Making the transition from a tank novice to a veritable Sherman is a long-winded and treacherous route without proper guidance. The difference between coming away from a game with a couple of kills and topping the leaderboard is in the details, and boy, doesn’t War Thunder have a lot of details.
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- War Thunder Ground Forces Vs World Of Tanks Game
- War Thunder Ground Forces Vs World Of Tanks 2
- War Thunder Ground Forces Vs World Of Tanks Free
The simulation elements in this tank game mean that emerging victorious from an armoured scrap requires a great deal of thought, concentration and strategy. Armour angling, penetration values and shell types add complications to the basic question that plagues every tank commander’s mind: can I explode it before it explodes me? Answering that question involves far too much maths, so instead here are some basic tips and tricks to use in War Thunder’s Ground Forces game.
Know your tank
A simple tip, and one you can do before even entering battle. Knowing your tank, from its armament and armour thicknesses to its speed and crew positions, is essential to understanding why you just lost out to an inferior tank. Spend some time in the Hangar observing your tank in x-ray mode and learning the specs and you’ll know which areas of your tank to hide from enemy fire and how effective you are at dealing it back.
Paying attention to your vehicle’s top speed and weight will also offer you hints as to what combat role your tank is best suited for. Light and fast tanks make excellent assault vehicles and are particularly effective at capturing objectives. Slow and heavily armoured tanks will require a more careful approach but offer their ability to soak up heavy damage as recompense.
Angling will save your life
And we don’t mean fishing.
So, you’ve had a look at your tank and discovered your armour is thickest at the front. The logical next step: face any and all threats head on, show nothing else to your enemy. War Thunder’s ballistics mechanics are more sophisticated than that, however. The slope and angle of your armour effectively increase the thickness of your plating as well as the likelihood of shells bouncing or ricocheting off without doing any damage.
Therefore, in most circumstances the ultimate position to be in when facing an enemy is at a 45° angle. Despite this exposing your side armour, the increase it provides to your armour value makes it an essential tactic and will help you get the most out of your tank.
Using the right shell is key
Spend a little bit of time with any one tank and you’ll soon find a wide range of shell types at your disposal, each useful in their own right. Having the right shell equipped is key to dominating Ground Forces, from single purpose speciality casings to solid all-round tank destroyers.
Here are some acronyms to keep in mind: AP (armour-piercing), HE (high explosive) and BC (Ballistic Capped). The most general use shell in the game is an APHE as it provides an ideal blend of penetrative capability and explosive damage. HE rounds might tempt players with their damage potential, but their inability to penetrate makes them practically useless against most tanks. Speciality shells like APCR and HEAT are worth experimenting with but require precision to mete out significant damage.
Stay hull down
In almost all military and combat scenarios, holding the high ground is key. As a general rule of thumb, doing so early on into your War Thunder career will get you killed. Tank turrets can generally raise more than they can lower, and being up high reveals your tank’s most vulnerable areas for all to target.
Staying hull down is the practice of keeping the bulk of one’s tank behind cover while leaving the turret exposed. This allows tankers to continue firing while keeping most of their vehicle completely protected. This is best done using natural cover and can be the difference between life and death in a one-on-one encounter with an enemy tank.
Make your shots count
You can unload as many shells into a tank as you want in War Thunder, but if they’re not hitting anything valuable you might as well be missing. War Thunder utilises specific damage values and modules for every tank. Crew positions, ammo racks, fuel tanks and just about anything you’d expect to be important in an actual tank are the objects you’ll want to be hitting if you want to get some kills under your belt.
A single shot at a weak spot can wipe out the whole tank crew, hitting an ammo rack can set the vehicle ablaze, damaging a tank’s tracks will leave it immobile, allowing you to circle it and deliver a fatal blow. A well aimed shot is infinitely more valuable than a hundred misplaced ones. Look for gaps in the opposition’s armour – they might be miniscule, but firing at these weak spots will net you kills faster than anything else.
Play your role
Obvious as it may sound, a scout tank like the T-50 won’t be able to trade blows with a heavy tank like the KV-1. If you’re rolling into battle in a light tank, your job should be to capture points and scout out the enemy – AA vehicles and other light vehicles are worth picking fights with, while everything else should be avoided at all costs.
Conversely, heavy tanks and some tank destroyers are fierce sniping platforms, making them ideal for holding down any open expanses of land. Medium tanks are more versatile and – depending on the specific vehicle – can be used for anything from long-range duelling to defending a capture point. Sticking to your role on the battlefield will make you more combat effective and help your team to victory.
Keep in mind that some tanks have uses outside of their historical and intended role, so if you see someone turning tanks inside out with an AA vehicle like the T17E2, don’t be deterred from experimenting with it yourself.
