Rock, Paper, Shotgun

Corps, corps, korps. Panzer Corps, a Panzer General for the new generation, looks a lot like it could have been from the previous generation, or even the one before. It’s the kind of game I imagine my grandpa would have played on his rickety Victrola while riding a Penny Farthing. It apparently maintains the high quality of its spiritual forefather, which means I really should play it at some point, and perhaps that time is close. Afrika Korps is an upcoming expandalone for the game, covering WWII’s North African campaign from the Axis perspective. So, roll into the Arabian Peninsula and “maybe even invade the underbelly of the British Empire and threaten its crown jewel: India”. That sounds very untoward. Surprisingly elegant trailer below.

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‘Tis the season to report that many a thing is on sale. The latest discounts to come to my attention are over at Matrix Games, eminently serious-minded purveyors of complex strategic delicacies It’s not often that these grizzled veterans emerge into the wilds – they hate breaking cover – so the only hope for a discount is usually when Matrix have their own sales and this year, the holiday sale includes everything released before 2011, as well as a few from this year. Head over and take a look.

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Panzer Corps, a game I am more likely to eat than play, has just released a demo. Which is splendid news if you’re not a giant strategy wimp like me, but rather a brave, strong, firmly-featured type. Within the demo you’ll find six missions from the unenigmatically named Bootcamp Campaign, as well as the invasion of Poland (cripes) and “the first few turns of the Norway scenario”. It should give a good feel for how progression takes place. They’re also putting in a “limited” version of the scenario editor. Oh, and for the next two weeks the game is half price from Slitherine.

World War II strategy game Panzer Corps is available right now. You can get it from either Slitherine here or Matrix Games here. It’s priced at £26.99/$39.99 for a download or £33.99/$49.99 for a download + shiny plastic disc edition. For your money, you get four hundred different types of unit, including Tanks, Planes, Cars, Guns, Boats and all sorts. I’ve embedded a trailer underneath for you to have a nosey at. Read the rest of this entry »

Alas, my headline puns can never beat Quinns’. But never mind that. Panzer Corps, Slitherine’s homage to hexagonal, historical Herr Hitler simulator Panzer General, is due to be released July 11, it’s been revealed. At this point I would like to apologise for the absurd amount of H in the preceding sentence. Would you like some quite dull-looking but probably very unrepresentative screenshots? Go on. There’s tanks.

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You lot got very excited last time I talked about upcoming turn-based World War 2 tactics game Team Assault: Baptism of Fire. And why wouldn’t you? I can’t imagine a better way to spend a Sunday than customising a force, taking it online, fighting other customised forces in the style of a tabletop miniatures game, drinking some tea, getting spanked by some French guy from Calais, pouring the rest of your tea down the sink in a seething rage and tweaking your force again.

On the subject, I have a couple of nice pieces of news to report. One, the devs have just started accepting beta signups. Two, they’ve announced that the game will ship with not only a map editor, but mod tools. That’s what we like to hear. Register away, lads!

So long as I’m listening to Vera Lynn and posting about World War 2 strategy games, here’s something we missed- Slitherine are also publishing Panzer Corps, their homage to the classic Panzer General strategy series, which I know is a classic because I think I saw it on my cousin’s PC during one of those rare occassions my 8 year old self lifted his head from a bag of Monster Munch. The new game isn’t a looker, but the trailer below sees the devs getting around that with admirable creativity. I’ve put some details together after the jump, too.
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Swedish indie studio Zeal has announced Team Assault: Baptism of Fire, a project we’ll be paying attention to in future for three reasons. First of all, the developers have cited the turn-based tactics of Jagged Alliance and X-Com as influences. Second, it looks like a turn-based Men of War. Third, the way it’s structured, with players building custom armies using a set number of points, is designed to scratch the exact same itch as tabletop miniatures games. More details and a trailer after the jump.
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No demo yet, but the just released Battlefield Academy does seem at least its own thing, which is always intriguing. Well, if not totally own thing, a continuation of something which was its own thing. Battle Academy was a 2004 webgame for the BBC – which is still available – and Slitherine has made a stand alone expanded commercial re-imagining with the aid of John Buckley, Military Historian at the University of Wolverhampton. Multiple theatres, accessible style, lots of details, multiplayer and modding – full feature list on the site, where you can also buy it. A little footage showing some basic tactics follows…
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