War Thunder: Ground Forces is live
The ground forces component (that means tanks) of World War II MMO War Thunder is now now live. Technically it's "open beta," but that means live in free-to-play-speak. There won't be a wipe of your progress.
I've spent some time with the closed beta and I can tell you that it is in most ways superior to World of Tanks. If you're a WoT veteran, be aware that this is a very different sort of game. The only experience you'll bring from WoT that will benefit you in WT:GF is your knowledge of armor thicknesses and weak spots. (Oh, and your ability to identify tanks on sight if you play in Simulation mode; I'll get to that in a minute).
The first big change you'll notice from WoT is that the tanks actually handle like tanks -- big, lumbering hunks of hardened steel with under-horsed, persnickity, 1930s-designed engines. No motorcycles on tracks here; these vehicles have mass and you have to drive them as such. I recommend you spend some time in Test Drive mode unlearning bad habits from WoT before you jump into online combat.
Second, get used to aiming. You have to account for trajectory in GF, something that was calculated auto-magically in WoT. In the Arcade mode (similar to WoT), there is a white cross below your gunsight which marks the point of impact on whatever you're aiming at. Even that is not as easy as the WoT "point-n-shoot" sight, however. You'll find you still have to let the gun settle down before firing, especially if you've just brought the vehicle skidding to a halt and it's still rocking on its suspension. In Realistic and Simulation modes, your only aid is the ranging reticle. You have to make your best guess as to range and hope you hit him on the first shot. Because if you miss, he's going to know pretty much where you are and that you're shooting at him. As a rule, shooting at people doesn't make them happy.
While we're on the subject of aiming, you'll also find that the turrets turn at realistic speeds here, even in Arcade mode. Many of the Soviet tanks have hand-cranked turrets and can take 60 seconds or more to traverse 360 degrees. This means you have to think ahead. Don't get bushwhacked with your head up your ass and your gun pointing off at dreamland. Pay attention to known and suspected enemy locations and keep your turret turned in that general direction.
Third, don't get in a hurry. No matter which mode you're in, charging headlong into battle WoT-style will invariably get you killed. No matter which mode you play in, a single shot stands a good chance of taking you out, especially when you're dealing with guns which are 75mm and up. Even a non-killing hit, however, can severely hamper your ability to fight the tank. While its possible to conduct battle repairs, you have to find a safe spot and hunker down for a while to commence repairs, and safe spots are hard to come by when shells are flying. Of course if it's your track that's damaged, you are by definition not in a safe spot. Track repairs in WT:GF are... unlikely. Generally speaking, Tracked = Dead Real Soon Now.
I once read an anecdote from a U.S. Army infantry commander in World War II. He described tanks as "cautious, shy beasts. They are forever taking three tentative steps forward and immediately two back. Like a fat boy shyly approaching the line of girls at the school dance, they are unsure of the outcome and never commit completely until confident the risk is minimal." I recommend you emulate that behavior in WT:GF. Use the terrain to your advantage, advance cautiously, find a concealed location where you can watch a potential avenue of enemy advance and wait for a while. Think defensively, but act aggressively and quickly when you find a target. Because if you can see him, he can probably see you. First shot to hit stands a good chance of winning the fight.
That said, the tanks in GF all have their historical guns; there are no over-gunned prototypes and paper tanks here. Armor can actually be useful if you use it right, and you generally won't face tanks far outside of your ability to kill. But stupidity will get you waxed quickly. Again, dump the WoT mentality and start thinking like a tanker: "If we're seen, we're hit. If we're hit, we die."
There are three separate game modes in War Thunder: Arcade, Realistic, Simulation. Without going into too much detail, the basic difference between them is that you lose "crutches" as you go up in modes. For example, while Arcade mode places red text over the location of spotted enemy tanks in a manner similar to WoT, Simulation mode has nothing of the sort. You have to use the Mk.1 eyeball to find your targets. Realistic mode is somewhere between the two. There are other differences, but you can discover them as you play. I tend to default to Realistic mode, with occasional forays into Sim mode. Arcade can be fun in small bursts, but I don't like having different nations of tanks on the same team. Realistic and Simulation are divided by nation, as it should be.
