Steel Armor: Blaze of War

[flyinj]

This game looks like it could be pretty incredible.

It's a 1970-1980 tank simulator by the guys who made Achtung Panzer.

It takes the dynamic grand strategic layer of Achtung Panzer with the tactical-level battles, then allows you to directly command a tank inside the battle.

The theatres are Afghanistan, Angola and the Iran/Iraq war.

It's basically a dynamic campaign tank simulator that also allows you to command all the platoons around you when you engage in a tactical battle.

Here's a trailer:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4oN22zTpIGE

More gameplay:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltkrF0IPBUQ&feature=related

The Russian version is out, the German version is out next week, and according to the developers, the English version should be out in the next month.

[Woolen Horde]

Looks kinda cool. I'd love a modern tank sim, though there's a lot more electronics to simulate.

But, man, the WWII naming generator is in full force. Steel Armor: Blaze of War!!!!!

[TheWombat]

Very intriguing. Odd choice of battles; I guess they wanted to avoid the hypothetical NATO/WP stuff and go for realism, but Afghanistan and Angola never struck me as hotbeds of armored combat. Iran-Iraq, though, should have a bunch of cool stuff.

[Brian Rubin]

Looks very cool, thanks for the tip!

[flyinj]

As an aside, I picked up Steel Fury: Kharkov 42 a few days ago. This is the WWII tank simulator this team released back in 2008. After installing a few mods, it's a pretty damn good game. The initial game ships with 3 drivable tanks, but the modding community is very active even to this day. In the latest version of their mega-mod, they've upped the tank count by at least 10, and created tons of custom campaigns.

The best WWII tank sim I've played since Panzer Elite. Definitely worth checking out if you're into tank sims.

[Marcin]

As an aside, I picked up Steel Fury: Kharkov 42 a few days ago. This is the WWII tank simulator this team released back in 2008. After installing a few mods, it's a pretty damn good game. The initial game ships with 3 drivable tanks, but the modding community is very active even to this day. In the latest version of their mega-mod, they've upped the tank count by at least 10, and created tons of custom campaigns.

The best WWII tank sim I've played since Panzer Elite. Definitely worth checking out if you're into tank sims.

I was just trying to play the demo of this yesterday! Unfortunately I only had a few minutes and it launches you right into a tank with not even a controls tutorial so not the best first impression. I need to break out the laptop on the side so I can have the readme open. Oh, and all the voice barks were in Russian with no subtitles so that didn't help me figure out what I was doing - although props for authenticity. :D

Good to hear you're liking it, I will give it another shot this weekend. What mods did you apply to it? Hmm, maybe I should take this to a dedicated SteelFury thread, there are bound to be more tanksim fans here.

Also excited about this one, but WW2 tanks are much more familiar to me in general.

[JoshV]

Coming from World of Tanks, this game looks downright gorgeus in comparison. Though it may end up being too complex, with the standard impenetrate eastern european UI design. But I may have to brave it anyway.

[flyinj]

I was just trying to play the demo of this yesterday! Unfortunately I only had a few minutes and it launches you right into a tank with not even a controls tutorial so not the best first impression. I need to break out the laptop on the side so I can have the readme open. Oh, and all the voice barks were in Russian with no subtitles so that didn't help me figure out what I was doing - although props for authenticity. :D

Good to hear you're liking it, I will give it another shot this weekend. What mods did you apply to it? Hmm, maybe I should take this to a dedicated SteelFury thread, there are bound to be more tanksim fans here.

Also excited about this one, but WW2 tanks are much more familiar to me in general.

The interface in Steel Fury is very throw-back sim.

Here are the key elements to know:

When you first start out, you'll most likely be in the gunner's position inside the tank. Press "Insert" to put your eye into the gunsight. Then press "pgup/pgdwn" to cycle between the sites.

F1 is the driver position. Use the arrow keys to steer the tank
F2 is the gunner position
F3 is the commander position (not present in all tanks, the gunner is the commander if one isn't present)
F4 is the loader (pressing insert gives you access to a coaxial MG)
F5 is the radio operator (no idea if this position has any functionality)

Another big thing are the hatches. To pop your head out of a hatch, press "P". This will open the hatch and allow you to use the mouse to look around. However, when you get into combat, press "6" to close all hatches on the tank.

