33LIMA 972 Posted June 1, 2014 Normandy '44 with the latest version of the classic tank sim! The sim Fifteen years old it may be, but Wings Simulations' classic WW2 tanksim is still one of the best of its breed. By the time the Special Edition (a.k.a. PESE) arrived in 2001, it was the sim that had everything. Well, almost everything; it didn't have any time of flight for its projectiles, which arrived immediately after firing. And one of the things it did have was rather crude, cartoon-like graphics, even by the standards of the time. But PESE did have a marvelous combination of tanks and places to fight with them - full campaigns set in Tunisia, Italy and Normandy in the stock game, to which PESE added North Africa, the Eastern Front (and British tanks for Normandy) along with the appropriate range of extra tanks and other kit, and improved graphics and effects. The Wings PE forum was a hive of tank enthusiast activity, with lead developer Teut Weideman and the dedicated modding community ever present. Those days are gone but it didn't end there. In particular, modder 'Brit44' Aldo developed a new PE executable - 'PE-X' - which added proper ballistic trajectories and other goodies, while BobR of the 'Ostpak' team built around this a full package known as PE3, which features much of the best modder material combined into a single package. You can find out about PE-X here and PE3 here. While even the latest PE's graphics and animations are still not up to modern standards and the tanks sometimes teeter on the rather angular landscape as though made of cardboard rather than steel, the visuals are by no means unserviceable, with Geezer's tank textures a particular highlight. And its unrivalled scope isn't PE's only asset. It has decent briefings, combining voice recordings (not all the user-made missions have these) and animated maps; full control of your tank platoon, including the ability to take over another of your platoon's tanks, if yours is knocked out; and a good representation of intercom and radio communications, including decent target indications. It also implements the tank commander role well, with the ability to designate and hand off targets to your gunner. The Artificial Intelligence and path-finding are not stellar but are reasonably good. In many respects, the Old Girl is still the premier WW2 tanksim, in my experience, still well worth playing. The mission I wanted to play with the British Army in the fighting after D-Day for which the obvious choice would have been the Panzer Elite Development Group's Britpack '44 mod, released with other major mods on the bonus CD that came with PESE. However, I believe that this mod hasn't yet been adapted to work with the new PE-X .exe, so instead I opted for PE3. This mega mod rolls into one much of the latest mods, apparently including Britpack and the famed Ostpak campaign, and adds to the already good stock campaign set others which enable you to play from the first year of WW2 right to the end in eastern & western Europe, the USSR, Italy and north Africa. So having installed PE3 and the recommended mission packs and terrain enhancements - and enabled a couple of desirable mods which replace US with British infantry and US-accented with British-accented voices - I chose 'Villers Bocage' from the list of single missions (PE allows you to play any mission from any campaign, individually). Villers Bocage in Normandy is of course famous for the 13 June 1944 battle between the 22nd Armoured Brigade of the British 7th Armoured Division ('the Desert Rats') and the Panzer Lehr Division, re-inforced by the Tigers of SS Schwere Panzer Abteilung 101. It was in the early stages of the battle that Tiger 'ace' Michael Wittman famously surprised the British point troops, stretched out on the narrow road between point 213 to the east and Villers Bocage itself, with devastating results. If we met Tigers on this mission, would I be able to do any better? There was one way to find out! ...to be continued! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
33LIMA 972 Posted June 1, 2014 An early start! Before reading the briefing - 'orders' would be a more accurate term, in a military context - Panzer Elite allows the player to set numerous options, like supply, crew allocations and realism. One of these options is choice of tank - there are some limits on what's available but these are quite wide. I was allocated a troop of five Cromwell tanks, just the right type for this operation (although three or four would have been a more realistic troop strength). However, they are rather under-gunned, their 75mm main armament being no match for the heavier German tanks I might meet on this mission. I could have changed them for more heavily-armoured Churchill infantry tanks but for the sake of sticking to the types engaged on the day, I