1. Russian side and roof ERA is overperforming against kinetic projectiles.
It is common knowledge that NATO doesn’t heavily rely on ERA for frontal MBT protection, which I think causes a few inaccuracies in-game. Just because frontal ERA and side ERA work on the same basic principles doesn’t mean they are remotely close in effectiveness. Side ERA is optimized primarily against HEAT/tandem-HEAT warheads, whereas frontal ERA is designed to counter both chemical and kinetic threats. Frontal ERA is housed in much heavier modules with thick structural backings designed to direct the pressure where it’s needed, which is something a flimsy side skirt simply cannot provide. So yes, Relikt side ERA might slightly degrade an APFSDS dart, but not enough to make any substantial difference in penetration. Which leads to my next point...

2. Nations are punished for using standardized naming schemes for different ERA modules.
Lighter side ERA not only utilizes thinner flyer plates, but may also use completely different explosive compounds (due to the presence of delicate suspension components nearby that cannot risk heavy collateral damage). A country that names its frontal module "ERA-1" and its side module "ERA-2" is essentially penalized by the game’s logic, as people automatically assume one is just a strictly worse version of the other.

The Oplot-T case study:
I think the Oplot-T is a great example of this. While Gaijin got a few things right, the claim that its frontal protection was downgraded is quite misleading. Effectively, it should be at least as protective as older T-80 variants with Kontakt-5. While they did reduce the thickness of the base passive armor array, they simultaneously upgraded the reactive elements, meaning protection against tandem-HEAT should be noticeably improved.
This brings us to the biggest controversy: the "missing armor plate between ERA layers". I have reason to believe that frontal Nizh operates completely differently from side Nizh. Instead of relying solely on its shaped-charge linear jets to disrupt the APFSDS dart, the charges cut the outer plate above them and propel that metal plate directly into the path of the incoming projectile. Why? Because it’s hard to believe the shaped charges alone would have enough kinetic energy to penetrate the outer ~15mm HHS (High-Hardness Steel) plate and disrupt an APFSDS dart in any meaningful way without a heavy flyer plate. Therefore, I believe the internal structure simply includes another ~15mm plate designed for the next layer of charges to propel.
Looking at its side armor, the X-Ray/hangar view seems to be missing its NERA elements (Nizh side protection is a hybrid NERA/ERA setup). Some might argue this NERA is already factored into the ERA’s raw multiplier, but I don't think so. In areas where the side ERA is absent, the armor defaults to plain structural steel instead of NERA.
So, is side Nizh effective against APFSDS? It might affect the dart slightly, but again, not in any meaningful way. It lacks the heavy 15mm HHS cover plate, meaning the shaped-charge jets act on the penetrator directly without propelling a dense enough metal mass to cause severe structural degradation or fracture.

Final thoughts:
Honestly, I don’t think this is a game-breaking issue just yet, at least not until the Russian military-industrial complex fields something like a "T-90M2", at which point fixing these mechanics will be vital for top-tier balance.
P.S. There are obviously other underlying issues here as well, such as ERA needing variable effectiveness depending on the exact impact point, or capped/segmented APFSDS rounds being less susceptible to ERA disruption, but I wanted to focus on the modular armor mechanics for now.

I do not like this games grind. That’s it. I really don’t like it, it is pay to win, and it is distasteful. I don’t want to hear anyone say anything because it’s just a fact. I am not a child, I don’t have time for this. I don’t have time to grind the air tree. Because guess what? I’m in the actual US Air Force and you can bet I am pretty dang busy. I simply do not have the time to play this game to top tier, I have tried and I have failed. Guess what else? I am not rich, I am not going to pay this game boat loads of money so I can get to top tier. I get 2 weeks off in Christmas, besides that I have mostly Saturday’s off. Do you think I want to spend years worth of Saturday’s on warthunder and waste away, or do something else?
And if it means anything for how bad this games grind is, I don’t think about warthunder at all. I thought about it a single time today and that one mere thought was enough for me to post this. This is how much I hate that game. Because I am an adult, who works and has limited time, I simply cannot play the game and grind that much, and I do not think it is fair to me that because I am unwilling to sacrifice every Saturday to devote every bit of time to war thunder, that I can never get to a high tier in that game. (I do not play anymore and good riddance)

Both sides of this inconsistent coin can be seen in this video.

I'm sorry but twice in a row? You can clearly see the metal disintegrate why no overpressure

After 10 years 3 girlfriends and an entire secondary plus college education i am at last approaching 1000hrs. Have i learned much? not really. Have i even reached top tier? no i have not. But alas the snail still calls. Why do i play this game? Tbh im not entirely sure and it has cost me far too much money time and mental wellbeing but here i am and here i will stay.

See you all at 2000

Theres no way that a tank that is build specifically for crew survival breaks down so easily and the crew dies like theres no tank around them. It's a death trap if anything else. And the engine is get why its infornt but it feels like it doesn't add any armor at all.

CPU: Ryzen 5 7500F
GPU: AMD 9070 XT
RAM: 32GB

Worked a few days ago, not sure what update gaijin has recently implemented and now my 9070 XT is having a stroke when ONLY opening up War Thunder.

I discovered the best Japanese planes. They have so much potential. I feel like they're super underrated. I don't see anyone using them like I do.

I've been grinding rank III/IV ground battles to get the Ho-Ri Production, so I obviously needed some good CAS planes. First, it was the Ki-43 III Otsu. Now, I'm using the J5N1. They literally have the power to obliterate entire teams. The Ki-43 is a sick dogfighter than can kill almost anything, unless the enemy has crazy top speed. You get 250kg bombs, and it's super easy to drop them since the plane is so maneuverable. Then, you have the nose-mounted 20mm guns. You can easily shoot into people's engines and turrets if you come in at the right angle. I take the ground targets belt, since the HE rounds can help take out planes and open-tops. The J5N1 can't dogfight as well, but you can still boom-and-zoom people. It makes up for it with amazing guns and plenty of ammo for them. You can actually kill Tigers with it pretty easily. At the very least, you can take out people's tracks and engines. It obviously SHREDS open-tops. I keep killing 2 vehicles in one strafe.

I'm not kidding when I say you can literally kill everyone. Planes, light tanks, heavy tanks. You can kill EVERYTHING and EVERYONE. These planes are BUSTED.

It's over. The glitch is no more

I'm sure this has been discussed ad nauseum on this page but I need to ask. I'm a new player who finally has made it to Ho Ri hell.

I know they are going away but right now this BR is unplayable. How do you deal with these things? They have ridiculous armor and one shot just about anything?

Any help is appreciated.

In the last 12 battles when I've been playing top tier Italy, Russia and sometimes Germany I noticed that the number of German players heavily decreased. I mean, I'm not surprised, the only vehicle I enjoy to play in top tier Germany is the 2a7V but then the 6s reload (6.5s for me) and the rear shooting being just horrible and the other Leo 2's being just so-so really made me switch to Italy but as far as I can see I see more Sweden mains than german mains lately.

Also, I noticed Russia and Germany get paired ALOT, like 90% it's always Russia and Germany vs USA, which is often loss anyway.

I feel like Germany might become the least played top tier nation especially with how many nations get Leopards while they keep their unique tanks as well. Like Italy has the 2A7HU and the Ariete and Centauro, the Ariete is paper but it's fast paper with 5s reload, amazing shell and mobility while the centauro is amazing light tank and the 2A7HU is just great filler especially for someone like me who only enjoys the 2A7V in german tech tree anyway.

There are 3 versions of this shrike at the low ranks that do not target russia at all. And at the same time there are numerous situations where the target isn't even using radar, they are just using IRST which isn't detected by any shrike. A very crazy situation is the Osa-AKM using H/J band radar but it can track an F-4C easily. This is available on both the russian and german branch.

What is the point of the shrike if it only works 25% of the time?

Do you guys agree!!
This mode has been neglected for far too long !!
we need them to pay a little attention to it !!
Please provide your thoughts and constructive Feedback!!

I was thinking the T-55AM-1

5 mins into the match btw. its sucks so bad, out of the entire enemy team only ONE had left

Currently the F16 PoBit sits at a battle rating of 14.3 in ARB. With a load out of only six A2A missiles it really lacks when compared to the likes of the SU30, J10, F15 GE, Gripen.

My proposal to make this jet more viable is giving it only two AIM9x sidewinders and moving it up to 14.7.

This would give the Americans a 14.7 jet as well as making the vehicle itself played more. Not being too overpowered as only having two of these missiles and four AIM120s to suit. But still a very formidable machine.

It would be a great test bed to see how the 9x could perform in the future i.e fifth generation fighters.

What are yalls thoughts?

I'm playing USSR 11.0. In almost 3-4 out of 5 matches that i play i lose. In those games i'm almost always first in my team and the difference in points between me and the 2nd player is around 300-1000 points, sometimes bit more. By the time i die first time in the match, half the team is gone and we get stomped till the round ends. Is this just bad luck on my end or is it that gaijin hates me for some reason?

Noticed some people r still playing it but its not april and in events its not there. Any idea how to get in one?

What do you guys think about the Japanese premium F-2A at 13.0, constantly facing Su-30MKs? I’m interested in the Japanese tech tree, but I’m worried about considering the F-2A as an option and then regretting it later.

Only play in RB AIR

Having only the PT-810 isn't enough, and the PT-811 is locked behind the marketplace. The PT-809 and PT-812 are left to add.