Five steps, in the order you meet them.
Pick a tank

The Garage opens on your fleet of 221 tanks. Pick one: its dossier shows the armour, the gun and how it moves, and the Tank Gallery opens its full anatomy.
Deploy

Deploy sets the battle: one of 13 modes, a battlefield (or a random one of 31), the time of day, and the sides, 7 v 7 or 14 v 14.
Drive and aim

W A S D drive; the mouse turns the turret. L-SHIFT drops into the gunner's sight at ×2 / ×4 / ×8, the wheel zooms, and CAPS holds the gun while you look around.
Fire

LMB fires; hold it to fire at each reload. 1 2 3 pick the shell. 4 5 6 use the Repair Kit (35 s), the First Aid Kit (45 s) and the Fire Extinguisher (25 s); a kit's cooldown starts only once it has done something.
Win

Standard Battle is won by destroying every enemy inside its 15-minute clock; every other mode sets its own goal. When you are knocked out, the camera follows your allies.
