World War One is seen as the first “modern war” spanning from the 28th of July 1914 until the 11th of November 1918 introduced new technologies and tactics in which to wage it. One such advancement was the beginning of Aerial Warfare with the development of fighter aircraft and bombers.
This event takes inspiration from the 2025 April Fools event, The Great War event in which players got to fight on and above No Man’s Land with a selection of tanks and aircraft. During this event players could earn points to be rewarded with said tanks and an aircraft to keep on their accounts and use in battles outside of the mode. This suggestion is for a similar event except focused around the aircraft and aerial battles of the War to End All Wars.
The general idea for this event would be to have players fight using aircraft from the main combatants of the war:
The Triple Entente (Known as the Allied Powers later in the war with the introduction of more nations)
- Great Britain
- France
- Russia
- Italy
- The United States of America
The Central Powers
- Germany
- Austria-Hungary
- The Ottoman Empire
A mix of aircraft would be selected from these nations and be made available to keep to their respective nations as rewards for playing, just like the 2025 Great War April Fools event did with some tanks.
The event would take place on a map based around prominent air battles and other locations. Some examples being Bloody April (over Arras, France), The Battle of Verdun, London Zeppelin Raids etc.
As previously said there are plenty of aircraft to choose from in which could be represented in this event, the aircraft I feel are the most suitable and usable are:
Great Britain
Airco DH.2
Sopwith Pup
Sopwith Camel
Sopwith Triplane
Bristol F.2B
Royal Aircraft Factory S.E.5
Airco DH.10 Amiens
Vickers 23-Class Airship No.23r - Bonus
France
SPAD S.VII
SPAD S.XII
SPAD S.XIII
Nieuport 10
Nieuport 16
Nieuport 27
Caudron G.4
Voisin III (LAP and LBP)
Russia
Sikorsky S-20
SPAD S.A-2
Dux-Nieuport 24
Anatra DS
Lebed XII
Sopwith Camel
Sopwith Triplane
Grigorovich M-5
Sikorsky Ilya Muromets (Type S-27E)
Italy
SIA.7
Pomilio PE
Ansaldo SVA.5
Nieuport Macchi 11
Nieuport-Macchi 17
Caproni Ca.20
Macchi-Hanriot HD.1
Savoia-Pomilio SP.2bis
Caproni Ca.44
Caproni Ca.41
United States of America
De Havilland DH-4
SPAD S.VII
SPAD S.XIII
Nieuport 28
Curtiss JN-4HG
Vought VE-7
Curtiss C-1 Canada
Germany
Fokker E.III
Fokker Dr.1
Fokker D.VII
AEG J.I
Albatros C.III
Albatros D.II
Albatros D.III
Halberstadt D.II
Halberstadt CL.II
Halberstadt CL.IV
LFG Roland D.II
AEG G.IV
Gotha G.IV
Zeppelin LZ 62 (LZ 30) - Bonus
Austria-Hungary
*Austria-Hungary’s airforce mostly consisted of license built or imported German aircraft, as such those without any major differences should instead be available as unlockable skins for the respective aircraft.
Domestic designs, if allowed to be kept after the event, should go to the German Tech Tree as they were allies during the war.
Albatros D.III*
Phönix D.I
Aviatik B.III
Hansa-Brandenburg G.I
Hansa-Brandenburg D.I
Hansa-Brandenburg C.I
Fokker E.III*
Ottoman Empire
*The Ottoman Empire relied solely on imported German aircraft as they did not build any domestic designs during the war therefore I believe it best for these to be represented as skins for German aircraft as we currently do not have a Turkish Tech Tree.
Albatros C.III
Fokker D.VII
Fokker E.III
The event could be based around any number of locations and battles, here’s just a few examples of maps that could be used.
Bloody April
Bloody April was the name given to the air campaign that was intended to support the Battle of Arras in April of 1917. It was called this due to the high casualty numbers suffered by the British Royal Flying Corps.
The Royal Flying Corps were to provide support to the soldiers on the ground but they suffered heavy losses. Numbers indicate up to 275 aircraft being lost compared to 66 German aircraft.
Battle of Verdun
The Battle of Verdun was the longest continuous battle of the war, beginning on the 21st of February 1916 to the 18th of December 1916 lasting 303 days.
Aircraft from the French Aéronautique Militaire and the Imperial German Air Service fought in several dogfights and were used to protect their bombers from interception across the frontlines.
Air Raids on London
Throughout the war the German Imperial Air Service would perform bombing raids on London to hurt moral and to attempt to destroy important military targets.
These raids saw widespread use of the German Zeppelins, however as the war went on these were becoming less and less potent to which the German Imperial Air Service began using long range bombers.
As previously stated the idea for this event comes from the 2025 April Fools event but it is my hope that we see a second event based on the aircraft of the war so that some also become obtainable like how the tanks were during the Great War Event but this time as a recurring event in order to allow for more rewards.
WW1 saw the birth of aerial warfare with the advancement of technologies and tactics which have shaped the world today and it would be great to see that represented in War Thunder.
It’s my hope that Gaijin adds WW1 properly into War Thunder as proper additions to the TT but failing that this would give them a way of bringing them to the game in some form, whether it be a one off event or a reoccurring one.
- Yes
- No
Sources
Wikipedia - List of World War 1 Entente aicraft
Military Factory - WW1 German Empire Aircraft
Military Factory - WW1 Austro-Hungarian Aircraft
Military Factory - WW1 Ottoman Empire Aircraft
WW1 Aviation Heritage Trust - Bloody April
Wikipedia - Battle of Verdun
London Museum - The First World War Air Raids On London