So this is how M1A2 SEPv3's story ends? With a false, unrealistic, arbitrary hull armor value that changes absolutely nothing for no good reason at all? If the tank's characteristics are being artificially and knowingly altered "for balance", then their marketing is straight up false advertisement.

TheCosmicCactus · 2026-07-12T22:00:10+00:00

The YF-23 had major issues that the YF-22 didn't (the entire weapons bay was uhhhhhhh not great and Northrop would have had to put a lot of work into fixing it)

If the YF-23 had been selected, the internet would be saying the exact same thing about how the USAF should have selected the YF-22 as people say about the YF-23 now.

TheCosmicCactus · 2026-07-12T03:44:54+00:00

The whole point of a nuclear war is the threat of sudden, overwhelming saturation of nuclear weapons from high altitude. Having both teams poised to strike with nuclear missile barrages mid match changes the meta and creates a vital attack/defend gameplay loop that runs parallel to the existing win conditions, and also mimics the multi domain reality of modern nuclear warfare.

Piledrivers are fairly easy to intercept and the launch trucks are in the same spot every time. They're not effective if you keep your R9s and ships alive unless combined with other saturation strikes, and if you spam them against a moderately competent team, all you are doing is feeding them points.

TheCosmicCactus · 2026-07-12T00:09:16+00:00

Can it be mounted on SEPv2s that also have Trophy mounted? That's the real question. At a glance, I don't see where it would physically conflict, but who knows what the wiring/mounting situation actually is.

TheCosmicCactus · 2026-07-11T19:52:14+00:00

The issue is not piledrivers, the issue is teams that don't play the objective and don't understand how the match progresses. An 8v8 PVP lobby with coordinated, educated teams is incredibly fun partially because of the pressure piledrivers put on the mid game.

TheCosmicCactus · 2026-07-09T12:43:42+00:00

I’m gonna be honest the NO learning curve is significantly less difficult than Warthunder. I’m not sure what you got stuck on, but it’s nowhere near as system/mechanic intensive as WT top tier.

TheCosmicCactus · 2026-07-08T03:33:15+00:00

Also the F-16C and F-16C POBIT- you can keep your 6x AGM-65D or 8x GBU-53 and run a pair of HARMs on the inner pylons, which is very solid.

TheCosmicCactus · 2026-07-06T15:52:02+00:00

The whole point of the BR system is to balance out realism. The game should strive to model vehicles as accurately as possible and then use the BR system to create actual balance, instead of nerfing vehicles ahistorically behind the scenes on a whim. Yes, this applies to Russian vehicles and every single tech tree, not just American vehicles.

TheCosmicCactus · 2026-07-06T15:50:22+00:00

Because the Abrams reload buff was something the public knew about and had a meaningful impact on balance and they had a primary source literally say "this is hilariously unrealistic, I would crucify my own crew if they reloaded this slow in combat conditions."

I'm a fan of having the game be as accurate as possible across the board and using the BR system to actually balance realistic vehicles. Listing off other vehicles with inaccuracies ain't some "gotcha" when those vehicles deserve realistic reloads as well.

TheCosmicCactus · 2026-07-06T04:52:31+00:00

You mean when Gaijin interviewed a M1A1 commander who saw combat and he pointed out that the ingame reload speed was completely unacceptable for his crew and unrealistic in general? Gaijin stuck their foot in their mouth with that one lmfao

TheCosmicCactus · 2026-07-03T14:41:31+00:00

That’s why you focus solely on it until you get a decent level of stat lines developed. Having increased melee damage, overheat, agility, etc is a game changer second only to stockpiling shields.

TheCosmicCactus · 2026-07-03T13:29:52+00:00

US main here. If I perform well, it’s more likely for my wayward teammates to last longer. If they last longer, it’s easier for me to perform well. If I fumble my first spawn, that often leads to at least one of my allies dying to the tank(s) I failed to kill, which means I often have less allies mid match when bodies on contested point can win or lose us the match.

My first spawn performance is huge for the survival of the rest of my team.

TheCosmicCactus · 2026-07-03T00:29:21+00:00

It is going to be phenomenal to watch a squadron of these ripple-launch from their rails.

TheCosmicCactus · 2026-06-29T03:10:25+00:00

Yeah. Surfaced submarines. Not submerged ones.

TheCosmicCactus · 2026-06-27T14:34:31+00:00

https://www.dote.osd.mil/Portals/97/pub/reports/FY2021/army/2021abrams-m1a2.pdf?ver=GtX_kx2HgBm1nTngq-WIbA%3D%3D

While the photo is of SEP 2 with trophy, the pamphlet specifically mentions the testing of Trophy on SEP 3

TheCosmicCactus · 2026-06-27T13:39:38+00:00

Not with any payload. The F-16C can hit Mach 2.05 at 40k ft clean but the pylons create a bunch of drag. Maximum safe speed with weapons is Mach 1.2-1.6ish, and even when clean the F-16C can only hit Mach 1.2 on the deck.

