Tank Crew - Clash at Prokhorovka is Officially Released and Available on Steam

[II./JG77_Manu*]

On 2/12/2021 at 6:42 PM, SCG_Neun said:

I could be wrong, but I don't think we are going to see infantry in mass numbers, but perhaps in module form, with say a cluster grouping, 4 to 5 soldiers in a prearranged pose position.  Maybe a handheld anti tank weapon here and there in the group.  I'd like to see some modules which would have entrenched positions, with just the upper part of the soldiers exposed to simulate something in the ground, instead of always on top of it.  Funny thing about war, positions like to find some damn cover and that usually meant digging in.  I know the game doesn't support digging in, but maybe they can do a workaround.  I would have liked to have seen something like this for some AT weapons and mg positions as well.

 

Thing is that you would need that in order to create realistic / simulation gameplay for tanks. 

In real life the biggest threat to heavy tanks such as the Tiger or the KVs (not necessarily to a total kill, but to incapacitating) were not other tanks, but anti-tank guns, infantry with anti-tank weapons such as Panzerfaust and tank mines (being put down by infantry). In addition, the main task of tanks was helping infantry (actual people) to advance and secure forward positions. Most of the times a tank carried more HE then AP ammunition, because that was the ammunition needed most of the times. 

 

Currently the Tank Crew is not a simulator, but a glorified Tank vs. Tank arena shooter, just as War Thunder with slightly higher fidelity models. Load AP, search for other tanks, shoot, kill.

For a proper tank simulation involving most aspects of real "tanking", Hell let Loose and especially Post Scriptum just provide a way better / more realistic environment. And all of that, being only one module of a game that is much cheaper then Tank Crew.

I'd like to use these high fidelity tanks, especially the interiors look really nice. But in terms of gameplay, I absolutely see no point right now. 

[SCG_Neun]

I assure you with the pak35, pak38, pak 40 in addition to the zis2 and 3, there is plenty of danger posed by hidden AT positions to offset the lack of handheld AT.  You just have to have a mission where these things are properly placed.  I agree totally that these other additions will really add to the game, but I disagree that you can not have a fairly immersive simulation with the absence of them.  I have for instance missions when AT is triggered into place in wood lines, or farmhouses, in towns etc....which can simulate well hidden AT for advancing tanks to face off and destroy or be destroyed.  In addition, the katyusha rockets do a great job of not only simulating rocket attacks but I use them as modified mortar attacks for both Axis and Allies alike.   In our missions, if you make it through artillery and all the AT positions....sometimes over 50 or so, and the armored cars, machine guns..hammering away, you might face off against some tanks.  But I would say that in our missions we lose more tanks to AT than we do to other tanks.

 

You have to work at making TC a simulation a bit and create workarounds to help add to the immersion and historical accuracy of the time in question.  For instance, I use the pak 35 to simulate a Russian AT which predates the zis2 which is just too powerful for early 1941.  It works well in our 1941 type missions.   I have recently used a workaround smoke effect for use to assist our ground attacks.   

 

I haven't played the Hell Let Loose game, but I do really like PS for an all around battle simulation.  But for tanks, I always come back to TC.  Not for single player, nor 24/7 open servers, but for closed server specially designed missions. I realize it's a small niche, but to say TC can't cut it is missing so much of it's potential.  Get a few of your friends together and I will open our server and put up a mission just for you..and you tell me how easy it was.  It will only be against AI...and you see if it's like War Thunder.

 

We have real tanker experience within SCG and have been simulating combat for many years in many different sims, so when I tell you Simulated Combat Group enjoys the heck out of TC it's the real deal.  Can it be better?  You bet.  Do other sims have some better strengths in some areas?  Of course. But my take is you are assessing this game, without having actually experienced it yet in it's truer form.  

 

Do you actually own Tank Crew or are you just playing the free tanks?

