Chuck_Owl

Canadian Coyote!

- Deleted -

I'm afraid I can read neither german nor russian. I was looking more for an english translation, as I can only speak English, French and Spanish.

I've been stuck on The Battle of the Tanks: Kursk 1943 for a while now. It's extremely informative, especially on the operational to strategic level of war but doesn't delve a whole lot into the tactical fight. It also talks on everything combined arms, not just tanks. Definitely will give you all of the knowledge you would ever want to know about the battle or events that led to it out to WW I. Just a bit on the dry side.

Speaking of which, are there any good german/soviet books about the battle of Kursk?

I've found a couple of books on amazon, but there is always "that 1-star review" that makes me hesitate.

DCS and BMS 4.32 are the best combat flight simulators on the market as of now. I cannot recommend them enough.

If you are into flight sims, the A-10C Warthog is a must-have. It's the most complete high-fidelity sim I have flown yet. Just take note that the Warthog is not suited for dogfights. Its role is to provide close air support to ground forces.

Thank you for your honest answers. I'm glad to see such a transparent and friendly community. 'Appreciate it. I bought "Thunder Run" and "The Heights of Courage", both seemed quite interesting.

I think I'll just be waiting for 3.0 to be released and then buy the whole package. Like I said, I'm not in a hurry and I firmly believe that I'll be getting my money's worth anyway. Meanwhile, I'll just be lurking in some dark corners of the forum See you on the battlefield!

Well I don't think the US Army sell its doctrine (not yet anyway) so that's probably why its not on Amazon.

Did you look in the forum's "download" section?

Oh my, sorry for being so blind!

Which manual is the one I should read first to grasp the basics of tank warfare? Are there any "MBT" bibles I should be aware of? Are there other alternatives on amazon and the likes?

Then this is 6 pages of good reading for you:

A Flight Simmer's Guide to Steel Beasts

by John "Spoons" Sponauer

For air combat sim pilots, at first glance there really shouldn’t be much in common between their preferred flight sim and Steel Beasts Professional (Personal Edition) or “PE” for short.

There’s no intimate maneuvers to master in an armored vehicle… no High Yo-Yo or Immelman to counter an opponents’ moves. The maximum range of a tank’s cannon is just about the distance of the close-in aerial ‘knife fight’ today; (...)

All those differences are true, but there’s also much for flight simmers to enjoy in PE, which is, in my opinion, quite easily the best tank simulator made.

Some of that enjoyment can come from employing similar tactics from your favorite flight sim into PE’s world, where they may have great relevance.

Once you move past many superficial differences, flight simmers will find much in common with their virtually armored comrades.

To illustrate that point, and teach a little about tactics, let’s combine some lessons in how to survive and succeed in PE with quotes from the classic book, Robert Shaw’s Fighter Combat: Tactics and Maneuvering (Naval Institute Press, 1985) and available here from Amazon. We’ll also pull a little from the US Army’s Field Manual 17-15 “Tank Platoon (...)”

-> http://www.simhq.com/_land2/land_062a.html

1) I don't want to sound spoiled (but I guess I will anyway ), but does 3.0 include a slight graphical improvement over previous versions, or is it simply a functional update? I know that graphics are not what a sim should be about, but... eye candy never hurts, right?

2) Are there any books you guys would recommend? I couldn't find the US Army Field Manual on amazon... I'd be looking for the battle tank equivalent to Robert Shaw's book for Fighter Aircrafts.

3) Will SB's manual differ from this version to 3.0? I intend to buy a hard copy, but I don't feel like buying an "outdated" version of the book.

You got me pretty interested there, fellas. The whole tactical aspect is something I constantly look for. I'm sold. Thanks for the intel, I appreciate a community that's alive and helpful such as this one.

Now, some people suggested I wait for version 3.0 to come out... I won't have access to a decent computer for about 2 weeks, so I'm in no rush to buy. I just want to make sure, how does the whole "buying" work? I heard of "upgrade" packs, what are those?

Will I have to spend, say, 75 $ now (with promo) and have access to all next versions of SB PE? Will I have to pay again for future updates? How frequent are these updates? I just don't feel like spending 75 now and have to constantly pay for 25 $ updates each month...

Considering I'll buy this game anyway (I'm in no rush), whether it takes a week or a month, what would yo suggest me to buy to have my money's worth? Buy SB now or wait for 3.0?

Hello everyone,

I am a combat flight simulator enthusiast and I read (by pure chance) about Steel Beasts. It seems like an interesting game, pretty detailed and authentic. I'm thinking about maybe buying PE with the sale coming up, but I think that even 75 bucks is a pretty steep price. Is it "worth it", content-wise or fidelity-wise?

Personally, I'm the type of guy that likes to read 600-pages long manuals a la DCS. I like to know how everything works, what to do in what situations... that kind of stuff.

I would like to know what you guys think about the game. Why did you buy it? Why do you play it? Is there an important online community? How detailed is the sim?

I'm not necessarily asking you to convince me to buy this sim, but I'd just want to have a clear picture of what I'd be buying and if it suits my needs.

Thanks in advance,

Chuck