The KURSK program is a strategy game that simulates tank vs tank warfare on the Russian front in World War II. It features accurate sillouette drawings of eight historical tanks of that period, with each tank rated for the thickness of its front and side armor. Playing the game is a simple five-step procedure. Always keep an eye on the status line, which is the bottom line of the screen. MAKE SURE YOU HAVE THE CAPS LOCK DOWN!
To run the program simply type KURSK at the DOS prompt. Users of a PC AT or compatible should set processor speed to slow. See your operating sys- tem manual for how to do this.
1. After you choose your difficulty level and side, you will see an aerial view of a section of the battlefield. Your tank is at center left. Pressing the <S> key will show you where the enemy tank is. There is one enemy per battlefield section. The shaded green area represents a grove of trees.
2. Enter the speed you want your tank to travel at. Each speed unit will move you about one tank length. Moving your tank into the right position is very important, so practice setting speed until you get a feel for it. The screen is about 14 units wide. Use negative speed units to back up. You may use fractions of speed units (e.g. 7.8 or -3.2). You may advance off the right end of screen to next section, but may not retreat off left side. (To exit the KURSK program to MS-DOS, press [Ctrl-C] when asked for speed.
3. After your tank has moved, rotate the turret by pressing <R> or <L> for right or left. You must have your turret aimed in the right general direction and be close enough to the enemy tank, or else will not see it on the tactical screen. Press <RETURN> or <ENTER> when you have the turret where you want it.
4. Pressing <T> shows you the horizon view down your tank's gun sights. Follow the instructions to zero the blinking arrow in on the target. Then press <ENTER> to load the gun. Once the gun is loaded, pressing <SPACE BAR> fires, while pressing <ENTER> again declines to shoot.
5. After you fire, the computer tells you the result of the shot based on distance to target, target armor thickness and angle of incidence. Hitting the target does not automatically destroy it. The screen then returns to the aerial view, and you see the enemy tank's response. This process then repeats from the start.
Some strategy hints: If you keep moving you will be harder to hit. A stationary tank at close range is an easy target. At the higher difficulty levels, the enemy tanks can hit you at greater distances and speeds. At levels one and two you have the advantage of extra-strong armor. On level three, your armor protection is about the same as your enemy's medium tanks.
Anyone who finds KURSK enjoyable is asked to let me know at the following address. Your comments or suggestions will be appreciated.
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