Edited February 15, 2021 by SCG_Neun

[SCG_Neun]

On 2/13/2021 at 9:20 AM, LachenKrieg said:

That would mean that the addition of infantry would be more like a static element you add to the mission mostly for appearance. Like the current artillery/AAA assets, they would remain in a stationary position? While I see your point, and it could be the most likely scenario based on what is currently available in the ME, I am hoping that it goes beyond that, and that infantry units placed in a mission would at least be able to follow a way-point. 

I've got my fingers crossed on this as well.  

[II./JG77_Manu*]

16 hours ago, SCG_Neun said:

I assure you with the pak35, pak38, pak 40 in addition to the zis2 and 3, there is plenty of danger posed by hidden AT positions to offset the lack of handheld AT.  You just have to have a mission where these things are properly placed.  I agree totally that these other additions will really add to the game, but I disagree that you can not have a fairly immersive simulation with the absence of them.  I have for instance missions when AT is triggered into place in wood lines, or farmhouses, in towns etc....which can simulate well hidden AT for advancing tanks to face off and destroy or be destroyed.  In addition, the katyusha rockets do a great job of not only simulating rocket attacks but I use them as modified mortar attacks for both Axis and Allies alike.   In our missions, if you make it through artillery and all the AT positions....sometimes over 50 or so, and the armored cars, machine guns..hammering away, you might face off against some tanks.  But I would say that in our missions we lose more tanks to AT than we do to other tanks.

 

You have to work at making TC a simulation a bit and create workarounds to help add to the immersion and historical accuracy of the time in question.  For instance, I use the pak 35 to simulate a Russian AT which predates the zis2 which is just too powerful for early 1941.  It works well in our 1941 type missions.   I have recently used a workaround smoke effect for use to assist our ground attacks.   

 

I haven't played the Hell Let Loose game, but I do really like PS for an all around battle simulation.  But for tanks, I always come back to TC.  Not for single player, nor 24/7 open servers, but for closed server specially designed missions. I realize it's a small niche, but to say TC can't cut it is missing so much of it's potential.  Get a few of your friends together and I will open our server and put up a mission just for you..and you tell me how easy it was.  It will only be against AI...and you see if it's like War Thunder.

 

We have real tanker experience within SCG and have been simulating combat for many years in many different sims, so when I tell you Simulated Combat Group enjoys the heck out of TC it's the real deal.  Can it be better?  You bet.  Do other sims have some better strengths in some areas?  Of course. But my take is you are assessing this game, without having actually experienced it yet in it's truer form.  

 

Do you actually own Tank Crew or are you just playing the free tanks?

 

Glad to hear this. So far I have not seen something like the mission you described. I was mainly relating to the scripted campaigns, and more so, to multiplayer, since that is what I enjoy the most usually. And multiplayer is pretty much the "Tank vs Tank Arena shooter" I was mentioning before. 

Thing is, I would have never known about that, if you would not have told me. There is no advertising for this kind of gameplay so to say. To get this gameplay you just mentioned, you would have to put in a lot of effort (from your side) and get some kind of organization done for a distinct point of time, not so easy without a squad.

While I absolutely adore these realistic specially designed missions (long time SEOW player from old IL2), I just wanna have the freedom to just jump in and get great and realistic (online) gameplay. And I feel that is where Tank Crew is lacking (in the "24/7 stuff").

I don't own Tank Crew because of the mentioned issues, however your last post added a few % towards taking the plunge. If infantry gets added in a useful way, I would instabuy it. Otherwise I'd rather wait for a 66% off, since I would only rarely use it over HLL and PS. 

[SCG_Neun]

Glad to hear it Manu.  If you ever purchase the sim...you are welcome to come on in with us and get a taste of it.  But I do understand your comments about the immersion you desire out of the box.  

