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GHPC Update 20261014
Wed, October 14, 2026



Regular Update: Leopard 2

GHPC Early Access has been updated to version 20261014. As always, you can get additional info on this and future updates by visiting our Discord server and YouTube channel. Links are on the GHPC website.


LEOPARD 2



For this cycle, we finally had an opportunity to focus our efforts on the final remaining tank for the game: the West German Leopard 2. This beast of a vehicle was the most modern and advanced tank in the Bundeswehr in 1985 and is a strong contender for best tank design of the Cold War.

The tank debuts with the instantly recognizable 120mm main gun, which was still so new in 1985 that it hadn't yet been deployed on the Abrams tank. But that novelty doesn't mean it's underdeveloped - the DM23 APFSDS round instantly catapults the Leopard 2 to the top tier of firepower in the theater.


Variants

In keeping with our usual practice of only introducing vehicle variants that meaningfully existed in mid-1985, we're debuting four versions of the tank: the Leopard 2 (sometimes called 2A0), Leopard 2A1, Leopard 2A2, and Leopard 2A3.

This may come as a surprise to some, considering how much weight the Leopard 2A4 has in the collective minds of the tank enthusiast community due to its long service life and wide proliferation. But as real Leopard nerds know, the 2A1 through 2A3 versions were identical to the early 2A4 in every way that counts in a video game (even the famous C-tech armor package was nowhere in sight in '85), so there is no downside here!

You can read in more detail about the different versions in the official Leopard 2 gunnery guide, which we highly recommend perusing in order to get a grasp on its unique features, especially point stabilization and manual lead control.



Nevertheless, it seems useful to give an overview of the standout gunnery features here as well.


Point Stabilization

Most tanks have what could be called "direction" or "vector" stabilization: you point the gun in a direction, and the system does its best to hold that exact direction until you say otherwise. This is generally a very useful thing, but it does mean that if you drive your tank any direction except perfectly toward a target, you'll have to make some manual adjustments to keep aiming at the target while you move. If you drive left, the target will begin to drift to the right of your scope until you correct, and so on. For most tanks, this is considered a simple fact of life and left to the gunner to handle. The West German designers decided to correct it mechanically instead.

The Leopard 2 features a stabilization scheme we refer to as "point stabilization": the automatic maintenance of aim on a fixed point in space. As the vehicle moves, the stabilization system generates its own turret and gun adjustments to keep the aim point on the spot it was last directed to by the gunner. If you drive left, the turret will turn right on its own, with the amount determined by the current range in the fire control system.




Counter Momentum

Normally if you're driving laterally and shoot at a stationary target, your shot will inherit your tank's velocity and "fling" to that same side as it travels - and in most tanks, if you don't account for this manually or engage a lead system, you will easily miss.

The Leopard 2 solves this problem by constantly adjusting the turret and gun aim so that any shot taken while moving will counteract the vehicle's momentum. This happens even without engaging the dynamic lead system. And since the gunsight is 2-axis stabilized, all this fine tuning is invisible to you as the gunner; you can focus on putting the reticle on target and firing.




There are still limits!

The FCS is creating an imperfect solution from the wheel speed, turret angle, and other sensor data, not magically tracking a location. What this means practically is that the system, while very good, should not be relied on as perfect.

• You'll still need to occasionally update your laser range and make small adjustments of the aim point
• You will need to do smooth driving at reasonable speeds (cruise control is recommended)

The utility of the stabilization is to reduce your workload as the gunner, so you can focus on placing the reticle on things and shooting them.


Manually Activated Dynamic Lead

The largest departure in controlling the Leopard 2's FCS is the fact that the dynamic lead feature - the compensation for moving targets - is only active when the gunner holds a button dedicated to it. It does not activate with the laser rangefinder like in the Abrams, nor is it always active like in the T-64B and T-80B. You must physically hold either the lead key (default: Caps Lock) or the rangefinder key (default: E) when tracking a moving target. Letting go of the key will reset the dynamic lead and remove this added compensation.

For your part, you'll need to keep the reticle centered on the enemy and not drifting for about 1 second to give the system enough information to achieve the correct lead solution. This is the same principle as effective gunnery in the other tanks in GHPC with automatic lead systems.

This manually activated lead feature was debuted in the Leopard 1A4, so if you're skilled in the use of that tank's systems already, you've got the muscle memory you'll need for the Leopard 2 ready to go!

Of special note is the fact that all other forms of automatic compensation in the Leopard 2 are active without dynamic lead being engaged, so if you're shooting at a stationary target with a Leopard 2, you should avoid using dynamic lead to prevent user-induced errors.

There's much more to talk about with the Leopard 2, but we'll leave it for the gunnery guide now and move on to the rest of this update's content.


NEW INSTANT ACTION MISSION SERIES



The Leopard 2 makes its debut in a "mini-campaign" of new Instant Action missions called "On The Anvil", beginning in the North Fields list. The missions involve a good deal of tactical flexibility and will provide plenty of opportunity to put the new tank through its paces.



You'll also see the new Bo 105 helicopter make its debut here. Armed with racks of HOT missiles, this light recon/attack aircraft can punish enemy armor from extended range while presenting a small and nimble target. (As with all ground vehicles and helicopters, you can also swap it into any mission featuring the same vehicle class - win the mission at least once and then use the Customize button to make changes before starting.)


NEW MUSIC FROM MAJORIS

As part of the new content, we have two new music tracks: dynamic mission track "Zero Hour" and main menu background track "Axis of Advance". These are discoverable in the game immediately. They will also be added to the GHPC OST package here on Steam in the near future, which will make them available automatically to anyone who purchased the soundtrack already.

The soundtrack includes MP3 and high-quality (FLAC) files, and the majority of soundtrack revenue goes directly to supporting the artist who composed it.




CHANGE LOG



NEW CONTENT

• Added Leopard 2 tank with four variants
• Added 120mm DM23 and 120mm DM13 to customizer options
• Added Bo 105 helicopter
• Added new Instant Action mini-campaign featuring Leopard 2 (starting with On The Anvil in North Fields)
• Added new unlockable menu scene featuring Leopard 2
• Added new music

FEATURES AND ADJUSTMENTS

• Optics are now more durable when subjected to explosive blasts
• T-72, T-64A, and T-64R can no longer lose their gunner's sight
• Luchs suspension is now more stable
• Luchs steering is now less sensitive
• Luchs now slides less when stopped on slopes
• Non-usable MG3 has been added to Luchs turret to reduce confusion about lack of MG3
• Improved number decal rendering
• Free cam movement controls can now be remapped
• Updated audio engine to new version with better features (this will pay off in the future)
• Improved various aspects of audio tuning and optimization
• Added scorching to many decorative objects on vehicles

FIXES

• Fixed an issue where a corrupted config file could cause the game to start in a graphically unusable state
• Fixed antennas and other jiggle bone objects "collapsing" if the camera was moved around while the game was paused
• Fixed entrenched vehicles and very low targets sometimes being undetectable by AI crews
• Fixed engine smoke generators not blocking AI vision properly
• Fixed a bug that prevented discarding sabot petals from appearing much of the time
• Fixed a visual glitch that could cause glowing orbs to be cast from gun muzzles upon firing
• Fixed an issue that prevented unlocking the Soviet-themed forest menu scene when completing Pushing Tin 1
• Fixed some sources of error spam in log files
• Fixed an armor issue with the T-64B commander's hatch

Thanks for playing!