steel armor blaze of war.

[Panzerfaust]

It sure does FB 

@kjay1
Spacebar is the fire command.
R key is reload (I don't think this keystroke is listed in the Controls section).
But I always found it easier to issue commands using the tiles in game (the reload tile is located far right side under the main ammo/MG selection tiles, looks like a cutaway of a shell in a breech) . I only prefer to use the tiles in game since it doesn't require me to take my eyes off the screen to look for certain keys on the keyboard. In a firefight I only have to use a handful of keystrokes.
TAB key to activate the mouse pointer to select a tile command.
W,A,S,D,E to control the tank movements.
But if you prefer to use the keyboard you can look in your Controls section at the main GUI screen to see what keystrokes to use.

There is really only 3 times you need to use the reload tile that I know of in SABoW
1: When changing shell types. Example once you order a HE round loaded from the gunners or TC's position, your loader will automatically keep loading this shell type until the supply is exhausted or you select a different shell type and click the reload tile.
2: You change positions from the commander to the gunner (or visa versa). The loader will put the last shell type in the breech that you ordered from either the gunners or TC position, but if you switch positions he will not reload any more shells until you select a shell type and click the reload command tile.
3: When firing the turret coaxial MG from the gunners position, you must click on the MG ammo tile and click the load command, remember to click on a shell type and click the reload button to go back using the main cannon. I forgot to do this after engaging some infantry with the coaxial MG and a T-62 popped up. Imagine my surprise when I hit the spacebar expecting to send a sabot round into the T-62 but instead I just really annoyed the T-62 by peppering it with .50 cal rounds 

[kjay1]

Thanks for your time Panzerfaust, it is very much appreciated.
Yeah I did actually figure it out for myself but only after realising that these things could not be done from exterior and one had to go to correct `station`to get things done.
Still don`t know though if you can switch to a `free camera` outside view, if so I haven`t found it yet.

[Panzerfaust]

Well the F3 key does give you a limited outside camera view during battle. You can only view around the tank your in and the keypad numbers allow you to rotate/zoom/unzoom/move angle of the camera. But as far as I know there is no God's Eye camera feature in SABoW. The developers stated that a God's Eye View during battle was not realistic and akin to a cheat under certain circumstances. Now after the battle you can view any unit (friendly/enemy) that you wish. All Graviteam games are this way and it does really help the fog of war immersion during gameplay, but it really sucks for any potential user made movies 

[kjay1]

Yep, I can see what they mean by the `akin to cheating` bit.
The thing is I downloaded the SABOW demo before I bought the game, and the demo showed 3rd person views of tanks at night rolling through woods with headlights blazing, pretty impressive really.[You`ve probably seen the same demo]. What I`m saying here is that the demo falsely gives one the impression that there is an all round external camera view available. [A bit of a `con` I feel]
It led me into thinking that one could exercise control from 3rd person view as in `Panzer Elite Action` and suchlike.
I`m not moaning here by the way, `Steel Armor`does look like a pretty good buy.
Thanks once more for your efforts !

[Panzerfaust]

There is a demo for SABoW? Must have missed that one somewhere 

But I have seen the developer produced in game videos your talking about and it does "seem" to apply that a Gods Eye View is included. But in the developers defence they did state very early on (way before SABoWs release when these videos were made by them) that those certain camera views seen in the videos were only available to the game designers for testing and marketing purposes . It's a common pratice by many games developers today but many don't state those camera views are not in game. But that annoucement was made quite awhile ago and it's probably long buried in the forum chatter so it's really no help to someone new to SABoW. So while it does seem deceptive on face value to someone new to Graviteam products, people familiar with Graviteams product have known about Graviteams stance on those camera views for quite sometime. Actually none of Graviteams games to date (Steel Fury Kharkov 1942, Actung Panzer Kharkovw 1943 or Actung Panzer Operation Star) feature a God's Eye View and that probably won't change anytime soon.
Cheers

Edit: My bad, I thought you were saying there was a playable demo 

[kjay1]

No, I didn`t say demo` was playable. Sorry if I gave you that impression Panzerfaust.
Anyhow there is something more you may be able to advise me on. `Steel Armor` is a bit `tricky` to get started on at first, especially when a newcomer finds himself `blundering around` miles of territory in darkness. I would have thought it better or easier for `novices` to be able to start off in a daylight situation. At least being able to see around the terrain might make it a bit easier to `get the hang` of things.
Trouble is I don`t seem to be able to select a daylight scenario at start. I have tried selecting the other missions but they dont come in for me with daylight.

