Download Now - Steel Beasts

Part 4. Sharpening your skills
1. Installation 2. Finding online games 3. Tactics 4. Sharpening your skills 5. Goodies 6. Etiquette 7. Credits
When you first get started, it's a pretty big jump from running your tank to handling a platoon...and in some
games each player has a company or more to manage. Like Robert Heinlein said, seconds are jewels beyond
price in combat...you want to practice until you can get units doing what you want with speed and efficiency.
Before we get going, a note about difficulty. When you're starting out, I'd encourage you to set the difficulty at
Low. On this setting the AI is no pushover, and will still punish your mistakes - it's just a little slower on the draw
and about as accurate as you will be. Get comfortable on this setting and then work up to High difficulty. Same
with the realism - setting it to Low provides a couple of "training wheels" to help you get used to the trickier
functions, and you shouldn't have any trouble adjusting when you take the realism to High.
First, of course, play all the tutorials. Then play 'em again, until you're barely glancing at the keyboard. To put
this in perspective, imagine that your M1 takes a hit and the screen goes black. In the top right you see TIS
Stabilization flashing. A badass player will hit the number pad + and the . keys without thinking about it, and
have a return shot on the way in three or four seconds. Will you?
I recommend the M1 scenario Instant Action - Ambush for this purpose. It has lots of confidence-building closerange
gunnery, you get an assortment of targets so you'll learn to index your ammo, and it's not uncommon to
take close-range hits - often hits that will knock out systems and force you to go to backups before continuing
the fight.
When you've got that under control, give Tanks a try to learn some basics of tactical movement. The T-72s in
this scenario will punish you harshly if you sit on high ground, so you'll learn to "drive as the water flows" and
scoot from one battle position to the next.
I'm not saying you should be able to finish Tanks consistently before moving on...but when you think you're
ready, Cavalry to the Rescue and German Frost are the next level. Each of these has 2-3 units for you to
control and a fairly slow pace, so you can get used to jumping around and trusting the AI a little.
At the next level, between platoon and company, it's a bit tough finding good practice. Rock, Paper, Scissors is
a good one with a couple platoons, and I understand that Battle of the Wiese Valley is pretty much the same
fight, maybe with different routes for the enemy. Try the Tactics 101 scenario on Mobile Defense to see how to
program routes and checkpoints.
If you want a final exam, Are They Attacking Here is a fun scenario that teaches you some recce skills, and A
Village Called Netreba is a toughie that will demand some planning and fast movement.
For another take on SB basic training:
Multiplayer Preparation by LoneStar49
1. Installation 2. Finding online games 3. Tactics 4. Sharpening your skills 5. Goodies 6. Etiquette 7. Credits