beginner questions on how to spot the enemy

[tirta]

hi guys,

lot of times my crew shouts: "we're hit",
but I can not see which units who hit me.

how do you spot the enemy easily?
what view do you use most often?
external view (F9), view from hatch (P) or gunner (F2)?

[lockie]

lot of times my crew shouts: "we're hit",
but I can not see which units who hit me.

It's not true It's just a generic yelling and this phrase should be replaced with smth. like:
- guys, who has a cigarette?
- today is a heat day
- my baby got me
...
I hope to replace them soon

how do you spot the enemy easily?

Pure luck or relay on AI.

what view do you use most often?

Gunner sight.

external view (F9), view from hatch (P) or gunner (F2)?

- external view (F9) is my BEST! 

[tirta]

hi lockie,

thanks for the reply.
can you give me some tips on how to play the game?
my tank gets killed or damaged very often.

which missions are suitable for beginner?

[lockie]

can you give me some tips on how to play the game?

Before I'll give u advise, u've to understand that SF is just a game, where I like shoot the bricks/tanks And I hope that all users also likes to do that
First of all, if u want to get successful mission, then u don't be bothered about wing-men or infantry under er control. Try to send them in the dangerous area and ALWAYS be behind the back of them. If u need the victory - u need a real ruthless tactics.

my tank gets killed or damaged very often.

Suppose, u want to be a hero? It's normal situation. SF give u a choices:
- be a hero
- get a victory
Both choices are attractive for me. Sometimes I'm a hero, sometimes I want to get a victory.

which missions are suitable for beginner?

I'd recommend training missions (with `Tiger`) and "Everything, but the bridge" (M4A3-76 "Sherman").

[frinik]

External view F9 when you are sure there are no enemies nearby is ideal and press B so you get the binocular effects and it allows to scan for incoming enemy tanks from afar. F3 is also nice to use buttoned up as commander by pressing page up and page down you get to look around your tank....

[Kyth]

The best views for finding the enemy are

- Commander's unbuttoned view or through the cupola (press 'B' to use your binoculars). If you play with the 'no exterior view' option, tanks with a commander's cupola will give you a tremendous advantage vs those without. As in real life.
- Gunner's sight (press 'backspace' to zoom in) As you can guess, the gunner's sight is my favourite because you can deal immediately with any threats.
- The situational map (called up using 'F8') will usually display sighted enemies. Red icons are Soviet units. Blue icons are German units. You will need to know how to read a map. 

Pay attention to your surroundings - if friendly units start shooting, there's enemy nearby. Also, some of the yelling gives you a clue about whether it's armor, AT or infantry.

[tirta]

hi lockie, frinik & Kyth,

thanks a lot for all the nice tips.
now I begin to understand how to play it.

if your tank is suddenly surrounded by many enemy tanks, is it better to shoot at them asap? or retreat behind terrain?

I can not find the tiger training mission,
where is it? I can only find tiger driving mission,
but it seems to be the same tutorial mission with tiger, there is no enemy in it.

when using mouse view from hatch (P),
lots of times the view stuck at viewing the tank rear, it is very hard to get the view back to the front again,
why is it?

[Kyth]

if your tank is suddenly surrounded by many enemy tanks, is it better to shoot at them asap? or retreat behind terrain?

If you're in covered terrain, it's best to narrow the odds by going behind a convenient building or tree.
If you're in open terrain - how did you get yourself in that situation?? Refer to my earlier note about paying attention to your surroundings. 

[frinik]

I can not find the tiger training mission...

I don't recall any Tiger training mission. Remember even when using a mighty beast like the Tiger I or II not to be overconfident( a lucky shot that will disable your crew or vehicle is always possible) and use situational awareness, concealment and ruse....

[lockie]

if your tank is suddenly surrounded by many enemy tanks, is it better to shoot at them asap?

In this case, it's better to re-start the mission 

I can not find the tiger training mission,
where is it? I can only find tiger driving mission,

That's it. This mission is just for the Tiger driving. It's better to drive the Tiger than Matilda. Also try the missions: Fire ground, Fire groundII to have a skill how to shoot.

when using mouse view from hatch (P),
lots of times the view stuck at viewing the tank rear, it is very hard to get the view back to the front again,
why is it?

That's a problem. As a default u've point of view 90 degrees and there is no stuck, but at this time all tanks has buttoned point of view (170-175) degrees. It's better to have a look around, but caused some problems. Means be more careful when u rotate the mouse.

[tirta]

hi lockie, frinik & kyth,

thanks for all the advices.
I have tried both the firing ground mission.
stug III mission is completed, but the 2nd target of t-35a mission can not be damaged.
why is that? I use armor piercing ammo.

the gun sight of t-35a is very strange,
there is no indication of distance.
is this correct?

and I think I need to know the length, width & height of most of the tanks used in SF in order to use the gunsight properly.
do you have it?

[frinik]

The info about the tanks you can easily find on the internet. For German tanks you have the Achtung Panzer webpage amongst others and for the Soviets also you have tons of info. Just google and you'll find hundreds of such webpages...

Re the T-35a not killing its target I am not surprised ;that tank gun hurls shells at low velocity 370 metres/second( half the speed of the panzergranate 39/75 of the Panzer IV F2) and the penetration value is barely 0.35 ... One of the reasons why that tank was not very effective. It was to be used with infantry against static targets and by 1941 is was already obsolete.

[lockie]

stug III mission is completed, but the 2nd target of t-35a mission can not be damaged.
why is that? I use armor piercing ammo.

T-35 has two guns. Use both of them to hit the target.

the gun sight of t-35a is very strange, there is no indication of distance. is this correct?

I need to have a look on the creenshots what do u mean. To make screenshot press F12, then open folder:
Steel Fury - Kharkov 1942\users\scrshots

[tirta]

this is the screeshot:

[lockie]

this is the screeshot:

OK, I see. Suppose, u've problem with monitor compatibility. Did u install Fix Widescreen Bug v1.1?
It should look like this:

Also I see shell BR350A 76mm, which is strange for the T-35A. AFAIK, tank T-34/76 had a big problem with this shell in 1941, because of his absence and this shell was used in 1933? I think, we need technical consultation from wil1973. And the next issue with gunsight reticle itself. As my point, it's completely uncalibrated for bot guns: 45mm, 76mm.

[lockie]

To shoot from the main gun 76mm, u need another gunsight. Means u've to press "Delete" second time and u'll get appropriate gunsight PT with acceptible reticle.
For the main gun 76mm


For the second gun 45mm


To avoid misunderstanding with gunsights, I think would be good idea to remove uncalibrated gunsight TOP-1(with 8 horizontal lines).
Here's test-fix for the T-35 gunsight. Install it the last in line.
http://www.4shared.com/rar/PVQqm-3Bba/01_fix_t35.html

[Boom]

What is the purpose of the arrow pointing at 8 mean in those gunsights? At about the 10 o'clock position?

[norm]

It indicates that the range is set to 800 meters.

[tirta]

hi lockie,
thanks for all the replies and the fix.   
now my gunsight is exactly the same as yours,
I am using 76mm main gunsight,
but the 2nd target is still undestructible,
it won't get damaged.

[Boom]

Thanks norm.