Ramming is pointless
It used to be the case in War Thunder that ramming was a genuinely effective tactic… in aerial battles. Why gamers have carried that fine tradition of instant fiery death through to Ground Forces is beyond any tanking veteran’s comprehension, but ramming is still painfully prevalent.
While it is possible to do damage and even defeat a tank by ramming it, in most circumstances it’s the rammer – if that’s the correct term? – that comes off worse. No matter how last-ditch or tempting it might be, you’re probably better off sitting tight and waiting until you can fire again than you are crashing into your enemy. Damage to the main turret and tracks, as well as finding yourself within fatal range of the opposing tank are all valid reasons to avoid this rudimentary tactic.
Do your homework
Equally as important as knowing all there is to know about your own tank, being aware of some basic weaknesses and strengths of other tanks can be a lifesaver. If you keep coming up against the same tank and losing, it pays to comb through its stats in the game’s menu. Keeping an eye out for armour vulnerabilities, offensive frailties or knowing to simply keep a bit of distance between you and a certain type of tank will keep you involved in the battle for much longer.
Even the slightest details can give you the edge over an opponent. A slow turret traverse speed on an otherwise solid tank is its achilles heel if you’re able to circle it. Likewise, knowing where a tank’s ammo racks are will give you a chance to take it out with as few shots as possible. As the old cliché goes – in War Thunder, knowledge is power.
Don’t just stick to Arcade
Ground Forces is split into three game modes: Arcade, Realistic and Simulator. Arcade is the friendliest of the lot, which is why most newcomers start there. In Arcade your tank will move and turn faster, spotted enemies are marked on your map, there’s a subtle aim assist and teams can consist of vehicles from any nation. It’s the easier, more digestible way to play, but it’s not War Thunder at it’s most engaging.
The best Ground Forces action is to be found in Realistic and Simulator battles, and if you spend too much of your early career in Arcade, making the leap to these more hardcore modes is a no mean feat. So don’t be afraid to try out these game modes early on to get a feel for how they work, as you probably won’t want the game to hold your hand when you’re entering the higher vehicle tiers.
War Thunder is free to play. Try it now.
Got any tips of your own that have helped you out on the battlefield? Let us know in the comments below.
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I have always been a big fan of military hardware. Tanks, Planes, Guns, Armor, Missiles, everything. I've spent a good portion of my life studying and researching all the different weapons and tactics of war, and learning about history, listening and watching documentaries from any source I can get it from. I also enjoy Military games, from flight sims to first person shooters, and I've played nearly everything. Years ago my brother, and some friends got me into World of Tanks. I also tried World of Warplanes which was absolutely horrible, and World of Warships, which was decent. In more recent years I've been playing War Thunder. Which from an aircraft standpoint is superior to World of Warplanes in every way imaginable, so I will not compare the two. I would however, like to compare World of Tanks and War Thunder Ground Forces. To give you an idea of the kind of player I am, in both games I am rated as 'Very Good' > 1600 WN8 on WoT with (last I was active) 30 day WN8 of between 1800 and 2000. In War Thunder I am rated at 68% which is approximately equal to that of a 1700ish WN8 if it were in WoT, so not the best, but not a bad player. World of Tanks: The Good
WoT has good maps, good balance, and doesn't make you feel like there is a large 'Pay to win' aspect, though if you don't have a premium account (approx $12 a month), or spend a lot of time driving premium tanks, then you may find it hard to earn credits if you are using premium rounds or premium equipment to keep up with those who do have a premium account. The Tank models that have been upgraded to HD are very good, and the overall feel is pretty good. The Tank trees are very well developed and you will find nearly every tank that you can think of from WW I through WW II and into part of the inter war period.
WoT uses a hitpoint based system which makes it very easy for the developers to balance tanks by modifying fire rates, damage or pen. Because of their damage model and the way that armor and penetration is designed within WoT, the balance between armor and penetration is very good, but seems to go between armor being king, to damage being king, and the pendulum swings back and forth depending on the patch.
The immense variety of tank types gun types, loader types, engine types, shapes, and armor make the play style fairly variable between types and variable between Tiers. There are a variety of different ammunition types and some of them feel different from others, particularly HE and Armor Peircing varieties are different. Play styles between different tank classes including Light tanks (which can really bet classed into scout tanks and flankers IMO) feel different than Medium Tanks (which are typically either support, or flanking) which feel different than Heavy Tanks (support, or push tanks), Tank Destroyers, which typically snipe or hold positions, and Artillery, which have a top down view of the battlefield and can support the battle in one way or another.
