The LeO 451 is a French medium bomber, developed in the mid 1930s as part of a plan to increase the numbers of strategic bombers within the ranks of the newly formed Armée de l'air. Although showing favorable performance during the Invasion of France in 1940, insufficient numbers meant that the aircraft couldn’t be used to its full potential. Nonetheless, the LeO 451 saw action throughout WW2 and continued to be used up until the late 1950s. Now that the LeO 451 has found its way to War Thunder as well, let’s take a closer look at what this very capable little French bomber has to offer.

Development of the LeO 451 began in the early 1930s, after the newly formed Armée de l'air issued the so called Plan I, intended to increase the number of modern military aircraft available to the French Air Force. As part of this plan, the young Air Force was keen on expanding and developing their strategic bombing branch. However, as the already available bombers, such as the Farman F.221, were considered unsuitable for the needs of the Air Force, a set of specifications was issued for the development of a brand new bomber. Among other aircraft manufacturers, Lioré et Olivier (which would be nationalized as part of SNCASE) also submitted their LeO 45 design. Being a long-time supplier to the French Air Force, Lioré et Olivier had a reputation of building reliable and effective bombers dating back to WW1. Thanks to this, the further development of the LeO 45 was approved. The first prototype (LeO 45-01), powered by a pair of Hispano-Suiza engines, took flight on 16 January 1937. Despite showing some minor issues, the LeO 45 prototype displayed excellent performance. A second prototype, equipped with a pair of Gnome-Rhone engines was also constructed and subsequently designated LeO 451-01. Testing of the 451 prototype began in October 1938.





All in all, the LeO 451 is a more than capable bomber, surprisingly effective in both offense and defense. Whilst its small size might make the enemy underestimate its capabilities at first, at the very latest when the 20mm dorsal cannon starts firing back and the pilot pulls unexpected tight turns in an effort to shake the pursuer off, they will realize how wrong they actually were. These qualities combined make the LeO 451 not only a very valuable asset to any team in air battles, but also provide for some great fun for the players piloting it. Tried the LeO out yourself, or have you already fallen victim to it? What are your experiences with the LeO 451 so far? Feel free to share them with other players in the comments below. Until next time pilots!

For more information, read the full Dev Blog article on the Official War Thunder Forums!

The LeO 451 is a French medium bomber, developed in the mid 1930s as part of a plan to increase the numbers of strategic bombers within the ranks of the newly formed Armée de l'air. Although showing favorable performance during the Invasion of France in 1940, insufficient numbers meant that the aircraft couldn’t be used to its full potential. Nonetheless, the LeO 451 saw action throughout WW2 and continued to be used up until the late 1950s. Now that the LeO 451 has found its way to War Thunder as well, let’s take a closer look at what this very capable little French bomber has to offer.

Development of the LeO 451 began in the early 1930s, after the newly formed Armée de l'air issued the so called Plan I, intended to increase the number of modern military aircraft available to the French Air Force. As part of this plan, the young Air Force was keen on expanding and developing their strategic bombing branch. However, as the already available bombers, such as the Farman F.221, were considered unsuitable for the needs of the Air Force, a set of specifications was issued for the development of a brand new bomber. Among other aircraft manufacturers, Lioré et Olivier (which would be nationalized as part of SNCASE) also submitted their LeO 45 design. Being a long-time supplier to the French Air Force, Lioré et Olivier had a reputation of building reliable and effective bombers dating back to WW1. Thanks to this, the further development of the LeO 45 was approved. The first prototype (LeO 45-01), powered by a pair of Hispano-Suiza engines, took flight on 16 January 1937. Despite showing some minor issues, the LeO 45 prototype displayed excellent performance. A second prototype, equipped with a pair of Gnome-Rhone engines was also constructed and subsequently designated LeO 451-01. Testing of the 451 prototype began in October 1938.





All in all, the LeO 451 is a more than capable bomber, surprisingly effective in both offense and defense. Whilst its small size might make the enemy underestimate its capabilities at first, at the very latest when the 20mm dorsal cannon starts firing back and the pilot pulls unexpected tight turns in an effort to shake the pursuer off, they will realize how wrong they actually were. These qualities combined make the LeO 451 not only a very valuable asset to any team in air battles, but also provide for some great fun for the players piloting it. Tried the LeO out yourself, or have you already fallen victim to it? What are your experiences with the LeO 451 so far? Feel free to share them with other players in the comments below. Until next time pilots!

For more information, read the full Dev Blog article on the Official War Thunder Forums!

As Thanksgiving rolls it's way in, log in and celebrate with our server-wide, Energy of Thanksgiving Buff, which will be available from now until December 12th.

Energy of Thanksgiving Buff Details:

• Increase all Attributes by 30
  
  
• Increase Experience Points by 30%
  
• Increase Physical/Chi Kung Success Rate by 500

As Thanksgiving rolls it's way in, log in and celebrate with our server-wide, Energy of Thanksgiving Buff, which will be available from now until December 12th.

Energy of Thanksgiving Buff Details:

• Increase all Attributes by 30
  
  
• Increase Experience Points by 30%
  
• Increase Physical/Chi Kung Success Rate by 500

It's been a long time in the waiting though development on the imminent major content update is going swimmingly (pun intended) and is soon to release.
The main new features include:

• 6 difficulty settings
  
• 7 power-ups
  
• 7 new singleplayer game modes
  
• a new creature
  
• and many more new and welcome changes

The only thing left for me to do is to compose new music for each of the new game modes (I'll try to keep your ears from bleeding).

