Happy Birthday - Panzer Battles!!!

[Strela]

Who would have thought that a year has gone by since Panzer Battles - Kursk Southern Flank was released? On Feb 28th we will celebrate the games first anniversary.

I know I keep saying the first patch is imminent but it really is now. We had to wait for some free time from John to look over a few more fixes and we have got them done now. We're doing some final sanity checking and everything going well we will be releasing it this week. I won't post the changelog until I know we have finished everything up as it is still subject to change. The changelog will include all fixes and enhancements as well as details on the new terrain and how to mix and match it with the graphics that were released with the original game.

I know I have been showing updated terrain graphics - here is what we believe is the final version with updated streams, rivers, antitank trenches and bunkers.



There has been a huge amount of work done for this first patch by all of the team. I also want to thank the members of theBlitz for all their feedback to date. We have tried to either fix or explain why certain things have worked the way they have. There are a lot of changes that can be attributed to the community here and in particular we have looked at scenarios where you have called out issues and in many cases changed them. The reporting tools within the ladder system here have been key for determining where more work was needed. Please continue to report your games and just as importantly post your thoughts, positive or negative so we can look at future fixes.






Finally, as a small repayment for your support to date here is a first image from Panzer Battles 2....





Thanks again from all of us here on the team and happy birthday Panzer Battles!!

David

[Xaver]

Congratulations, i was thinking to in the last year... time flies... flying in the wings of JT!!!! hehehe

Well, thanks for PzB2 leak, we can discard 1940 (the trucks, the recon vehicle and specially the jeep is a good clue) and my 2cents go for Market Garden, i notice there is a belgium unit 1st Belgian Infantry Brigade in the VIII corps.

When i have time i try find the names behind the faces.
Again congratulations and waiting the new title hehehe.

[ComradeP]

It remains strange that you can find pictures of fairly obscure German commanders on the internet with relative ease, but that for some reason few photographs of less well known Allied commanders can be found.

The man in the lower left is Major-General Charles Foulkes, commander of the 2nd Canadian Infantry Division in Normandy. I knew his face because he also negotiated the surrender of German forces in the Netherlands in 1945.

A Normandy or at least a 1944 game is something of a disappointment in terms of originality, but I'm sure it will be enjoyable.

By the way David: the StuG company in Nechaevka that I PM'ed you about is still Fixed until Das Reich is released instead of until Deutschland is released in the version we have. It's also somewhat odd that the Soviet artillery units in the least exposed positions are not Fixed, whilst the more exposed ones are.

Xaver: the 2nd Canadian Infantry Division wasn't involved in Market Garden as at that time it was trying to rectify the strategic blunder by the Allies of not securing the Scheldt Estuary.

[Xaver]

Thanks for clarification ComradeP, i confuse his face with other UK commander.

I find the photos of UK commanders but i am totally unable to link the image i find in internet with the image they are using in game... and is strange because i am a total nullity with names but a master with faces (is shamefull when i find a guy i dont see in years, i can remember where i know him, the years we study together, the "bad" things we do even in the minimal details... but i am unable to remember the name )

Normandy... for me the problem with it is the overexploited around the battle i prefer other less well know battles/actions but hey, maybe they want do like with PzC... 2nd title was Normandy no???

[ComradeP]

Well, we're getting a big map, but I wonder what timeframe the game will cover.

I mean: for a Panzer Battles series game, we more or less need interesting tank battles.

Something like Operation Totalize would be an interesting starting point, but the third gentleman in the lower row is Brigadier Kenneth Gault Blackader, who commanded the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division's 8th Infantry Brigade...until the 9th of August, when he became acting commander of the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division, replacing Major-General Keller after 8th Air Force carpet-bombed General Keller's HQ.

The Dutch and Belgian brigades didn't arrive until early August.

