I've seen this game from time to time on sales and am only now really considering picking it up. What I was wondering was for those of you who have played the game, why is this considered one of the better tank sim games? I don't really know any others, but this one looks pretty good? Do you need to be a certified tank operator, or is this one a little easier to get into and enjoy? I'd appreciate any input!

It was the first simulation of WW2 armor that included infantry.
You control a platoon of WW2 tanks and one platoon only.
You have crews that progress over time, if you don't get them killed.
The penetration model is believable, except for the under 100 meter bug .

There are very few first person, ww2 tank simulations.

Having not spent much time with it, I still feel that the game has an air of authenticity you won't often find in other tank simulators (or WWII games at all for that matter). This is a real WAR simulator from the perspective of a platoon commander. I'm not saying I'm sure they get everything right, but the scenarios feel properly researched, as in the developers have been reading actual after action reports and translating the action to game scenarios. I think the inclusion of infantry and crew served weapons is what makes it more than just a "drive and shoot" tank game and into a fully fledged war game where almost all aspects of commanding and surviving in a tank are present in the game.

When you're in a Sherman tank looking through your binoculars and you briefly spot some dark silhouettes of unknown men moving between houses and there seems to be the end of a PaK40 sticking out the corner of another house, perhaps you'll call in an artillery strike before approaching the village any further. After the smoke clears you drive into the village and find mostly dead GIs. OOOPS! Should have studied the pre-mission briefing a bit more carefully and you would have noticed a friendly infantry company was supposed to hold the village while you advanced.

Or maybe the village was held by German grenadiers and now they are dead or retreating, which means you can claim the objective without losing a single man or tank in your platoon. War is hell.

Also found out something interesting looking for more information on the game, the actual original game was made by Psygnosis, so I guess that's why it's so awesome. Thanks guys, I think I'll pick this one up for the poultry $2.39.

It was authentically realistic. So much that a modified version of this game's engine was used by the US Army to train their tank crews.

Let me put it this way, it not only simulated air speed, distance, and moisture, you are forced to take into account the curvature of the planet, the type of gun your using (a Sherman's 75mm is different in all ways than a Tiger 1's 8.8cm KwK 40), and even barrel droop.

That made it different. Not to mention this built upon iPanzer'44, a game that the creators made first.