War Thunder German Fighters and Heavy Fighters Guide

War Thunder German Fighters and Heavy Fighters Guide by Blitzkrieg5

I WILL NOT INCLUDE THE JU-87s OR He-111/Ju-88 in…… YET.

Hello. This will be a guide I will be making to help new players to master the German aircraft available in War Thunder. I hope this guide will be as useful to new players and maybe even the more experienced players will learn something from this.

Vocabulary:
Service Ceiling : How high your plane can go.
Energy retention : How long can the aircraft keep the energy (Speed) it got from a dive, etc.
Boom and Zoom (BnZ): A tactic where you convert altitude to speed by diving to attack a target below then climbing with gained speed back to safety.

First of all, the advantages and disadvantages of your aircraft.

Advantages:

-High speed
-BEST climb rate of ALL PISTON ENGINE FIGHTERS
-BEST dive speed of ALL PISTON ENGINE FIGHTERS
-Good acceleration
-Good Service ceiling
-Good energy retention
-Potent weaponry at rank 4 onwards
-EXTREMELY POTENT WEAPONRY LEVEL 13 ONWARDS. (G-6 is a prime example. 30mm cannons on later planes are extremely potent.)
-Interesting weaponry (Unlike USA, which only have BROWNING MG for ALL planes except the F4U-1C corsair and a few late war jets, Germany have some unbelievably fun (Not the most rewarding) weapon such as 50mm cannons and even a 75mm cannon (Will be introduced in some patch SOONtm.)
-Good high speed initial turning.
-Only aircraft capable of jet hunting

Disadvantages:

-Poor turning at low speed
-Extremely high repair costs at higher levels (Due to said 1 hit kill ability)
-Extremely skill dependent (It is more difficult to master. Unlike spitfire where you only need to turn circles all day)
-Vulnerable engine (Personal experience, if it differs from your experience, tell me)
-Fragile. It is around middle in durability. (Russian IL-2 or US P-47s and Corsairs are quite durable)

Aircraft- Reserved aircraft.

The first aircraft you get are Bi-planes. They are extremely maneuverable and can turn extremely well with little energy lost. However, they are slow and poor at climbing but it doesn’t matter. Since everybody else are using Bi-planes anyway .

He-51

This plane will be the starting point of the German Messerschmitt tech tree and it is a nice plane. Dunno why they used a plane made by HEINKEL to start the tech tree off………

Advantages:
-Maneuverabilty
-Decent firepower
-Decent speed for its level….. Which is ZERO
-No speed limit lock ups.

Disadvantages:
-In higher level games, your low speed leaves you vulnerable
-Compared to the blatantly OP RU reserves, there is not much you can do.

Tactics and tips:
Use this plane until you are comfortable with the controls because the lower levels are the most forgiving. You can play around with it and stuff up as much as you like until you get bored (No repair fee). This plane is enjoyable as a level 0 and will hopefully help you get the hang of the game.

Targets:
-All Bi-planes EXCEPT RUSSIAN WHEN AVOIDABLE

Dangerous enemies:
-ALL I-15 SERIES, ALL I-153 SERIES Bi-planes.

(Those THINGS are extremely OP with their FOUR machine gun armament and over the top maneuverability, I-153 is even more dangerous due to the infamous ShKas machine guns which can outpower every other MG in lower level games. Identify the ShKas machine gun by its humming sound (Like a minigun) and large amount of tracers flying EVERYWHERE)

The only way to beat them is to use their advantage against them, their speed. The game devs (Maybe as a balancing thing temporarily  made the plane vulnerable to locking up on high speed. Simply make a sharp dive and pull up. If you are lucky, the enemy plane will go over 500km/h and the plane will lose ALL controls and plummet. Remember, all other Bi-Planes don’t have this weakness, so use this against the Russian Bi-Planes ONLY.

Level 1-3……….. Italian tech tree.

DO NOT GET THOSE TRASH. Only get the Falco and advance down the Messerschmitt tech tree. (If you MUST have the italian tree, not much I can help you with, I literally cried my way though six level because of them….. and He112 isn’t out yet when I did the first 6 level. Enjoy the grind)

Level 1-3 German tech tree

Firstly, if you have the Falco, hire another crew and place the falco there, you can now use 4 panes per battle. (YAY ).
Falco gameplay is extremely similar to that of He-51, it is slightly stronger and faster in exchange for a bit of maneuverability.

