War Thunder update 1.57 is released. See you on the battlefield!


Source:
http://warthunder.com/en/devblog/current/872
 
Well, there's a new Japanese heavy fighter on it's way and if it really delivers the promised performance, Tigercat is in trouble.
 
I like the looks and spec list, but hopefully the guns will have bit higher muzzle velocity than they currently do. As it is, I have to be within 200 meters or have ridiculous amount of lead if I wish to hit anything with the 12.7mm's..
 
The scary part is.. It includes “Schräge Musik”. 57mm Cannon? :scared:

Ki-83 Article
Ki-83: The Japanese Surprise
The Japanese heavy Ki-83 fighter, one of the heroes of the War Thunder 1.57 update, is capable of amazing things. What hides under the veneer of this twin-engine hulk?



When experts of an American army research centre hurriedly restored the airframe of a captured prototype Japanese twin-engine Ki-83 and prepared it for a test flight, nobody suspected such exceptional flight characteristics from such a bulky airplane. The sole surviving example of the Ki-83, which was damaged by an air raid and then captured by the American army and brought to the USA, filled with 100-octane fuel and sent into the air. Imagine the surprise of the testers when the heavy Japanese aircraft reached an incredible 762 km/h in horizontal flight and completed a full loop within a diameter of just 670 meters in 31 seconds!

The Ki-83 is a Japanese twin-engine aircraft which has been long awaited in War Thunder. The Japanese heavy fighters are represented in the game by the line of Ki-45 modifications, along with the Ki-102 with its automatic 57mm cannon. All of these vehicles have excellent firepower (even including the “Schräge Musik” system for firing forwards and upwards) but all the models’ speed and maneuverability leave something to be desired. Any skirmish with a more or less experienced enemy fighter will inevitably lead to the Japanese fighter having to immediately disengage, whilst throwing requests for assistance to its teammates in chat.


The Ki-83 is a welcome change from the usual state of the Japanese twin-engine fighter and of heavy fighters in general. It’s fast, unbelievably agile for its dimensions, and fields more than acceptable weaponry in its two 30mm and two 20mm cannons, which are capable of destroying any opponent in the air in a short burst. It also has two small 50 kg bombs, just in case it needs to destroy small targets on the ground. The Ki-83 can escort friendly bombers and hunt enemy bombers without difficulty. It is also capable of fighting against other twin-engine aircraft (including the F7F-1 Tigercat) and even single-engine fighters.


The Ki-83’s potential for speed is immediately apparent in its in-game model. Flowing lines, no projections, even the cannons are recessed as deeply as possible into the front of the fuselage to create the minimum amount of drag. Moreover, the exhaust housing doesn’t extend above the aircraft’s surface angle – thanks to the inventiveness of the designers, they go through the turbocharger behind the engine nacelle.


Behind the deceptive appearance of the Ki-83 twin-engine monster hides excellent speed and maneuverability for a twin-engine aircraft, which, in concert with its powerful armament, makes it one of the most interesting aircraft in War Thunder 1.57. Look for the Ki-83 at the top of Japan’s twin-engine fighter line at rank IV. Good luck in the skies!
 
The scary part is.. It includes “Schräge Musik”. 57mm Cannon? :scared:

Ki-83 Article
Ki-83: The Japanese Surprise
The Japanese heavy Ki-83 fighter, one of the heroes of the War Thunder 1.57 update, is capable of amazing things. What hides under the veneer of this twin-engine hulk?



When experts of an American army research centre hurriedly restored the airframe of a captured prototype Japanese twin-engine Ki-83 and prepared it for a test flight, nobody suspected such exceptional flight characteristics from such a bulky airplane. The sole surviving example of the Ki-83, which was damaged by an air raid and then captured by the American army and brought to the USA, filled with 100-octane fuel and sent into the air. Imagine the surprise of the testers when the heavy Japanese aircraft reached an incredible 762 km/h in horizontal flight and completed a full loop within a diameter of just 670 meters in 31 seconds!