swapped just one of the Cromwells for a Sherman Firefly. By Normandy, it was common practice for British medium tank squadrons (companies) to be allocated some Fireflies, their superb 17 Pounder guns having a much better anti-tank performance than the 'seventy-five' mounted by Cromwells and standard Sherman gun tanks. While I believe the Fireflies were originally concentrated in one troop (platoon) it seems to have quickly become standard practice to allocate one to each tank troop. Rather than give the Firefly to a 'wingman' who could cover the rest of us from the rear, I took the tank myself. This was fairly close country, and I wanted our heaviest firepower up front on point, despite the greater risk of losing it. The PE3 Firefly is a nice replica, complete with that long gun and the turret rear armoured radio box, the set having to be moved out of the turret because of the bigger gun. As with all PE vehicles, the suspension is a bit two-dimensional but I believe it was modder Geezer who added a hatch-open tank commander figure, which is a big improvement from the stock PE tanks which all fight with the TC closed up. Having checked that we were fully 'bombed up' with a decent mix of ammo - PE lets you vary the load, if you want to have more AP or more HE rounds, depending on the mission - I kicked off the briefing. Here's the map - it's a rather long, narrow one. We are starting about a third of the way between Villers Bocage and Point 213 ('X' marks the spot) and our objective is to reach and secure the latter, destroying any enemy we encounter and protecting the rest of our lead troops, who are in a long straggling column stretching out from the town some way behind us. Many PE missions consist of some quite long drives in the country for which movement on roads - while you can - can be best. I knew that there are some physics issues with PE3, which slows cross-country movement to a crawl and can result in the player's tank getting immovably stuck on minor obstacles (the drill then is to switch to another tank briefly, let the AI unstick your original tank, then switch back). So I decided that I would simply roll up the little road to the objective, cautiously and ready for action, but without using fire & manoeuvre ('bounding overwatch' as the Americans call it) and only deploying out of column formation if we had a 'contact'. This would also be more in keeping with recreating the spirit of the Desert Rat's operation, on the day, for better...or for worse! I started the mission and saw that my Firefly was on the road facing the four Cromwells of my troop. It took me a little while to realise that they were facing the right way (uphill, towards Point 213) and I was looking back towards Villers Bocage, out of sight downhill. After faffing about for a bit (I'm a little out of practice with PE, whose excellent functionality comes at the price of rather a lot of keyboard commands) I ordered my troop to sit tight while I turned my tank around. I didn't want to crunch through the hedgerows and risk getting stuck and realistically, PE would not let me do a neutral gear turn in a Sherman, one track running forward and one back. So I had to start a multi-point turn within the confines of the little road, backing and filling. I had only just started this when a call was made over the radio, indicating a target just a couple of hundred yards off, direction six o'clock -right behind me! Looking quickly around, I was horrified to see a Tiger tank rumbling out of the right-hand hedgerow and onto the road. I swung the turret around to the rear just as fast as she would go. Meanwhile, the Tiger, with its slow turret traverse but ability to neutral turn, was spinning around to face us and bring its mighty 'eighty-eight' to bear. It looked like this mission was about to come to a sudden and early end! ...to be continued! 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
33LIMA 972 Posted June 1, 2014 Tigers by the tail! As the 17 pdr traversed over the rear deck of my Sherman Firefly, I went to the gunner's sight. By some miracle, the Tiger appeared in the sight before he got off his first round. I fine-tuned my aim and fired all in one movement. Still the Tiger didn't shoot. 'Come on, come on!' I mentally urged the loader, letting rip as soon as he had another round in the breech. That did the trick; the Tiger's muzzle drooped and a wisp of white smoke appeared above his turret. Got him! Crikey! What a way to start a mission! I scanned left and right. Seeing nothing more, I quickly completed my tank's 180 degree turn and began to roll uphill towards the objective, ordering my troop into column formation. Every so often, the dirt road went up in a gentle step, where I paused in a semi hull-down position and scanned again through the sight, left and right. Behind me, my troop's Cromwells had begun to form up. I called them to a halt again while I probed cautiously forward; no sense in all of us sticking our heads into the noose. 