[LachenKrieg]

On 2/12/2021 at 12:42 PM, SCG_Neun said:

I could be wrong, but I don't think we are going to see infantry in mass numbers, but perhaps in module form, with say a cluster grouping, 4 to 5 soldiers in a prearranged pose position.  Maybe a handheld anti tank weapon here and there in the group.  I'd like to see some modules which would have entrenched positions, with just the upper part of the soldiers exposed to simulate something in the ground, instead of always on top of it.  Funny thing about war, positions like to find some damn cover and that usually meant digging in.  I know the game doesn't support digging in, but maybe they can do a workaround.  I would have liked to have seen something like this for some AT weapons and mg positions as well.

 

On 2/15/2021 at 5:42 AM, II./JG77_Manu* said:

 

Thing is that you would need that in order to create realistic / simulation gameplay for tanks. 

In real life the biggest threat to heavy tanks such as the Tiger or the KVs (not necessarily to a total kill, but to incapacitating) were not other tanks, but anti-tank guns, infantry with anti-tank weapons such as Panzerfaust and tank mines (being put down by infantry). In addition, the main task of tanks was helping infantry (actual people) to advance and secure forward positions. Most of the times a tank carried more HE then AP ammunition, because that was the ammunition needed most of the times. 

 

Currently the Tank Crew is not a simulator, but a glorified Tank vs. Tank arena shooter, just as War Thunder with slightly higher fidelity models. Load AP, search for other tanks, shoot, kill.

For a proper tank simulation involving most aspects of real "tanking", Hell let Loose and especially Post Scriptum just provide a way better / more realistic environment. And all of that, being only one module of a game that is much cheaper then Tank Crew.

I'd like to use these high fidelity tanks, especially the interiors look really nice. But in terms of gameplay, I absolutely see no point right now. 

So I put together a little video to try and show infantry as an asset. The infantry in the video are not very strong in terms of what it can do, but even in its current state, it still adds significantly.

 

I can see your point though, and why you think what might be coming for infantry in IL2 is just more of the same static elements like we have now in the ME, but its no secret if that is what materializes, it will disappoint a lot of people. Not to say it wouldn't add some to the current SIM, but a disappointment just the same.

 

A lot of people rave about player controlled infantry, but I would much prefer an AI infantry if it is implemented right. I would much prefer to keep the focus on vehicles (planes/tanks), and have AI infantry capable of attacking/defending real players in planes and tanks. That would be next level stuff for me. Imagine if we could have the tanks and planes from IL2, the maps and ground effects from PostScriptum, and the AI behavior from Men of War AS2 on a multi-player server. 

 

 

[Azumatokyodan]

I know that Tank Crew has been discounted on Steam but I prefer the non-Steam version which can be played standalone.

Has the version being sold on this website ever been discounted?

[1PL-Husar-1Esk]

11 hours ago, tokyodan said:

I know that Tank Crew has been discounted on Steam but I prefer the non-Steam version which can be played standalone.

Has the version being sold on this website ever been discounted?

 

Yes by 35% with use of promo code.

Edited April 2, 2021 by 1PL-Husar-1Esk

[LachenKrieg]

16 hours ago, tokyodan said:

I know that Tank Crew has been discounted on Steam but I prefer the non-Steam version which can be played standalone.

Has the version being sold on this website ever been discounted?

Happens at least 4 times/year. If you purchase on Steam, I think you also have to pick up the BOS first in order to download Tank Crew. So I think you are better off here.

[[KG]Destaex]

10 hours ago, LachenKrieg said:

Happens at least 4 times/year. If you purchase on Steam, I think you also have to pick up the BOS first in order to download Tank Crew. So I think you are better off here.

I looked on steam and their is no steam forum there. All buyers seem to be directed here to a buy page saying buy here to support the devs. I would prefer people to support the devs by buying here, but it must be confusing for steam users. Especially those who wonder why their are no steam forums.

[Azumatokyodan]

36 minutes ago, [KG]Destaex said:

I looked on steam and their is no steam forum there. All buyers seem to be directed here to a buy page saying buy here to support the devs. I would prefer people to support the devs by buying here, but it must be confusing for steam users. Especially those who wonder why their are no steam forums.

