Panzer Battles is a top-down war-game focusing on the Eastern Front in World War Two. It’s not graphically pretty and is likely to appeal only to hard-core war-game fans. However, for those that enjoy this type of thing, Panzer Battles can provide an enjoyable, and even at times compelling, game.
The hex map graphics are extremely simplistic, with an entirely top-down view. The presentation of units is also simple, yet effective, with combat groups typically being broken down into an HQ and 3 combat elements.
Air power is simulated in an ‘off-board’ way, with each player being able to allocate an amount of air power to attack or defend a particular unit. The game is played as one person versus the computer but you can also play player vs. player. The typical forces that the player controls would be armies or corps, so the game is very strategic in scope.
The player directs each overall combat group towards a particular area or to attack a specific unit. As in most war games, grouping multiple units plus airpower into select assaults will usually achieve the best results. Overwhelming use of force will result in a unit being killed, whereas less decisive engagements will result in attritional damage. The game does an excellent job of simulating a force’s breaking
point, with accumulated losses suddenly reaching a tipping point whereby the remaining units melt away.
Movement of combat groups can be frustrating because combat groups will take their own route towards their objectives. They will adopt rail, roads etc, in order to move more quickly. However, once any element within a force comes into contact with an enemy unit, the whole force will start to engage. This can be annoying (yet almost certainly realistic) when you are desperately trying to move a combat group to assist or exploit at a certain point, only to find it become hopelessly entangled en route!
Group placement can also be frustrating as you cannot control the exact placement of each component of the combat force. Therefore, a combat unit (or worse, HQ) will sometimes adopt a more vulnerable hex. You can attempt to reposition but sometimes you can simply not get your forces laid out just as you would like. Again, this is probably quite realistic.
Artificial intelligence is quite decent. (In my view, AI is often the bugbear of computer gaming, and is one of the most neglected areas which are extremely annoying as I’ve been playing computer games since the early 80s.).
The scenarios are pretty good, from the initial onslaught of Operation Barbarossa (where the German player has to crush the Russian forces as quickly as possible) to the later engagements where the Russian forces have the upper hand. Sadly, there is no campaign mode to link the scenarios. My own favourite is Kharkov, which is a scenario where both the German and Russian forces are in a position to attack as reinforcements arrive. I played this scenario dozens of times, and once managed to eradicate every Russian unit within the time limit of the scenario – beat that!
For enthusiasts only, but a good game nonetheless.