He-112s:

These planes are unique and they require time to master. There are three variants and I strongly recommend buying all of them as they can prepare you for later.

First Variant: 2x 7.62 MG17 machine guns, they might seem to be exactly the same to the He-51 because they are…… But, you plane is faster than a He-51 and you can begin practising BnZ tactics.

Advantage:
-Faster
-More durable
-Better climb rate
-Better diving speed
-Maneuverable for mono-plane

Disadvantage:
-Less maneuverable than Bi-plane
-Not the biggest improvement in terms of firepower
-Rudder lockups
-Unfortunately, THE WORSE LEVEL 2 (Hurricanes and Ishaks dominate. And of cause the Hayabusa is the best )

Tactics for first He122.
You are now in a mono-plane. They are not as agile as a Bi-plane, so avoid turn fighting (Turn and burn, TnB) against Bi-planes at all cost. Due to aileron lockups when over 500km/h, NEVER DIVE TOO HARD

Level 3 He-112

Second variant: 1x 20mm cannon

Advantage:
-CANNON (Quickly take a shot at target, if you are lucky, you could destroy it in 1-10 shots)
-Maneuverability, not a spitfire, but it will do

Disadvantage:
-CANNON….. (When you reload, you will realize that cannons’ have a high reload time. 35 seconds, I think. You MUST INVEST IN RELOAD SKILL. (Late game German planes use ALL cannon loadouts.)
-No “Backup” weapon
-AILERON LOCKUPS

Tactics for the second He-112
Play it just like the first variant. But remember you dont have any MGs, so if you go dry on Ammo, you will need to wait a lot longer. Make sure to make the shots count because the gun is also slow firing. This plane can also help you learn to play the Yak-9T or Airacobra/Kingcobra series due to the slow firing nose mounted cannon. ONE MORE THING, THIS PLANE WILL LOCKUP AT 500km/h +.

Level 4

Level 4- Heavy fighter

Congratulation of reaching level 4. There are 3 useful aircraft for you to choose from at this level and the first one I will talk about will be the BF110 heavy fighter. This plane, as you can see have TWO engines, not one. The plane from this line are HEAVY FIGHTERS. They have heavy firepower on the front but sacrificed mobility for it, bear in mind that the heavy fighters are FAST, they simply cant turn circles like other fighters.

BF110:

Advantage:
-4 MGs and 2 MG FF 20mm cannon, most powerful aircraft of its level by brute force.
-Generally fast
-Maneuverable for a TWIN ENGINED PLANE

Disadvantage:
-Even though your maneuverability is good for a TWIN engine fighter, it is not good enough to stand toe to toe with fighters
-Poor durability, it will cause a lot of “WTF” moments

Tactics
This plane is faster than the He112 as of 1.29 patch, making it even more useful in BnZ, however, when you dive upon a target, the speed can make you miss your shot as your plane turns like a beached whale when going above 600km/h. The 2 MG FF cannons unfortunately have self destruction rounds, so they will not fly as far as other rounds. But, they are still powerful enough to severely damage or kill anyone you hit.

Level-4 He112

This plane represents the pinnacle of the Heinkel He112 series and have firepower rivalling the famous BF-109 E. This plane generally handles the same as the first two He112, but the added firepower is extremely noticeable (Until your cannon runs dry) and you are now truly capable of killing targets in 1 BnZ attack without effort. However, this plane is still inferior to the famous spitfire.

Advantages:
-Good mix of cannons and MGs, this is a extremely reliable loadout
-Access to Mine shell HEI ammunition in Air to Air belt
-Maneuverability, not the best, but it will have to do

Disadvantages:
-Not the best for its level
– AILERON LOCKUPS

Tactics:
This plane handles like all the other He112s but with added firepower. DO NOT DIVE TOO HARD. THIS PLANE LOCKS UP AT HIGH SPEED TOO.

Level 4- Mc202 Folgore

This is an Italian fighter and it is the only good one. If you have spare lions, feel free to advance down the Italian tech tree and unlock this plane. Avoid playing the Saettas because they are AWFUL. However, this plane is capable of holding its own against high level enemies if you know what you are doing because it is an excellent all rounder and can adapt to almost any role. This is still commonly used in my high level setup and does get enough kills to even pull me back to profit if I lose an expensive plane.

Mc202: 2x 7.62 Breda-SAFAT machine gun + 2x 12.7mm Breda-SAFAT machine gun.