'Bounding overwatch' it would be, for a while. Finally, halted in another dip in the road, I called the troop up to join me again. Soon, the Cromwells were back in a neat line just to my rear, and I rolled forward again. Platoon command and control was always a particular strength in PE and I was glad of that now. Halted again, I resumed scanning. Suddenly, some movement caught my eye. Something, a vehicle of some description, was moving slowly right to left, across the narrow stretch of skyline where the road passed across it into dead ground. I could only see a little of him but the profile was distinctive - another Tiger! He spun round to face us and edged towards the skyline, while I pumped 17 Pdr APCBC rounds at him as fast as my loader could chamber them. For the second time, a wisp of white smoke confirmed I'd got him! At that point things got hectic. First, a German armoured half-track emerged from the left, and I put a round into him, too. He stopped but didn't burn. It wasn't over yet. Another Tiger now appeared, like the half-track, moving from left to right. He nearly made it into the hedgerow on the other side of the road, before my first round crashed into him, evidently knocking him out. As if that wasn't enough yet another Tiger drove out from somewhere out of sight and plonked himself right in the middle of the road. Driving out onto a spot which, from the other knocked-out AFVs, was obviously covered by fire was a pretty silly move. I only had to make the smallest adjustment to my aim to make sure he paid the appropriate price. Another couple of rounds and it was all over, without our having received a single round in return, as far as I could tell. I could not believe my good fortune but it seemed much too good to last. I saw some movement amongst the foliage to the right of the wrecks. Staring at the spot, I had just about convinced myself that I was imagining things when I saw it again. There was something there, for certain. His disappearance to the right of the road worried me; likely, he was outflanking us to the right. I pulled off to that side of the road and ordered the troop into wedge formation. Whatever it was, we would meet it together! ...to be continued! 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
33LIMA 972 Posted June 1, 2014 On to the objective! I rolled right, gun laid parallel to the road, anxiously watching for any sign of the enemy vehicle I was sure I had seen, moving right off Point 213. Pausing at the edge of some bushes, I scanned left and right through the gunsight. To the bottom left you can see the PE 'mousetank' which is one of the ways you can do things like select 'wingmen' - when turned on, I use it mainly as a combined turret position indicator and compass rose. Nothing - no sign of anything. A combination of foliage and a low hillock to my front hid from sight whatever it was. The tension mounted. My next bound would take me up to the hillock, across a dangerous open space. Nothing for it! I made my move, accompanied by a Cromwell to my right rear, which was some comfort. Nearing the hillock, I swung out to the right, hoping to outflank any outflanker. As I did did so I traversed left, keeping my gun pointed towards the likely threat. I was now virtually at Point 213, where there was a small group of buildings, amongst which the smashed German armour lay. Still no more enemies! Where was the one I had seen? I turned left, parallel to the road, with my gun laid still to the left. This was getting distinctly scary! The right flank and directly ahead seemed fairly clear, but almost anything could have been lurking amongst or behind the more extensive cover to my left. I pressed slowly on, ready to shoot anything that moved. ...to be continued! 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
33LIMA 972 Posted June 1, 2014 Point 213 is ours! Suddenly, I saw the enemy again. Not much of him, but enough to identify the distinctive canvas hood of a VW field car, the famous Kubelwagen. I jumped back to the gunsight and opened up with the co-axial machine gun. Moving forward again, I began to emerge from the cover of the little hillock that had screened me from Point 213 itself. Sacrificing field of view for readiness, I stayed in the gunsight view and scanned left. I knew that my AI crew and platoon-mates could help me by spotting and announcing targets. At that juncture, this is exactly what started to happen. The radio net burst into life with reports of more Tiger sightings. I quickly turned on the text message panel, bottom centre of screen, as this gives you a more precise description of the target than the more generic radio messages. A Tiger 300 yards away