Panzer Game Rules

MBT is a complete game system modeling the US 7th Army and the GSFG Soviet mechanized forces of 1987. It is M1 Abrams (105mm and 120mm armed versions) versus a whole stable of Soviet armor with their T-80s, T-72s, T-64s, and upgraded models of the T-62 and T-55. There is even M60A3s sprinkled in to balance out the US tank inventory. Bradley IFVs and CFVs mechanized units are set to take on their counterparts mounted in BMP-1, 2s and even a few 3s. Not to be overlooked, M113A2s and BTRs and MT-LBs are also set to make their appearance.
Mechanized infantry and their related weapons are in abundance, including the M47 Dragon, M72 LAW, AT-7 Saxon, AT-4 Spigot, and multiple RPG versions.

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The scale is right down in the weeds with individual vehicles, infantry squads, half-squads and sections. Each hex is just 100 meters across, so it is going to be nose-to-nose action at its finest.

The rules cover the total realm of modern mechanized combat with ATGMs, including TOW and deadly Soviet gun launched missiles like the AT-11 Sniper and AT-8 Songster, special armor (including ERA), advanced night fighting with thermal imagers and image intensifiers, advanced artillery with ICM and laser guided shells, helicopters, including the AH-64A Apache and Mi-24P Hind-F, attack aircraft, including the A-10A Warthog and Su-25 Frogfoot, and missile and gun armed AA units to counter the deadly air threats. It is all included in this total package.
Battle it out in 10 scenarios over the 5 double-sided geomorphic maps, covering open and wooded terrain and urban settings.
COMPONENTS
5 8½” x 11” counter sheets
5 10” x 27¾” double-sided geomorphic map boards
26 full-color 5” x 4” Data Cards
Full-color Rulebook
Full-color Playbook
2 11” x 17” Game Cards
5 Player Aid Cards
4 10-sided dice

MBT includes rules for:
Vehicle include 11 unique hit locations, armor angles and penetration charts for level, rising and falling fire
Explosive Reactive Armor (ERA)
Various ammunition type, e.g., APFSDS, AP, HEAT, HE, ATGMs, e.g., TOW, Dragon, AT-7 Saxon & AT-8 Songster
Command Control
Troop Quality
Unit Cohesion
Morale
Sighting Effects
Night Vision
Overwatch Fire
Rates-of-fire
Indirect Fire, both on mapboard and off mapboard
Hand-to-hand Combat
Close Assault
Helicopters
Aircraft
Anti-aircraft Combat
Obstruction
Bogging


TIME SCALE: 15 second to 15 minutes per turn
MAP SCALE: 100 meters per hex
UNIT SCALE: Individual tanks, vehicles, towed guns, aircraft and helicopters; infantry squads, half-squads, and sections
NUMBER OF PLAYERS: 2 or more

MBT EXPANSION 1 FRG
Panzer General
Developer(s)Strategic Simulations
Publisher(s)Strategic Simulations
Designer(s)SSI Special Projects Group
Programmer(s)Paul Murray
Artist(s)David Jensen
Composer(s)Doug Brandon
Platform(s)MS-DOS, 3DO, Mac OS 7, PlayStation, Windows
Release1994
Genre(s)Computer wargame
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

Panzer General is a computer wargame published by Strategic Simulationsin 1994 and set in World War II.

  • 1Gameplay
  • 3Reception
  • 4Legacy

Gameplay[edit]

Panzer General is a turn-based game, set on operational levelhex maps. One plays lone scenarios from either Axis or Allied side and against a computer or human opponent. In Campaign Mode, the player assumes the role of a GermanGeneralissimus against the Allied computer.

Panzer General is an operational-level game, and units approximate battalions, although the unit size and map scale from one scenario to the next are elastic. While the names and information for the units are reasonably accurate, the scenarios only approximate historical situations.

Its novel feature was to link individual scenarios into a campaign spanning World War II from 1939 to 1945. Units are able to gain experience and become stronger, where success in one battle would award the player prestige to upgrade units, acquire additional units, and select a better scenario for the next battle.

The game requires the player to use combined-arms tactics, where each unit is strong against some unit types but very vulnerable by others. Dug-in enemy positions must be softened by artillery, which is vulnerable and needs protection. Before attacking the infantry and anti-tank, one needs to destroy the artillery which protects them from behind. If no tank can slip there, one does this mostly by bombers, but then it is advantageous to destroy the air defense units first. The fighters have a dilemma between destroying enemy air force and protecting the bombers.

One must carefully observe the road system to speed the advance, or he/she can use Bridge engineers to cross the rivers. The game rewards a Blitzkrieg strategy - penetrating deep into the enemy positions while postponing the destruction of some of the encountered enemy units for later.

The performance of units is affected by their experience, which takes very long to collect. Particularly in Campaign mode one then has to protect the experienced units as the most valuable asset.