Advantages:
-Decent speed
-Decent Climb rate
-Cheap to repair
-Good mobility all round
-Extremely adaptive

Disadvantages:
-Slightly underwhelming firepower
-Jack of all trades…. MASTER OF NONE

Tactics:
Unlike other German fighters from the Heinkel tree, this plane is a nice tuner at high speed and can climb well. The armament might be slightly underwhelming but it’s mobility allows you to “Cling” onto the target if the target does not have enough energy tp helicopter away. Overall, this plane allows you to do all sorts of stupid stuff and lets you get away with it… (Sometimes). In skilled hands, this plane is extremely potent and with some luck, even JETS can be hammered by this aircraft. (ME ) You can always climb at the start of the game to nail a bomber or two, then BnZ at unsuspecting aircraft or turn fight others. Just avoid turning against ZEROS or SPITFIRES, BnZ them instead.

Level 6 (Gap between level 4-6)

Level 6- BF 109

Firstly, I must congratulate you for staying with the German tech tree through the horrible level 1-5. But, your grind will be awarded by THIS aircraft, the BF-109 E-3. This plane is great. Good speed combined with EXCELLENT maneuverabilty and heavy firepower means this plane will dominate most other opponents. This plane is the ONLY BF-109 I would suggest doing turn fighting in because it handles exceptionally well when turning, even when comparing to Spitfires. However, this plane cannot out turn those ZEROS (Obviously )

BF-109: 2x 7.62mm Mg17 + 2x 20mm MG FF cannon

Advantages:
-Excellent firepower. This cannon in my opinion is superior to the Spitfire’s Hispano-Suiza cannon
-Excellent turn rates
-Excellent speed (Like ALL German fighters)
-Great energy retention
-Maintains control at steep dives (Begins to lose control only at 600 km/h)

Disadvantages:
-You will not want to play your old planes
-You will get carried away because this plane is epic
-You still cannot turn with ZEROS (Obviously )

Tactics:
BnZ and Turn fight. It is your choice. I found BnZ more effective against lone targets but if you wish to, you can still turn fight because this plane will let you get away with most engagements. This plane is great at “Rolling Scissors” and I often found myself gaining the upper hand quickly. However, speed is life and it is a better choice to saty high and pick on targets below at your leisure as this ensures your survival. At the beginning of the game, fly as high as possible and intercept enemy bombers or other high flying fighter. Never equip bombs because it will only serve to distract you from your goal, TO KILL AS MANY ENEMY AS POSSIBLE.

Level 6- Dornier 217 heavy fighter

There are two level 6 heavy fighter and it is directly after the Bf110. This plane have even more firepower than the BF110 but it sacrificed mobility for 2 more nose mounted 20mm MG FF cannons, thus making it even more lethal against any enemy unlucky enough to be caught in the line of fire from this cannon. Speed is great, but it threw turn rates straight outta the window and handles like a bus.

Dornier 217: 4x 7.62mm MG17 + 4x 20mm MG FF cannon

Advantages:
-FIREPOWER. Nothing on its level can rival this plane in terms of firepower. Nobody have 4 MG FF cannon and 4 MG17 machine guns
-Large magazine size for those MG FF cannons. This means more kills and less reload
-Some what decent speed
-Some what decent dive
-Decent/Good climb rates

Disadvantages:
-You are the size of a barn house
-You are big, but not that durable
-STUPID TURRETS, they almost do NOTHING unless you man it yourself. And even if you do, 90% of the time, you WILL die
-Mobility……… You turn like a bloody truck with flat tires.
-Annoying self destroying shells………

Tactics:
Unlike BF-110. this plane is unwieldy at speed, so I strongly suggest you avoid attacking fighters unless they are distracted. With the speed, climb rate and firepower, use it like how it is used in real life, as a bomber hunter (Zestroyer). This plane with its great firepower, good top speed and climb rates can be used to accustom yourself to the Me410s or the level 7 version of the Dornier Do 217 heavy fighter  Remember, use this plane as a bomber hunter, not a fighter. Your role is to intercept enemy bombers and not to attack smaller, and more agile fighters. Only attack other fighters if you do not see any enemy bombers.

Level 7

Level 7- BF109 F-4/F-4 Trop

The BF-109 F-4 and its cousin, the F-4 Trop are both level 7 fighters. These two planes are agile, only capable of being out turned by dedicated turn fighters such as spitfires and ZEROS (Obviously ) but it completely thrash the ZERO and spitfire when it comes to speed and climb rate, which is the main advantage of ALL level 6+ German fighters and these two plane shows it. The firepower of these 2 planes are more than adequate  even though ypu lost 1 MG FF cannon, you now have a nose mounted MG151/20 20mm cannon which in my opinion is more effective than the 2 MG FF cannon. With its excellent combination of speed, climb rate, dive speed and mobility, you will often find yourself on the top of the leaderboards in each game.