Conversely, as the driver, you can use "H" to manually open the hatch and "J" to close it. This allows you to keep it partially open to see better, but still protect yourself from small arms fire.

1-6 selects different types of ammo. 1 is armor piercing, 2 is high explosive, and 3-6 are specialized rounds. "R" will order the gunner to reload.

That should get you going.

[Marcin]

This is another nifty video from that youtube collection - bird's eye view. That's quite the busy battlefield.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CFZ_UfZ5tWY&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL

Edit: and thanks for that! F keys, of course, silly me.

[flyinj]

Edit: and thanks for that! F keys, of course, silly me.

Another helpful thing to keep in mind is that you play as the commander. If you die, the mission is over. (Or, if there is no commander position, you play as the gunner).

If other people in the tank die, you can't access their stations nor can you give them shoot/move orders. You can, however, switch seats with them by pressing "CTRL-F1-F5". The screen will go black for a little while, you'll hear grunting noises, and then you'll assume that position. However, the position you vacated will no longer function.

I actually completed a mission with a dead driver and loader by switching to the driver seat, going hull down, switching to the loader and waited while an AP round was loaded, then switched back to the gunner position and fired. It was extremely stressful as each time I was climbing between positions I was getting pelted with HE rounds.

EDIT: Oh yes two other very important things: Press "backspace" to zoom your eye closer to any of the sights. And, on some tanks, the larger gunner sight has a lens cap on it. Press "G" to remove it. How much more rivet counter can you get than having lens caps on sights?

It's actually a good idea to put the lens cap back on the sight if you're not using it and taking small arms fire, because it can be shot out or shattered rendering it very difficult to use.

[belgerog]

As an aside, I picked up Steel Fury: Kharkov 42 a few days ago. This is the WWII tank simulator this team released back in 2008. After installing a few mods, it's a pretty damn good game. The initial game ships with 3 drivable tanks, but the modding community is very active even to this day. In the latest version of their mega-mod, they've upped the tank count by at least 10, and created tons of custom campaigns.

Oh great! I was having trouble finding good mods for this. Would you tell me which ones you use and where to get them?

I've only played the tutorial, but does the game have dynamic campaigns, or is it just missions?

Anyways, I'm very excited about Blaze of War because they're using that cool strategic layer from Achtung Panzer.

[Marcin]

Looks like I'll have to do more digging. I don't have a numpad on my keyboard and it looks like you can only drive with those. Still, damn impressive battlefield so I think I'll persevere. Hopefully it's something I can fix with an ini file.

[Incendiary Lemon]

The strategic layer is a killer, it solves the aged old 'canned campaign' problem.

[Marcin]

Come on flyinj, you have 2 people hanging on your every word (re mods)! :)

[flyinj]

Sorry, here is the order you want to install them in:

Unofficial Patch
SPM1.5
SPM1.5Betafix
SPM1.5 English Patch
SPM NTA 1.x (pick which one; they aren't compatible)

And here's a page with a link to several sites where you can find the files:

http://simhq.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/3021012/Steel_Fury_Kharkov_1942_The_Es.html#Post3021012

[belgerog]

Thanks a lot!

[flyinj]

This came out today on Gamersgate:

http://www.gamersgate.com/DD-SABW/steel-armor-blaze-of-war

I'm seriously as excited about this game as I was for Skyrim. After having played both Steel Fury and Operation Star for the past few weeks, I love what these guys do. Combining the dynamic strategic and tactical wargame layer of Operation Star with the tank simulation of Steel Fury could make this one of the best tank games ever created.

Plus, the settings are completely unique and fascinating.

Impressions when the download is done-

[Incendiary Lemon]

Excellent, I can't wait to hear your thoughts.

[graviteam]

A Discussion on Steel Armor: Blaze of War and Future Products
_ww.simhq.com/_land3/land_163a.html

Best Regards,
Vladimir Zayarniy
CEO Graviteam

[flyinj]

Ok, I put in two battles in the Afghanistan campaign.