The Ki-83 is a Japanese twin-engine aircraft which has been long awaited in War Thunder. The Japanese heavy fighters are represented in the game by the line of Ki-45 modifications, along with the Ki-102 with its automatic 57mm cannon. All of these vehicles have excellent firepower (even including the “Schräge Musik” system for firing forwards and upwards) but all the models’ speed and maneuverability leave something to be desired. Any skirmish with a more or less experienced enemy fighter will inevitably lead to the Japanese fighter having to immediately disengage, whilst throwing requests for assistance to its teammates in chat.


The Ki-83 is a welcome change from the usual state of the Japanese twin-engine fighter and of heavy fighters in general. It’s fast, unbelievably agile for its dimensions, and fields more than acceptable weaponry in its two 30mm and two 20mm cannons, which are capable of destroying any opponent in the air in a short burst. It also has two small 50 kg bombs, just in case it needs to destroy small targets on the ground. The Ki-83 can escort friendly bombers and hunt enemy bombers without difficulty. It is also capable of fighting against other twin-engine aircraft (including the F7F-1 Tigercat) and even single-engine fighters.


The Ki-83’s potential for speed is immediately apparent in its in-game model. Flowing lines, no projections, even the cannons are recessed as deeply as possible into the front of the fuselage to create the minimum amount of drag. Moreover, the exhaust housing doesn’t extend above the aircraft’s surface angle – thanks to the inventiveness of the designers, they go through the turbocharger behind the engine nacelle.


Behind the deceptive appearance of the Ki-83 twin-engine monster hides excellent speed and maneuverability for a twin-engine aircraft, which, in concert with its powerful armament, makes it one of the most interesting aircraft in War Thunder 1.57. Look for the Ki-83 at the top of Japan’s twin-engine fighter line at rank IV. Good luck in the skies!
No it doesn't. A couple of the Ki-45 do.
 
Source

4 engines, 8 crew members, sleeping quarters for a relief crew, three turrets, bombs, even spare propeller blades – all this easily fits on board the British S.25 Sunderland flying boat.



Based on a civilian mail and passenger aircraft, the British S.25 Sunderland became one of the most famous flying boats of the Second World War. The seaplane was developed to meet the needs of the coastal command of Britain’s air force as a long-range scout and submarine hunter, but over its years of service, the Sunderland also worked as a transport plane, a warrior, and even a VIP transport – the royal family of Greece was evacuated in one. Because of its gigantic size and capacity, British pilots dubbed the plane ‘the flying hotel’ – apart from its 7-10 crew members, the Sunderland could comfortably house a relief crew in sleeping quarters, fixed frontal and turret machine guns with a large ammunition complement, up to 2,000 pounds of bombing equipment (roughly 907 kg), radar equipment and even spare blades for the propellers. The historical fact that the aircraft evacuated 82 people (not counting its crew members) in a single flight speaks to the Sunderland’s capacity.


In War Thunder update 1.57, we present the S.25 Sunderland in its later Mk III modification, which differs from its predecessors first and foremost in the flowing contours of its bilge lines to improve the aerodynamic properties of the flying boat. For the Sunderland, like the other flying boats and seaplanes in the game, our artists recreated the transmissive landing gear which allowed the aircraft to land on terra firma also.



The four 9-cylinder single-row air-cooled radial Bristol Pegasus engines with an output of 1065 horsepower had extremely interesting flame suppressors. We tried to duplicate their shape on our model of the Sunderland.



In spite of its size, the Sunderland’s bomb load is small – up to only 2,000 pounds. To avoid ruining the hermetic seal on the underside, engineers from the Short Brothers company located the bomb hatches in the side of the fuselage just below the wing root – an electric mechanism extended the bombs out on special rails along the sides of the flying boat, from where they were then dropped. This engineering solution has been recreated in our in-game model.



The Sunderland was developed in the early 1940s. It had a low speed and machine gun armament, so this flying boat will be found in the low-ranked battlefields in War Thunder. Any true connoisseur of legendary aircraft simply must have a Sunderland in their hangar! Meet this two-story ‘flying hotel’ in War Thunder Update 1.57. See you in battle!
 