Artillery exists in War Thunder, but it's not the pin-point anachronism you've come to know and loathe in WoT. Some tanks can call in artillery strikes, but you'll see the adjusting rounds impact prior to the barrage, giving you time to go elsewhere. The frequency of the barrages is also severely limited. Arty is relegated to its proper role in War Thunder, not handed Copperhead rounds and laser designators as in World of Tanks.
Planes: yes you will occasionally see player-controlled planes on the map in your tank battles. However, it's not anywhere near as irritating or crippling to tanks as you might think. First of all, it's damned hard to spot a tank from an aircraft, let alone hit with a bomb or rocket. Second, enemy planes become priority targets for friendly fighters. That IL-2 may think he's got you pat, except that he doesn't see that Bf 109 on his ass about to turn him into slag. But even if you have no planes on your team, all is not lost, because War Thunder has player-controlled AAA vehicles. You can hop in your Flakpanzer or 3.7cm Flak Halftrack or whathaveyou and give 'em a bit of the ol' one-two. I've shot down several Soviet attack planes whose players though it would be a good idea to make a straight attack run at an automatic cannon. Not so much, really. Shooting down a plane is both difficult and immensely satisfying. And of course you can always jump into your own plane and take it to them...
While planes are available for all five major combatant nations -- USA, Germany, USSR, Britain and Japan -- tanks are currently only available in Nazi and Commie flavors. That's fine by me, as the vast majority of major tank battles in WWII occurred on the Eastern Front, but be aware that if you're looking to jump in and drive a Ronson -- er, excuse me, a Sherman -- you'll have a bit of a wait as USA tanks are a couple patches out at this point. Limeys and Japs? Well, who cares, really? Don't let it stop you from jumping in immediately, though; killing commies is fun from any color of turret.
Enough yammering; go give it a try. And remember that if you're a WoT vet you'll need to give yourself some time to adapt. You'll get ganked a lot at first as you adjust to the playstyle; don't get frustrated, just realize that the problem is your playstyle, not the game. You'll get used to it after a few hours. I can tell you this with certainty: you'll never go back to WoT once you're hooked.
I play under the handle ApathyCurve. Look me up.
I've spent some time with the closed beta and I can tell you that it is in most ways superior to World of Tanks. If you're a WoT veteran, be aware that this is a very different sort of game. The only experience you'll bring from WoT that will benefit you in WT:GF is your knowledge of armor thicknesses and weak spots. (Oh, and your ability to identify tanks on sight if you play in Simulation mode; I'll get to that in a minute).
The first big change you'll notice from WoT is that the tanks actually handle like tanks -- big, lumbering hunks of hardened steel with under-horsed, persnickity, 1930s-designed engines. No motorcycles on tracks here; these vehicles have mass and you have to drive them as such. I recommend you spend some time in Test Drive mode unlearning bad habits from WoT before you jump into online combat.
Second, get used to aiming. You have to account for trajectory in GF, something that was calculated auto-magically in WoT. In the Arcade mode (similar to WoT), there is a white cross below your gunsight which marks the point of impact on whatever you're aiming at. Even that is not as easy as the WoT "point-n-shoot" sight, however. You'll find you still have to let the gun settle down before firing, especially if you've just brought the vehicle skidding to a halt and it's still rocking on its suspension. In Realistic and Simulation modes, your only aid is the ranging reticle. You have to make your best guess as to range and hope you hit him on the first shot. Because if you miss, he's going to know pretty much where you are and that you're shooting at him. As a rule, shooting at people doesn't make them happy.
While we're on the subject of aiming, you'll also find that the turrets turn at realistic speeds here, even in Arcade mode. Many of the Soviet tanks have hand-cranked turrets and can take 60 seconds or more to traverse 360 degrees. This means you have to think ahead. Don't get bushwhacked with your head up your ass and your gun pointing off at dreamland. Pay attention to known and suspected enemy locations and keep your turret turned in that general direction.
