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Crippling Airfields in War Thunder Sim Battles: Full Hitbox & Strike Guide

By todo

Learn how to dominate the skies in War Thunder Simulator Battles by mastering airfield destruction. This guide breaks down everything from spotting enemy airfields and understanding their hitboxes to choosing the best bombs and executing efficient bombing runs. Whether you're a seasoned bomber pilot or just getting into Sim Battles, this guide covers the visuals, tactics, and even a bit of sarcasm to help you level up your bombing game — and maybe earn some praise (or hate) along the way.

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Created by

todo
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Category: Gameplay Basics, Multiplayer, Walkthroughs

Posted

8 Jul @ 2:17am

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Guide Index

Overview

Intro

What Is an Airfield in Air Simulator Battles?

How to Locate Enemy Airfields

Airfield Layout Overview

Airfield Hitboxes Explained

Bombing Tactics and Strategies

Results of a Successful Airfield Strike

Bonus Tips

🙏 Thanks for Reading!

Comments

Intro

In this article, I’ll guide you through the layout and hitboxes of airfields in War Thunder Simulator Battles. You’ll learn what each section of the airfield does, how they contribute to the enemy’s war effort, and how to effectively bomb them to maximize damage and disrupt enemy operations.

What Is an Airfield in Air Simulator Battles?

In simple terms, an airfield is a strategic location where players can spawn, refuel, repair, and rearm their aircraft. In Simulator Battles, airfields play a critical role in sustaining air operations and are often key objectives for both offense and defense.

The number, size, and layout of airfields can vary depending on:

The map being played
The battle rating (BR) bracket
Placement

Despite these variations, both teams always have an equal number of airfields to ensure balance.

Some airfields are equipped with AAA (anti-aircraft artillery) defenses, while others may be completely unprotected. You may also encounter differences such as longer or shorter runways, which affect takeoff and landing difficulty, especially in Sim mode, where realistic flight physics come into play.

How to Locate Enemy Airfields

On the tactical map, your team’s airfields are clearly marked with blue and green icons, as shown below:

These icons represent your main base and forward airstrips, where you can spawn, repair, and rearm safely.

In contrast, enemy airfields are not visible by default in Simulator Battles. They remain hidden until a player from your team flies into the grid square where the enemy airfield is located. Once scouted, the enemy runway will appear on the tactical map as a red icon, like this:

Airfield Layout Overview

In War Thunder Air Simulator Battles, an airfield is made up of four main components, each with its own function, health pool, and strategic importance. While the layout and positioning of these components may vary from map to map, they can still be visually identified once you know what to look for.

Before we go into positional recognition, let’s first understand what each component looks like and what it does. These components are also visually represented on the airfield icon on the tactical map:

Living Zone

Function: Responsible for repairing damaged sections of the airfield (like the storage area or parking zone).
Visual Cue: Appears as a group of white tents—typically clustered away from the runway or in small compound areas.

Parking Zone

Function: Repairs and maintains aircraft on the ground.
Visual Cue: Consists of aircraft hangars, often semi-circular or rectangular buildings near the runway.

Storage Area

Function: Handles rearming and refueling operations for aircraft.
Visual Cue: Identified by groups of crates, trucks, fuel barrels, and control towers, usually arranged in a rectangular formation.

Runway

Function: Allows players to spawn and respawn at the airfield.
Visual Cue: The long flat strip most visible from altitude.

Airfield Hitboxes Explained

Let’s break down how hitboxes (more accurately hurtboxes) work for airfield components in War Thunder Simulator Battles.

When we talk about hitboxes in this context, we’re referring to the targetable zones of each airfield component that can be damaged by bombs. Hitting these areas causes visual damage on the airfield and, more importantly, changes the airfield icon on the tactical map to reflect the component’s health state.

Icon Health Indicator

Each airfield component has its own health bar, represented by color-coded sections on the airfield icon. These follow a consistent progression as the component takes damage:

🟩 Green — Full health
🟨 Yellow — Light damage
🟥 Red — Heavy damage
⚫️ Black / No color — Destroyed

This icon feedback is crucial for coordinating bombing runs, especially when working with a squad

Component Health & Damage Values

The number of bombs needed to destroy a component depends on the battle rating (BR) of the match. Higher BRs often mean tougher airfields with more health.

To keep it simple, let’s use a standard reference (approx. BR 4.0) for estimating bomb effectiveness:

Component

Approx. Damage Units

Bombing Example (250 kg Napalm)

Living Zone

1 unit

8 bombs

Parking Zone

1 unit

8 bombs

Storage Area

1 unit

8 bombs

Runway

2 units

16 bombs

Bombing Tactics and Strategies

To successfully destroy enemy airfields in War Thunder Simulator Battles, planning and execution are key. Here are some essential tactics to maximize your bombing efficiency:

1. Map Out Airfields and Plan Flight Paths

Before launching your attack, study the map to identify enemy airfields and optimize your flight routes. Efficient paths help you avoid unnecessary exposure to enemy fighters and anti-aircraft fire while ensuring precision bombing runs.

2. Understand the Airfield Layout and Visual Cues

Learn the location of each airfield component relative to the runway (covered earlier).
Identify whether the airfield has AAA defenses (anti-aircraft artillery).
If AAA is present, plan to bomb from higher altitudes or further distances to minimize risk.
In lower battle ratings (around BR 5 or below), long-range or frontline bombers are ideal due to:
- Their ability to perform high-altitude bombing runs
- Capacity to carry more bombs
- Defensive armaments for self-protection

When you successfully destroy an airfield component, a popup notification will appear confirming the destruction. On the tactical map, that damaged component will change color to black or disappear, indicating it’s no longer functional.