World of Tanks: The Bad
World of Tanks has millions of players, and while you will always have bad eggs in any batch, WoT seems to have an enormous helping of Trolls, and flat out jerks, which becomes very apparent within playing only a few matches. The community doesn't seem to police its own, and in many games you will witness the extreme toxicity of the playerbase. There are options to turn off chat, but this also keeps you from seeing what could be important communications from your team.
Team balance is terrible, and does not promote platooning with friends. If you platoon with others, you are far more likely to be pitted up against players that are far out of your league, becuase these players nearly always platoon when they play. When teams are balanced skill of players are not taken into account, even in the least. It is not unusual to see one team full of extremely skilled, clan wars hardened players and the other team full of people with 30>40% win rates in their current tank. Having your platoon stuck on the team full of scrubs vs a team chuck full of unicums is very discouraging. Skill based matchmaking has been suggested hundreds of times, but it is always shot down by high end players because this would reduce their stats by placing them against some players of the same caliber in each match.
World of Tanks Ammunition types are not very well modelled. the effective difference between one Armor piercing type and another is simply a matter of penetration(with or without range reduction (which almost doesn't matter due to the spotting mechanics)) and chance to bounce based on angle. Most ammo types do the same damage for the same gun. The prevalence of 'Gold' ammunition, which reduces tactical gameplay is almost a complete saturation in higher tiers, which trivializes skill.
World of Tanks uses an RNG system in their aiming, which plays a big role in whether or not your round hits, and penetrates a tank. This helps to decrease the gap between unskilled players and skilled players. But again, this also quells skilled game play because even if you have impeccable aiming skills, there is a good chance your round will not land where you aimed it. This does not line up with reality, as their spreads are MUCH MUCH MUCH bigger than their real life counterparts. To give you an example, in a medium tank that has a big gun, say T>34>3 Chinese medium with a 122mm main gun. You can be 15 meters from a target, circling it, fire your gun aimed directly into its center mass, and your round will hit the ground 5m from your tank. This kind of shot wouldn't even be possible, as the rounds come from your mantlet in WoT not the end of your barrel. This can be very frustrating the higher skill you develop this system impacts you more.
Because of their Hitpoint model many of the guns end up having a less than satisfying feel to them since all you are seeing is a small amount of numbers Good examples would be the German 88mm gun. This gun is extremely underwhelming in WoT. in WW II this was a devastating gun, not only because of the penetration but also because of the APCBC round that had such destructive power.
The spotting system is horrible. I understand what they were trying to accomplish by using this, but it eliminates the advantages that some tanks had over others, such as engagement envelope etc. Tanks you are aiming at will dissappear without real reason because they are 'No longer spotted' and in some circumstances even if you are in complete cover, you'll be 'Spotted' This results in constantly being hit by 'Ghost tanks', or missing a shot because your target dissappears and your gunner's 'Auto ranging' stops and your round shoots off into the nether.
The practice of starting a tank with a different gun than its best gun can be very frustrating because your new tank can literally be unable to adequately compete until you have researched the newer gun. I understand that they are trying to give you progress through a particular tank, but this seems to create 'Hell Tanks' That you dread playing. There are some tanks in some lines that are also just terrible and are not fun to play even when fully upgraded.
In an effort to not have 'Pay to win' Premium tanks, which you pay real money for, are typically somewhere between a stock tank (see above where new tanks can often not be competitive at their tier at all in stock form) and a fully upgraded tank at that tier. This is something I accepted while playing WoT and I had a large number of premium tanks and enjoyed playing them most of the time, but since playing War Thunder and using their equally balanced premium tanks, I much prefer the WT model. In addition you do not progress while playing your premium tanks, they are merely a money making vehicle, and if you don't have a Premium account and you want to play high Tiers you'll need to play some prem tank games just to keep up on money.
Ranging targets, which is a big part of being a tank gunner in real life is completely trivialized in WoT, you place your reticle directly on the target and the ranging is done automatically, which can be very wonky when suddenly the tank you are looking at disappears due to the shoddy spotting mechanics.
Artillery is nothing more than rolling a dice and hoping you hit something in a huge circle, and maybe being able to fire 3 or 4 times in a battle.
Tier 9 and 10 are almost always money>loss tanks unless you are using Premium, or are lucky enough to always have good games. At Tier 10 it was not unusual to see a 20k loss per game sometimes even losses like this with a premium account. You work your butt off to get to higher tiers just to feel like you are being punished for getting there.
