I would like to preface this by saying I am speaking exclusively about 13.0 → 14.7 here, and am focusing on addressing things that are missing from the game itself.
I have been playing Warthunder since 2016, and in all that time I have not seen as radical a shift in the gameplay loop as Nuclear Escalation attempts. I think this change is a good thing. However, in the current state of the mode, I find there to be a number of problems - and a number of these point at problems with the core game.
Since I started playing Warthunder, you have always (in air modes) been given one task - destroy the enemy team. Nuclear Escalation attempts to take that task and widen it into destroy the enemy planes, destroy the enemy logistics, destroy the enemy fleet, you get the point.
But the game is not ready for that. In the real world, the task of “destroy the enemy” requires an immense amount of support and auxiliary assets. Electronic warfare, large bombers, escort aircraft, cruise missiles, just to name a few.
Gaijin NEEDS to stop this mode from being dead on arrival, and I don’t think the fix is to make it easier.
So, how should this be fixed? What does the core game need?
Electronic Warfare
I am not talking about ECM here. Whilst I think the game needs that too, I do not think that it is a meaningful addition in the context of Nuclear Escalation. Aircraft meaningfully capable of Electronic Warfare (E/A-18G, F-35, JAS-39E) should be able to provide a meaningful addition to their team. Borrow Target Scouting from GRB. Let them mark SPAAs that turn their radar on even briefly, and then get an minor credit for the destruction of that SPAA. Let them counter-jam longer range SAMs and get an assist if that SAM is destroyed whilst jamming. People play light tanks in GRB to purely scout, I see a similar niche here.
Large Bombers
Nuke vehicles for spawn points feels… Questionable. They get shot down easily, have barely any payload, and honestly I don’t bother touching - they feel like drones in GRB; novel the first few times, but otherwise just a waste of your time. Replace them with V-Bombers, B2s, B1s, whatever - vehicles that require SP and are in your lineup in order to spawn. Make them require the same quantity of SP to spawn as a nuke in GRB if you must.
Escort Aircraft
You should get APPRECIABLE (I know fighter defender award is a thing, it feels too little/easy to ignore) extra credit for simply escorting an aircraft carrying sufficient quantities air to ground munitions. Sure, this could end up in matches where it’s just escort hell, but that would require a large number of people to all agree on the same playstyle.
Cruise Missiles/LOAL Ordnance
Again, just make them require a ton of SP for GRB - or just make them not allowed outright (my next point makes banning the spawn fine). The excuse of “Um… Technology difference…” feels dated and wrong for a mode that is internally set in 2018.
Loadout Editing In Matches
Needed. Sim, Nuclear Escalation, whatever. If you want people to adapt to threats and use their brains, you need to give them that flexibility - otherwise the game will just fall into a series of metas.
Squad System
I appreciate there are complexities that come with this, but I think the squad system needs a rework. It’s not changed as far as I can recall, and a 4 person team for Nuclear Escalation feels somewhat lacking. I will declare that I am biased as I play this game with my wife more often than not, so half of squads are simply taken up by the both of us.
Conclusion
Nuclear Escalation is absolutely a step in the right direction. However there are mechanics that are missing that I believe are direly needed in order to make it anything beyond just “go intercept” or “go multirole”. Gameplay wise, I feel like I have fewer options in playstyle than GRB, but the mode certainly has more depth. There needs to be more playstyle options for the mode, which requires a bunch of these things.
This is only my opinion. You have an opinion too, and you have an opinion on my opinion. I want to hear it, and I would like to think Gaijin do too. Forgive me if I seem naïve.