Online vehicle combat games, compared for Australian players
Pioneer Point keeps a small, structured library of games in which the player crews a tank, flies an aircraft or commands a ship instead of running around as a single soldier. Every entry is described against the same set of questions, in the same order, so that two games can be read side by side without the marketing language getting in the way.
How this site is paid for
Pioneer Point carries advertising, and it is worth knowing exactly where. One of the games in the library, War Thunder, is covered under a paid arrangement: if you follow our link to the publisher's website, create an account, confirm your email address and sign in to the game, an affiliate program pays a fixed commission to Kalos investing s.r.o., the company that publishes this site. Nothing you do costs more because you arrived through that link, and no money changes hands on this site at all.
What the commission does not buy is the write-up. The criteria, the order of the comparison table and the sentences describing each game were fixed before any link was placed, and they are set out openly on the comparison method page. Every other game in the library is listed without any commercial relationship whatsoever. The full arrangement, including what triggers a payment and what we are not paid for, is on the affiliate disclosure page.
What counts as a vehicle combat game
The category has a fuzzy edge, so it helps to draw it deliberately. A vehicle combat game puts the player in control of a machine with a crew, a weight and a turning circle. Damage is modelled against the machine rather than a health bar, and matches are decided by positioning and sightlines as much as by reflexes. Within that description sit three quite different kinds of game, and mixing them up is the most common reason a player bounces off a title within an hour.
- Arcade-leaning vehicle shooters
- Simplified physics, aiming assistance, short matches and a progression tree that unlocks further vehicles. Matchmaking usually pairs players by the rating of the vehicle they bring rather than by their own record.
- Combined-arms games
- Aircraft, ground vehicles and sometimes ships share a map, so a tank can be attacked from the air and a fighter has to worry about anti-aircraft fire. These games ask the player to learn more than one discipline.
- Study simulators
- A single aircraft or vehicle is modelled down to individual switches and start-up sequences. Sessions are long, the manuals are substantial, and the satisfaction on offer is accuracy rather than pace.
Most of the confusion comes from the middle group, because a combined-arms game often contains difficulty settings spanning the first kind to the third. The same title can be an arcade shooter on one setting and close to a simulator on another.
The library at a glance
This table holds the short form of every entry. Each row links to the publisher's own website, because that is the only place where current pricing, platform support and account terms can be confirmed. The order is alphabetical by game title and nothing else determines it.
| Game | Publisher | Vehicles in play | Kind of game | Publisher's site |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DCS World | Eagle Dynamics | Aircraft and helicopters | Study simulator | digitalcombatsimulator.com |
| Enlisted | Gaijin Entertainment | Infantry squads with supporting tanks and aircraft | Combined arms | enlisted.net |
| War Thunder | Gaijin Entertainment | Planes, helicopters, tanks and ships | Combined arms, online multiplayer | warthunder.com |
| World of Tanks | Wargaming | Tanks and other armoured vehicles | Arcade-leaning vehicle shooter | worldoftanks.com |
| World of Warships | Wargaming | Warships | Arcade-leaning vehicle shooter | worldofwarships.com |
Paid link. The warthunder.com link in the row above is the paid one described at the top of this page. The other four links are ordinary references to publisher websites and earn Pioneer Point nothing.
How an entry is put together
Each game is described against six questions, always in the same order: what the player controls, how a match is structured, what the game asks of a computer and a connection, what an account requires, how money enters the game, and where the publisher's own information sits. Where a publisher states nothing publicly, the entry records that rather than filling the gap with an estimate.
That rule matters more than it sounds. A comparison table with no blank cells is usually a table with guesses in it. The comparison method page sets out each criterion in full, along with the three things this site deliberately does not do: score games out of ten, rank them against each other, or describe how any of them feels to play.
War Thunder in this library
War Thunder is a multiplayer war simulator created and published by Gaijin Entertainment, in which battles are fought using planes, helicopters, tanks and ships. It sits in the combined-arms part of the category, because those four vehicle classes are not separate products but pieces that can meet in the same online battle.
Getting in follows the sequence common to online titles of this kind: an account is registered on the publisher's website, the email address is confirmed, the client is installed, and the first session begins with the tutorial. Pioneer Point states no pricing, platform support or regional availability for the game, because those are the publisher's to state and they change.
Paid link. Following this link, registering an account, confirming the email address and signing in to the game earns Kalos investing s.r.o. a commission from an affiliate program. Your costs are unaffected, and the paragraphs above were written before the link was placed.
Where money enters a game that costs nothing to start
Several games in this library can be installed without a purchase, and that is precisely the part worth reading carefully. A game funded after installation rather than before it has to earn revenue from somewhere, and the mechanisms are reasonably consistent across the category: a premium currency bought with real money, individual vehicles sold outright, time-saving boosters, cosmetic items, and in some titles randomised item bundles whose contents are not known before purchase.
Two habits are worth forming before spending anything: convert premium currency into Australian dollars by hand, since bundle sizes rarely match the price of any single item, and check whether a purchase renews. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission publishes guidance on consumer rights and guarantees, which apply to digital products bought in Australia.
Classification is the other question parents raise. The searchable record of classification decisions is published by the Australian Classification Board, and Pioneer Point states no classification for any game because the Board's database is the authoritative record.
How spending works in these games
Australian services worth knowing about
Online games attract account theft and marketplace scams, mostly because accounts with years of progression have resale value. Each of these government services does a specific job rather than acting as a general help desk.
- Australian Cyber Security Centre publishes practical security guidance for individuals and small organisations, including advice on multi-factor authentication and compromised accounts.
- Scamwatch, run by the National Anti-Scam Centre, collects scam reports and publishes descriptions of current scam types.
- eSafety Commissioner handles online safety, including reporting serious online abuse, and publishes material aimed at parents and young people.
- Office of the Australian Information Commissioner oversees privacy law and receives privacy complaints.
- Australian Competition and Consumer Commission administers the Australian Consumer Law, which covers digital purchases.
The account safety page explains where each of these is actually the right place to go, which is a narrower question than it first appears.
Where to start
- Comparison library
All five entries, against the same six questions, each linking its publisher.
- How we compare
The criteria, the sources, the order rule, and three standing refusals.
- War Thunder, entry by entry
What is confirmed, what signing up involves, and what is not stated here.
- Spending and purchases
Premium currencies, randomised bundles, and your rights on digital purchases.
- Setup checklist
What to settle before installing: hardware, connection, account and household settings.
- Account safety
How accounts are lost, and which Australian service handles which problem.
- Questions
Short answers to what Australian readers ask most often.