Third, don't get in a hurry. No matter which mode you're in, charging headlong into battle WoT-style will invariably get you killed. No matter which mode you play in, a single shot stands a good chance of taking you out, especially when you're dealing with guns which are 75mm and up. Even a non-killing hit, however, can severely hamper your ability to fight the tank. While its possible to conduct battle repairs, you have to find a safe spot and hunker down for a while to commence repairs, and safe spots are hard to come by when shells are flying. Of course if it's your track that's damaged, you are by definition not in a safe spot. Track repairs in WT:GF are... unlikely. Generally speaking, Tracked = Dead Real Soon Now.
I once read an anecdote from a U.S. Army infantry commander in World War II. He described tanks as "cautious, shy beasts. They are forever taking three tentative steps forward and immediately two back. Like a fat boy shyly approaching the line of girls at the school dance, they are unsure of the outcome and never commit completely until confident the risk is minimal." I recommend you emulate that behavior in WT:GF. Use the terrain to your advantage, advance cautiously, find a concealed location where you can watch a potential avenue of enemy advance and wait for a while. Think defensively, but act aggressively and quickly when you find a target. Because if you can see him, he can probably see you. First shot to hit stands a good chance of winning the fight.
That said, the tanks in GF all have their historical guns; there are no over-gunned prototypes and paper tanks here. Armor can actually be useful if you use it right, and you generally won't face tanks far outside of your ability to kill. But stupidity will get you waxed quickly. Again, dump the WoT mentality and start thinking like a tanker: "If we're seen, we're hit. If we're hit, we die."
There are three separate game modes in War Thunder: Arcade, Realistic, Simulation. Without going into too much detail, the basic difference between them is that you lose "crutches" as you go up in modes. For example, while Arcade mode places red text over the location of spotted enemy tanks in a manner similar to WoT, Simulation mode has nothing of the sort. You have to use the Mk.1 eyeball to find your targets. Realistic mode is somewhere between the two. There are other differences, but you can discover them as you play. I tend to default to Realistic mode, with occasional forays into Sim mode. Arcade can be fun in small bursts, but I don't like having different nations of tanks on the same team. Realistic and Simulation are divided by nation, as it should be.
Artillery exists in War Thunder, but it's not the pin-point anachronism you've come to know and loathe in WoT. Some tanks can call in artillery strikes, but you'll see the adjusting rounds impact prior to the barrage, giving you time to go elsewhere. The frequency of the barrages is also severely limited. Arty is relegated to its proper role in War Thunder, not handed Copperhead rounds and laser designators as in World of Tanks.
Planes: yes you will occasionally see player-controlled planes on the map in your tank battles. However, it's not anywhere near as irritating or crippling to tanks as you might think. First of all, it's damned hard to spot a tank from an aircraft, let alone hit with a bomb or rocket. Second, enemy planes become priority targets for friendly fighters. That IL-2 may think he's got you pat, except that he doesn't see that Bf 109 on his ass about to turn him into slag. But even if you have no planes on your team, all is not lost, because War Thunder has player-controlled AAA vehicles. You can hop in your Flakpanzer or 3.7cm Flak Halftrack or whathaveyou and give 'em a bit of the ol' one-two. I've shot down several Soviet attack planes whose players though it would be a good idea to make a straight attack run at an automatic cannon. Not so much, really. Shooting down a plane is both difficult and immensely satisfying. And of course you can always jump into your own plane and take it to them...
While planes are available for all five major combatant nations -- USA, Germany, USSR, Britain and Japan -- tanks are currently only available in Nazi and Commie flavors. That's fine by me, as the vast majority of major tank battles in WWII occurred on the Eastern Front, but be aware that if you're looking to jump in and drive a Ronson -- er, excuse me, a Sherman -- you'll have a bit of a wait as USA tanks are a couple patches out at this point. Limeys and Japs? Well, who cares, really? Don't let it stop you from jumping in immediately, though; killing commies is fun from any color of turret.
Enough yammering; go give it a try. And remember that if you're a WoT vet you'll need to give yourself some time to adapt. You'll get ganked a lot at first as you adjust to the playstyle; don't get frustrated, just realize that the problem is your playstyle, not the game. You'll get used to it after a few hours. I can tell you this with certainty: you'll never go back to WoT once you're hooked.
I play under the handle ApathyCurve. Look me up.
posted by Jar(egg)head at 10:41
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