Playing as the Russians, we advanced through Mujhadeen controlled poppy fields.

First of all, let me say, poppy fields don't make an ideal terrain for tanks to operate in. Tree orchards, irrigation canals, hedgerows everywhere. I could barely see anything. Made things very tense.

I started out in the strategic layer, where I had control of 2 tank platoons and 5 motorized rifle platoons. I advanced everyone to the west, and ended the turn. My advance three motorized rifle platoons got ambushed and destroyed. Unlike in Operation Star, you don't fight battles that your tank platoon isn't directly involved in. They auto-resolve. However, if a friendly platoon attacks or gets attacked in a square adjacent to you, you are brought into the battle.

I advanced further up on the next turn, and got attacked by a recon platoon. One of my motorized rifle platoons was next to me, so I had control of them in the battle as well.

When an encounter starts, it has the same setup screen as Operation Star. You can position your friendly units anywhere in the squares you control, and adjust their facing. They removed the "3D" mode from the game entirely, so you do all your planning on a 2D terrain map. Once everything is in place, you hit the "unpause" button and the encounter starts.

From this point, you can jump right into any of the tanks in the platoon you control. You can man the driver, commander, gunner and loader positions. I popped my head out of the hatch and gave and advance order to my driver, and trundled up to the first hedge row.

I then went into the tactical map, box selected my tank platoon, clicked "line formation", and right-click dragged at the edge of the hedge ordering my platoon to line up poking their noses out of the hedge. I then ordered my rifle battalion to line up along a flanking hedgerow.

My rifle platoon then spotted some RPG soldiers shacked up in a hut at the far edge of the poppy field we were looking across. I switched into my gunner position and ordered an HE shell loaded. I noticed soldiers starting to dismount from their APCs in my rifle platoon off to my left, and already they were firing into the hut.

I lined the hut up and shot. BIG recoil and smoke discharge from firing in this game! When the smoke finally cleared, I saw that I had knocked a hole in the wall of the hut, and the RPG squad was fleeing out the other side. I started firing my co-ax at them, and managed to get a few before they disappeared behind another hedgerow.

After this I did a pursue against the fleeing enemy. They eventually all got away, and a ceasefire was called. I ended up taking no losses and getting about 9 of their guys.

I then fought another battle against two infantry platoons and had a big of a harrowing time trying to get a bead on them while I was under RPG fire in an apple orchard. On the third turn of the strategic campaign, a resupply platoon and a repair platoon entered as reinforcements. I was running low on HE rounds, so it was pretty happy to have them show up. You just have them end their turn next to your platoon, and they will resupply your ammo. They can, however, be attacked, so you need to keep them safe.

So, yeah, I'm extremely impressed so far. This is an amazing merging of tactical planning and tank simulation. It's everything I thought it would be.

The main negative is the interface. The tactical planning and execution is the exact same as Operation Star, so I was able to use it right off. All the different views, scopes and control commands were very similar to Steel Fury, so I already had a handle on those as well. I can see someone who was not familiar being a bit overwhelmed when trying to start, though. It's definitely worth the effort. There are included tutorials which I didn't try, so not really sure how good they are.

[graviteam]

Ok, I put in two battles in the Afghanistan campaign.

Playing as the Russians, we advanced through Mujhadeen controlled poppy fields.

First of all, let me say, poppy fields don't make an ideal terrain for tanks to operate in. Tree orchards, irrigation canals, hedgerows everywhere. I could barely see anything. Made things very tense.

I started out in the strategic layer, where I had control of 2 tank platoons and 5 motorized rifle platoons. I advanced everyone to the west, and ended the turn. My advance three motorized rifle platoons got ambushed and destroyed. Unlike in Operation Star, you don't fight battles that your tank platoon isn't directly involved in. They auto-resolve. However, if a friendly platoon attacks or gets attacked in a square adjacent to you, you are brought into the battle.

I advanced further up on the next turn, and got attacked by a recon platoon. One of my motorized rifle platoons was next to me, so I had control of them in the battle as well.

