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On one hand I'd say that we're making progress about as quick as I expected and we're not lagging much behind the optimistic projections. On the other, for PE users it will still take at least three more years before there's a realistic chance for a release, and there's a non-zero chance that it'll take longer. There will be at least one more major V4 release, possibly two, before we can offer a version 5 to the general public.

**updated 8/21/2023** Download latest release (v0.2.0): INSTALLER or ZIP (also requires Microsoft .NET Desktop Runtime 7 x64) + Steel Beasts Test Scenario for Calibration Are you a Fennek fiend? A Scimitar simp? Do you love driving tanks with hand-cranked turrets, but hate mashing arrow keys? Well, mash no more! It's MouseCrank, a free utility that uses your mouse input to generate arrow-key presses for manually-traversed turrets. Features Toggle on and off with a configurable keybind Runs in the background, minimizes to tray, and sleeps when not in use for next-to-zero performance impact User-configurable sensitivity and curve settings, saved between sessions Sounds to indicate toggle state Sends keys exclusively to the Steel Beasts application — no errant key presses! DPI-aware Free and open source! (https://github.com/musurca/MouseCrank) How do I use it? Install MouseCrank. (If you see a security warning, please refer to the Q&A section below.) Run MouseCrank, either from the Windows Start menu, or by directly running the .exe. (Note that MouseCrank also requires the .NET Desktop Runtime 7 x64, which you'll be prompted to install if you haven't done so already.) Set your Toggle Key (default is Caps Lock) and Toggle Volume. (I've set the Calibration settings to a decent default — I recommend not messing with them until you've tried them.) Minimize MouseCrank, then start Steel Beasts. Load a scenario featuring a tank with a hand-cranked turret, such as the Fennek, Warrior, Scimitar, or BMP-2. (Or use this calibration scenario.) Switch to the gunner's GPS, and tap your Toggle Key. If you kept the Toggle Volume up, you should hear a clicking sound. You can now traverse the turret by moving the mouse around the center of the screen, in the same way that you would traverse a powered turret. When you've aimed at your target, tap the Toggle Key again to stop using the mouse for traversal. You can alt-tab over to MouseCrank and adjust the Calibration more to your liking as you play. When you close MouseCrank, your settings will be saved for your next session. Q&A Q: What's the deal with the Microsoft Defender SmartScreen security warning that pops up when I install it? A: Dealing with paranoid warnings is one of the unfortunate realities of developing software for Windows without an expensive code-signing subscription. To bypass this warning, click "More Info..." and then the "Run Anyway" button (and if you don't see the "More Info..." option, this article will show you how to fix it). If you have security concerns, I've provided the full source code for you to audit, which I distribute through my account on GitHub using my real name. You can even build this app from scratch with Visual Studio 2022 if you don't want to use my installer. Q: Will MouseCrank give me an unfair advantage in PvP multiplayer? A: Not really. MouseCrank will not allow you to traverse a hand-cranked turret any faster than you could with the arrow keys, nor would that be possible given the hard limits of the physical simulation in Steel Beasts. It's a tool to reduce fatigue, increase enjoyment, and open up a class of hand-cranked tanks to users with accessibility issues. Q: Why won't MouseCrank work if I run Steel Beasts with admin privileges? A: MouseCrank can only send keypresses to applications with the same privilege level—so if you're running Steel Beast as an administrator, you'll also have to do the same for MouseCrank. To do this, right-click on MouseCrank.exe (in C:\Program Files (x86)\MouseCrank by default if you used the installer), go to Properties -> Compatibility, check "Run this program as an administrator," then click OK. Caveats, Fine Print, etc. This software is an unofficial add-on for Steel Beasts Pro PE and is not a product of eSim Games. Please do not ask eSim to provide support for MouseCrank. I'd like to avoid any discussion of whether mouse input for hand-cranked turrets is a Good Thing or a Bad Thing, whether or not it should be built-in, etc etc.; there's a different forum thread for that. This thread is best used for comments, suggestions, and bug reports from MouseCrank enthusiasts and the MouseCrank-curious. Beyond that, enjoy crankin'! And please let me know if you find any weird issues, or have any suggestions for additional features. (If you're a developer and would like to contribute to the project, please feel free to make a pull request via GitHub.)