Campaigns[edit]

Rules

Panzer General has 38 scenarios based on real or fictitious battles from World War II. The player can engage in a single battle or a campaign mode.

In Campaign Mode, a series of battles unfold as a campaign heads to victory. There is one long campaign as Germany, with five starting locales:

  • Poland (1939); from Poland, through Norway, to the West with possible amphibious invasion in Britain.
  • North Africa (1941); from North Africa to the Middle East.
  • Barbarossa (1941); from the initial invasion of the Soviet border to Moscow.
  • Italy (1943); from the Allied landing on Sicily to the end of the war.
  • Kharkov (1943); from the German spring offensive to the end of the war.

The task in most scenarios is to take all objective cities in a given number of turns; taking them at least 5 turns earlier is considered a major victory. In scenarios from later stages of war, the Germans try to hold positions against a stronger enemy. A typical task is then 'hold at least two of our objective cities for 20 turns; for a major victory, hold at least five.'

All campaigns branch out and end either by the general being sacked for incompetence or end of the war. In Campaign Mode, a major victory could possibly change known historical events. For example, after a major victory over France, the player invades Britain. Later in the game, after a major victory in Barbarossa, the player can convince the German High Command to attack Moscow immediately (which costs him or her much prestige) rather than diverting to Kiev before Moscow.

If the player achieves a major victory both in Britain and in Moscow, he or she is allowed to carry out an invasion of the United States and reach Washington. In any other case, he/she must fight well in many battles to get another chance to attack them. If either Britain or USSR survive this attack, they drive the Germans all the way back to Berlin. The best the player can do is to fight well in each battle to have enough prestige for the next one - and to achieve a major victory in the final defense of Berlin.

Development[edit]

The design of Panzer General was based on the Japanese wargame Daisenryaku.[1][2] The Strategic Simulations team had played a Japanese-language version of the game's Sega Genesis release extensively, and were inspired by its streamlined design.[2] The company's Graeme Bayless later wrote of Daisenryaku, 'The genius in this game was the fact that it took the highly complex subject (WWII conflict on land) and boiled it down to the pertinent parts.'[1]

Daisenryaku would go on to serve as the inspiration for the entire Panzer General series.[1]

Reception[edit]

Sales[edit]

Panzer General was a commercial success. By November 1995, it had sold over 100,000 copies in the United States and 50,000 in Europe. According to William R. Trotter of PC Gamer US, it was particularly popular in Germany.[3] By August 1996, sales had surpassed 250,000 copies. Describing the situation at the time, Computer Gaming World columnist Terry Coleman wrote, 'When you consider that a new Windows 95 and Macintosh version has just been released, it seems fair to say that PG will be incontestably the best-selling historical wargame of all time'.[4] The following year, T. Liam McDonald of GameSpot reiterated that the game had sold over 250,000 copies, and noted that 60,000 of these sales came from its PlayStation release. McDonald declared Panzer General 'the best-selling wargame of all time' in September 1997.[5]

Computer versions[edit]

Reception
Review scores
PublicationScore
CGW[7]
PC Gamer (US)93%[6]

Panzer General won Computer Gaming World's 1994 'Wargame of the Year' and PC Gamer US's 'Best Wargame' awards, and was a runner-up for the former magazine's overall 'Game of the Year' award, which went to UFO: Enemy Unknown.[8][9] The editors of Computer Gaming World called Panzer General 'the first wargame since 1987 to garner the #1 spot on the CGW Top 100 poll—a fine endorsement for the most exciting wargame in a long time.'[8]

In 1996, Next Generation listed it as number 51 on their 'Top 100 Games of All Time', contending that though the game's interface is simple, the complexity of the strategy is exceptional.[10] In 1996, Computer Gaming World declared Lemmings the 15th-best computer game ever released,[11] and listed the Game Over scene as #8 on its list of 'the 15 best ways to die in computer gaming'.[12]

In 1996, Panzer General won the Origins Award for Best Military or Strategy Computer Game of 1995.

Console ports[edit]

Reception
Review scores
PublicationScore
EGM7.125 / 10 (3DO)[13]
Next Generation (3DO)[14]
(PS1)[15]

Reviews for the 3DO version were generally positive. The four reviewers of Electronic Gaming Monthly remarked that the game's high level of complexity makes it difficult to get into and unappealing to anyone but enthusiasts of the genre, but that the gameplay design is solid and there is a strong dose of variety to the campaigns.[13] A critic for Next Generation argued that while the music and battle animations quickly wear thin, the game allows them to be turned off and 'what it lacks in style, it makes up in substance.' He made particular note of the impressive depth of the strategy and the ability to control nearly every land and aircraft used in the World War II European theater.[14] Sir Garnabus of GamePro complimented the accuracy of the 3DO port but otherwise panned the game, contending that war strategy games in general are poor due to their minimalist graphics and focus on thinking rather than acting.[16]