For the moment, my "new" guess is: Operation Tractable or Falaise Pocket (with the entire build-up to the pocket from the American side of the front as well, maybe even Operation Luettich although the game would cover 2 weeks in that case) as the Americans are likely to be involved considering how big the map well be.

Edit: The 4th gentleman is Brigadier Robert Andrew Wyman, commander of the Canadian 2nd Armoured Brigade. That immediately nullifies my guess as Wyman was wounded on the 8th of August and was no longer in command by the time of the Falaise Pocket.

Maybe it's Totalize then, or a combination of Operation Spring and Operation Cobra. But then, no Dutch or Belgian brigades would be in France.

[Strela]

Geeze, you guys are sleuths! This title will be much harder to hide than Kursk :) but we knew that!

All I can say is that I'm finding that Panzer Battles can give you a different perspectives on battles that have been 'well covered'. Using Kursk as an example, I don't believe anyone has ever covered the Soviet counterattacks on July 8th, or for that matter III Pz Korp on July 5th or XXXXVIII Pz Korp on July 9th in anywhere near the depth that is in Kursk. These are scenarios that I have seen in few if any games covered at this scale. The fact is too, that we're trying to have a depth of research that allows us to build as accurate simulations as we can. This requires both OB information and positional data to allow appropriate scenarios to be setup.

As far as what is covered in the new game, as mentioned previously, it's a huge map (a magnitude beyond Kursk) and we have gone beyond any one battle in the campaign.

David

[Xaver]

Looks like Operation Paddle... the Irene brigade appears to (i am curious here because both serve under 6th airborne command) the point is they fight 2nd line german troops, lets see what can offer here.

PD: there were polish troops to no???

[ComradeP]

As I just edited in my previous post: the Brigadier in the lower right of the previous screenshot was wounded on the 8th of August and was no longer in command of a frontline unit for either a while or the rest of the war.

I still haven't figured out who the guy with the glengarry is, and as I've been searching for about 3 hours now, it's time to do something else.

Covering multiple battles is of course an option due to the large map, but not having a central theme besides "Normandy" would make it more of a PzC title with a PB scale and engine.

[-72-]

@ Xaver:

http://www.matrixgames.com/forums/tm.asp?m=2915080

Have a look at (I think you go by Hexagon iirc ;) #15 -your second sentence...

http://www.matrixgames.com/forums/tm.asp?m=2915080

I don't have that screenshot but I remember it - I think it is one and the same project.

For the record #3 - just based upon process of elimination (not East Front, not same as #2 - which is above) and general optimism on my part for Australians in the desert - I want it to be North Africa -don't care if it is Tobruk or Alamein. . .

[Xaver]

Well, i like to see a desert title for PzB, maybe i prefer Crusader over El Alamein.

For me the good point in El Alamein is they can cover the full battle in a title, the map extension is similar to Kursk but with less deep, is more a north south map and well, they can cut the battle in sectors.

Crusader is harder because the map offers some problems... they can try cut it to cover specific actions like the breakthrough from Tobruk, the figth around sidi rezegh, Ariete fight... i think the battle has enough specific actions to cover them in a single title.

Maybe one thing they can explore is create titles for PzB ala Salerno43, i refer select actions/battles inside a bigger action (battle/campaigns) and create tematic titles, for example one covering the soviet juggernaut offensives (i think in a title with Vitebsk fight in 1944, maybe the most interesting scen for me in Minsk44) and some similar battles in east front, a title covering battles in Italy... the idea is cover actions to small to be a complete title but that has interest and with others could provide something interesting, with PzB you dont need care about play a full campaign and is possible center in specific actions even when they are from diferent dates and areas.

The fun thing is that with PzB they can cover a lot more things than with PzC/MC scale... they are working in Armored Battles something that opens the room for Arab-Israeli wars and more, even with PzB engine they can cover the Pacific in WWII or why not WWI??? i think the limit is the sky... and time to work and family

Any way lets go step by step, first is the PzB1 patch and 2nd PzB2

PD: You catch me sir