2024 is still young, I got some time....so lets write down my personal wishlist of things I'd like to see in the next update(s), and give the reason why I want them. Priority from highest to lowest.... 1. Player control of rifle team weapons especially the AT Weapons ->It is a part still lacking to make SB closer to a combined arms game ->more obvious now with trenches, as an effective way to clear those is missing ->will easy A LOT of player frustation becasue of the uncontrolable and sometimes wonky behaviour of rifle team -> will make use of terrain much more interessting for players -> much more fun for the mechinf players 2. Trenches useable for Crew served weapons -> these currently need to be places "outside", wich frankly riddicules the purpose of that trench....simples 3. Ability to select firing unit or at least caliber when calling Arty fire mission -> currently when calling a FM, the "AI" picks and available firing unit of the same "class" (mortars, howitzer or MRLS) so for Mortars you have no way to select between 60mm or 120mm rounds...which might have a notable difference in the effect the FM has -> this option enable the players to put different fire support units of the same type in the game and use them sensably and not kind of "random" as it is now 4. A playble Helicopter...at least some sights and trigger -> same as with 1. // gets SB closer to a combined arms game....and enables LOTS of interessting missions and playstyles 5. Yeah, of course, if we have 4., we need acountermeasure! A playable AD vehicle -> Yeah we have the RBS70, but we need something that can manouvre with the mechanized units... Even some technical where we can stick the RBS70 to...would be a starter 6. Camoflage netting on BPs/vehicle dugouts -> UAS become a more important factor on the field, so do countermeasures vs them. some (fixed) camoflage net "garages" to hide you vehicles below would be a great addition in that sense. As part of a vehicle dugout/battle position or as simple hiding spot. 7. Lowerst prio but my pet feature: Useable ATGM(MILAN and SPIKE) of the Marder -> the old iron-pig is just not complete without it, and lack an important tactical option it would have IRL Like if you agree ;-)....or comment where I'm wrong

There'll be a patch/minor update later this year, maybe late spring. There'll be at least one major V4 upgrade, probably 2025-ish.

Wow, that didn't take long. I created a test scenario that reproduces the issue reliably (two impotent Centauros firing at each other while you sit in another vehicle somewhere else). The sound plays each time the gun fires. I have been tracking this issue down for several months, but hadn't made the connection with the Centauro (because I knew the Centauro didn't utilize that sound, so I was only looking at vehicles that did use the sound). Many thanks for that clue! It should be easy to fix now that it can be reliably reproduced. Edit/update: This should now be fixed for the next patch.

Yes!! This got me to add that point here: 6. Camoflage netting on BPs/vehicle dugouts -> UAS become a more important factor on the field, so do countermeasures vs them. some (fixed) camoflage net "garages" to hide you vehicles below would be a great addition in that sense. As part of a vehicle dugout/battle position or as simple hiding spot.

New / updated skin for the Leopard 2A4 in hungarian service:

Wow, I never noticed this post until now. I guess no-one actually PM'd me (or I missed it). Better late than never, maybe. A few things to add (although you probably figured all this out through trial and error already): a_name.wav = actor sounds, think of these a "1st person" sounds (you firing the weapon yourself). x_name.wav = exterior i_name.wav = interior e_name.wav = environmental m_name.wav = multiuse (sometimes used interior, sometimes exterior) z_name.wav = miscellaneous stuff (basically everything small and miscellaneous, but yes, mainly switches/knobs). Some sounds do not have a prefix -- these are the oldest sounds that existed before time itself. Then at some point it was figured out that the mess had to be organized, as it organically grew larger, otherwise it was nearly impossible to find anything. Just to add to what Hedgehog mentioned above... 5 intmain.wav <- the original maingun sound when fired from the interior view, this is now used only for tanks with a stub-base (aftcap) type cartridge 10 stbclnk.wav <- hydraulics engaging 11 stbuclnk.wav <- hydraulics disengaging 123 tis.wav <- thermal imager looping sound, used specifically for the M1's TIS

