War Thunder, Now With More Rockets

Gaijin has announced some new gear and changes to older stuff for War Thunder. Firstly, as you can see, the Russians are starting off the new Anti-Tank Missile launching vehicles, here we have an IT-1 that is based off the T-62 hull. We have been informed as well that there is a high chance of WSAD controlled rockets and passive guided rockets when all are released.

There will be at least 1 vehicle with rockets for each nation, though we don’t have much to go on than some information that came out from a meeting between some players and the developers a few days ago. Statistics such as penetration and missile speed vary, but the initial information from the community meeting was that each rocket should defeat 250mm of armour at 60 degree inclination and will fly at around 220m/s which is around a fifth of the speed of the PzGr. 39/43 APCBC-HE shell from a German 88mm cannon that was used on the Königstiger (Tiger II/Bengal Tiger, or incorrectly Royal Tiger/King Tiger). They have aslo announced preliminary statistics for the IT-1 but since they are subject to change, we do know that historically the limited service vehicle carried a 7.62mm machinegun and 15 rockets, and in ideal conditions could fire 4 or 5 rockets a minute.

Since the Oculus Rift has now passed into customer hands, War Thunder was also updated to take full use of the new fidelity in the headset, from what we have heard (since some of us can’t wear one) this will mean sharper images, so no more mistaking a B-17 at 1,000m for a Lancaster.

We were also given in another dev blog information that the US Bomber tree will have the B-18 Bolo. It’s a converted civilian aircraft that could carry, at the time, an impressive bomb load of 4,400lb (2,000Kg) but the bomber’s service in the Second World War was more sedate and it was used for anti-submarine warfare off the coast of the US mainland.

In the latest couple of patches, the “Last Man Standing” feature for Realistic and Simulator battles which had caused a schism in the player base was removed. This feature meant that any vehicle, even ones with 6 crew, could still be operational if one crewman was still alive, Gaijin are now looking at a type of crew healing for unconscious versus dead crew.

Bomb and Machinegun damage for ground targets has been slightly modified, along with the introduction of differences in the explosive yield in various bomb types and for each nation. So no longer does a US 500lb General Purpose bomb do the same damage as a British 500lb General Purpose bomb.

Official Press Release

May 12th, 2016 Gaijin Entertainment today announced that War Thunder’s next major update will introduce new tanks armed with guided missile weaponry. This type of missile will bring a totally new destructive capability ground battles in War Thunder, thus expanding the number of tactics and strategies players can employ. Players can fire missiles and guide them the whole way to the target until impact.

One of the first guided missile tanks planned to appear in the next update is the Soviet IT-1. Based on the hull of the T-62, it was the first and the last Soviet tank that had no guns at all – its only armament was 15 missiles ready to destroy an enemy vehicle, even if it was hidden on the other side of a hill. Most of the other nations in War Thunder will also get new guided missile tanks in the next update. Check out the developers’ blog for more information about upcoming additions: http://warthunder.com/en/devblog/

War Thunder also now supports Oculus Rift CV1, available since the last update, so players are able to play the game in exciting combat scenarios in VR. Available for both air and ground battles, Virtual Reality provides pilots and tankers with as much immersion as possible so that a player flying an aircraft in the game can experience similar feelings to what a real WW2 pilot would have experienced. With Oculus Rift CV1, fighters have detailed cockpits and instrumentation panels, providing important tools for controlling the aircraft whilst flying in a cockpit view. The detailed 2K resolution of the Oculus Rift CV1 lets players see enormous landscapes from the cockpit of their aircraft, leaving the enemy no place to hide.

To try War Thunder with the Oculus Rift CV1, download War Thunder, tick “Full client” and “Oculus Rift” in the game launcher, wait until the download is complete and run the game. Pick your favourite vehicle and join the battle. Virtual Reality is available for any aircraft or tank mode in War Thunder. Join multiplayer battles, try out the single or co-op missions or test the most breathtaking maneuvers in test flight. For a deeper level of immersion, a flightstick and throttle are highly recommended.