Steel Beasts ProPE 4.019 - Firing Positions Do Expire

In case you didn't know, Steel Beasts had a new update which brings it to version 4.019.

A nice firing position, which I should never, never, never hold on to for too long.

See me over there? Top of the hill, with a commanding view of the valley below, already killed a Russian T-90 ... What can go wrong?

Staying put. Either to fire or observe. That kills.

This story started a bit earlier and here is a brief summary of what happened.

I am the commanding officer of a US Cavalry troop and the war finds me in command of just a platoon of M3A2s. We have to make it through a bridge as part of our mission and we know that there is ENY presence. In this screenshot, the vehicle of my XO, who volunteered to take a peek at the bridge.

Another obvious tip: stay off roads. No trooper worth his saddle will stroll along a road on a combat mission. Unless the terrain forces him ...

The XO's binoculars find bad news in the distance. For the Russians, off course. Note the hull down position the XO's vehicle is holding.

The XO pulls back and I move my command tank into position for a quick kill. The optics of the M1A2(SEP) tank bring the enemy so close!

After wrecking the ENY T-90 I quickly scan the far side of the river/bridge.

And immediately move out from that spot! After you fire (sometimes even after you show your main gun's muzzle) in a position, you are liable of being seen by what you can't still see.

The ENY is almost invisible. Until he fires. That cloud of hot gas and dirt gives away the position of a Russian tank. The shot flies by harmlessly, but it is time to quickly engage this threat.

So I move, yet again, and get rewarded with a clear line of fire and my virtual body not burnt to death. Another Russian tank gets destroyed.

And as I move to a new firing position, a platoon of BMP-3s come into my sights. They burn con gusto after I destroy them.

In this screenshot, I am watching the bridge with my binoculars, standing tall in my hatch but keeping my tank on a turret-down position. No enemy seen down the bridge.

But on the far side of the river, the BMP-3s have leftover infantry in bunkers.

Those Russian dismounts will be properly treated with my IFVs, which are shown here in the background moving into position.

I move my tank through the bridge, alternating my sights on the infantry and the road ahead.

Mission accomplished.

Parting note: I love the smoke/dust clouds lifted by the ENY tanks firing at me. This brings up a nice possibility: find out where the ENY is by getting shot at. Not something to regularly use or abuse, but to keep an eye for.

Cheers,