I always wanted to have a more gunner controller like input device. Having spend some time on the "real" simulator again over the past 2 years, I now decided it's time to something done. For the moment I have finished my POC phase and am on the way of building the first prototype. So from the Hardware side im using: torsion spring loaded mechanism that I ripped out of a sim racing steering wheel for X rotation (left right) torsion or dual spring mechanim on a shaft for Y rotation (up down) for a maybe future V2 version already sourcing parts to replace the spring mechanism DC motors, basically a constant force feedback version Android 10" tablet gyrosensor for the positioning, and touchscreen for button and keyboard inputs Not decided yet might add some real physical buttons to the handles, but would require the device to be wired On the software side: Freepie apk for Android to send gyro sensor data to the PC (the way any racing game on a mobile works, rotate device for steering, tilt for acceleration) Opentrack with freepie input and vjoy output to receive the sensor data and translate to axis movement of the vJoy virtual device SpaceDesk Server Client to convert the Android device into a secondary PC monitor Helios (mainly used in flight sim to build virtual cockpits on touch devices) to be run on the tablet and providing virtual buttons and switches. Physical buttons might be added during prototyping Joystick Gremlin to map everything together onto a single virtual HID device that is then used in SB as controller The POC testing with my phone as gyro sensor went better as expected. It feels just more natural and even without dialing in response curves fits my liking more than the joystick and/or gamepads that I have tested/used so far. Will post more progress once mor of the 3D printing is done

... and it's going on! I'm now done up to UTM-grid line 30. Here are an overview and some screens: 1. Overview: 2. Screens from North: Siegwinden: Sieglos-Eitra: Fischbach: Erdmannrode: Konrode: 3. from South: Bodes-Eitra: Mengers: Landershausen: I hope you enjoy it!

Happy 2024 everyone. Here's my wishlist! 1. chance of crew bailout when vehicle damaged, maybe as a percent based on troop quality. 2. new vehicles: T-90M, T-62M obr. 2022, T-80BVM, Merkava V, T-64BM Bulat 3. Ability to add/remove body armor from troops 4. Ability to add/remove camo nets and/or natural foliage camo to tanks. Cosmetic would be fine, but if it actually delayed AI reactions to you be cool too. 5. AI variable "burst" for autocannons. They always fire 2 shots. Would like to see 3, 4, 5 etc round bursts.

SBProPE-GefGem wishes the SB team and all SB infected people a Merry Christmas!

...again: SOME WAY TO SHOOT THE RIFLE TEAM AT WEAPONS as this is som frustrating to manouvre the team into a near perfect shot positions, and then nothing happens except that the infantry refuses to fire and the tank picking them off. tanks move to easy in forests because of that here

Wish: the ability to save IP addresses with a nickname for multiplayer sessions so you can select something like "Rev's Server" as opposed to "255.255.255.255."

New update, I finished off the north of the map.

As some players reported, T-80U and T-64B have UNLIMITED and extremely fast reload. We would very grateful if you people could fix this problem. Thank you. 466f66d4ae676a8f.mp4

I've figured out the 3d commands that were always on the bottom right of the screen. They're so cool I've put a guidish thing together. I've so far only used it so far to make my tank platoon reload and was surprised how much functionality actually is there.

Ah. Referring to party colors by one letter may not be the most reliable identifier, I'm afraid. Space constraints being the next impediment. Localization may eliminate the difference in first letter between (E)vent, (C)ondition, (T)rigger, etc. Rather, I'd like to have something more luxurious in the future (=V5), e.g. you click on any such entry and it'll pop up a window with the option to directly inspect the condition, possibly marking it for change after the end of the test mode. Or have a mouse-over to create a help bubble that describes what it is/shows the name. Or something else entirely. This will be part of our user interface redevelopment project.

I fly a lot of DCS and SRS is the norm being used there. With the help of SRS maker, I've ported SRS for Steel Beast. SRS is a radio tool that currently simulates: - Half Duplex Radio - Radio Effects - Radio Channels and Frequencies - Vehicle Intercom To be able to use SRS you will need the following: Server IP (Can be hosted by yourself/friend/community) Ideally Setup PTT Controls (See Wiki for Guidance) Please see relevant links below: SRS Downloads Page SRS Wiki Page (Tutorials)

The map is available (UID bb104aa2-be76-4587-87ed-2c4cd3bca5a9), here's reading material for inspiration: https://issuu.com/chacr_camberley/docs/wip_-_bar_special?fr=xKAE9_zU1NQ

Immersion like using these!!!

It's difficult to isolate the discussion of an ongoing war from the reasons why the war is fought; nevertheless, let this be a call to order to maintain the communication discipline as established by the forum rules of conduct. Neither Bradley nor T-90 are invincible machines. A duel between the two will have a lot of advantages on the side of the T-90. But the nature of tactical engagements incurs an element of chance as anyone who has played a number of non-trivial scenarios in Steel Beasts will have experienced first-hand. It should also be mentioned that Steel Beasts does not invoke reaction modifiers for psychological conditions (although they most certainly will play a role whenever humans are involved), just as it doesn't involve at least one other element of this engagement, armed FOV drones. Specifically, the T-90 might have easily prevailed had it been in the company of dismounted infantry or at least one or two other combat vehicles. As it was, it found itself isolated inside an urban area, which most certainly diminishes its combat value. One might argue that these are one of the few constellations when a Bradley has a survival chance at all in a duel situation (and it still took two Bradleys and an FPV to bring the T-90 into a situation where the crew decided to bail). If the video shows one thing, it is that it's not "easy" for a Bradley to defeat a T-90 (but the chance is greater than zero).

Happy New Year and welcome to 2024! I hope your 2024 is better, brighter and safer than your 2023!

I can't recall if I've asked for this previously and it may well be a "ver 5.0 thing" but .... The ability to have a scratchpad or template if you will containing regularly used routing. Complex tasks such as: 1. Mech Pl dismounting and conducting an assault with the IFV's following, then eventually remounting: 2. A Tank Tp jockeying in order to react to incoming fire or not remaining static for too long: 3. Providing traffic management to help the AI to cross numerous bridges (i.e. to ensure both are used as they become vacant): The idea being that you open you new file in the Mission Editor and these are already sitting off to one side ready to be copied and pasted, then adjusted as required. Or alternatively, the ability to copy route chains from one scenario to another. The second option maybe better as people could potentially upload sample route chains for others to borrow (copy and paste from the downloaded file) and add to their own range of pre-exisiting routes.

In any case, I hope that we'll be able to make certain parts of the AI better that will help reducing the severity of traffic jams ... in version five.

And in that spirit get a teleport ability. In a lot of the bigger scenarios i have made its always been a problem for a lot of AI units that's controlled by an opfor player to get across a bridge because a lot of AI units in a tight space just dossent work very well and as you wont give us the ability to move units with Gods hand like in the PRO version then could we have a teleport zone/Zones where we can drive them into 1 Zone and then they teleport to another zone that way we can avoid the driving into waterways fiasco or the enormous traffic jams. it would be like route move to end if MD