Once all components are destroyed, the entire airfield will disappear both visually on the map and in the game world, signaling that it’s been completely neutralized.

4. Target Priority

First: Living Zone Destroying this zone stops the airfield from self-repairing damaged components. It’s critical to fully destroy the living zone in a single bombing run; otherwise, repairs will undo your progress before you can rearm and return. If your plane can’t carry enough bombs, coordinate with a wingman to strike simultaneously.
Second: Runway Damaging the runway prevents enemy players from spawning or respawning, delaying their ability to defend the airfield against further attacks.
Third: Parking Zone and Storage Area These can be targeted in any order. Destroying these zones disrupts aircraft repairs, refueling, and rearming capabilities, further crippling the enemy’s air operations.

Results of a Successful Airfield Strike

Signs of Your Success

Multiple successful bombing runs that accumulate high points will help you climb to the top of the leaderboard.
You might hear praises from teammates — or get called a “noob” by some rivals. Just remember: Haters are basically proof that you’re doing something right.
And when you really start dominating your enemies, you’ll receive nice comments (or at least fewer insults). That’s when you know you’ve officially earned your pro bomber badge in Simulator Battles.

Bonus Tips

Make the most of your flight. On your way to the airfield, you’ll often fly over AI ground targets. If your payload allows it, carry a few bombs or rockets effective against ground units, easy points while en route.
Avoid the salt? There’s a way. If you want to dodge the inevitable toxicity that comes with “you destroyed all the airfields 😡” messages: Choose a spawn and enemy airfield that are close together. Skip destroying the Living Zone, and instead take out the other components in one run. Then, lightly damage the Living Zone, just enough to trigger it but not kill it. Voilà! The airfield comes back to life… and so do your bombing runs. (You’re welcome.)
Want more Research Points fast? If Silver Lions aren’t an issue, feel free to J-out and respawn after a bombing run instead of flying all the way back to base. It’s not elegant, but it saves time, keeps your momentum up, and helps farm RP efficiently.
Know your defensive game. Practice using your defensive turrets effectively: Learn your plane’s blind spots and kill zones Bait enemies into overshooting, so they end up right in front of your heavy-caliber turrets Remember: A bomber that can fight back is way more annoying to deal with, and way more fun to fly.

🙏 Thanks for Reading!

I really appreciate you taking the time to read through this guide! If you found it helpful, feel free to leave a like, share it with others, or even drop an award on the guide or my profile, it really helps and means a lot! 💙

If you have any questions, feedback, or think something's missing, don't hesitate to leave a comment below, I’ll be happy to help or update the guide accordingly.

Thank you and see you in the skies, bomber ace! ✈️🔥

5 Comments

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Delta Hooves 21 hours ago

Additional Information 3/3:

Gunners: While they aren't 2 or more on every Bomber Aircraft, they can be useful for maintaining situational awareness, assisting in lining up on bombing runs, spotting hostile aircraft early with where they are pointed on switching to them and if required, can act as an Autopilot if you have your Air Battle Settings in Options set correctly. Useful if required but do not rely on them.

Point of Interest: I say RANGE rather than ALTITUDE. Some Altimeters settings go off Sea Level and may be misleading if not accounted for with extremely apparent results.

Note: Do not take this information as Gospel. The game has and always is subject to change and all the information stated here is learned from experience rather than any stated guides.

Delta Hooves 21 hours ago

Additional Information 2/3

Weather: Yes, clouds can and will get in your way when trying to make these runs. While they may assist in concealing you from time to time, more often than not they'll obscure the target area. Take time on the approach to look for a break in the clouds to see if there is a clear Line of Sight.

Contrails: You don't need to be detected by RADAR to be seen at high altitude. Aircraft that climb above 5km of Altitude will begin to start giving off Contrails. These can be seen from significant distance and if there are enemy players that strive to do nothing but take down Airfield Bombers, you'll be giving yourself away. Consider not only what altitude you need, but also WHEN you should reach it.

Delta Hooves 21 hours ago

Additional Information 1/3:

Airfield Appearance: As you may notice, different BR Brackets will show airfields in different configurations that may adjust where certain modules are. Bear this in mind when lining up your bomb run.

Direct/Airburst AF Defences: For those wishing to do Airfield Bombing in BR Brackets in which Airfields are defended by AA and AAA, their fire is usually accurate only out to 3km Range*, Beyond that, you should have relatively free reign with maybe a little bit of RNG and the main threat being Intercepting Fighter Patrols, AI or Human.

Missile Age/RADAR AF Defences: For those of BR Brackets where SAMs and RADAR Guided AA is in effect however, you'll find Missiles coming up at you at around approximately 5-6km Range* with the AA opening up at around 3-4km range with outstanding accuracy. High Alt Strategic or Quick Dive Bombings with a High Pullout altitude aren't just advised, they're basically required to have a chance at coming out of a bomb run alive.

^9K0T 15 Nov @ 5:34am

Rip

Dalaksiz28 17 Jul @ 1:30am

Cool Guide! Maybe I'll get back to sim again to grind Italy air.

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