Kurtenki: What Might Have Been
Over the last week, I’ve quietly rebuilt one of the original T-34 vs Tiger stock missions: Kurtenki.
The stock version always felt unfinished. No village activity. No atmosphere. Just you and a few targets — placed like chess pieces on a map. And yet... the potential was there.
So I went back in. Seven days later, here’s what’s changed:
• The starting position is now 1 km further back, behind a low ridge.
• A German convoy moves to your right as you begin.
• The village is populated: trucks, Hanomags, infantry, sandbags, props — a lived-in space.
• A burning T-34/76 smokes quietly in the distance, knocked out by a Pz IV just before you crest the hill.
No new gameplay systems. No flashy scripting. Just better pacing, better ambience, and a sense that something happened before you arrived.
Radio chatter didn’t make the cut — I tried, I really did. But after going around in circles, I chose to revisit radio sounds. The silence works in its own way.
This is still the original Kurtenki mission — just nudged toward what G5 might’ve done, had they not been hurried by the publisher to rush this gem of a tank sim out of the door.
“Securing Kurtenki REDUX”
...and it’s soon to be live on the forum.
I’m proud of this one, it took a lot of trial and error. It was a bit like pressing a bruise — painful, but weirdly satisfying.
– Jeff