From Hebrew media, translated with Google, with some edits. The story of Capt. B* Z*, 23 years old from Herzliya, a tank company CO in the Kissufim sector, on the morning of October 7th. This is one of the most extraordinary stories I have heard about the fighting that day. Battles that resulted from a mistake and required bravery. Often, what starts with one, requires the other. Z* is a company CO in the 77th Battalion of the 7th Brigade, part of the forces that held the southern sector of the Gaza Strip. He was stationed in a small outpost called "Mars", on the Gaza border, with the weapons company of the 51st Battalion, Golani. "The event begins, around 6:30 in the morning. The commander above me tells me that there is a terrorist raid near Nirim and tells me to move there. That was the last time I heard from him." He is advancing, a lone tank, neither knowing nor understanding that the fence has been breached and many hundreds are rushing towards the kibbutzim. "I drive through the fields. At Ein HaShlosha I encounter the first squad of terrorists. Kill them with the MAG. Arrive in the direction of Nirim. Spot two terrorist squads there moving towards the kibbutz. Shoot them with the MAG and then run them over. At this point we receive a report of a large terrorist raid on Kissufim outpost". Z*'s tank changes direction and advances towards Kissufim, not far from the Mars outpost from which it started. "Towards the fence I encounter an ambush by two anti-tank squads. They shoot at me from two directions. I engage them at short range. Goes up a bit, identifies the source of the shooting. Kills the two squads." These are RPG launchers. "Trophy (tank protection system) dealt with two rockets, and we felt the impact of two others. No penetration." At this point, company CO Z* receives a call from one of his tanks - the one that is part of the force that protects Nirim, Nir Oz and Maggen. "He tells me that he is damaged, on the fence, and that he is surrounded by terrorists. He was hit by an anti-tank rocket that penetrated the tank. The TC with shrapnel in the neck and the loader with a serious injury. I drive to him, southwards again. His tank can't traverse because it's damaged. I meet him and tell him - follow me. On the way, we observe a massive infiltration of hundreds of terrorists. I recognize the platoon leader tank there. It is completely burnt and on fire. And we recognize two pick-up trucks heading towards the strip, and you can clearly see in them - it's a sight you can't forget - that there are people standing in the truck and they are with a lot of bodies. I try to cross the fence towards the Strip. Fire two main gun rounds in the direction of these vehicles. I don't know if I hit or not, there was a flash. At the moment I fire, I'm hit by three-four anti-tank rockets at once. Not long range, but short range. My Diesel tanks are damaged and starting to leak. Realizing I can't chase into the Strip, I pull back. At this point we are surrounded by hundreds of terrorists. I start shooting MAGs, main gun. Run over dozens. There was a gathering of eight or nine who tried to board the second tank, I killed them." It should be explained that until this stage, Z* and the other forces do not understand that this is an invasion into the State of Israel. They moved from place to place because of reports about squads; The division camp falls, key commanders are killed. He is on the move from one precedent event, which never happened (a raid by two squads on a kibbutz), to another precedent event (a raid on Kissufim) to a third event of a tank being neutralized and surrounded by Hamas. The tank's radios are damaged, and the Company CO only hears fragments of words. "Kissufim squad", "Nirim two squads", "Ein HaShlosha to arrive". They are two tanks now: one with injured crew members and in need of immediate medical attention, and unable to traverse. The second, of Z*, suffers from damaged Diesel tanks, and can no longer traverse the main gun (but can elevate and depress it). They go to Kibbutz Maggen. "That's where I hear about an encounter at the entrance to the settlement. We put the damaged tank in some kind of high dugout near Kibbutz Magen. Its MAG could still fire. I told him - 'Anything that comes in front of you, shoot it.' Then we returned. At the entrance to Maggen, near the fence, we killed a squad of four terrorists. After Maggen, I hear that there is an infiltration in the direction of Re'im. I'm going there. Near the division headquarters, my tank stopped working completely, oil and Diesel tanks were damaged." They decide to get out of the tank. "We disembark, all crew members, with MAG. We are at the Gama intersection and vehicles are passing there. I decide that we should go back to the Mars outpost, from where I left, because there is another tank standing there empty. This is the company XO tank. He is at home. I said - I will come in March, I will get on the tank and continue." At this point, Capt. Z* saw more fighting against terrorists than most of the current IDF brigade commanders. He is in the field, without actual command, without a tank, when the terrorists control the area in practice and the various settlements, and he intends to hitchhike to get on a new tank and continue fighting. "At the intersection, I have already understood the magnitude of the event. Especially given our encounter with the hundreds of terrorists. I see how deep the terrorists have penetrated, given the massacre at the Gama intersection and the massacre on the roads. We tried to find a working car from the ones they shot at. Nothing worked. A Border Police SOF vehicle is coming and they are in a fast movement towards Kissufim. I stopped them. They say they only have one empty place in the car. Now, at the Mars outpost I have two crew members waiting. I'm missing a gunner, and of course I, the tank commander." He leaves some of the crew behind since the SOF vehicle has not enough room, and enters the trunk (!) to return to fighting. "I took my gunner, he was sitting in front. I got into the trunk. We left it a little open." The SOF vehicle tries to reach an engagement in one of the settlements, so it drops the gunner and Z* not far from the Kissufim intersection. The tankers begin to walk to their outpost, while the agricultural fields are infested with terrorists on motorcycles and pick-up trucks. "When I arrive at the outpost area, I see in the agricultural fields, at distance, these trucks and dozens of terrorists on the move from Ein HaShlosha towards of the outpost. I run towards the outpost, waving my hands to them so that they don't shoot me. When I arrive, it turns out that the weapons company CO (of the 51st battalion from Golani) took the two tankers I had, took the tank, and went out to fight with them. We organize there in positions, the terrorists move to the outpost, and then we open fire by the entire outpost." They have a problem. Because of the raid in the morning, the mortars remained outside the post. Z* organizes covering fire with Negev machine guns, takes two squads out of the outpost to collect the mortars, "and then we brought them back to the outpost and started hitting with mortars." At this point, the weapons company CO and Z* communicate with each other on the radio network. They agree on a swap: the infantryman who became a tankman (from Golani) will return to his fighters and the tankman who became an infantryman (Z*) will get his tank back. Z* returns to the tank. He is currently in combat for eight hours straight and 51st battalion CO contacts him on the radio. A battle takes place inside Kibbutz Kissufim. "I spotted three bikers, I killed them. Near the Garden of the Fallen. In the perimeter fence of the kibbutz there is another squad, I kill all five. There were two who ran into the fields, I killed them too. And from that moment me and the 51st battalion CO are a duo that operates together until Monday at noon. I had more engagements. Near the Kissufim outpost two terrorists that we killed. In an open field. On Saturday night there is an engagement inside Kibbutz Kissufim, and I enter the kibbutz with the tank and fire main gun rounds into a house and kill another terrorist squad there." If you count the tanks that were damaged, starting from Saturday at noon until significant reinforcements arrived on Sunday afternoon, Z*'s tank is the only one that was combat-ready in the entire sector (19 kilometers). The clashes continue on Sunday. "We identify six terrorists near Ein HaShlosha. We killed them. Two more terrorists near Mars. On Monday there are already scans through the settlements, and then there is a big engagement in the cowsheds of Kibbutz Kissufim." He describes a situation in which a terrorist held an Israeli, a Kissufim resident, a hostage. They call the Israeli to run, he does so and the tank immediately fires a main gun round and kills the Hamas terrorist. Z* says that if you count "up to the end" of the two and a half days of fighting, "that's between 70 and 90 terrorists." I asked him what his first conclusions were from the battle, as a commander in the field. "Wherever there was a tank, we managed to prevent a massacre. I didn't manage to get to Nir Oz. I didn't get to Re'im. But wherever there was a tank, we came out better. It was so in Kerem Shalom, and also in Sufa. Not all murders were prevented, but tanks managed to stop much of the infiltration. In addition, we have a lot of confidence in this tool and in this machine. We were hit by explosive charges and RPGs as well as drones, and the tank kept going. We felt confident with the firepower. At one point we were facing hundreds of people. And one tank alone eliminated and deterred them. Every time we operated according to the doctrine, in a known battle drill, we had the upper hand. And we recovered quickly. After the second encounter, we understood." I asked him about the whole war. From his story, I noticed two points: in a day or so of combat, half of the tanks in the company were taken out of action. And that's without the use of Kornet missiles. The second point is the lack of command and control at the brigade, or divisional level, due to the surprise and the loss of prominent commanders in the sector. "True, we were surprised. But we came to our senses. I can tell you safely - our ability as an army to stand up to this thing is guaranteed. We will win the war 100%, wherever it is, in the south or in the north." In the sector they talk about Z* with sparkling eyes. You can understand why. The crew's and his determination to fight, if necessary with a damaged tank, without a tank, or with a replacement tank. Do not stop; Reach the next tank in the trunk if necessary. The 77th Battalion in the 7th Brigade has a reputation, from the days of Avigdor Kahalani and the battle in the Valley of Tears. This young company CO did not embarrass the firm.