Absolutely had a stroke of luck match... (and on the topic of bombers)

I had unlocked the B24 but I just now had enough credits to not go under with it. So upon taking it out, it was just a 5-5 match, me, a B29, three spits, and a F7F. The enemy team had a TU2 (or something like that) and LA(9?) and Yaks(yeah whatever it was).

So the B29 and I head East at Berlin to space off. We go just about to the wall but on column over, and I have the lead. The rest of the group is off in the center fighting them off. We continue in at 20,000 feet, untouched so far. There are three bases to hit. Two near the airfield, and one far away. My goal was to hit the near and far one as with 8x500 I can't do all that much. So, I hit the first and enroute to the second. I look back to see that only one spit with the B29 is left on our team. Four of the enemy are left.

After dropping the rest of what I had, I head due south to the base. On the way, A Yak decided to come in from below, and, well, he went back down.... in flames. 3-3. After that, I look back again. The B29 is headed down to the ground too fast, and dies. He never got his payload off. Somehow, he took one of them down though.2-2. And it wasn't long before our spit died...

After landing, (which yes, I knocked out the ball turret on my first attempt.. Came in too low and slow), I had to decide what my plan of action was to be. Sit at the base and kill them with the aid of AA, or bomb the closer ground targets?
I had done something similar to this before in the B17G, and staying at base worked well. So, as I decided, I scooted up the runway and hid in the base a bit so it wouldn't be so obvious as to where I was.

A Yak came out of no where, and I was able to hurt him pretty good. I waited about 4-5 minutes to make sure he, or the other yak weren't coming back.

Taking off, I did three loops around the field up to 3,000 feet, and headed south. From what I could see, one of them was parked on their field. So, the plan was to drop a bomb on him (as I thought he was doing the same as me, let the AA do the job) and finish one of the bases for a points sweep.

I then follow the same path I began with, head up the far right column, and aim for the base. Clouds were at 10,000 and while I was climbing through an engine sound not of mine came through. I take some damage, and swing to the gunner view to look frantically for it. One of the yaks almost knocked me clear out, but was too slow and behind in the clouds. I focus some fire on him, less than 700 meters away, and managed a few hits. I broke out of the clouds to then see another yak 1.36km above me, just following. Not diving, just in pursuit.

The other yak however, was trying desperately, and I managed to get a critical in him (while spaming the LMB due to reload). After he was downed somehow (I never got the kill), it was mano-e-mano and I continued on to the base, switching between bombardier view and gunner's view. Strangely, he was still 1.36 away, and not even moving. I dropped my payload, and headed back, while he was still following. I poked at him a bit with a few rounds but managed nothing.

Then, it hit me... He was waiting for me to land, going low and slow and take the easy kill. At that point, I decided that I was not landing again. It was me or him hitting the ground. I then began to throw lead into the sky and attempt to knock him out, but all I could do was get a few hits. After about 9 hits, he turns up the heat, climbing well over me and trying to BnZ. He comes in from the top, and knocks out my top gunner... Does the same from the bottom, and hits the tail gunner. At this point the only gunners I have are the front, sides, and ball. However, ball is reloading and needs to hurry up fast, because he's sweeping to my left at 200 meters. Reloaded, I fire and get plenty of hits, but nothing worth while. In his last sweep however, he took out my elevators, and a rapid fuel leak.

He disengaged completely, following to river to base. At this point there was only 12 minutes left in the match. I'm at 11,000 feet, and the airfield is so close I can see the tents. However, with no elevator this is going to be tough. In the B17, I managed to learn that banking left and rudder left and switching over to the right for both will bleed speed and altitude rapidly. I'm lined up with the runway, and the possibility of landing and repairing is near possible, but still unknown. Then, I see on the top of the screen, that we have a points swing in our favor, and theirs is rapidly diminishing. Next thing, I see the enemy lost all of their vehicles? What? Why would he give up? Too long to go without a kill? And why didn't he finish me off?

Oh well, and I never got to land...
 
A bloody boat? Oy.. Well, if they will make it historically accurate flying porcupine that can take punishment, maybe there's point.. But it isn't russian, so it will probably catch fire from italian 7mm practice round.
 

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