Any tips for beginners? I am really confused by the controls and i'd be grateful to anyone who can explain them to me.

I find it just as easy to play with the keyboard and mouse as I do with a joystick.

For basic keyboard controls, see this post: http://pedg.yuku.com/topic/1710/Feeling-a-little-rusty

The mouse tank is another option. You can click all parts to do different functions.. Check this pic for the functions: http://images.yuku.com/image/pjpeg/ffe25b03a1e6e5a682cf6eb2fbcf5ba77d4ae61.jpg
To pan the view, click and drag the large green triangle. to turn the turret, click on the barrel of the gun and drag it to the desired direction. You can do the same with the direction of the hull.

You might like to spend some tine in the gunnary range that is included in several of the mods.

How do you play this game with a laptop keyboard?