War Thunder Ground Forces: The Good
The very first thing you have to mention when it comes to War Thunder is the damage model. The damage model is incredible, you destroy tanks not by reducing their hitpoints to zero, but by destroying the very things in the tanks that make them function, whether its the crew or the components within. Part of this damage model is the modelling of ammunition types which is superior in every way to the WoT Counterparts. APBC rounds strike armor, penetrate through, causing spalling(breaking of chunks of metal from the inside of the tank, which become shrapnel inside the tank), and the round fragments once inside, impacting not only what the main round contacts, but also what the fragments contact. APCBC/APHE has an explosive charge which detonates inside, APCR punches mere holes, and can easily pass through the tank without damaging anything if not aimed properly. HEAT rounds don't enter the tank, but instead shoot white hot streams of gas through the tank destroying whatever is in their path. HE rounds can cause spalling even if they don't penetrate.
There are vast, and varied types of maps in War Thunder Ground Forces, from open engagements where 1500>2000m shots are not uncommon on maps like Kursk to city fights where you fight on corners, and across streets. And because you can take a variety of tanks to any given battle, you can select the tank you want to use AFTER seeing what map you get. There are night battles, and different weather types. Much of the environment can be destroyed, I've made a number of kills by penetrating through a light building or train car.
War Thunder Ground Forces Vs World Of Tanks Game
Premium tanks, which cost real money are equally balanced with fully upgraded tanks of the same Battle rating, in comparison to tanks that are not quite as good as fully upgraded tanks of their same tier in WoT. In my opinion if you are paying money to support a free to play game, the tanks you buy should be equally competitive at their battle rating or Tier. They should not have an advantage, as that would be 'Pay to win' but they should be equal. In War Thunder you can gain XP towards your other tanks using your Premium tanks, while gaining extra credits too! This makes playing premium tanks much more satisfying.
The guns feel powerful in relation to their real life counterparts. To use the same example as I did in WoT, the German 88mm is devastating, it is effective at long range (something you will never really get to try in WoT since their spotting system just simply wont allow long range engagement) This long range engagement is something that gave german tanks advantages in WW II where they could engage allied tanks at > 1000m whereas allied tanks had to get much closer and flank to get effective penetration.
War Thunder Ground Forces Vs World Of Tanks 2
Penetration and death cam. This has to be mentioned for WT, because it is REALLY AWESOME to get to see exactly what your round does to your enemy, and it turns the knife a bit when you see exactly the path of the bullet that killed you took, sometimes seeing incredible shots taken from great distances, even through windows or other small gaps.
No 'Hell' Tanks. If you don't like a tank, don't play it. You can gain XP on ANY tank using ANY tank, at ANY tier.
High Tier games don't seem like you are always losing money. They don't feel as lucrative as ~6.7 tanks, but you don't feel like you are constantly being drained just to play the tanks you love the most.
War Thunder Ground Forces: The Bad
You have to unlock the use of parts new ammo types and fire extinguishers in new tanks, while in my opinion this is a much lesser challenge than WoT in terms of unlocking the best gun, it can be frustrating having your tank disabled and not being able to repair it. (this does not include track damage)
War Thunder Ground Forces Vs World Of Tanks Free
The arcade mode in War Thunder is somewhat underwhelming, the tank models are rather odd, feeling too fast, too slidy, and with an impact point indicator and penetration indicator, it trivializes gunnery and results in 'shooting at names in the woods' which I do not enjoy. This is why I play almost exclusively Realistic Battles and Simulator Battles, which I believe are the intended primary game types of War Thunder.
There is a much larger learning curve getting into WT in Realistic and Simulator modes than in WoT, because you have to learn how to range targets, and how different types of ammunition will behave when fired. There are no markers for enemy tanks by default, so this can lead to some circumstances where you will get shot from a tank you did not realize was there due to camoflage.
![War thunder ground forces vs world of tanks for sale War thunder ground forces vs world of tanks for sale](/uploads/1/2/3/2/123289078/294770457.jpg)
Learning Ammo types and their effects and effective range can be difficult, you can always tell a WoT player, because they will use the absolute highest Pen round no matter what, and then be frustrated when it takes 15 shots to kill a tank. Also you will see them shooting for center mass, and not focusing on disabling a tank (which is what you would do in real life, a tank that cannot fire back is a safer target)
Conclusion:
It is fairly simple to see where I line up, I do not claim to have an unbias view of these two games, because I no longer play WoT and I play WT frequently. In my opinion War Thunder Ground forces is the better game. It feels more dynamic, and the satisfaction per shot just doesn't compare. They both have their pluses and minuses, but the fun factor is definitely in WT's favor. If you decide to try out War Thunder, Work up to the point you get the Tiger tank for Germans, the upper Shermans for Americans, or 85mm guns for Russians to really get the effect that I'm talking about.
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