A long time ago I won a coupon for a vehicle (TIS MAS), and decided to exchange it for the A10A package to start playing air simulation and get the entire American tree. I’ve been playing simulation on 10.7-11.7 at enduring mode for a long time now and I’d like to talk about all the problems and frustrations I’ve had so far.
Inverted Vehicles
The simulation matches in this BR consist mostly of NATO against mostly Eastern European; there are some variations like Italy and Sweden, but all of them got United States against Soviet Union. However, for some reason that doesn’t make any apparent sense, the vehicles encountered during the match are completely reversed. The American side fights against M1, SIDAM 25, ZA35, M1128, M113, and Bradleys. The Soviet side fights against T80, 2S25, ZSU 23, ZSU 37, and a few others I don’t remember. As I said, I don’t see any apparent logic in this inversion and I would like for the order to be corrected.
extremely aggressive AA
The AA vehicles that can be found on the map are aggressive and precise in a superhuman way; from the moment you enter the range of one of them, you will be targeted by an extremely precise burst, almost impossible to evade regardless of speed or turn applied, making CAS difficult, but in a tedious and not fun way.
With recent updates, the Bradley can now shoot down enemy aircraft approaching convoys, proving even more lethal than other anti-aircraft guns, as the shots do not trace and the accuracy of the shots is as precise as radar-locked AA guns.
Lack of Diversity
In simulation matches, regarding CAS, you can bomb bases, ground vehicles, or the airport, if you’re brave enough. The bases are exactly the same as in realistic mode, and function the same way; you destroy one base and another appears over time. Ground vehicles can appear in convoys, usually very close to the enemy airport, making it impossible to attack until they are out of range of the airport’s AA guns. There are also vehicle clashes that can occur on the territory’s borders; however, the occurrence of these clashes is completely random, and can take a long time or not at all. Overall, it’s quite repetitive, and there have never been any changes to this system, except for buffs to anti-aircraft guns.
However, PvP between players is incredible at Rank 6, as you have supersonic jets that rely solely on short-range heat-seeking missiles and cannons, resulting in amazing dogfights, and the player base, although small, includes very experienced players.
Poor economy
Simulation mode is the best way to earn research points and mission points for events, but it’s a financial nightmare; if you don’t have a premium account or premium vehicle, you’ll lose a lot of silver lions unless you play incredibly well every match.
My conclusion?
In my opinion, simulation mode is a wasted potential; the extended mode follows an extremely boring and saturated formula that urgently needs changing, and the enconomy system makes it impossible to play Air Simulation only, sometimes having to play another modes so you can recover some SL… So far, I’ve only played at Rank 6, and seeing what people are saying about Ranks 7 and 8, I’m not very keen on going any further. There’s a little hope for me; the Nuclear Thunder event, although a disaster in terms of balance, showed a completely different way of playing, which, in my opinion, could partly be replicated in simulation mode. There was also another mode a few months ago called Deep Strike, which presented a different form of PVP and PVE. In other words, there are ways to change things; they’ve already been presented to us, and now it’s up to us to demand these changes so that Air Simulation isn’t just another forgotten mode by the community and the developers.
This thread ended up being longer than I planned, please forgive any typos. Please share your opinion on this topic if you feel like it.