Since Thursday 19th, the eSim Games web shop is closed. There has been a serious hardware related incident in a datacenter where, crucially, the server is hosted that issues and activates license tickets. The IT guys are working in shifts to get everything working again, and indeed the server now sends a 503 message (not available) rather than not responding at all; progress, it seems. I shall notify those who contacted me directly as soon as things are working again, and otherwise announce news here.

As usual, the topic is complex. In every war, there will be screw-ups. At the tactical level more or less on a daily basis, but arguably, if you have a learning culture you'll eventually master the tactics for any given theater. These make you lose engagements more often. Then there are operational decisions that are wrong - like, based on false assumptions about the nature and disposition of the enemy (e.g. the first battle for Fallujah during the Iraq war); these make you lose you battles. To name another example, the decision of President Johnson and his SecDef McNamara to preferentially draft low IQ soldiers to keep the public perception of the US involvement in Vietnam low. And then you have strategic mistakes that make you lose wars. Like, mistaking an anti-colonial struggle for national identity as a communist uprising (Vietnam), or believing that all people of Ukraine save for a few malcontents are basically Russians, led astray but a few misguided people, and that you have subverted your neighboring country so thoroughly and at so many levels that it's going to be a cakewalk. Or, to paraphrase an infamous Austrian with a questionable taste in moustaches, "one thorough kick at the door and the whole rotten edifice will collapse". Right now, there simply aren't enough Russian soldiers to take, and then hold occupied a fundamentally hostile country of the size of France and Germany combined. 200,000 simply aren't enough. 600,000 aren't enough when the defender is motivated and as 700,000 at his disposal. The Wehrmacht needed millions to conquer Ukraine, and to keep it occupied. So, this was an unrecoverable strategic blunder, based on flawed assumptions about the nature of the conflict. So the question is, how do we set up training. Do we prepare for the worst - a competent enemy that is highly motivated and also highly capable, or do we prepare for the optimistic scenario. It's much harder to successfully recover from going in too optimistically.

Maybe you overestimate the power of your persuation.

12 years later, I still miss an icon editor to draw units on the map

My addition for the whishlist: Holding down the hand crank keys (arrow keys) for continous cranking or turrets. Like on the M60's commander cupola or Fennek turret it takes right now more than 180 key presses of the arrow keys to turn the cupolas and turrets 180 degrees. Holding down the key would make things much easier. Edit: that would help a lot to get new players in

Upgraded the GPU from the crap GeForce 745 to a GeForce 1650. It was the best I could do without 1, overloading the Power supply unit (which I had to replace last month) and 2, not pull out a loan for a brand new PC. Once I loaded up the game and gave it an autodetect the GPU...the improvement went from about a PS2 to a PS4!!! FPS was quadrupled. No jumpy graphics. No freeze frames. No jerky turret traversing to engage targets. I feel like a new soldier. All I have to do now is update the latest version. At least now I can get back to online gaming. Some of you may say, "I don't give a #&$%". But those fellow Treadheads who have known me in the SB world knows that I have struggled a lot with the antiquated GPU. It really is a big deal. Roll on my friends!

