War Thunder is an MMO-style combat game about World War II, Cold War and modern military vehicles. Like its primary competitor WarGaming.net, War Thunder offers all three major types of warfare (aerial, naval, ground), but does this in one single game and allows to control jets, helicopters and modern tanks as well. Players controlling air and ground or air and naval forces fight on the same battlegrounds.
Aerial Combat The aerial portion of War Thunder was originally called World of Planes. The name was changed due to perceived confusion with WarGaming.net's World of Warplanes. It features period accurate planes and locations from 1939 to the late XX century. Many historical battles from the second world war and the Korean war are represented as maps.
There are multiple difficulty modes depending upon how much realism you desire. Arcade mode is essentially a more simplistic multiplayer shooter while historical battles mode will require more advanced techniques like taking off and landing during battles and realistic damage modelling.
There are five countries represented in War Thunder; United States, United Kingdom, Soviet Union, Japan, and Germany. There are two more planned countries which have yet to be included in the game; Australia and Italy. Each have their own unlock trees and sets of planes. As one is levelled, that progress is not transferred to the others. Within each nationality the player has a hangar holding 3-7 planes of their own with many levelling and customisation options. Researching planes and upgrading crews use a mixture of various currencies; some earned in gameplay, some purchased with money.
Alpha The War Thunder aerial alpha ran from October 2011 to March 2012.
Beta Crashing without a tail in the beta. The closed beta began in March 2012 and concluded in October 2012. On Nov. 1, 2012 the game entered open beta. Gaijin Entertainment has stated the stats and progression earned by players during the open beta will not be reset when the game goes into full release. Purchasable upgrades and currency were also live as of the open beta. The game is downloaded via Gaijin's website as a free client, but on Feb. 26, 2013 the game passed Steam Greenlight and is due for release in the coming months.
Aircraft Here is a list of currently available and planned aircraft as of the beta release. Italics = Planned, but not in yet. Bold = Premium Content.
Germany (Air Arm, Luftwaffe) Arado 234 Bf.109E-3 Bf.109F-4 Bf.109F-4/trop Bf.109G-10 Bf.109G-2 Bf.109G-6 Bf.109K-4 Bf.110C-4 Do-217E-2 Do-217E-4 Do-217J-1 Do-217J-2 Do-217K-1 Do-217M-1 Fw 190 D-13 Dora Fw.190A-5 Fw.190D-12 Fw.190F-8 He-112A-0 He-112B-0 He-112B-1 He-112B-2 He-112V-5 He-51A-1 He-51B-1 He-51B-2 He-51C-1 He-51C-1/L He.111H-16 He.111H-2 He.111H-6 He.162A-2 Hs.129B-2 Ju.87B-2 Ju.87D-3 Ju.87D-5 Ju.87G-1 Ju.87R-2 Ju.88A-4 Me.163B Me.262A-1a Me.410A-1 Me.410A-1/U2 Me.410A-1/U4 Me.410B-1 Me.410B-1/U2 Me.410B-2/U4 Me.410B-6/R3 Ta.152H-1 Do-217N-1 Ju.87G-2 He.111H-3 Fw.190D-13 Captured: Wellington Mk 1C P-47D La-5FN
