"Schwanzus Longus": Winning matches in low level planes

"Schwanzus Longus" is a fun account created for but one purpose: To fly Italian fighters and win. Nothing else was flown in it, not even a He 51. The premium CR.42 was purchased prior to first match to avoid the non-Italian He 51.

"Schwanzus Longus" is the German translation for "Biggus Dickus". It felt like the most appropriate quasi-Italian name since many others were taken already.
Schwanzus Longus flew all missions solo, none in a squad. No crews were aced. He flew at about patch 1.48.

128 of 144 of battles were won by Schwanzus Longus (88.9%).

the fast Macchi M.C.202

Most Italian fighters have no fearsome reputation, but at the same time they're all good enough for great results if flown well. Schwanzus Longus used:

M.C.202 (fastest, two 12 mm + two 7 mm guns, some pilot armour, no turnfighter at all)

M.C. 200 series 7 (two 12 mm guns, combat flaps)

M.C. 200 serie 3 (two 12 mm guns, combat flaps)

G.50 Freccia series 7AS (two 12 mm guns, two 50 kg bombs)

G.50 Freccia series 2 (two 12 mm guns)

Marcolin's CR.42CN (two 12 mm guns, fixed landing gear, agile, premium plane bonus) 

CR.42 Falco (two 12 mm guns, fixed landing gear, agile)

The most powerful Italian fighter is no doubt the M.C.202, which by virtue of its high speed is very difficult to kill and at the same time possesses the best armament of all Italian fighters in WT today (1.51.x). The only worthy BR 1.7 opponents to a M.C.202 were the similar MiG 3-15 and the much more agile Ki-43-II. The Ki-43-II is a superior dogfighter regardless of relative starting positions if the M.C.202 has no large initial energy or surprise advantage. Nowadays (patch 1.51.x) the recently upgunned F2A-1's may be superior to the M.C.202 in battle even though they are BR 1.3 planes.

Era ("tier") I and II battles of Schwanzus Longus with BR 1.3-1.7 AB/air ranged from BR 1.0 to 2.7 and were "Ground Strike - light vehicles" maps or the "Krymsk" domination map. The toughest Ground Strike map at this level as of patch 1.51.x is "Alpine Meadows", particularly so with many low clouds.

Winning on ground strike - light vehicles maps

The path to victory in Ground Strike - light vehicles is simple:

(1) Kill ground troops (armored cars, artillery, anti-air artillery)

(2) Interfere with those who do (1) the best on the red team.

The choice of ammunition is "ground targets" for the 12 mm (actually 12.7 mm) and "stealth" for the 7 mm (actually 7.7 mm) guns. The idea is to use the tracers for improved accuracy against ground targets without being misled by the weaker 7 mm gun's tracers.

Light vehicles are easier prey for machineguns with tracers than without. You should aim a bit low when strafing. Few 12 mm AP hits suffice to kill an armored car, while most inexperienced pilots have trouble killing armored cars with 7 mm guns..

The attack on ground vehicles is little more than about surviving red fighters, air/ground marksmanship and determination. The determination to kill as many ground troops as possible is the most important ingredient. Most players will claim to play to win, but few actually do so. It is possible to bomb airfields on ground strike maps, and any player who does so earlier than at battle rating 4.3 (when the blue team may have multiple Do 217Es) is playing for the defeat of his team by wasting his player slot. Low tier battles are almost never won by airfield destruction. The airfield bombers' diversionary effect on red fighters is their only really relevant benefit to their team. All types of bombers could destroy a disproportionate quantity of red tickets by attacking ground troops instead.

The M.C.202 should be flown differently from all other Italian fighters as it's best if always kept at high speed. It can be used to race from one side of the map to the other, taking shots at ground troops al the time before reloading and turning back for another pass. Often times two or three red fighters would pursue it and thus be neutralized. Its speed is also fine for killing the red rear ground troops, particularly on the "Alpine Meadows" map. Many players who attempt to reach and kill those fail in slower planes, and a good plane such as M.C.202 can and often should deal with the high-hanging fruits. Its lethality of "Ground Strike - light vehicles" maps is such that hardly any red plane is dangerous enough to justify a fine M.C.202's attention there. Only BB-1 and Su-2 pilots are at times more dangerous and were killed by Schwanzus Longus on light vehicles maps without offering themselves by crossing his sights, but their players usually have several more near-identical planes in their setup.