That is only true if you had vastly unrealistic expectations to begin with. Given that the Ukrinian tank crews, to give but one example, receive a mere three weeks familiarization training with a complex weapon system like a Leopard tank, what competence level can you realistically expect? The crews will be sufficiently competent to perform typical combat tasks, but that's about it. To pull of NATO style combined arms operations you need cohesion at the unit level, a lot of practice (and then more practice) at the formation level (and all the layers between), and you need at least a not-permanently-hostile sky. Three weeks crew familiarization cannot address maintenance (we're trying to balance that by industry-run repair centers outside Ukraine), they most certainly cannot break the Russian air dominance (even if somewhat neutered thanks to a Soviet legacy air defense system that belongs to the strongest in the world), and three weeks of unit training cannot change the doctrinal mindset of the Ukrinian commanders (especially not if one key element for combined army, air, is missing). The question is not whether the systems are underperforming - they perform exactly to the level you can expect in this operational environment, given the numbers in which they have been supplied. It's not whether the crews are underperforming - they seem to largely do a good job, given the amount of training and preparation granted to them. The question is whether the press will learn to caution their reporting. My money is firmly on "No" because they have no skin in the game. Hyping expectations and then making headlines about the following "disappointment" is the core of their business. So, ultimately it is left to people like us to caution themselves when reading press reports. Every long-term Steel Beasts player knows how difficult it is to pull off seamless coordination between different armor, infantry, artillery, helicopters, expecially when the terrain is open and there's a gazillion of kilometer-deep minefields involved where breaches that do occur get closed by artillery-delivered scatter mines hours later. Since last summer you all have maps of selected parts of the theater. If you think you added enough minefields to your scenario, quadruple them. Then run your breaching operation, even if opfor is only minimally manned, but with plenty of artillery support.

In both these cases you can do this. If a "vehicle" (IFV, APC, Truck, Helo) is close enough and has spare capacity, you can: 1. Go to the 3D world. 2. Right click on the unit icon in the lower right hand corner of the 3D world. 3. Select "Load troops" and it will list the units nearby that it can take, they do not need to be the original passengers. Here the A Coy Bradley can mount the surviving Javelin team from F Coy as well as its original squad. This is not an automatic operation (which maybe what you are after) and needs to be done by a human as and when required, but it is possible.

New scenario released, happy hunting.

Just had to let you know that playing your scenarios over and over has been an awesome experience. Thank you for your creativity and attention to detail. I absolutely appreciate your work.

Ability for a player in drone to send target / obstacle to hive mind by pointing crosshair on visible part of target / obstacle ans pressing SHIFT + CTRL also wishing this to work on all other optics on all vehicles with crosshair. as way of telling AI that plaer has seen enemy. lazing generally works but its not always reliable. generally on blind vehicles occupied by player atleast with binocular pressing SHIFT + CTRL will mark targets. this currendly doesnt work or i havent found way how to get it work in a drone or auxiliary sigths.

Day 1 of our 2-day cooperative playthrough of the new Normandy DLC on TankSim.

So there is the H key I guess what we're asking for is a manual "reduce this target priority in the hive mind target list" key But that would only work with 2 or more "visible" targets to that vehicle Which brings me to Mission editor Test mode Feature Setting to show player which targets are visible to the AI Hive mind in the observer view (not the over head view) Something like a blue arrow pointing down at it? Or a drone TIS red hybrid highlight?

Now if we had a "disregard target" option so the commander could over ride the gunner when he is pumping the entire ammo load at a target he can't hit. That would be great.

FWIW, I've filed a Bugzilla entry (#11621) to allow the human Bradley commander to override the AI Gunner with launcher control.

Be nice if when the "xxx taking fire" dialog pops up we could click on the text. Then the map zooms out and the unit is highlighted in an obvious color - purple or something, until we click off of it again.

Good point, it would be nice to have a “Default Map” tag or some way you could filter maps in the pick map screen of scenario editor

New update to this one to make it less frustrating and bring it up to date for SB version 4.3

"Wolfsrudel 89" / Wolf Pack With only 9 brave participants, this battle was still very successful! It was exhausting and despite some damage we had no losses. Thanks to all participants! Special thanks to Gladiator, who confidently led the 4th Coy and his leadership of the A PzGrenPlt! Here is his video:

During track repair in game, there should be audible grunting and swearing from whoever's working on it. Should be authentic grunts and swears from the field.

We decided to no longer sell to China in general. I'm sorry if that causes disappointment. But it's got nothing to you with you personally, or the chosen form of payment (that may not be a consolation, but at least it should help you to understand the nature of the problem).

Thanks to everyone that made this session happen: @Major duck for making it, @ben and @Figmo42 for making me seem a half-decent commander and @Los and @Apocalypse 31 for creating the campaign .... and to all the rest of you who makes a session happen including by showing up !

Busy day in the "office" this morning: