This is a discussion on the idea of adding new mechanics for helicopters in War Thunder.
Helicopters are extremely limited in war thunder because their roles are narrowed down to exclusively attacking. Most helicopters in the game are essentially just SPAA food in ground RB and roof turret food in ground assault arcade. Theres Heli PvE, but there’s almost nothing to do 90% of the time.
We have scout helicopters that can’t scout, transport helicopters that can’t transport anything, and utility helicopters that really can’t utilize anything but weapons. Attack helicopters make other helicopters pretty obsolete, with better range, better armaments, and better maneuverability. As of now, helicopter gameplay consists of hovering over a helipad and launching AGMS, rushing into the battle and getting shredded by roof turrets and SPAA, hovering over helipad with AA missiles and waiting for an enemy aircraft, and lobbing rockets while hoping for a kill. What if we added an infantry transport mechanic?
Theoretically we could:
- Transport troops and cargo
- Perform search and rescue
- Capture objectives with infantry
- Actually have a use low caliber guns
- Utilize door gunners
- Move A.I artillery to certain positions
- Assist friendly infantry with battles
- Reenforce areas or points with troops
- perform MEDEVAC or CASEVAC sorties
We could also added new classes of helis such as:
- Scout helicopters
- Cargo/Transport helicopters
- Anti-ship helicopters
- Search and rescue helicopters
Scout helicopters would have the ability to scout targets similarly to light tanks in ground RB. They have equipment and sensors specifically for locating, targeting, and tracking enemy activity. Scout helis are usually light, fast, and nimble and have limited accommodations for weapons. Players could earn points from scouting hidden enemy units or locating units for attack helis or search and rescue helis. They would receive bonus points if the target they scouted gets destroyed or if the crew they located gets rescued.
Examples of scout helicopters:
Like utility helicopters, transport helicopters would be able to transport troops and cargo. Being that they are exclusively designed with transport in mind, they would be able to transport much more than their multi-purpose counterparts. Players could earn points by transporting cargo and infantry. Many would come equipped with retractable cargo slings.
Examples of Transport helicopters:
Spoiler
Mi-26(RU)
Mi-8(RU)(CH)
Z-18/Z-8G(CH)
CH-46 (US) (JP) (SWE)
CH-47 (US) (BRI) (GER) (JP) (ITA)
CH-53 (US) (GER) (ISR)
CH-37 (US)
Anti-ship helicopters would be specifically used to engage seaborne targets like boats and submarines. They would come equipped with torpedoes and Sensors that detect underwater targets.
Examples of ASW helicopters:
Spoiler
SH-2 (US)
MH-60R (US)
Z-18F (CH)
Z-9EC (CH)
AW159(BRI)
NH90 NFH (ITA) (FRA) (GER) (SWE)
Ka-27/Ka-28 (RUS) (CH)
AW101 (BRI) (ITA) (JP)
SH-60K (JP)
Search and rescue helicopters would serve a very niche gameplay style, as the role could be performed by pretty much any helicopter that can accommodate troops. This class of helis would specialize in rescuing downed pilots or perhaps even the crews of players to reduce the amount of SL they lose from being shot down. This class is the least likely to be added, but if it were to be, it would give players an additional way to grind helicopters. There were quite a few of these helicopters in just about every country we have in-game. The first SAR helis were used all the way back in the 1940s so you would see them in BRs as low as 6.7-7.0. Players would receive points for rescuing downed pilots or crew members stranded on land or at sea. Some of these helis can float on water and are equipped with retractable rescue harnesses.
SAR helicopter examples:
The utility class is already in game, but their actual role is undermined.
Since they lack specialized equipment and have limited armament, this class would be used as a Jack of all trades; the same way the F-4 is a fighter that can perform the roles of all other classes of aircraft.
Utility Helis could perform SAR, cargo/troop transport, and attack roles.
Utility helicopter examples:
Spoiler
UH-60(US) (JP) (SWE)
UH-1Y (US)
Z-20(CH)
H-34(US)(JP) (ISR) (ITA) (FR) (GER)
Mi-17 (RU) (CH)
Mi-2 (RU) (GER)
The infantry models don’t need to have extreme detail. The infantry already in-game has pretty basic pathfinding and interact with the player. They can even damage the player’s vehicles. Currently, we have “Bazooka_infantry” and “Rifle_Infantry”. They are extremely inaccurate, and their fire rate is slow. There are several skins for every faction but it’s quite buggy as bazooka infantry only spawn with the German skin. The only skins available for them are WW2 uniforms and weapons. The improved infantry would have better accuracy, better fire rates, and BR appropriate skins and weapons. They would also have additional variations, like Machinegun_infantry and AA_infantry. They would automatically engage enemy units or players within range. When being transported, they would simply despawn and fill the seats in your helicopter or spawn outside your helicopter when dismounting. (Until animations are done for each helicopter.) The “open cockpit” button could be used in conjunction with this mechanic.
Door gunners would work the same as the door gunners on bombers or ships. They could be used to clear LZs, combat other aircraft, and be set to automatically attack air or ground targets within range. Door gunners would give lightly armed helicopters additional weapons or methods of defense. Helicopters with no armament would benefit from door gunners, as they would not have to wait for support from other armed helicopters to complete their tasks.
Players can use troops to capture and hold objectives. They could be selected like loadouts before they spawn. Alternatively, they can transport troops that are already on the map after the match is started. The more troops on an objective, the faster the area is captured. Helicopters with a higher carrying capacity will have a better advantage. These players could deploy troops on multiple objectives and receive points anytime their troops take an objective or neutralize an enemy unit.
These troops would add extra weight to their aircraft so players using utility helicopters would
have to carefully balance their weapons and carrying capacity.
Players would have to locate downed crews in certain grid squares and bring them back to a helipad or aircraft carrier. Players would need to either hover low enough to the target or deploy a rescue harness (if equipped).
Modifications would remain the same for the most part. Players would have to research door gunners, and their different calibers and location on the aircraft; left, right, or rear for example.
Additionally, players could research different methods of troop deployment. For example, instead of a player having to land to dismount troops, they could research and use airborne deployments or fast roping.
We all know the snail hates quick progression. There has to be a way to balance out these mechanics, so players don’t abuse them.
- Carrying more troops and cargo effect aircraft performance
- Scout helicopters would have a limited amount of scouting before they enter a cooldown stage
- Troops and cargo require an additional amount of SL. Getting shot down while carrying these will cost additional SL.
- Not performing respective roles will increase the difficulty and duration of matches
- “If you want infantry, just play enlisted”
We don’t want to play AS the infantry. Interactive A.I infantry would just supplement helicopter gameplay. Also, there are no helicopter in enlisted.
- “Adding infantry into the game would change the age rating of the game”
No, it wouldn’t. Infantry is already in the game.
- “No one would play this.”
Like 5 people play naval but we always get naval updates. I can almost guarantee more players play helicopters than naval.
- “Transport helicopters would be useless”
Bombers are “useless”, but we have an entire lineup of bombers in all tech trees.
These aircraft serve a specific purpose and like bombers, transport helicopters would as well.
With the addition of transportable infantry, transport helicopters would actually be more useful than bombers.
- “This would ruin the gameplay.”
Not if it was only in Helicopter PvE. It would actually lower the number of helicopters being used in Ground RB and reduce the CAS spam. Players only use helis in ground because every other game mode is terrible for heli gameplay. I know ground players would appreciate less AGMS hitting them in their spawn.
- “War thunder is a vehicle combat game.”
And it would remain as such with the addition of these mechanics.