In their brief review of the PlayStation version, Next Generation remarked, 'One of the best PC wargames of all time and still highly thought of, this version doesn't miss a trick.'[15]

Legacy[edit]

In 1996, Robert Mayer of Computer Games Strategy Plus argued:

In the years to come, computer wargamers may divide the world into two epochs, Before Panzer General, and After. Before Panzer General, wargames were supposed to be complex, intimidating things, accessible only by the anointed few, the grognards, veterans of decades of board gaming and masters of military arcana. SSI's Panzer General, however, shattered that view, with excellent graphics and animation, and sheer fun that drew in grizzled campaigners as well as green novices. Not surprisingly, there seems to be a rush now towards kindlier, gentler wargames.[17]

Bruce Geryk of GameSpot argued that Panzer General 'almost single-handedly resuscitated computer wargaming as a viable genre'.[18]

Direct sequels[edit]

Panzer General was the first game in the Five-Star Series, which grew in the years after its release. It was followed by Allied General (Panzer General II in Germany), which allows play from the Allied point of view and features four new campaigns. Other sequels include Fantasy General, Pacific General and Star General. Its mainline sequel, Panzer General II (titled Panzer General 3D in Germany), upgraded the interface to use an overlay of photorealistic terrain, and to display different unit facings, resulting in an improved appearance. In the April 2000 issue of PC Gamer, it was voted the 44th best computer game of all time.

The series continued with People's General, an upgraded version of Panzer General II based on a World War III scenario between China and the UN. Panzer General also provided a Play by Email (PBEM) system. Panzer General 3D Assault arrived in 1999, with fully 3D graphics. Panzer General III: Scorched Earth was released in 2000, with better graphics and a redesigned interface.

Panzer Game Rules And Regulations

See also[edit]

Panzer Leader Board Game Rules

References[edit]

  1. ^ abcFullerton, Tracy (2014). Game Design Workshop, 3rd Edition: A Playcentric Approach to Creating Innovative Games. A K Peters. p. 477.
  2. ^ abEmrich, Alan (September 1994). 'Rock 'n Roll Panzer Pushing'. Computer Gaming World (122): 97–99.
  3. ^Trotter, William R. (November 1995). 'The Desktop General; Equal Time for Allied Generals!'. PC Gamer US. 2 (11): 186.
  4. ^Coleman, Terry (August 1996). 'No Joystick Required'. Computer Gaming World (145): 179, 180.
  5. ^MacDonald, T. Liam (September 23, 1997). 'Panzer General II Preview'. GameSpot. Archived from the original on April 18, 2001.
  6. ^Trotter, William R. (February 1995). 'Reviews; Panzer General'. PC Gamer US. 2 (2): 100, 101.
  7. ^Terry Lee Coleman (January 1995). 'Computer Gaming World - Issue 126'(PDF) (126): 222. Retrieved August 5, 2015. SSI'S PANZER GENERAL Blitzes Through Wargame BoundariesCite journal requires |journal= (help)
  8. ^ abStaff (May 1995). 'The Computer Gaming World 1995 Premier Awards'. Computer Gaming World (130): 35, 36, 38, 40, 42, 44.
  9. ^Staff (March 1995). 'The First Annual PC Gamer Awards'. PC Gamer. 2 (3): 44, 45, 47, 48, 51.
  10. ^'Top 100 Games of All Time'. Next Generation. No. 21. Imagine Media. September 1996. pp. 51–52.
  11. ^Staff (November 1996). '150 Best (and 50 Worst) Games of All Time'. Computer Gaming World (148): 63–65, 68, 72, 74, 76, 78, 80, 84, 88, 90, 94, 98.
  12. ^'The 15 Best Ways To Die In Computer Gaming'. Computer Gaming World. November 1996. p. 107. Retrieved 25 March 2016.
  13. ^ ab'Review Crew: Panzer General'. Electronic Gaming Monthly. Ziff Davis (75): 36. October 1995.
  14. ^ ab'Panzer General'. Next Generation. Imagine Media (11): 174–5. November 1995.
  15. ^ ab'Every PlayStation Game Played, Reviewed, and Rated'. Next Generation. No. 25. Imagine Media. January 1997. p. 59.
  16. ^'Panzer General'. GamePro. No. 87. IDG. December 1995. p. 108.
  17. ^Mayer, Robert (March 29, 1996). 'Battleground: Ardennes'. Computer Games Strategy Plus. Archived from the original on April 28, 2005.
  18. ^https://web.archive.org/web/20011203095149/http://gamespot.com/gamespot/features/pc/history_spaceempire/p3_05.html

External links[edit]

  • Panzer General at MobyGames
  • Pepa's Panzer General center - fansite
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