Can you tell us what sims you were referring to?
Gonna put me on the spot, huh? Ok, it all started with M1 Tank Platoon2. Then there was Iron Fist2, then Steel Beasts, various WWII sims--mostly demos, none of which I liked as the graphics were terrible, T-72 Balkans on Fire (demo), T-34 vs. Tiger--just about every tank sim ever made except Iron Fist 3 (hated Iron Fist 2, terrible graphics, arcade-style play) and Steel Beasts Pro, which is very expensive. Can't swear to it, but I'm pretty sure they all had "Hull to Gun" or something equivalent.
In general the response would be to fire rapidly at the enemy target staying in the position you are in even if your flank is exposed and then shifting your tank around while you are reloading.
Well, at least in the case of Mikey Wittman, I think you are wrong. Reading I've done about him indicates that one of his secrets of success in the Tiger was to take a lesson from his days in a Stug, and turn the whole Tiger to the target like one would an assault gun--gets the frontal armor pointed at the target, plus turning the tank is
faster than rotating the slow-ass turret. The Tiger turrets in game rotate too fast--it should take around 60 secs to fully rotate a Tiger I's turret (don't know about the KTiger, might actually have been better, despite the massive turret), but even with arcadey turrets, it's still faster to turn the tank, then make fine corrections with turret rotation. In fact, in game, it's faster to turn all of the tanks. They all spin in place like amusement park bumper cars. Not realistic, but whatcha gonna do? Have you seen the Elefants turning in place? They act like they have no mass at all, they spin instantly into position, making them, in essence, Super Tanks. I reality, they should be painfully slow to maneuver and hence extremely vulnerable to flank attacks. In the case of the T-34, it shouldn't be able to turn in place at all. The T-34 could not turn unless it was rolling, unlike the Tiger and other German tanks. There was a danger in turning tanks while sitting in place--if done wrong you could throw a track, but that's a detail we're never likely to see in game along with millions of other details.
But be all of that as it may, assuming you are right, which is a pretty sound assumption, Ok, I take my first shot with my tank askew to the target, and turn my hull as I reload. I still would like to have a Hull to Gun command so I can turn my tank as I reload--or maybe, which would be better, a command to Turn Right/Left where the driver turns the tank continuously until I give the order to Halt.
If you want to talk realism, the driver in the real world necessarily makes all kinds of decisions on his (her? maybe in Israel) own, like the decision to bear slightly left to miss the tree rather than running over it. The Hull to Gun command is one way to make command of your simulated tank more seamless despite the limitations of AI.
Essentially we have robot crew members-and these are not very smart robots as robots go.
Anyway, I doubt it's possible to mod new crew commands anyway, and even if it is, if I am the only one complaining about no Hull to Gun command, it will never be done. I can mod some things, but I cannot rewrite computer code.
I managed not only to survive it but actually win destroying 7 German tanks including 2 Panthers, 1 Elefant, 2 Panzer IVF2 and 2 Panzer IVf1.
Now was that in a T-34 or a KV1? 'Cause in a T-34 AP ammo is so paltry, that would be quite a feat. Will a T-34's gun with HE ammo disable a Tiger's engine from the rear at close range? If so, then I'm in business.
I have tried the mission in as commander of one of the KV1's off to the left of the 1st defense line. I live longer, and pile up Pz iv kills, but those damn Super-Dune-Buggy Ferdinands are making me a target of particular interest. Does the AI prioritize targets that well? I hope so.
Don't get me wrong, it's a beautifully made mission. But the Russians got shafted in the first mission, I think. This is Kursk. Those enemy tanks should have to navigate mine-fields, and the Russians should have an AT gun behind every tree. There should be more infantry, more trenches, more tank traps, maybe more Russian artillery. I mean, I don't want it to be easy. Of course not. But if you just let the game run and watch what happens the German force wipes the Russians completely out and takes very few casualties.
I should say, I am playing the final version of the Map, not the Beta. I started this commentary in the wrong place--sorry. Administrators feel free to move my comments to the other thread.
So, trying to win the mission, I've made small changes--controlling different vehicles. I haven't added anything to the Russian side yet, I want to try to beat the Krauts with what Rend gave me, even though I think he was a bit stingy. I've taken to naming my vehicle Red Hope, because as it stands, I am the only hope of the Russian Army as deployed. The other units are cannon fodder soaking up shells while and bursting into flame while I try to whittle down the German threat.
Although, to be fair, the very last mission I played my forces did rather well. I might even have won, had I not been killed toward the end of the battle. Both Tigers had been knocked-out by AI T-34s, and the Germans were pretty much down to one Ferdinand and some disabled Pzivs. So luck plays a role as well.
Keep in mind that any opinions I ever express about anything are to be considered place-markers until I happen to acquire better opinions.
Taking a closer look I find that there is
NO Russian infantry. The trenches are empty. What happened to to them? Abducted by aliens? Defected? Hauled off by the Secret Police and pressed into Penal Units? I mean, C'mon. And what's up with the final defense line? There is no
DEFENSE at the final defense line. No AT guns, no machine guns, no infantry, no mortars, no tanks that wait behind cover in reserve to act as a final...well....
DEFENSE I repeat, C'mon!
