Let’s start by discussing the Battle Rating (BR) classification in Simulator Battles. Beginning with the FW 190 A-5, the entire line becomes significantly underpowered compared to enemy aircraft. Let’s break this down:
FW 190 A-5 (BR 4.7)
Climb Rate: 14.1 m/s
Turn Time: 21.5 s
Max Speed: 660 km/h (questionable at best)
1. Outdated Flight Model
The FW 190s suffer from a severely outdated flight model. They exhibit poor Alpha performance, unreliable stall characteristics (losing effective control around 220–230 km/h IAS), and fail to represent what was historically known as an aircraft with excellent energy retention. In-game, it struggles with vertical maneuvers such as energy traps, rendering it ineffective in dogfight scenarios that should favor its design philosophy.
2. Underperforming Engine
The BMW 801 engine was known for impressive acceleration and responsiveness, giving the FW 190 exceptional handling in maneuvers like Split-S, High Yo-Yo, Zoom Climb, and forced overshoots. However, in War Thunder, we see the exact opposite. Aircraft that should be inferior in acceleration and energy gain often outperform or match the FW 190. This turns the FW into easy prey, especially given their inferior turn rates. The historical advantages of the FW 190 – particularly energy retention and acceleration – are either completely missing or grossly underrepresented in gameplay.
3. Center of Mass Issues
FW 190 pilots in Sim battles will recognize the struggle with stall recovery. Despite having a heavy and protruding radial engine, the aircraft takes an excessive amount of time to recover from a vertical stall. According to real-world physics, the nose should drop quickly due to its forward center of gravity, especially after throttle cut or speed loss. Yet in-game, the plane hangs in the air like a kite, slow to recover, almost as if the engine were placed behind the cockpit. Aircraft climbing with you in a vertical maneuver recover much faster, rendering any vertical combat tactic completely ineffective.
4. Unrealistic Weight and Drag Physics
It is understood that aircraft like the Spitfire, Yak-3, Ki-61, and A6M were lighter and more fragile, optimized for turn performance. However, War Thunder exaggerates these characteristics to an extreme, making the FW 190’s advantages feel irrelevant.
Even much heavier aircraft retain energy better and are less affected by drag and G-loss than the FW 190. For instance:
- F4U-4 (5.7 tons) vs FW 190 A-5 (4.1 tons) – a 1.6-ton difference, yet the Corsair outperforms in turn retention and Zoom Climb.
- Typhoon Mk Ib/L (5.0 tons) also turns and accelerates far better.
- P-38L-5-LO (7.9 tons!) – nearly 3.8 tons heavier, still manages to outperform the FW 190 in energy retention and low-altitude turns.
The P-38 is certainly a high-performance aircraft, but how does a twin-engine, wide-winged fighter that weighs nearly twice as much maintain equal or superior combat performance? Historically, the FW 190 had excellent power-to-weight and dive capability – yet it feels completely outclassed.
5. Exaggeration of Enemy Strengths / Downplay of FW 190’s Advantages
This is crucial. Aircraft like the Spitfire and Yak-3 are massively overrepresented. Their advantages are exaggerated to the point that FW 190 strengths become meaningless.
For example:
- Acceleration, durability in high-speed maneuvers, automatic prop pitch and mixture systems – barely modeled.
- Medium/high-speed maneuverability and energy retention – either not modeled or grossly underperformed.
- Armament effectiveness drops drastically beyond 500m, especially in versions with only 2-3x 20mm cannons (A-1, A-4, D-13).
- The engine is inexplicably fragile, despite being protected and armored.
The goal isn’t to make the FW 190 overpowered. But it must be competitive. Currently, even with an altitude advantage and executing correct BnZ tactics, the FW gets caught and defeated by planes it should outclass. The Spitfire Mk IX wins 95% of engagements unless the enemy pilot makes a catastrophic error or is completely unaware.
The same applies to the Yak-3 and even the US premium Ki-61 – all of which defeat the FW in nearly all situations.
6. Historical Inaccuracy
Gaijin seems undecided: is this game about realistic flight performance or just favoring planes with tighter turn radii?
Aircraft like the Yak-3 and Yak-3U are wildly overpowered, modeled as UFOs that don’t bleed energy and possess near-infinite agility. These were fragile, wood-structured, post-war designs with real limitations – especially engine control complexity. Yet in-game they dominate like 5th-gen fighters.
Even more egregious is pitting post-war aircraft like the Yak-3U against 1942–43-era planes like the FW 190 A-5. Add to that the game’s broken drag/weight physics, and the FW 190 is unjustly punished in nearly every engagement.
Sources like Wings of the Luftwaffe – written by the test pilot who actually flew the captured aircraft – clearly state that the FW 190 had very few disadvantages compared to the Spitfire. The author emphasizes it was comparable in maneuverability, superior in dives and at low altitudes, and had greater engine power.
Yet in War Thunder, it behaves like a cart racing against a modern sports car.
Games like IL-2 reflect the FW 190’s performance far more accurately. Not overpowered – but deadly, precise, and fast when used correctly. War Thunder’s portrayal is broken, and urgently needs review.
Final Thoughts
Gaijin must urgently re-evaluate the Battle Ratings and flight model fidelity for the FW 190 series.
One of WWII’s most iconic and feared fighters has become a flying coffin. This is historically inaccurate, competitively unfair, and frustrating for simulator pilots.
I think it’s more than time to fix this — the FW is becoming one of the worst fighters in the game, if it isn’t already, compared to its BR opponents. That’s a historical falsehood! Gaijin must address this issue and honor the purpose it claims to represent — and if they can’t accept that the FW 190 was on par with or superior to many of its enemies, then they might as well disqualify it and remove it from the game.
My suggested reasonable BR changes for Simulator Battle (SB):
- A-5 down to 4.3 SB
- A-4 down to 3.7 SB
- F-8 down to 4.0 SB
- A-8 to 4.7 SB
- D-9 and D-13 to 5.0 SB
- Yak 3 up to 5.0 SB
- F4U-4 stay 5.3 SB
- Spitfire Mk IX Up to 5.0 SB
Because how can aircraft equivalent to the Dora 13 and Dora 9 sit at BR 5.0 (like some Mustangs), while others with better characteristics are rated only slightly higher at 5.3?
Not to mention, the F4U-4 sits at BR 5.3, and it is equivalent or even superior to the D-9.
And let’s talk about the Yak-3:
Why is the Yak-3 – a fighter introduced in July 1944 – competing with aircraft active since 1942–43? And if that weren’t enough, it has multiple gameplay advantages. Why is this aircraft at BR 4.7 in SB, the same as the FW 190 A-5, despite its better flight model and more favorable game mechanics? The Yak-3 was matched against aircraft like the Dora 9 (BR 5.7) historically, and even in-game, if a Yak-3 faces a Dora 9, it has a better chance of winning. Now imagine it against an A-5…
The entire FW 190 tree needs urgent adjustments – either through physics, BRs, or both.
And ever since Gaijin released the update that significantly reduced engine overheat for the Anton models (with a whole video questioning “was the FW 190 really that good?”), it seems the flight model and other parameters were changed as well – or the game simply started to over-prioritize turnfighting. It has become a game where whoever turns better wins – regardless of all other performance aspects.
This is ridiculous.
Let’s not even mention how Battle Ratings change over time. The FW 190 A-5, for example, could still be reasonably competitive when facing aircraft in BR brackets like 4.0–5.0 — it would be a fair low-tier opponent in that range. But now imagine it being placed in matches with BR 4.7–5.7, where its best alternative is a D-9 or D-13 against much more capable opponents. It’s simply not fair.
Please, fix this! If anyone in the community can bring more accurate or historical info to strengthen this post, feel free to do so — we need to stand up against this injustice
