By Javier Rollon · March 25, 2026
There's something about military simulation games that keeps pulling me back. After spending over a decade building aircraft for X-Plane — modeling cockpit gauges, tweaking flight dynamics, losing sleep over how a turboprop behaves in crosswind — I've developed a deep appreciation for sims that get the details right. Not just pretty graphics, but the kind of obsessive accuracy that makes you forget you're sitting at a desk.
Here are the military sims I think every enthusiast should try. Some I've played for hundreds of hours. Others influenced how I approach my own work as a developer.
We live in an era of battle royale games and quick dopamine hits. So why do people still spend 45 minutes on a startup checklist before takeoff? Because there's a different kind of satisfaction in mastering a complex system. It's the same reason someone learns to fly a real Cessna — the reward is proportional to the effort.
Military sims sit at the intersection of gaming, history, and engineering. The best ones don't just entertain — they teach you something about the machines and the people who operated them. That's what drew me to this world in the first place. When I started building the CRJ-200 for X-Plane, I wasn't just coding. I was learning how real pilots manage fuel burn on a transatlantic hop. That kind of deep knowledge transfer is what separates simulation from gaming.
DCS World remains the gold standard for combat flight simulation. The module system means each aircraft — from the A-10C Warthog to the F-16C Viper — gets a dedicated development team that models every switch, every system, every weapon. I've used DCS as a reference when working on my own A-10 Thunderbolt model. The fidelity is staggering.
IL-2 Sturmovik: Great Battles covers the World War II era with a focus on the Eastern Front. It nails the feel of piston-engine fighters — the torque, the engine management, the way a Bf 109 handles differently from a La-5. If you're into WW2 aviation, this is non-negotiable.
And of course, X-Plane — my home platform. While not strictly a combat sim, the flight model is arguably the most physically accurate available. I've been developing aircraft for X-Plane since 2010, and the platform's blade-element theory approach to aerodynamics means every aircraft behaves uniquely. You don't just change a drag coefficient — you model individual wing sections.
This is where military sim gaming gets really interesting — and really niche. While flight sims have DCS and IL-2 competing for your attention, submarine simulation has one undisputed king.
Silent Hunter III came out in 2005 and it's still the benchmark. Developed by Ubisoft Romania, it put you in command of a Type VII U-boat during the Battle of the Atlantic. The attention to detail was remarkable for its time — realistic torpedo physics, a dynamic campaign where convoy routes shifted based on your success, crew management that actually mattered. Twenty years later, the community is still active, still modding, still running patrols in the North Atlantic. You can check the Silent Hunter III community updates to see what's happening — it's genuinely impressive how a 2005 game maintains this level of dedication.
What I admire most about Silent Hunter III from a developer's perspective is the simulation depth. Modeling a submarine is fundamentally different from modeling an aircraft. You're dealing with buoyancy, water pressure, sonar propagation, torpedo ballistics — physics domains that most game engines don't even consider. The SH3 team built custom systems for all of this. As someone who spent months getting the Space Shuttle re-entry physics right in X-Plane, I have immense respect for that kind of engineering commitment.
Cold Waters is the modern alternative — nuclear submarines during a hypothetical NATO-Soviet conflict. Less simulation depth than SH3 but more accessible, and the tactical gameplay loop is addictive.
Arma 3 blurs the line between simulator and tactical shooter. The combined-arms gameplay — infantry, armor, air assets, artillery — creates emergent scenarios that no scripted campaign can match. I've seen squad leaders call in my helicopter for a dustoff while under mortar fire, and the tension is absolutely real even though nobody's actually in danger.
Steel Beasts Pro PE is the serious end of ground combat simulation. Originally developed for military training, the civilian version offers the most detailed tank simulation available. If you thought startup procedures in DCS were complex, try operating an M1A2 Abrams in Steel Beasts. It makes flight sims feel casual.
VR is changing everything. I've flown my own CRJ-200 in VR and the difference is night and day — depth perception during landing, the ability to look around the cockpit naturally, the physical sense of speed. Military sims are perfectly positioned for VR because immersion is already the core value proposition.
The other trend I'm watching is community-driven development. The modding scenes around Silent Hunter III, DCS, and Arma have produced content that rivals or exceeds official releases. In X-Plane, third-party developers like us at JRollon Planes are essentially the backbone of the aircraft library. This model works because simulation fans are often technically skilled people — engineers, pilots, programmers — who can contribute meaningfully to the products they love.
If you haven't explored military simulation gaming, start with whichever domain interests you most. Fly the A-10 in DCS. Command a U-boat in Silent Hunter III. Lead a squad in Arma. The learning curve is steep, but that's exactly the point. These aren't games you play — they're systems you learn to operate. And that distinction makes all the difference.
Javier Rollon is the developer behind JRollon Planes, creating aircraft add-ons for X-Plane since 2010. His portfolio includes the CRJ-200, Jetstream 32, Space Shuttle, SR-71, and over 20 other aircraft models. Follow his work on Twitter.