Is it possible to select a daylight start, or am I being a bit stupid here    
Answer me this one and I promise I will then try to leave you in peace !

[Panzerfaust]

Hi kjay1,
  your not being bothersome in the least kjay and it's my pleasure to help others when I can 

Yep SABoW is kind of "lite" in the how to play the game department. The documentation is and can be very frustrating at times. Case and point is the Options GUI. Alot of the options you can select or change are not described very well and there is oh so many things to play with  . Case in point, there is a selection in the Options GUI to enable/disable night time missions (it's in the Game and Realism section). Now when I first started playing SABoW like you I had a heck of a time with night missions and disabling night mission starts in the Options GUI didn't seem to work as I would still get night missions in a campaign.

Now I don't know if it was a broken feature and has since been fixed with the latest patches because now I have become a regular I own the night type of player  Let me explain, if you like to use the M60a1 like I do then you hold a major advantage over the T-62 and other enemy mechanized units at night. During daylight the M60a1 (I feel) is at a slight disavantage compared to the T-62 because of several factors. The most biggest disavantage the M60a1 has compared to the T-62 is vehicle height IMHO. Even though the M60a1 has a ballistics computer and I feel better optics then the T-62, the T-62 is so low to the ground it hard to spot while the M60a1 sticks out like a big ol' sore thumb.  But at night with the M60a1's superior night vision you can darn near sneak right up on just about anything  Here's what you can try if your using either the T-62 or M60a1 at night. Try to play with little or no backlighting on (like a desk lamp, ceiling lights etc) the darker it is the better. You will be surprised at how much better you can see things with the night vision without back ground lighting messing with the ol MkI eyeballs. You can also try turning up the brightness or gamma a little if your still having trouble. Also move very slowly if your outside your "safe zone" at night, if you order the driver to move too fast he will turn on the damn headlights and the best night vision in the world won't help you then. Try to avoid going hull down to soon, if you go unbuttoned while moving to where you think the enemy is, the view from the TC/Gunner or Drivers is more akin to twilight then total darkness. Keep you eyes open for enemy flares, again the best night vision won't help you if the enemy has you luminated by a flare. Along with moving slow make sure to stop frequently and check your surroundings with the night vision, once you get use to it you will be able to spot that enemy vehicle profile even if it's partially obscured by brush, boulders (etc). Also if you find a good ambush spot and decide to park make sure the driver does not have the headlight on (use the F3 key to check). For some reason SABoW's AI drivers have a nasty habit of tuning on headlights at the most inopertune times, guess their scared of the dark 
Cheers

[kjay1]

Thanks yet again Panzerfaust for your time and trouble. Believe me I do appreciate it very much.
  Cheers,
            Kjay1.

[andrey12345]

No, I didn`t say demo` was playable. Sorry if I gave you that impression Panzerfaust.
Anyhow there is something more you may be able to advise me on. `Steel Armor` is a bit `tricky` to get started on at first, especially when a newcomer finds himself `blundering around` miles of territory in darkness. I would have thought it better or easier for `novices` to be able to start off in a daylight situation.

May be use simple quick battle mode ? 
By default is daylight and clear weather.

At least being able to see around the terrain might make it a bit easier to `get the hang` of things.
Trouble is I don`t seem to be able to select a daylight scenario at start. I have tried selecting the other missions but they dont come in for me with daylight.

Is it possible to select a daylight start, or am I being a bit stupid here    
Answer me this one and I promise I will then try to leave you in peace !

Sorry, but all claims to the generals who planned the fighting. What to do if they want to fight at night  .

[Panzerfaust]

andrey12345 brings up a good ideal here kjay1 with the quick battle mode. But if I may offer a slight deviation on his suggestion, instead of selecting daylight select night and set the enemy to targets (that way they won't shoot back), and just practice aquiring and shooting vehicles and troops with the night vision. After some practice change the enemy from targets to a country and let them shoot back to test what you have learned. Since andrey12345 is saying you cannot control what time the battles take place in a campaign (he would know since he's the lead programmer for Graviteam) it would be a good ideal to get proficient or at least decent at night battles since it appears you cannot avoid them.
Cheers

[kjay1]

To Andrey and Panzerfaust both.

My thanks to both of you for your further interesting and promising info`and suggestions. It is most appreciated, much obliged.

Kjay1.