When an encounter starts, it has the same setup screen as Operation Star. You can position your friendly units anywhere in the squares you control, and adjust their facing. They removed the "3D" mode from the game entirely, so you do all your planning on a 2D terrain map. Once everything is in place, you hit the "unpause" button and the encounter starts.

From this point, you can jump right into any of the tanks in the platoon you control. You can man the driver, commander, gunner and loader positions. I popped my head out of the hatch and gave and advance order to my driver, and trundled up to the first hedge row.

I then went into the tactical map, box selected my tank platoon, clicked "line formation", and right-click dragged at the edge of the hedge ordering my platoon to line up poking their noses out of the hedge. I then ordered my rifle battalion to line up along a flanking hedgerow.

My rifle platoon then spotted some RPG soldiers shacked up in a hut at the far edge of the poppy field we were looking across. I switched into my gunner position and ordered an HE shell loaded. I noticed soldiers starting to dismount from their APCs in my rifle platoon off to my left, and already they were firing into the hut.

I lined the hut up and shot. BIG recoil and smoke discharge from firing in this game! When the smoke finally cleared, I saw that I had knocked a hole in the wall of the hut, and the RPG squad was fleeing out the other side. I started firing my co-ax at them, and managed to get a few before they disappeared behind another hedgerow.

After this I did a pursue against the fleeing enemy. They eventually all got away, and a ceasefire was called. I ended up taking no losses and getting about 9 of their guys.

I then fought another battle against two infantry platoons and had a big of a harrowing time trying to get a bead on them while I was under RPG fire in an apple orchard. On the third turn of the strategic campaign, a resupply platoon and a repair platoon entered as reinforcements. I was running low on HE rounds, so it was pretty happy to have them show up. You just have them end their turn next to your platoon, and they will resupply your ammo. They can, however, be attacked, so you need to keep them safe.

So, yeah, I'm extremely impressed so far. This is an amazing merging of tactical planning and tank simulation. It's everything I thought it would be.

The main negative is the interface. The tactical planning and execution is the exact same as Operation Star, so I was able to use it right off. All the different views, scopes and control commands were very similar to Steel Fury, so I already had a handle on those as well. I can see someone who was not familiar being a bit overwhelmed when trying to start, though. It's definitely worth the effort. There are included tutorials which I didn't try, so not really sure how good they are.


Any war can not be planned.


Best Regards,
Vladimir Zayarniy

[Aeon221]

Any war can not be planned.


Best Regards,
Vladimir Zayarniy

In that case, use dice instead of paying for wargames.

[flyinj]

Any war can not be planned.


Best Regards,
Vladimir Zayarniy

What?

[graviteam]

In that case, use dice instead of paying for wargames.

may be...

Best Regards,
Vladimir Zayarniy

P.S.
My Photo - Afghanistah 1988

[graviteam]

What?

I'm sorry. I can not add your own photos from Afghanistan.

Best Regards,
Vladimir

p.s. may be later...

[flyinj]

I'm sorry. I can not add your own photos from Afghanistan.

Best Regards,
Vladimir

p.s. may be later...

I meant, what did you mean by quoting my impressions with the response "Any war can not be planned"?

[schurem]

Interesting read, thanks for the repost mr Zayarniy. Looking forward to getting the game and making time to play and learn it.

[Aeon221]

Well I sure enjoyed that, uh, conversation!

[flyinj]

Interesting read, thanks for the repost mr Zayarniy. Looking forward to getting the game and making time to play and learn it.

Repost? What is going on in this thread.

[schurem]

In that case, use dice instead of paying for wargames.

aeon ffs take your attitude somewhere else instead of trying to piss off newcomers with it.

[JoshV]

Folks, I suggest cutting 'graviteam' some slack, he looks to be a developer on the game, and english doesn't appear to be his first language.

Anyway, Flyingj, that sounded really cool. You're definitely selling me on it. Is there a demo?

[schurem]

its a repost of an article on another side yes? god we're having serious communication issues in this thread tonight.

anyway, i was welcoming mr Zayarni to our board.

i think what was meant by the remark about planning is that uncertainty is a big factor in war and he proudly pointed out how this played out in your AAR.