Japan (Imperial Japanese Army/Navy Air Service, 大日本帝国陸軍航空部隊) A5M4 A6M2 Zero A6M2-N Zero A6M3 Zero A6M5 Zero B5N2 D3A1 F1M2 G4M1 H6K4 Ki-200 Ki-43-II Ki-49-I Ki-49-IIA Ki-49-IIb Ki-61-Ia-Hei Ki-61-Ia-Ko Ki-61-Ia-Otsu N1K2-J N1K2-Ja A6M3 mod 22 Ki-10 Ki-49-llb/L G5N1 G8N1 A6M5 Ko Fw.190-A5 Bf.109E-3 Ki-45 ko
Ki-45 otsu Ki-45 tei Ki-45 hei Hagiri's A5M4 Captured:
F4U-1a
United Kingdom (Royal Air Force) Beaufighter Mk.VIC Beaufighter Mk.X Blenheim Mk.IV Boston Mk.I DB-7 Dewoitine D.520 Gladiator Mk.II Gladiator Mk.IIF Gladiator Mk.IIS Havoc Mk.I Hellcat F Mk.I Hurricane Mk.I Hurricane Mk.IIB Lancaster Mk.III Meteor F.3 Meteor F.4 LW Meteor F.4 SW Meteor F.8 Mosquito FB Mk.VI Sea Meteor F.3 Spitfire Mk XVI Spitfire Mk.I Spitfire Mk.II Spitfire Mk.IX Spitfire Mk.VB Spitfire Mk.VC Swordfish Mk.I Tempest Mk.V Typhoon Mk.IA Typhoon Mk.IB Typhoon Mk.IB/L Wellington Mk.Ic Wellington Mk.Ic/L Wellington Mk.III Wellington Mk.X Mustang Mk 1A Fury Mk I Fury Mk II Nimrod Mk I Tuck's Gladiator Mk.II Dewoitine D.521
United States (United States Army Air Forces) A-20G B-17E B-17E/L B-17G F-86A-5 F2A-3 F4F-3 F4F-4 F4U-1A F4U-1D F6F-3 OS2U-1 OS2U-3 P-26A-33 P-26A-34 P-26A-34 M2 P-26A-35 P-26B-35 P-40E-1 P-47D Thunderbolt P-51D-5 Mustang SBD-3 TBF-1C P-39N-0 P-39Q-5 P-63 P-38G F2A-1 B-25J-1 B-25J-20 B-24D PBY-5 Catalina PBY-5a Catalina XP-38G A-26C-45 Spitfire Mk IX XP-55 Ascender XP-50 Thach's F2A-1 Buffalo P-36 Rasmussen's P-36A Hawk Captured: Ki-61-lb A6M2 Bf.109F-4
USSR (Military Air Forces, Военно-воздушные силы СССР) I-153P I-16 Type 28 IL-10 IL-2 Sturmovik IL-2M IL-4 La-5FN La-7 LaGG-3 MiG-15 MiG-9 P-39K-1 P-39Q-15 Pe-2 (1-20) Pe-2 (110-204) Pe-2 (205-358) Pe-2 (21-82) Pe-2 (83-109) Pe-2 (359+) Pe-3 Pe-3 early Pe-3bis Po-2 SB 2M-100 SB 2M-100A SB 2M-100A (Span) SB 2M-103 SB 2M-103 MV-3 SB 2M-103U SB 2M-103U MV-3 SB 2M-105 Su-2 Su-2 M-82 Su-2 MV-5 SU-2 TSS-1 Tu-2 Yak-1B Yak-3 Yak-7B Yak-9T I-15 I-153 M-62 I-16 Type 18 MiG-9/L BB-1 Ar-2 Yer-2 Tu-2S Tu-2S-44 Tu-2S-59 Yak-9P Yak-15 Yak-15P Mig-3-15 Lagg-3-66 PBY-5a P-40E-1 P-63A-5 Zhykovsky's I-153-M62 I-15bis La-7B-20
Australian planes are included under UK: Australia (Royal Australian Air Force) Beaufighter Mk.21 Beaufort Mk.VIII Boomerang Mk.I Boomerang Mk.II Wirraway
Italian planes are included under Germany: Italy (Italian Royal Air Force, Regia Aeronautica Italiana) CR.42 Falcon G.50 Freccia seris 2 G.50 Freccia seris 7AS M.C.200 serie 3 M.C.200 serie 7 M.C.202 S.79 of 1936 S.79 of 1937 S.79 of 1939 S.79 of 1941 S.79B IAR K14-II S.79bis of 1942 S.79bis of 1943 Marcolin's CR.42CN
Naval Combat The naval combat portion of War Thunder will focus mostly on small water navies, featuring vehicle types such as torpedo boats, river boats and gun boats among others. The decision to focues on small water navies instead of full-blown capital ships was made because the developers found it hard to make the latter fit within the game; a realistic approach resulted in matches taking far too long, but speeding the ships up made it too arcade-y and unrealistic.
Naval combat were first announced on the 12th of August 2016 along with two premium vehicle pre-order packs that included access to closed bre-beta testing. It was also announced that unlike ground forces, naval combat would launch with all five nations at the same time. The first closed pre-beta test was held on the 2nd of December 2016, with another following a few days later.
Ground Combat The first three countries that will have playable ground vehicles are United States, Germany and the Soviet Union. The other countries will be added over time.
Here is a list of the currently confirmed set of vehicles.
Germany Assault Gun Tank Destroyer Light Tank Medium Tank Heavy Tank Stug III Asuf.A JgdPz 38t Pz.Kpfw II Ausf.C Pz.KpfW.III Ausf.E Pz.KpfW.IV Ausf.F Pz.KpfW.VI Ausf.H Stug III Asuf.C Stug IV Pz.Kpfw II Ausf.F Pz.KpfW.III Ausf.F Pz.KpfW.IV Ausf.F2 Pz.KpfW.VI Ausf.E Stug III Asuf.F JgdPz IV L48 Pz.Kpfw.35t Pz.KpfW.III Ausf.J Pz.KpfW.IV Ausf.G Pz.KpfW.VI Ausf.B (P) Stug III Asuf.G Pz IV L70 Pz.Kpfw.38t Pz.KpfW.III Ausf.L Pz.KpfW.IV Ausf.H Pz.KpfW.VI Ausf.B (H) Stug III Asuf.G (skb) Jadgpanther Pz.KpfW.III Ausf.M Pz.KpfW.V Ausf.D Pz.KpfW.VI Ausf.B mit KwK 46 StuH III Asuf.G Ferdinand Pz.KpfW.III Ausf.N Pz.KpfW.V Ausf.A Elefant Pz.KpfW.IV Ausf.C Pz.KpfW.V Ausf.G Jagdtiger Pz.KpfW.IV Ausf.E Pz.KpfW.V Ausf.F Panther II
Soviet Union Self-propelled gun Light Tank Medium Tank Heavy Tank ZIS-30 SU-100 T-26 BT-5 T-28 T-34-85 D-5T T-34 IS-1 SU-76 SU-122 T-40 BT-7 T-28E T-34-85 ZIS-53 KV-1 L11 IS-2 year 43 SU-76M SU-152 T-50 BT-7A T-34 L11 T-44 KV-1 ZIS-5 IS-2 year 44 SU-85 ISU-122 T-60 BT-7M T-34 F34 T-54 year 47 KV-1E IS-3 SU-85M ISU-152 T-70 T-34-57 T-54 year 49 KV-2 IS-4 T-80 T-34 year 42 T-54 year 51 KV-85
Light Tanks Medium Tanks Heavy Tanks SPAA Premium Tanks Gift Tanks M2A4 T2 Medium Tank M4A3 (105) HVSS M13 M2A4 (1st. Arm. Div.) M3A1 Stuart (USMC) M3 Stuart M3 Lee M6A1 M16 M4A3E2 Jumbo "Cobra King" M8A1 M3A1 Stuart M4A1 M4A3E2 Jumbo M15 M26E1 Grant I M5A1 Stuart M4 M4A3E2 (76) W Jumbo M19 M46 Patton (73 Tank Batalion) M22 Locust M4A2 T32 M42 Duster M24 Chaffee M4A1 (76) W M103 M41A1 Walker Bulldog M4A2 (76) W M4A3 (76) W HVSS M26 Pershing M46 Patton M47 Patton II
System Requirements Minimum OS: Windows XP SP2, Windows Vista SP1, Windows 7, Windows 8Processor: 2,2 GHzMemory: 1 GB RAMGraphics: Nvidia GeForce 7XXX series or higher; AMD Radeon 1XXX series or higherDirectX: Version 9.0cNetwork: Broadband Internet connectionHard Drive: 8 GB available spaceRecommended OS: Windows 7,Processor: dual-core 2,4 GHzMemory: 4 GB RAMGraphics: Nvidia GeForce 460 or higherDirectX: Version 9.0cNetwork: Broadband Internet connectionHard Drive: 8 GB available space