Well Tank Crew is a DLC on Steam and Steam DLCs never have forums. You have to go to the base game to see the forum and the base game "IL-2 Sturmovik: Battle of Stalingrad" does have a forum. But still, I never new that Tank Crew could be purchased here as a standalone.

[[KG]Destaex]

58 minutes ago, tokyodan said:

Well Tank Crew is a DLC on Steam and Steam DLCs never have forums. You have to go to the base game to see the forum and the base game "IL-2 Sturmovik: Battle of Stalingrad" does have a forum. But still, I never new that Tank Crew could be purchased here as a standalone.

I see. So the steam DLC should link to the steam forum for the base game.

The price is indeed insane on steam as well.

Edited April 3, 2021 by [KG]Destaex

[Azumatokyodan]

35 minutes ago, [KG]Destaex said:

I see. So the steam DLC should link to the steam forum for the base game.

The price is indeed insane on steam as well.

I've never seen that. Steam expects the customer to go to the base game and then the forum. 

[[KG]Destaex]

Yeah fair enough. I thought some things did. I am probably mistaken then.

[LachenKrieg]

8 months later, and it looks like Tank Crew has done pretty good just on Steam alone. Has anyone heard of an update to progress on the infantry element?

[Thad]

Negative.

 

I don't expect any significant infantry additions that will impact game play. Perhaps some small units like mortor, panzerfaust, bazooka etc. No full on infantry combat units. One can always hope. The developers have surprised us before. 

[Leon_Portier]

Apropos 8 months, the Tank Commander Commands improved since release, which is nice.

[LachenKrieg]

7 hours ago, Thad said:

Negative.

 

I don't expect any significant infantry additions that will impact game play. Perhaps some small units like mortor, panzerfaust, bazooka etc. No full on infantry combat units. One can always hope. The developers have surprised us before. 

But they said they are working on an infantry element, so there must be something in the pipe. The hope is it will be something more substantial then the static figures we currently have with artillery/AT guns. And according to a number of websites, you can sort of kinda guesstimate the number of steam users that buy a game using the number of reviews it receives, and I would have never guessed it to be so high. I don't know how accurate it is, but considering how popular WWII armor games are, its not that hard to believe. All that to say, Tank Crew should see a pretty decent roadmap going forward.

[Yogiflight]

On 2/15/2021 at 5:39 PM, SCG_Neun said:

For instance, I use the pak 35 to simulate a Russian AT which predates the zis2 which is just too powerful for early 1941.

I just came across this. We have the 53-K in game, it just gets a bit lost between the Russian AA guns in the Editor. So no need to use the Pak 35.

[SCG_Neun]

8 hours ago, Yogiflight said:

I just came across this. We have the 53-K in game, it just gets a bit lost between the Russian AA guns in the Editor. So no need to use the Pak 35.

Yeah, that wasn't always there though.  I use it now...after it was added.

[Yogiflight]

5 hours ago, SCG_Neun said:

Yeah, that wasn't always there though.

OK, I didn't know that. I just wondered, because I saw it plenty of times as destroyed targets. So I took a look into the Editor yesterday.

[AmetKhan]

Hello guys,

I purchased the Clash at  Prokhorovka last week.

But when I try to start a career campaign, Prokhorovka is not in the options, just the Stalingrad, Moscow and Kuban option. Is there an option for a career campaign in the Prokhorovka map?

Thanks,

 

[Guest deleted@188321]

1 hour ago, AmetKhan said:

Hello guys,

I purchased the Clash at  Prokhorovka last week.

But when I try to start a career campaign, Prokhorovka is not in the options, just the Stalingrad, Moscow and Kuban option. Is there an option for a career campaign in the Prokhorovka map?

Thanks,

 

There's no career mode for Prokhorovka - just scripted campaigns.

[AmetKhan]

1 minute ago, randybutternubs said:

There's no career mode for Prokhorovka - just scripted campaigns.

 

Oh ok. Thanks for the info.