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What is better: artillery shelling or airstrike? Combat reserves in Fortified Areas: "Airstrike" and "Artillery Shelling". When to call for artillery support in War Thunder

In update 9.6, it will be possible to build two new buildings in Fortified Areas: an artillery division and a bomber aviation regiment. In them, clans will produce special reserves that can be used directly in battle.

Please note: to build new buildings you will need to free up space on existing routes. Thus, starting from version 9.6, the number of available buildings exceeds the number of construction sites.

At the moment, combat reserves are only available for use in battles for Fortified Areas and are not available in sorties.

Artillery battalion

Produces the “Artillery Shell” reserve, when used, the square of the map specified by the commander is covered with dense artillery fire using high-explosive fragmentation shells.

The action of this reserve is similar to the action of self-propelled guns. The shells arrive from the direction of their base and land in the area at an angle of about 50°, causing damage identical to damage from standard ammunition from the self-propelled gun arsenal.

The number of shells, their strength and the dispersion of fragments depend on the level of the building in which the reserve was made.

Bomber Aviation Regiment

Produces an “Airstrike” reserve, allowing the commander to call an Il-2 attack aircraft, which will strike the specified area with cumulative anti-tank bombs (PTAB).

The operation of PTAB in this type of reserve differs from an artillery strike. The aircraft, approaching the target, drops bombs at an angle of 90°, that is, vertically, which ensures that the ammunition hits the vulnerable spots of the tanks. In addition, the right angle of impact of the bombs allows the use of reserves against the enemy hidden behind houses and terrain.

The damage caused by bombs and their number per combat mission depend on the level of the building in which the reserve was made.

Each of these reserves can be used once during the battle.

Before the battle begins, the commander needs to add reserves in the pre-battle room. (The first player to enter the pre-battle room becomes the commander.) The order to use the reserve is also given by the commander.

After the commander's tank is destroyed, it is impossible to use combat reserves!

Below are tables with the strength and cost of combat reserves depending on the level of the corresponding building.

"Shelling"

"Airstrike"

The preparation time for each of the combat reserves in buildings is 5 minutes at any level.

Other changes

The Fortified Area page was moved to , at the same time new features were added:

View clan statistics in battle mode with detailed information on the number of buildings and Command Centers looted.
Information about the time of defense, truce, ceasefire and the clan's game server.
Battle calendar, where you can see planned attacks on the clan, as well as free slots for attack.
Information about directions with buildings on them, attacks assigned to these directions, and outgoing attacks on other clans.

The following information is also available for your own Stronghold:

Strength of the Command Center and all buildings.
The amount of industrial resources in all buildings of the Fortified Region.
A list of fighters and the amount of industrial resources they earned, both for the Fortified Area as a whole, and separately for each building.

You can go to the updated Fortified Area page from the clan profile by selecting the appropriate item in the menu on the right. You can discuss the new page at

Please note: to build new buildings you will need to free up space on existing routes. Thus, starting from version 9.6, the number of available buildings exceeds the number of construction sites.

At the moment, combat reserves are only available for use in battles for Fortified Areas and are not available in sorties.

Artillery battalion

Produces the “Artillery Shell” reserve, when used, the square of the map specified by the commander is covered with dense artillery fire using high-explosive fragmentation shells.

The number of shells, their strength and the dispersion of fragments depend on the level of the building in which the reserve was made.

Bomber Aviation Regiment

Produces an “Airstrike” reserve, allowing the commander to call an Il-2 attack aircraft, which will strike the specified area with cumulative anti-tank bombs (PTAB).

The damage caused by bombs and their number per combat mission depend on the level of the building in which the reserve was made.

Each of these reserves can be used once during the battle.

After the commander's tank is destroyed, it is impossible to use combat reserves!

Below are tables with the strength and cost of combat reserves depending on the level of the corresponding building.