Regrettably due to technical issues the following previously announced features will not be implemented:

• Steam achievements
  
• Steam leaderboards
  
• local multiplayer game modes (versus and co-op)

I deeply apologise for this, as I had full intention of incorporating these features but underestimated the complexities involved, as well as deeming them somewhat unnecessary. Hopefully the extensive new content and changes will make amends.

Looking forward to finally releasing the update. :)

Lunacy Interactive

It's been a long time in the waiting though development on the imminent major content update is going swimmingly (pun intended) and is soon to release.
The main new features include:

• 6 difficulty settings
  
• 7 power-ups
  
• 7 new singleplayer game modes
  
• a new creature
  
• and many more new and welcome changes

The only thing left for me to do is to compose new music for each of the new game modes (I'll try to keep your ears from bleeding).

Regrettably due to technical issues the following previously announced features will not be implemented:

• Steam achievements
  
• Steam leaderboards
  
• local multiplayer game modes (versus and co-op)

I deeply apologise for this, as I had full intention of incorporating these features but underestimated the complexities involved, as well as deeming them somewhat unnecessary. Hopefully the extensive new content and changes will make amends.

Looking forward to finally releasing the update. :)

Lunacy Interactive

Sorry for the wait on this one guys, I've been rather busy working away on new features and fixes. I'm hoping to wrap up adding new features and content by the end of the year so I can focus on bug fixing and improving performance, before sliding into a full release. Thank you to everyone who's purchased this far for all your support! Check out the full change log below:

• NEW METHOD OF ESCAPE: You can now buy your way off the island, I won't give away too many details on how this is done, and it's somewhat placeholder for now, but functional. Let me know how it works for you guys :)
  
  
• NEW FEATURE: You can now sell items in the gun store. Most weapons will require a certain condition, and ammo count in the magazine to be accepted for sale. I'll need some extensive testing on this, so please buy and sell as much as you can at the gun store to test it. This feature to follow soon for the general store as well. Currently items sell and buy for the same price, how charitable!
  
  
• Reduced vertical recoil for most firearms by about a third. Horizontal kick is the same.
  
  
• Reworked the sniper AI, now they take more aimed deliberate shots instead of just dumping off rounds as fast as they can. They also will zero in on you much quicker if you don't keep their heads down with suppressing fire.
  
  
• Worked a bit more on Operation Freetown.
  
  
• Added more scenes and points of interest into the world, particularly on the first island, to help with getting people into the action right away.
  
  
• Added a sound effect for acquiring diamonds.
  
  
• By request, I inceased the blood splatter sizes caused by bullets by about 20-45%.
  
  
• Increased the SKS magazine size from 10 + 1 to a flat 20. Like the real SKS with a tapco magazine, you can have 20 rounds, but dropping the mag is impossible with the bolt closed, making an extra round in the chamber impossible.
  
  
• Made it more obvious that banana trees can be harvested for bananas, as well as put more of them around the first island. I also put a little hint in the form of a note to hopefully point new players to this mechanic.
  
  
• Fixed various typo's and small issues in UI elements.
  
  
• Increased the SKS shell ejection force to about 3x it's old strength, and made the ejection straight up and about 20 degrees forward, like the real gun.
  
  
• Fixed a handful of small programming errors and minor issues.

Sorry for the wait on this one guys, I've been rather busy working away on new features and fixes. I'm hoping to wrap up adding new features and content by the end of the year so I can focus on bug fixing and improving performance, before sliding into a full release. Thank you to everyone who's purchased this far for all your support! Check out the full change log below:

• NEW METHOD OF ESCAPE: You can now buy your way off the island, I won't give away too many details on how this is done, and it's somewhat placeholder for now, but functional. Let me know how it works for you guys :)
  
  
• NEW FEATURE: You can now sell items in the gun store. Most weapons will require a certain condition, and ammo count in the magazine to be accepted for sale. I'll need some extensive testing on this, so please buy and sell as much as you can at the gun store to test it. This feature to follow soon for the general store as well. Currently items sell and buy for the same price, how charitable!
  
  
• Reduced vertical recoil for most firearms by about a third. Horizontal kick is the same.
  
  
• Reworked the sniper AI, now they take more aimed deliberate shots instead of just dumping off rounds as fast as they can. They also will zero in on you much quicker if you don't keep their heads down with suppressing fire.
  
  
• Worked a bit more on Operation Freetown.
  
  
• Added more scenes and points of interest into the world, particularly on the first island, to help with getting people into the action right away.
  
  
• Added a sound effect for acquiring diamonds.
  
  
• By request, I inceased the blood splatter sizes caused by bullets by about 20-45%.
  
  
• Increased the SKS magazine size from 10 + 1 to a flat 20. Like the real SKS with a tapco magazine, you can have 20 rounds, but dropping the mag is impossible with the bolt closed, making an extra round in the chamber impossible.
  
  
• Made it more obvious that banana trees can be harvested for bananas, as well as put more of them around the first island. I also put a little hint in the form of a note to hopefully point new players to this mechanic.
  
  
• Fixed various typo's and small issues in UI elements.
  
  
• Increased the SKS shell ejection force to about 3x it's old strength, and made the ejection straight up and about 20 degrees forward, like the real gun.
  
  
• Fixed a handful of small programming errors and minor issues.

We are excited to announce that the full game of Cosmonator is now available to the public in Early Access!

Please enjoy the game and prepare for a really tough journey! Any feedback would be greatly appreciated and the steam forums can be used for this purpose.

We are excited to announce that the full game of Cosmonator is now available to the public in Early Access!

Please enjoy the game and prepare for a really tough journey! Any feedback would be greatly appreciated and the steam forums can be used for this purpose.