The old style "Spain - light vehicles" map included a couple pillboxes and light tanks that but one Italian fighter could take on: The "Fiat G.50 series 7 AS" with its two wing-mounted 50 kg bombs. The best attack procedure was to dive on the target knowing which bomb would release next and score a direct hit. A near miss was ineffective (unlike with light vehicles). The limitation to two 50 kg bombs per such plane made it extraordinarily difficult to win on these maps if the blue team was not helping against the hard targets, and about half of Schwanzus Longus' few recorded defeats happened on this old version of the Spain-light vehicles map. A much better victories/battles balance would be possible under current (patch 1.51x) conditions.

Winning on the Krymsk map is different, and actually the opposite:

The ground troops rarely if ever reach the airfield before the end of the match and are thus largely unimportant. Their ticket value (100 tickets per vehicle) is low compared to overall ticket count, and their anti-air firepower is an unimportant contribution to the match as well. Only one thing matters a lot: Airfield possession.

This is why the CR.42 is actually a good plane on the Krymsk map. It has effective heavy machineguns, the agility to fight within one kilometre of the airfield at low altitude guarding it against touchdown attempts and it has a fixed landing gear. The fixed landing gear makes unintentional contact with the ground much less troublesome and it allows for near-instant touchdown on the airfield. The airfield can  be captured longitudinally only for want of clear paths crosswise. It is possible to neutralize or capture this airfield while rolling parallel to the runway instead of on the runway. This attracts a little bit less attention.

The CR.42s are not fantastic biplanes in WT (the CR.42 was likely the best multi-wing fighter historically), but it's clearly very capable if flown well. Schwanzus Longus' kill balance in both CR.42s was tainted by ground attack and dozens of airfield touchdowns. A 100% air combat focus would have yielded much better kill balances.

The best choice for first aircraft on this map was nevertheless the M.C.202, and probably so among all aircraft in WT. The M.C.202 has an incredible dive speed in AB - it easily accelerated past 700 kph on the Krymsk map starting at the fighter spawn point. It spawns high enough over ground on other maps to reach 820 kph or more in a dive, only a few seconds after the match began.

A roughly 45° dive followed by contour flight to the airfield, lowered landing gear, quick braking with landing flaps and flying S-lines horizontally followed by a quick touchdown for capturing the airfield is a great first move in the match. The chance of capturing the airfield AND surviving without crippling damage was about 1/3. Many red teams lose interest in capturing the airfield and thus in winning if the airfield is defended well afterwards.

The player needs to disable the instructor to capture an airfield at high speed. Go in the hangar to "Menu" - "Controls" - "Instructor" and set all three to "no". The instructor would intervene at high speed close to the ground, and the competition between the player's efforts to touchdown and the instructor's efforts to pull away from the ground leads to crashes.

On Krymsk it makes sense to use stealth ammunition for the 12 mm because it is about air combat, though it's not much better than other choices (except "default") in the M.C.202. The slower planes may stay on the 6 of red fighters for a while and keep hitting them. Tracers are treacherous in such a situation. A M.C.202 should rather boom and zoom, so the attack will be over before the red player could possibly react to tracers.

A look at the match statistics reveals which red players were the most successful ones. One may then prefer them as prey, particularly if one is flying the M.C.202 and has by virtue of its speed the ability to pick fights. The most dangerous red pilots are usually those who attempt to capture the airfield, though. The great plane killers and Yak-1s are even more important if airfield possession changes a  lot and the match might be decided by decimating the other team to the point where it cannot compete at the airfield any more.

One more note: The M.C.202 had a higher era (II) than the other Italian fighters when Schwanzus Longus was still active. This was almost perfectly irrelevant - it only meant it might face era III planes, but very few of those were encountered in battle by Schwanzus Longus since very few of them were at BR 2.7 or 3.0. The M.C.202 never entered the beginner map "Foggy Albion", though.

Overall Schwanzus Longus was a very special War Thunder pilot with a most likely unique restriction on the choice of aircraft. We can point at Schwanzus Longus whenever anyone comments badly on the usefulness of Italian fighters in War Thunder. He will rise again when mid-war Italian fighters (G.55, M.C.205, G.56) will be available.

Statistics of Schwanzus Longus: