An Underrated Historical Model
Posted: Wed Mar 11, 2020 3:16 am
Panzer Corps is often called a "beer and Pretzels" game but the continued support and modifications have made it into something much more impressive.
Historical Model
There is an incredible amount of history built into the game scenarios and I have learned a great deal about subjects I had previously thought I knew. Nikivdd is Awesome; The US campaigns are the best and have great historical detail (the transport convoy outside Oran, "Remind your soldiers on professional conduct with the local population in Aachen", etc.). You can play through those scenarios with historical forces organized at the battalion level (9 infantry, 1 Engineer Bn, 4 Artillery 1 attached TD Bn, 1 separate Tank Battalion, 1 Bofors Bn= infantry division or 1 Recon Bn, 4 Med Tanks, 2 m3 Stuart's, 3 M7 Priests, 3 Armored Infantry [armored infantry to account for the Engineer companies being mixed in with the infantry], 1 sp AAA BN = heavy armored div) with additional corp Assets later on. Triumphs are difficult and sometimes best let go. I lose core units at times but it is a war game (Kerensky had some Great Comments on that in the past)..
Nikivdd designed each scenario so well that you can play through with different types of divisions (infantry or armored). That line of hills he added at the 2nd Gela is brilliant and critical for an infantry regiment. The Army.History.Mil website breaks down all the names and organizations so everything can be named appropriately (great job allowing us to rename units). The game even models the improvement the "light" Armored division has over the previous heavy organization (a 3/3/3 organization which is more flexible) although that also has to do with terrain of Western Europe (in Russia the tank heavy armored corps are still very useful and the game models this difference as well). You can get an incredible understanding of tactics from the game due to the surprisely deep mechanics built into the game (close defense, iniative values, FOW ambushes [I don't even know how you can program that into a computer game but it is so much fun]).
It was also fascinating to see how great heros can make me more conservative (because I do not want to lose them) and I lose out on triumphs. In a matter of speaking.... I have become too attached to my soldiers and take less risks because of it. What an incredible historical model.
I am very grateful you have kept such a wide range of equipment. I use the M3 Stuart's Bns in my heavy division model where they mostly just draw the enemy out. If they somehow get good heros I will upgrade them to Sherman Bns. The 1st Infantry Division actually had a towed Tank Destroyer Bn assigned in the early part of France and I love trying to get the best use of those 3inch ATs. I use older equipment prominently in my double Rommel Allied Campaign (again, I rarely get Triumphs that way but it is more fun to me). It is awesome that you have included such a wide range of equipment.
I want to say thank you for your commitment and attention to detail. A few years ago an old family illness descended on me earlier than expected. It was difficult adjusting my mental energy to my depleted physical energy. Playing your game in all the many ways you have enabled it to be played, researching the battles to get appropriately historical units, and trying different historical "what if" combinations has allowed my brain to exercise itself between meditations. Sometimes my brain just needed to run itself out and your game was the perfect treadmill. I know it is a business but this game has had a profound effect on my journey over these last two years. Thank you, thank you very much.
Historical Model
There is an incredible amount of history built into the game scenarios and I have learned a great deal about subjects I had previously thought I knew. Nikivdd is Awesome; The US campaigns are the best and have great historical detail (the transport convoy outside Oran, "Remind your soldiers on professional conduct with the local population in Aachen", etc.). You can play through those scenarios with historical forces organized at the battalion level (9 infantry, 1 Engineer Bn, 4 Artillery 1 attached TD Bn, 1 separate Tank Battalion, 1 Bofors Bn= infantry division or 1 Recon Bn, 4 Med Tanks, 2 m3 Stuart's, 3 M7 Priests, 3 Armored Infantry [armored infantry to account for the Engineer companies being mixed in with the infantry], 1 sp AAA BN = heavy armored div) with additional corp Assets later on. Triumphs are difficult and sometimes best let go. I lose core units at times but it is a war game (Kerensky had some Great Comments on that in the past)..
Nikivdd designed each scenario so well that you can play through with different types of divisions (infantry or armored). That line of hills he added at the 2nd Gela is brilliant and critical for an infantry regiment. The Army.History.Mil website breaks down all the names and organizations so everything can be named appropriately (great job allowing us to rename units). The game even models the improvement the "light" Armored division has over the previous heavy organization (a 3/3/3 organization which is more flexible) although that also has to do with terrain of Western Europe (in Russia the tank heavy armored corps are still very useful and the game models this difference as well). You can get an incredible understanding of tactics from the game due to the surprisely deep mechanics built into the game (close defense, iniative values, FOW ambushes [I don't even know how you can program that into a computer game but it is so much fun]).
It was also fascinating to see how great heros can make me more conservative (because I do not want to lose them) and I lose out on triumphs. In a matter of speaking.... I have become too attached to my soldiers and take less risks because of it. What an incredible historical model.
I am very grateful you have kept such a wide range of equipment. I use the M3 Stuart's Bns in my heavy division model where they mostly just draw the enemy out. If they somehow get good heros I will upgrade them to Sherman Bns. The 1st Infantry Division actually had a towed Tank Destroyer Bn assigned in the early part of France and I love trying to get the best use of those 3inch ATs. I use older equipment prominently in my double Rommel Allied Campaign (again, I rarely get Triumphs that way but it is more fun to me). It is awesome that you have included such a wide range of equipment.
I want to say thank you for your commitment and attention to detail. A few years ago an old family illness descended on me earlier than expected. It was difficult adjusting my mental energy to my depleted physical energy. Playing your game in all the many ways you have enabled it to be played, researching the battles to get appropriately historical units, and trying different historical "what if" combinations has allowed my brain to exercise itself between meditations. Sometimes my brain just needed to run itself out and your game was the perfect treadmill. I know it is a business but this game has had a profound effect on my journey over these last two years. Thank you, thank you very much.