[flyinj]

its a repost of an article on another side yes? god we're having serious communication issues in this thread tonight.

anyway, i was welcoming mr Zayarni to our board.

i think what was meant by the remark about planning is that uncertainty is a big factor in war and he proudly pointed out how this played out in your AAR.

Oh the SimHQ interview. Ok, got it. Hah.

And yeah, I love that they put in a slice of what the Soviet experience in Afghanistan was. It's absurd to watch these advanced pieces of military hardware that were designed to fight in the fields of Germany try to negotiate a soggy poppy field plantation. It's extremely difficult and tense. I can't wait to try the more conventional Iran/Iraq war operations.

[Aeon221]

So I'm guessing he was trying to link something? I would not mind reading that.

http://images.wikia.com/hitchhikers/images/0/01/Babel_Fish_diagram.jpg

And come on, the whole joy of a war game is planning shit, I'm allowed some light snark!

[Aeon221]

http://www.simhq.com/_land3/land_119b.html

There's a youtube video linked in there of tanks firing and such, not sure if they actually get hit or explode or anything. Also trees falling over when tanks ram them, which is apparently de rigueur for games of this sort these days.

[graviteam]

I meant, what did you mean by quoting my impressions with the response "Any war can not be planned"?

I have real combat experience fighting mode of action in Afghanistan

Best Regards,
Vladimir

[flyinj]

Vladimir, is there a way to un-pause the game when playing in the tank? "Enter" doesn't work. I have to go back into the tactical map, unpause, then go back into the tank.

[Marcin]

This sounds excellent, but daunting - especially the tactical overlay part that I never got a handle on in Achtung. I think I'll keep messing with the Kharkov demo for a while and see if I can get a handle on it; this just might a little too much for me.

I think he meant "No war can be planned." I had a hard time with "any" and "no(ne)" when learning English.

[flyinj]

I just played a battle in one of the Iran/Iraq scenarios. It was much more dense with units on the strategic map. There were two platoons that were comprised of M60 tanks, as well as several infantry and mechanized supports.

Both M60 platoons were marked green, which meant you could control either of them directly in a tactical battle.

So, it seems that any T62 or M60 platoons that are engaged on the strategic map can be controlled directly from the player.

[Fishbreath]

This sounds excellent, but daunting - especially the tactical overlay part that I never got a handle on in Achtung. I think I'll keep messing with the Kharkov demo for a while and see if I can get a handle on it; this just might a little too much for me.

I think he meant "No war can be planned." I had a hard time with "any" and "no(ne)" when learning English.

Particularly coming from (presumably) Ukrainian or Russian. I had a hard time getting the analogues down in the latter.

This is looking more like a buy for me the more I hear about it. Maybe in the first few months of the New Year. Between finally getting to Airborne Assault: Conquest of the Aegean, Rise of Flight, and DiRT 3, I don't think I can afford to put much more into my backlog right now.

[Marcin]

I just played a battle in one of the Iran/Iraq scenarios. It was much more dense with units on the strategic map. There were two platoons that were comprised of M60 tanks, as well as several infantry and mechanized supports.

Both M60 platoons were marked green, which meant you could control either of them directly in a tactical battle.

So, it seems that any T62 or M60 platoons that are engaged on the strategic map can be controlled directly from the player.

Pics! :) Come to think of it I'd love an AAR, if you can spare the time. You obviously know and dig both genres (tactical + tank sim) and it's always great to read those from pros. :)


Particularly coming from (presumably) Ukrainian or Russian. I had a hard time getting the analogues down in the latter.

Polish, here. Same deal - I think it's something to do with the way double negatives work in English. Maybe. Been a while.

[Fishbreath]

I went ahead and bought this on the strength of flyinj's recommendation. So far I'm finding it plenty enjoyable, although there are a few things I wish were clearer: is there a way to order the gunner to engage with the coaxial machine gun, or to target specific groups of infantry with the main gun? Platoon movement seems a bit tough, too, in that tanks seem to want to keep formation too rigidly.

It does seem like the T-62 commander doesn't have a great deal to do unless there are other tanks around to call out target-wise, but I guess that's why there are other positions.