"Shelling"

Characteristic	Artillery battalion level
Characteristic	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
Time until ready to fire (s)	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	3
Caliber	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100
Radius of the affected area (m)	6	6	7	8	9	10	10	12	14	15
Damage of one projectile	420	420	420	420	420	420	420	420	420	420
Armor penetration	80	80	80	80	80	90	90	95	95	100
Number of shells per salvo	25	30	35	40	50	75	100	120	140	150
Preparation cost ()	50	75	100	150	200	300	400	500	650	750

"Airstrike"

Characteristic	Bomber Regiment Level
Characteristic	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
Damage of one air bomb	420	420	420	420	420	420	420	420	420	420
Number of bombs per flight	15	20	25	30	35	70	75	110	120	125
Affected area (m2)	300	300	600	600	600	1200	1200	1925	1925	1925
Armor penetration	80	80	80	80	80	90	90	95	95	100
Flight time (s)	7	7	7	7	7	7	6	6	6	5
Preparation cost ()	50	75	100	150	200	300	400	500	650	750

The preparation time for each of the combat reserves in buildings is 5 minutes at any level.

Other changes

The Stronghold page was moved to the clan portal, and at the same time new features were added:

View clan statistics in battle mode with detailed information on the number of buildings and Command Centers looted.
Information about the time of defense, truce, ceasefire and the clan's game server.
Battle calendar, where you can see planned attacks on the clan, as well as free slots for attack.
Information about directions with buildings on them, attacks assigned to these directions, and outgoing attacks on other clans.

The following information is also available for your own Stronghold:

Strength of the Command Center and all buildings.
The amount of industrial resources in all buildings of the Fortified Region.
A list of fighters and the amount of industrial resources they earned, both for the Fortified Area as a whole, and separately for each building.

You can go to the updated Fortified Area page from the clan profile by selecting the appropriate item in the menu on the right. You can discuss the new page at.

Available on a temporary basis from April 14, 11:00 (Moscow time). To select it, you need to use the battle selector (to the right of the “Battle” button):

Among other innovations, last year the “Frontline” mode was available on the Sandbox server in a 30 vs 30 format. It will soon return, but this time on the main servers, inviting all players to large-scale battles on a huge map.

ATTENTION! The mode will be available on a temporary basis. A more detailed description of the mode will be a little later.

Features of the mode

Technique: Tier VIII technique.
Teams: 30 players per team with the option of playing in a platoon of 5 players.
Roles: one team defends, the second team attacks.
Goals: the attacking team must break through the defenses and destroy at least three of the five main targets (details below). The defenders must hold their positions and keep at least three of the five defended objects intact.

Tier VIII vehicles: The “Front Line” mode will be available only for Tier VIII vehicles. This is done so that as many players as possible can get acquainted with the new game content.

The developers refined the mode based on players’ suggestions from the first test, converted the map to HD quality and adjusted a number of game aspects from the list of vehicles to the economy.

New combat equipment:

Smoke screen: vehicles hide their positions using a smoke screen.
Inspiration: the crews of your vehicle, as well as vehicles nearby, receive an increase to their main specialty.
Engineering squad: reduces the time to capture a base, increases the efficiency of shooting down a base capture and can stop the capture of a base if located within its borders.

Setting changes. Along with the geographic location of the map (from coastal France to central Germany), some objects on the map also changed - they became more characteristic of this area.

Chance to win. Often a strict time limit interrupted the battle at the most interesting point. The developers believe that victory should be achieved through conscious actions, and not by delaying time. Therefore, if the battle time expires while the attacking team is in the process of capturing the enemy sector, the battle will continue until the sector is captured or until the defenders maintain control of the territory and break the capture completely (as in football - there is no whistle until the attack is completed). will).

Map changes. To make the gameplay more varied, the landscape, objects and their location on the map have been significantly changed.

Sector capture mechanics: Now, the fewer sectors of the first line are captured, the harder it will be to capture the sectors of the second line. The more sectors in the first line are captured, the less time it will take to capture a sector in the second line of defense.

It is likely that the final version of the Frontline mode will be different from the one being tested now. To help developers configure the mode correctly, launch the general test client, select a mode from the list of available ones, and go into battle!