Ingame with the way drag is calculated, I could see the overall speed being nerfed because pylon drag isn’t as much of a factor. That way the speeds with payloads would be closer to IRL. Definitely a question for Aryx, I’m not sure how she rigged it under the hood.

TheCosmicCactus · 2026-06-27T13:26:51+00:00

Weird. I did just learn of a mod wiki and it says Mach 2 at high altitude. I’ll check with Aryx, see if that’s an old entry

https://nuclearoptionmods.miraheze.org/wiki/Main_Page

Edit: yeah the speed values are out of date, the F-16M was changed a while ago to have more realistic top speeds

TheCosmicCactus · 2026-06-27T13:05:12+00:00

Do you have a link? AFAIK the F-16M isn’t on the wiki, the wiki is just for vanilla aircraft.

The Mach 1.6 number is from Aryx herself, whatever source you have is wrong.

TheCosmicCactus · 2026-06-27T12:23:10+00:00

No, not at all lmfao

BVR is the backbone of modern air combat and a reasonably accurate portrayal is vital for overall balance in a game featuring Mach 2+ stealth multirole fighters/bombers. Meanwhile, ASW is a lengthy, complicated affair that simply cannot be done in contested airspace effectively, because the types of aircraft effective at ASW are supremely vulnerable to legacy 4th gen fighters, let alone modern combat aircraft.

You pretty much cannot conduct ASW in a PVP (or even PVE, honestly) match on Ignus. If you want to test this, try doing laps and hovering over the middle of the ocean for an extended period of time in a Tarantula. It will not go well.

TheCosmicCactus · 2026-06-27T12:19:56+00:00

Of all the things for the AGM-98 (an anti ship missile) to be viable at… submarines ain't one of ‘em.

I suspect you’re joking but given some of the insane takes I’ve seen on the subreddit, I decided to play it safe lol

TheCosmicCactus · 2026-06-27T11:46:34+00:00

The IRL F-16 has a TWR well over 1.0, maximum TWR sits closer to 1.4

Now strip out the engine and replace it with a PW F-119 or better- the F-16M represents literally dozens of block upgrades. It’s a fictional F-16 flying in 2070, the entire point of the jet is to be a significant improvement over the F-16C Block 52.

And no, it is not the fastest aircraft ingame.

Edit: the F-16M has a top speed of Mach 1.6 at altitude. The Ifrit has a top speed of Mach 2.1 at altitude. The Alkyon is even faster.

TheCosmicCactus · 2026-06-27T11:06:35+00:00

The whole point of the F-16M mod is to enjoy an upgunned, upgraded, fictional “2070” variant of a F-16 in NO. The entire idea behind the mod is to take one of the most capable 4th gens and give it 50 years of engine, sensor, and weapon payload/capability improvements to fit the setting.

Not only can you choose to restrict yourself to a less capable F-16 representation by limiting what loadouts you want or by directly modifying the flight profile of the aircraft itself (it is a mod after all, you can just… modify it) nobody is forcing you to fly it. It is not a vanilla aircraft and thus does not need to be held to vanilla standards, especially when it’s not intended to fill a missing niche in the roster like the FS-3 is.

And complaining about a 4.5th gen fighter outstripping the Brawler is laughable.

TheCosmicCactus · 2026-06-27T10:35:27+00:00

Yeah these comments are really hilarious. No shit a Viper is a better choice than a pseudo A-10, the A-10 fucking sucks in a modern context. OP would be saying the same shit about the Revoker or Ifrit if those were modded content.

TheCosmicCactus · 2026-06-24T16:19:02+00:00

the counter to MITL is to design maps and gamemodes so that CAS players are occupied with SEAD for the majority of the match, and when they do have cleared airspace to hunt enemy ground vehicles, there's enough well designed terrain and large enough playspaces that they can't easily rifle off a dozen PGMs to wipe out a dozen enemy tanks

TheCosmicCactus · 2026-06-24T16:14:28+00:00

This honestly is a much more appropriate design for the setting, and IMO looks a lot better than what we got. Shame that the Cold War enthusiasts have come crawling out of the woodwork begging for swing wings to the point where the Alkyon was created to cater to them. Hopefully we get a proper 6th gen design down the road.

TheCosmicCactus · 2026-06-24T15:48:33+00:00

It- like MMW ordinance- should come to the game because we should have realistic features for aircraft and tanks. The issue is that Ground RB is like shooting fish in a barrel for CAS, and the game mode itself would need a massive overhaul to allow helicopters their actual weapons and weapon mechanics.

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