[flyinj]

I went ahead and bought this on the strength of flyinj's recommendation. So far I'm finding it plenty enjoyable, although there are a few things I wish were clearer: is there a way to order the gunner to engage with the coaxial machine gun, or to target specific groups of infantry with the main gun? Platoon movement seems a bit tough, too, in that tanks seem to want to keep formation too rigidly.

It does seem like the T-62 commander doesn't have a great deal to do unless there are other tanks around to call out target-wise, but I guess that's why there are other positions.

There isn't a way to tell a unit what type of gun/ammo to use, unfortunately. This carries over from Operation Star as well. You can, however, use the "preferred targets" button and drag a box over the infantry you want them to engage. They usually do a pretty good job of using both co-ax and HE rounds on their own.

Often times I will just give my platoon a hold fire order and engage the infantry by myself if I'm not under threat. This saves a lot of HE rounds that the rest of the tanks will be blowing off willy-nilly at the infantry. It's good to conserve ammo for later battles.

Also, there are several ways of controlling the formation. There is line formation and column formation, 3 spacing buttons, and 3 or 4 row specifications. You access all of this by clicking on the little up arrow on the upper right corner of the movement orders panel on the map screen.

Remember to right-click drag to indicate a facing for the formation move order as well.

[Fishbreath]

Is there any way to do the preferred target box from outside the tactical map? I like motoring around in my tank, even if it's not the most efficient way of doing things. :P

[flyinj]

Is there any way to do the preferred target box from outside the tactical map? I like motoring around in my tank, even if it's not the most efficient way of doing things. :P

I don't think you can, unfortunately. I've found that friendly AI does a pretty good job of hitting high-priority targets on their own, though.

[flyinj]

I just gave the Angola operation a try. Whew! These campaigns are definitely in order of difficulty. Angola is open desert with a few oasis and small huts scattered around. And you're engaging tons of enemy armor.

I just had a night fight in that campaign, and my god was it intense. There were about 10 tanks on each side slugging it out with intense tracer fire and explosions everywhere.

The non-infrared sights were pretty much useless at night in previous campaigns, but I actually had to turn mine off this time because the entire battlefield was just buzzing with dynamic lights everywhere from all the fighting.

Another awesome feature I found is that after a tactical battle hit the "summary" button. This puts you in a free form flying camera that you can move all over the battlefield and inspect the damage on every unit. It shows the vectors of the hit on the hull, what unit and shell type impacted, and whether it bounced off, penetrated or penetrated and damaged a system. Great stuff.

[Fishbreath]

I just gave the Angola operation a try. Whew! These campaigns are definitely in order of difficulty. Angola is open desert with a few oasis and small huts scattered around. And you're engaging tons of enemy armor.

I just had a night fight in that campaign, and my god was it intense. There were about 10 tanks on each side slugging it out with intense tracer fire and explosions everywhere.

The non-infrared sights were pretty much useless at night in previous campaigns, but I actually had to turn mine off this time because the entire battlefield was just buzzing with dynamic lights everywhere from all the fighting.

Another awesome feature I found is that after a tactical battle hit the "summary" button. This puts you in a free form flying camera that you can move all over the battlefield and inspect the damage on every unit. It shows the vectors of the hit on the hull, what unit and shell type impacted, and whether it bounced off, penetrated or penetrated and damaged a system. Great stuff.

Yeah, I saw the statistics/summary screen after one of my forays into Afghanistan and thought it very cool. I'm not presently in a position to win it; it seems like I have much better luck when I'm leading a battle in person than when I'm not, although that might just be the presence of nearly-invincible armor (compared to the things on the field).

You mentioned a way to move between crew stations in Steel Fury further up the thread. Did that feature make it forward into this one? When I'm commanding, I keep my tank buttoned up tight, but if I switch to the gun, the AI commander will let the loader pop open the hatch, where he promptly gets killed. It'd be nice to be able to put the commander in the loader's spot and command from the gun.

[sharaleo]

$15 on GamersGate at the moment:

http://www.gamersgate.com/DD-SABW/steel-armor-blaze-of-war