New mode “Frontline” (from April 14, 11:00 (Moscow time))

The mode is available only for Tier VIII vehicles.
Two teams of 30 players each participate. Wherein:
the attacking team must destroy at least three of the five pillboxes before the end of the battle;
the defending team must prevent the destruction of these pillboxes.

Battlefield

Map size - 9 km 2.
The battlefield is conventionally divided into eight functional zones:
1. the first line is the battle start zone for the attacking and defending teams: bases A, B and C are located in this location;
2. the second line is the zone in which bases D, E and F are located;
3. the third line is the area where the pillboxes are located.
The map is also conditionally divided into three strategic directions:
1. Eastern front;
2. Central Front;
3. Western Front.

Combat Development

At the beginning of the battle, the players of each team are evenly distributed among ten people on each of the three fronts: Eastern, Central and Western.
Players of the attacking team begin the battle from the first line.
Players of the defending team begin the battle from the second line.
At the initial stage of the battle, the second line is not available to players of the attacking team. If the attacking player enters the third line, he will be attacked by artillery.
For players of the defending team, the spawn area of the attacking team on the first line is always inaccessible. If a player from the defending team enters this zone, he will be attacked by artillery.
After the start of the battle, the attacking team has 12 minutes to destroy the defending team's pillboxes located on the fourth line.

Capturing bases

There are three bases on the second and third lines. At the beginning of the battle, these bases belong to the defending team.
To advance to the third line, the attacking team must capture bases located on the first line.
The base is captured as usual, but taking into account the features of the mode:
1. to capture a base, the player must drive into the base capture circle;
2. in the “Frontline” mode, the number of players simultaneously capturing the base is three;
3. To capture a base, players must score a total of 150 capture points;
4. if damage is caused to the player capturing the base, the capture progress is not reset, but only paused for five seconds;
5. To stop a base capture, you need to destroy the capturing player.
Capturing each of the first three bases (A, B and C) adds 120 seconds to the time remaining until the end of the battle.
Capturing the last base on the second line adds 240 seconds to the time remaining until the end of the battle.

Base defense system

Bases D, E and F, located on the third line, have a unique protection system.
The difficulty of capturing bases D, E and F depends on the number of captured bases on the second line.
If the attacking team captured one base on the second line, then to capture any base on the third line it needs to score 400 capture points.
If the attacking team captured two bases on the second line, then to capture any base on the third line it needs to score 250 capture points.
If the attacking team has captured all the bases on the second line, then to capture any base on the third line it needs to score 150 capture points.

Additional time

If, after the battle time has expired, at least one player from the attacking team is in the base capture circle, then the extra time system is activated.
The maximum additional time is 90 seconds.
Extra time is disabled if no player captures the base.
If the attackers manage to capture the base during the extra time, then additional time is added to the current battle time.

Capture zones

When the attacking team captures a base, the zone in which the base was located comes under the control of the attackers. Example: if players capture Base A, then the zone located on the Eastern Front of the first line comes under the control of the attackers.
After the zone comes under the control of the attacking team, the defending players are given 60 seconds to leave the captured zone. All equipment of the defending team remaining after 60 seconds in the zone captured by the attackers will be attacked by aircraft.
After the attacking team captures a zone, the next zone on the front becomes available for the attacking side to capture. Example: if players capture base A, then the area controlled by base D becomes available for them to capture.
After capturing any base on the third line, the attacking team gains access to the fourth line and can begin to destroy the defending pillboxes.

Dota

Pillboxes are interactive objects and the main target for the attacking team.
The strength of each pillbox is 3000 units.
Dots can be destroyed by player shells.
The pillboxes have exceptional frontal armor (2000 mm).
The pillbox's side armor is 165 mm.
The most vulnerable place of the pillbox is the back (70 mm).
High-explosive fragmentation shells deal 50% of their base damage to pillboxes.

Respawn System

After your vehicle is destroyed (if your team controls the spawn points), you will be taken to the spawn screen.
On this screen you can choose:
1. Which car to return to battle in? All Tier VIII equipment you purchased is available to you. She must be repaired and manned.
2. Flank you prefer to land on:
  - the flank on which more than 13 teammates are currently located will not be available for landing;
  - No more than one self-propelled gun can land on one flank.
The return is not immediate:
1. the vehicle on which you were destroyed becomes unavailable for returning to battle within five minutes from the moment of its destruction;
2. Once you reach the respawn screen, you cannot return to battle for 30 seconds.
The number of spawn points is individual for each player:
1. at the start of the battle, all players have only one “life” left;
2. every five minutes after the start of the battle, the teams receive reinforcements and each player receives one additional revival;
3. the player cannot accumulate more than two potential revives.

Repair points

You can use the repair points located on the battlefield:
1. The radius of the repair zone is 25 meters.
At the moment when you are in the repair circle, the machine's life is restored:
1. 100 strength points per second;
2. 10% of projectiles per second (from the base value);
3. 100 crew HP per second (conditionally);
4. 100 HP modules per second (conditionally).
All premium shells and premium equipment are restored to pre-battle condition.
After the vehicle's service life is restored to 100%, this particular repair point becomes inaccessible to the player for two minutes.
If the player takes damage during repairs, the repairs stop. And it is this repair point that becomes inaccessible for 5 minutes.

Combat reserves

The mode will allow you to use six combat reserves.
1. Artillery shelling.
2. Airstrike.
3. Reconnaissance aircraft: detects enemy vehicles in a certain area of the map.
4. Engineering squad: reduces the time to capture a base, increases the effect of knocking down a capture, stops a capture while being in the circle of capturing your own base.
5. Smoke screen: a cloud of smoke is formed at a given point, hiding the tanks.
6. Inspiration: The crews of the player’s vehicle and allies within a small radius receive an increase to their main specialty.
In the Hangar, before the battle, you need to install the combat reserve you are interested in in special slots.
You will have from one to three slots for reserves, depending on the type of vehicle (one for medium and heavy tanks, two for tank destroyers, three each for light tanks and self-propelled guns).
All combat reserves have five levels of development.
To increase the level of your combat reserve, you need to spend a supply point.
You receive supply points for each level of account development.

Ranks:

For performing useful actions in battle, you will be awarded ranks.
The higher the rank with which you finish the battle, the greater the final increase in experience.
There are six titles in total:
1. "Private": all players start the battle with this rank.
2. "Sergeant": +10% experience.
3. "Lieutenant": +25% experience.
4. "Captain": +50% experience.
5. "Major": +100% experience.
6. "General": +200% experience.

Reserves are various bonuses (to experience, to credits, to crew experience, etc.) that the Fortified Area brings. These bonuses apply to all clan members above the rank of reservist in all battles without exception, be they random or team battles, or battles on the Global Map.

Thanks to reserves, you can receive bonuses, similar to those provided during promotions or a premium account, without investing money.

Reserves are made in buildings and are valid for a certain time after activation.

What are the reserves?

In the Stronghold mode, there are eight types of reserves available, which are divided into two groups:

Long-lasting reserves (valid for 2 hours).
Reserves for battles.

How to prepare a reserve?

In order for clan fighters to be able to use the bonus from the reserve, this reserve must be prepared. Reserves are being prepared in buildings. Each type of reserve has its own preparation cost, expressed in industrial resources. To prepare a reserve, the building’s warehouse must have the required amount of industrial resources. To prepare a reserve:

To find out how much time is left until the end of preparation, click on the building in which the reserve is being prepared.

How to increase the reserve level?

Type of reserve	The bonus it gives	Where is it produced?
Battle payouts	Increasing the number of credits that clan members receive as a result of any battle	Financial part
Tactical training	Increase in combat experience that clan members receive based on the results of any battle	Tankodrome
Military training	Increase in free experience that clan members receive based on the results of any battle	Military school
Additional instruction	Increasing the crew experience that clan members receive based on the results of any battle	Training part
Heavy transport	Additional industrial resources received for battles in Forays and Offensives	Motor transport part
Requisition	Additional industrial resource received as a result of the Offensive	Trophy brigade
Airstrike	Additional industrial resource when calling an airstrike. A bomber will fly into the indicated area and bomb the enemy equipment. The resource is available in the “Sortie” and “Offensive” modes	Bomber Aviation Regiment
Shelling	Additional industrial resource when calling for artillery shelling. An artillery battery will cover the specified area of the map with a salvo of high-explosive fragmentation shells. The resource is available in the “Sortie” and “Offensive” modes	Artillery battalion

Each reserve has levels from I to XII. They are determined by the level of the building where the reserve is made (with the exception of reserves of level XI and XII). Thus, you can increase the level of reserve by improving the corresponding structure. At the same time, the parameters of the reserve change, such as validity period, bonus size, period and cost of production.

The main advantage of the Fortified Area is the significant bonuses that clan players can receive when using reserves. With their help, you can not only increase the number of credits, experience and industrial resources earned, but also influence the outcome of the battle.

The clan can not only prepare reserves in its Fortified Area, but also receive them by upgrading the command center and participating in War Games.

At the bottom of the screen there is a reserve warehouse:

The number of reserves of each type prepared in the Fortified Area.
The maximum level of available reserves. The warehouse can store reserves of different levels.
The reserve currently in use.
Remaining reserve time.

Types of reserves

There are eight types of reserves available in Stronghold mode. All reserves are divided into two groups:

Reserves for battles

Long lasting reserves

Battle payouts
Military training
Tactical training
Additional instruction

Players in the Reservist position do not receive bonuses from long-term reserves.

Reserves for battles

Heavy transport
Requisition
Airstrike
Shelling

To use your combat reserve, take it into battle (see).

For combat reserves to work, they must be activated directly in battle. You can activate reserves one minute after the start of the battle.

An Airstrike or Artillery Shelling during a battle can be called either by the squad leader or by a gunner designated by the commander. The gunner can be any member of the squad, including a legionnaire.

You can assign a gunner in the squad formation window: right-click on the name of the desired player in the squad and select Assign as gunner. An icon will appear to the right of the player's name.

To remove these powers from a player, right-click on their name and select Take away gunner's powers. The right to activate combat reserves in battle will return to you.

If you do not activate the combat reserve in battle, you will not receive additional industrial resources from this reserve. Unused combat reserves are not burned and are returned to the warehouse.

Reserve "Airstrike"

Airstrike allows you to attack the enemy from the air. During an attack, the bomber drops anti-tank bombs on a target area. It is impossible to shoot down a bomber.

Features of the Airstrike reserve:

Bombs are dropped almost vertically, making it extremely difficult to hide from them behind objects on the map.
Bombs are dropped sequentially from one end of the affected area to the other in the direction of bombing.
The power of the bombs is enough to destroy some buildings.

To use the Airstrike reserve in battle:

Press the key that corresponds to the Airstrike reserve (default 7-9).
Point your sight at the area of the map where you want to bombard. The affected area is indicated by a green outline, and an arrow indicates the direction of attack.
Click to lock the center of the affected area. Use your mouse to adjust the bombing direction.
Click to lock the affected area. After five seconds, the bomber will drop bombs on the specified area.

The affected area and the time until the bombs are dropped are visible only to players on your team.

by right-clicking;
by pressing the Esc key;

Reserve "Artobstrel"

This reserve allows for artillery bombardment: a salvo of high-explosive fragmentation shells is fired into the selected area.

Features of the "Artobstrel" reserve:

When you use a reserve, shells fly into the affected area at a certain angle from your base.
The angle of entry of projectiles into the affected area is the same for any selected firing zone.
The shells hit the affected area randomly and evenly throughout the entire shelling period.
Reserve deployment time is 5 seconds.

To use the Artillery reserve in battle:

Press the key that corresponds to the Shelling reserve (default 7-9).
Point your sight at the area of the map where you want to fire. The affected area is indicated by green dots.
Click to lock the affected area. After five seconds the shelling will begin.

While the affected area is not fixed, you can cancel the use of the reserve in one of three ways:

by right-clicking;
by pressing the Esc key;
by pressing the key that corresponds to the “Airstrike” reserve.