BF-109 F-4/ F-4 Trop: 2x 7.62mm MG17 + 1x 20mm MG151/20 cannon

Advantages:
-Excellent speed
-Excellent mobility
-Excellent climb rates
-Excellent diving speed
-Excellent energy retention
-Great Service ceiling
-Weaponry concentrated in the nose (weapons mounted on wings must be set to converge at a certain distance so the projectile from the weapons in both wings “Meet” at a certain location (Eg. 500m). However, weapons in the nose have no such need and can preform to 100% potential regardless of distance. Making it easier for your shots to hit your mark.)

Disadvantages:
-Other than not being able to out turn a zero, I can think of any……… I think is now happy……….

Tactics:
This plane excels at high altitude engagements, however, those are rare in arcade as most people enjoy hanging out on the deck turn fighting. This can be used to your advantage as you will be able to “Camp” at the higher altitude and collect free bomber kills with little or no resistance. Any enemy making a VERTICAL climb directly towards you should be targeted after it begins to slow down and stall as stalling will make him an extremely easy to kill target. With your speed, you can Boom and Zoom (BnZ) any targets turning on the deck a will. If you do BnZ, make sure you DO NOT stay on the target’s tail and follow as you will lose a lot of speed doing so. Instead, fly straight after you have taken a shot and ignore any enemy evasive maneuver, just fly straight. If any fighter is to pursue you, simply level your aircraft out and press “Shift” and watch the distance increase. Remember, with speed, you can simply fly away from your target. No need to get him off your tail because you would be long gone by the time he can get a good aim on you. (Presuming you done a BnZ attack)
Turn fighting is also a valid option as you have an excellent turn time. However, I am against turn fighting as it will leave you vulnerable to other BnZ players even if you managed to kill your target.

Level 7- Dornier Do 217 (Level 7 version with 4 MG151/20)

-Coming soon-
(Don’t have the plane….. And 1.29 economy kinda put me off buying new planes, sorry guys. I will see what I can do.)

Level 7- Ju-87 “Stuka” G series

Yes, I know I said I will not include Ju-87s yet. But this plane is so good that I MUST mention it. This plane, unlike other Stukas, don’t have bombs. But instead, it have 2 wing mounted 37mm anti-tank cannon. And you guessed it, it is a extremely powerful “Heavy fighter”. This plane can be used against tanks, but in arcade, I found that to be a waste of its potential  so I somewhat decided to hit a B-17 with it one day and in 2 burst (4 rounds), the B-17 shattered like his dream to survive the game……….

Junkers Ju-87 “Stuka G-1/2: 2x 37mm BK37 anti tank cannon

Advantages:
-Deceptive plane. (People will attack you head on so you can one shot them)
-Starts at bomber altitude
-37mm cannon (Most of the time 1 hit kill
-AWESOME LOOKING PLANE
-Quite maneuverable for a bomber

Disadvantages:
-It handles like a Stuka…. Slow…..
-You bleed speed like no tomorrow. You will not be able to turn more than 3-4 times before stalling
-No Stuka siren (Yes, you don’t hear the beautiful sound every time you dive)
-EXTREMELY LIMITED AMMUNITION. (6 shots for G-1. 12 shots for G-2. This is more or less a “Fun” plane. Not a world beater)

Tactics:
Fly around in arcade, 1 shot kill people and laugh. No need for much tactics. Try to keep your altitude without losing your speed and attack enemy bombers on the same alt as you. Preferably H6K4 (THIS GUY WONT BE PLEASED ) or PBY-Catalinas since they are BIG and SLOW. B-17s can also be targeted if you do see it. Use it against enemy bombers will maximise your success  Remember, this is a “Fun” plane. More or less a novelty item and not a “Main” fighter.

Level 8-9 (For Heavy Fighters. The lv8-9 planes are practically the same)

Level 8- Me410 “Hornet”

The Me410 Hornet series are heavy fighters, thus they belong in the heavy fighter line after the Dornier Do217 night fighters. These aircraft are fast and packs a big punch. There are 7 Me410 spread out between level 8-10. But the difference between the level 8-9 ones are negligible. Once again, this plane is a heavy fighter and it excels in attacking bombers, or simply vaporizing enemy fighters that charge at you head on. There are three variant of the level 8 “Hornet” and each have their own playstyle.