at ten o'clock did not sound good, especially as I was the only one with a gun which had a decent chance of penetrating its frontal armour, and the others' seventy-fives would be hard pushed to get a penetration anywhere. I scanned desperately from the halt, seeing nothing but foliage and reluctant to edge forward since if he came into my line of sight, I'd be in his. I was tempted just to fire off some rounds in the general direction indicated, hoping for the best. But I needn't have worried. I don't know how they managed it but the others were soon reporting destroying both the Tiger and a self-propelled AA gun. If you look at the 'mousetank' graphic bottom left, my number two's and number four's indicators have turned blue, which tells me they are the ones who are engaged - another neat PE feature, which along with the great comms and full-featured platoon commands, helps cement the sim's already above par platoon command and control capabilities. Feeling a little more confident, I moved slowly forward again. At that point the Squadron commander came up on the 'net and congratulated us on completing the mission; this achievement being confirmed in the text message panel. We'd done it! Between the close country and Tigers silhouetting themselves, we'd somehow pulled it off! Our troop had done the Regiment proud! Even the under-gunned Cromwells had done their bit. You'll note that they have not yet bothered to ditch the deep wading hoods at the rear of their engine decks, but who's complaining. Of course it would have been a different matter without the Firefly's 17 Pounder, which had proved devastating against the Tigers at the ranges involved, fighting in close country. In better tank country, the results would likely have been very different. Here's the debriefing screens, confirming that we met all our objectives and showing our stats. My own gunnery has proved satisfyingly accurate, given I was aiming and firing rather fast, sometimes at fleeting targets. I assume the MG burst into the Kubelwagen counts as one of my 17 hits, given I only fired 16 main gun rounds, all solid AP shot. So while the actual Battle of Villers Bocage had seen the Desert Rats' spearhead smashed up by Michael Wittman's Tiger, my troop had managed to reverse the course of history. In so doing I had reminded myself what a really good tank sim Panzer Elite still is, thanks to thorough, clever design at the outset and skilled modding, subsequently. In every respect but graphics and animation, she's still an absolutely top-notch tank sim, in my book 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RUSTYMORLEY 162 Posted June 3, 2014 33LIMA I am glad that you have provided reviews \ mission reports of these tank sims. Although I am a bit of a Tank nutter myself I am put off Panzer Elite by the poor cartoon-like graphics (which you have indeed mentioned). I do however play Panzer Elite Action 'Fields of Glory' and ' Dunes of War' which my son also likes. Will you be reviewing these two games? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
33LIMA 972 Posted June 3, 2014 Hi Rusty I don't have PE Action as I'm put off by the cartoon-like gameplay I did have a 'tank action game' once, a download probably long lost, called 'Tiger Hunt' (I borrowed its name for this mission report!) and it had things like ammo boxes along your route and you played from the external view with a crosshair to aim. The graphics weren't too bad for the day: Not really my thing; similarly games like War Thunder or World of Tanks, with their artificlal 'tiers', endless variants and third person shooter gameplay, which for all the eye candy and 'fun', are no tanksims, which is what appeals to me. Each to their own of course. I confess to having enjoyed 'Crimson Skies'! By 'cartoon-like graphics' I had in mind the un-modded Panzer Elite: ...not modded versions like PE3, or PP2-x which looks better still: Being such a good tank combat simulator in the technical and tactical sense - second only to Steel Beasts, which in its current form is a professional military training tool with a civvy spin-off - is I think what makes (modded) PE still competitive, despite the dated graphics and animations. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RUSTYMORLEY 162 Posted June 4, 2014 The game which you call 'Tiger Hunt' was later remade by a software company called Strategy First into a game called 'Panzer Killer' which I did once own a copy of. I distinctly remember that you had to complete each mission very speedily as the fuel consumption meter went down very quickly and you had to find the top-up cans as soon as possible just to keep going! I will keep looking out for you reviews of Tank Sims as I am always keen to see if there is anything out there which I have missed. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
