Military Tuesday : Test-Driving a T-72 in Iron Warriors
Also known as T72 : Balkans on Fire!, Iron Warriors : T72 Tank Command is a tank simulator for three of the ex-Soviet Union’s most widely produced tanks – the WWII T-34, the T-55 and the T-72. The demo version puts you through the paces of driving and fighting in a 41-ton T-72 together with a solo mission in a comparatively inferior T-55.
While these tanks are not the latest or most technologically advanced tanks in the ex-Soviet Union and Warsaw Pact inventory, it’s certainly interesting to understand the operation of a powerful war machine with only minimal high-tech equipment in the form of a ballistic computer and laser rangefinder. Contrast this to the heavily-digitalized M1A2 featured in the even older tanksim Steel Beasts (more about the M1 at The Armor Site) .
Getting ready to ford a water obstacle
The first training mission in the demo will allow you to witness the T-72’s cross-country capabilities as you ford through a water obstacle and manuever past barbed wire and concrete emplacements (dragon teeth) and minefields. (Press Ctrl+R to repair shedded tracks – a common occurrence when navigating the obstacles)
Oops, a shedded track again
On the obstacle course, you’ll quickly realize how poor visibility is for the tank driver with only a limited view of the ground straight ahead from his low position in front of the turret. Tank ditches are impossible to avoid until it’s too late, especially if you attempt to treat the tank as a offroad racecar 
Racing to the end of the driver training course – the speedometer reads 60km/h
The commander has a similiarly restricted periscope view which translates to poor situtational awareness. Attempting manual gunnery at the same time simply compounds the problem and makes it almost nigh impossible to handle attacks from multiple directions (unless you cheat and press F9 for the external view). Fortunately, there’s an option (press 2) to allow the gunner to fire at will which minimzes the need for micromanagement when playing as the tank commander.
We got him!
They got us (again!)
Gunnery for modern tanks isn’t just a simple matter of aligning sights and pulling the trigger. The gunner must select and load the correct round for the shot (press B then N), align the sights (mouse with left mouse button pressed), use the laser rangefinder to input the distance to the target (right mouse button) and let the ballistic computer compute the correct gun elevation) before actually firing the main cannon. And that’s only if that your tank and the target are halted 
Firing on the move at rapidly-moving enemy armour is almost impossible without constant practice (i.e restarting missions)
Since the gunner panel is labelled in Romanized Cyrillic, here’s the meaning of each label on the ammo selection panel in the Gunner’s position (F6).
BPS – Armour Piercing
BKS – Hollow Charge
OFS – High Explosive Fragmentation
UR – Guided Missile
P – Machinegun
After playing this game, you’ll really marvel at the quality of the WWII German heavy panzers and the skills and experience of their crews at destroying enemy armour at ranges exceeding 1000 metres with only optical sights and without the aid of a ballistic computer. However, the low-profile T-72 can travel at 45 km/h cross country, which is significantly faster than most WWII tanks can achieve and makes it much harder to hit than WWII tanks of the same weight.
The game also includes an encyclopedia on the vehicles that you will encounter, the weirdest being a trench-digging BTM-3 (below).
For any simulation, you’ll also want a manual to play properly – unfortunately it’s not included in the demo for Iron Warriors. A list of the default keys can be found at allgame.
Tn summary, Iron Warriors : T72 Tank Command is a rather interesting game but as with most simulators, it’s definitely not for action gamers seeking instant gratification nor players unwilling to invest time and patience in overcoming the rather steep learning curve.
Download the demo at StrategyInformer and check out the official website for Iron Warriors : T72 Tank Command.
MORE @ THE DOWNLOAD MUNKEY:
T-72 : Balkans on Fire! Renders and Wallpapers
Armour Photos at Israel’s Yad La’Shiryon Museum
US OPFOR Vehicles
OPFOR Worldwide Equipment Guide
WinSPWW2 & WinSPMBT
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I would not last long at all in this one…. I just don’t have the patience needed for these kinds of sims.
Heh, I just spent close to 6 hours to get the screenshots for this one – and that’s only 2 training missions
I actually get to drive the real thing. I work at a military test facility in Arizona and I get to drive the T-72, the BMP-2 and American tanks like the M60. The T-72’s are cool because they have a ton of power but my favorite is the BMP.
Hi Schnaq, any reason why you prefer the BMP?
Mostly because I’m pretty tall, 6′5, and the T-72 is pretty cramp for me. The BMP surprisingly has a lot of room and I fit pretty well and it’s just fun to drive. It’s got pretty good power and the shifter is on the steering column like an old American car. Don’t get me wrong though, the T-72 is still really fun.