Me410 (Ground attack) : 2x MG17 machine gun + 2x MG151 cannon + ASSORTMENT OF BOMBS
Me410 (Bomber destroyer) : 2x MG17 machine gun + 4x MG151 cannon (NO BOMBS)
Me410 (Troll plane) : 1x 50mm BK5 ANTI TANK GUN

I enlarged the speciality of each variant of the planes.

Advantages:
-Many Variants. If you like them, you can fill your line-up with them
-Excellent speed
-Decent climb rate
-Excellent diving speed
-Bomber destroyer version is almost the strongest
-50mm troll gun can destroy medium tanks or bombers in 1 hit
-Good bombload on ground attack version of plane

Disadvantages:
-Bad turning speed
-REALLY BAD TURNING SPEED AFTER A DIVE
-50mm troll gun have a problem registering a hit

Tactic:

Ground attack:
With the Ground attack version of the Me410, you can aim for “First Strike” in the mission due to your high speed and good payload of 2x 500kg bombs. 500kg bombs can destroy any ground target and have a useful splash radius. If you intend to attack destroyers, DROP ONLY ONE because one will destroy the destroyer. You have decent frontal armament and can strafe AA and Artillery to gain more exp/ lions. You can also fly away with the speed you gained and regain altitude and fight as a heavy fighter until your bombs are back.

Bomber Destroyer:
With the bomber destroyer version of the Me410, your role is to intercept as many bombers as possible, your 4x MG151/20 cannon will instantly vaporize any fighters coming in for a head on pass. At the start of the game, it is strongly advised that you gain altitude to at least equal to the bomber spawn point. Ignore any fighters below as you WILL NOT hit them due to the plane being a brick. Your prime targets are slow but armored bombers like B-17, B-25, B-24, PBY and H6K4. You can out run most enemies, so if you are tailed, simply hit the accelerator and run.

Troll Plane:
Find a plane large enough and close the range to guarantee a hit. YOU WIN…………. The 50mm cannon can practically one shot. But sometimes it can be quite random and doesn’t do what you want, that’s why I said close the range so that if the first shot miss, you can follow up with a second and third shot. This plane handles like all the other Me410s.

Level 9

Level 9- BF-109 G-2

This is the last of the BF-109 before level 13 and you will be impressed by this plane. It is practically a F-4 on steroids and it handles perfectly. It only loses little energy after dive and combined with the good combination of two machine gun and 1 cannon, this plane can dominate the match if used correctly. Compared to the F-4, I think that the G-2’s engine seems more durable and less likely to get lit on fire. The speed is practically the same and the climb rate is also practically the same. So if you just finished using the F-4 or F-4 Trop, you will find yourself right at home as the characteristic of the plane is almost the same as the F-4s.

BF109 G-2: 2x MG17 machine gun + 1x MG151/20 cannon

Advantages:
-More durable engines
-Excellent speed
-Excellent turning time at high speed
-Excellent climb rates
-Excellent diving speed
-Great service ceiling
-Armament concentrated in the nose

Disadvantages:
-Cant out turn a ZERO

Tactics:
The tactics for this plane is exactly the same as the tactics for the F-4 and F-4 trop. BnZ= Win. Speed and alt= Survival

Level 10

Level 10- Me410

This plane is the last of the Me410 multi-role heavy fighter tree, it is the most powerful plane in terms of armament and only surpassed in firepower by two BEASTS (Bf-109 G-6, Me262) and can even put the Yak-9 or Mig-15 to shame. The handling of the aircraft is the same as the other Me410s and this plane’s forward armament will instantly kill or torch the enemy’s plane if they are caught in front of the cannons of this plane. However, this is a cannon only plane and have a longer reload time then the other aircraft. With its lethal combination of 2 Mg151/20 and 2 30mm MK103 cannon you can now lay waste to all bombers any time you want.

Advantages:
-EXTREMELY POWERFUL WEAPONS
-Excellent speed
-Excellent diving speed
-Good climbrate

Disadvantages:
-Bad turning speed
-REALLY BAD TURNING SPEED AFTER A DIVE

Tactics:
This plane is practically the earlier bomber destroyer Me410 on roids. Play this plane as you like the play the earlier Me410 as this plane handles exactly the same as the earlier variants. Except with MUCH more firepower.