T-72 Iron warrior Vs. Balkans on fire
 

1. Is this true, that Iron Warriors: T72 Tank Command is just the European version of T-72: Balkans on Fire?
If so, which is the better version? Should I get both, e.g., are they different enough?

2. These titles (above) have gone gold, but do either of these titles have a gold edition available?

3. I've been playing Red Orchestra, and the multiplayer tank battles are amazing. Why isn't it mentioned at the Tank sim site? Have any of you tried it?

4. Which tank sims do you recommend?

1. The first is a later version of the second, if I am informed correctly. Do not get both.

2. Don't know. Gold usually means a developement stage close to release. but these games are old. Note that I call them games. not simulations.

3. Because I would not think that somebody rates them as a simulation, or people are not interested in it, or both.

4. No need to speak in plural: currently there is only SBP around, modern era. They plan to release a historical tank sim which visually looks good, if the physics and realism part, playability and technical shape is up to that remains top be seen.

On SBP, which comes extremely highly recommended, there is a stickied screenshot thread and a ressouces thread at top of the thread list, there you can find links to my and other reviews, material, homepage, homeforum, etc etc. On the historical sim, there is a thread that features some screenshot from developement.

And welcome, btw. ;)

Which of the two is most worth the money, e.g., the newer Iron Warriors, could be better or worse in it's further development? Which should I purchase? Thanks, Skybird.

If you like multiplayer tank stuff, just a heads up: Both myself and a friend have never been able to get T-72 Balkans on fire to run online at anything other than a computer-crashing slide show frame rate, and I mean literally ONE frame a minute type of thing! We tried patching, not patching, I/P, Hamachi virtual LANs, everything, and it just would not play ball.

Single player-wise, T-72 is an okay blast if you like tanks, but it could only just be called a simulation, the tanks do not bear a very close resemblance to their real life counterparts in terms of resilience, interiors, and ammunition capabilities etc, externally they do look pretty good however. The graphics are very nice and the sound is pretty good too, plus you can play as a driver, gunner or a commander (or all three if you want a headache), and it does let you play around with battlefield positioning and stuff like that, and it does offer an unusual theatre to fight in. In short, if you can get it for not much cash, it's worth a go, but don't expect 'rivet-counting' reality from it. If you want a really realistic tank 'simulation' however, SBP is the way to go.

If you like WW2 stuff and are not too bothered about slightly dated graphics, Panzer Elite is good fun too by way, reasonably realistic in fact - gunnery requires a fair bit of skill for example, and there is infantry support and stuff like that. There are lots of add-ons and extra campaigns available for it too, so it allows you to fight in pretty much any WW2 theatre of ops you like, besides which, you can probably pick it up for tuppence these days. Certainly worth a look if you like tanks.

:D Chock

Honestly said, I cannot see much a future in further developement in T72 now. Judging that by it self, and not because of my preference for SBP.

Complementin g my email answers to you, Saltjunkie, if it is multiplayer you are about, there is no alternative to SBP. It is said to run rocksolid, and gameplay is a blast. there are not few virtual units who0 train regularly. Many members are tankers in service, or ex-tankers.

Go to youtube.com or check these links:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NO5vGNMbmYQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSrkijbiem0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=POEPGg5xhYk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=usxCYEYcevY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HDRxIr3UsTI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9fqkng4wNk0

I must oppose Chock's avise here. If you want a WWII sim, wait a bit, a new WWII sim is in the making. check the threads, some of them incolude pictures of this sim. I know Panzer Elite, btw, but i would not say that it is competitive anymore. Also, the heavy movement makes me sea-sick.

Infact there are two WWII sims under development at this time, both have demos available and they both look very nice. A link for Steel Fury you can find at this forum but for Tiger V T-34 you will have to look in the Sim HQ forums for a post discussing the alpha demo. The download is via rapidshare so unless you have a payed for account you will have to get it in installments taking about six hours.