Not sure where to ask- Panzer battles vs. Pzr Campaign

[carl11]

Don't have any Pzr Battles games,so I have to ask those that have both the differences between that and Panzer Campaigns? 'Appears' to be...scale? Are there any major play-ability differences?

[Compass Rose]

The following is taken directly from the PzB Kursk Designer's Notes PDF, starting on page 12.


Is Panzer Battles an update of John Tillers Campaign Series?

--Panzer Battles is a new simulation series that is designed to fit between Squad Battles and Panzer Campaigns and uses many features of both. It is built on the Panzer Campaigns engine with Squad Battles features as well as new routines to reflect this scale. Many of Panzer Battles’ individual features are laid out in the answers below.


--John Tiller’s Campaign Series covered multiple engagements in a campaign format. Panzer Battles covers a specific battle in depth.


What is the scale of Panzer Battles?

Panzer Battles is a grand tactical, platoon/company simulation. Hexes are 250 metres across, height levels are 20 metres and turns are 30 minutes during daylight and 60 minutes during night.


Why is Panzer Battles called a ‘Battle Simulation’?

--Panzer Battles is intended to cover engagements no longer than a day. The focus is on the manoeuvring of mid-sized formations such as Regiments, Brigades and Divisions.

--To represent this shorter period, loss recovery and night fatigue are not in play.


What features have come from Squad Battles?

--Persistent Concealment. Dependent on the terrain, units will not be revealed until they either fire, are recon spotted or are assaulted. It is possible to assault a hidden unit in a hex.

--Unlimited opportunity fire. Units during the Defensive Fire phase may fire an unlimited number of times. A previous tactic from Panzer Campaigns of soaking up Defensive Fire with a ‘cheap’ unit no longer applies.


What features have originated or been adjusted from Panzer Campaigns?

--Recon spotting is a standard rule and can result in spotting concealed units.

--There is no phased play, i.e. all Defensive Fire is controlled by the AI in the opponents turn.

--Indirect Fire always uses the alternate rule, i.e. all units in a hex are subject to losses.

--The alternate rules for Direct Fire and Assaults are not used or available.

--There are no penetrated hexes for obstacles or minefields. With the lower scale, field fortifications need to be cleared by engineers.

--There is no Operational Auto Move, but the Immediate AI Orders, Move in Column function is included.

--Artillery will not stockpile during a scenario, but can start a scenario stockpiled.  Mortars and direct fire only artillery (Infantry Guns) cannot start stockpiled.

--Vehicles will only get ½ the defensive benefit of the terrain in a hex and ½ the Improved Position and Trench fortifications benefit.

--Units with an Assault Value of 0 are automatically overrun if assaulted for the cost of moving into the terrain.

--Units other than Artillery do not go Low Ammo when isolated. This is to represent the ammo combat load that units carried with them. Units can be set as starting with Low Ammo in a scenario if required.

--Delayed disruption is not included. With the closer ranges it is evident when a unit is in disarray.

--Bunker building is not included as the time frame is not sufficient for creating these fortifications.

--Encrypted PBEM game files use a new checksum to indicate if a modified game file (OB, PDT etc) has been used.

--The included optional rules are; Artillery setup, Optional Surrender, Low Visibility Air Effects, Programmed Weather, Limited Air Recon, Optional Fire Results, Optional Assault Results, Higher Fatigue Recovery, Indirect Fire & Air Strikes by the Map, Counterbattery Fire & No Low Fuel Effects.


What new features have been included for Panzer Battles?

--A spotting unit cannot have moved if it wants to call in artillery or airstrikes. The onus is on the player to execute all his strikes before moving too many units.

--Artillery can fire either HE or smoke. The munitions type can be selected from the Artillery Dialog. Smoke will persist till the start of the firing players next turn.  Units can fire out of or into a smoke hex with no loss of effectiveness but not through it. There are a finite number of smoke rounds per side in a scenario.

--There is a limit of how much artillery can fire into a hex. The number of guns that can fire into a hex is limited to 1.5 X the hex stacking limit divided by 10. With a maximum stacking limit of 250 in Kursk, this gives a value of 375 (250 X 1.5) divided by 10 for each gun. Therefore, 37 guns (rounded down) can fire on any particular hex assuming it can be spotted by appropriate units.

--A Stack Fire modifier is calculated for both Direct and Indirect fire if a hex has 50% or more stacking points in it. In Kursk losses will increase once a hex has 125 men or equivalents (250 stacking limit / 2). Over stacking modifiers can be checked by right clicking on the Terrain box.

--Units will only block line of sight (LOS) if they have stacking points 50% or higher than the stacking limit. In Kursk any hex with 125 points or higher of men or equivalents will satisfy the LOS check.

--Vehicle wrecks have been included. Wrecks impact road movement and visibility. Each wreck counts as 10 against the road movement limit in a hex. In Kursk the road movement limit is 75. If there were 3 wrecks in a hex only 4 vehicles could move through the hex at a time and still use road movement. Once 8 wrecks are in a hex, no road movement is possible and in forbidden terrain such as swamp & marsh, vehicles would not be able to enter a hex under any circumstances. Once a hex contains wrecks over the road movement limit (In Kursk this is 8 wrecks or more) it is considered to be a permanent smoke hex and will block all LOS through the hex.

--Vehicles can carry foot infantry even if they are not transport units. These external riders are limited to 5 men per vehicle. Riding a tank into battle is extremely risky and this has been taken into account. Riders are considered to be
in travel mode while aboard and this significantly increases their exposure.
External riders can be fired on by soft attack values even when the transporting vehicle is hard. External riders will be eliminated when the vehicle they are on is in an assault, no matter whether they are attacking or defending in the assault. Finally, External riders are 4 times more vulnerable to minefield attacks.

--There is an Assign Opportunity Fire (AOF) dialog that allows engagement ranges to be set for different unit types. This allows units to be setup to utilize persistent concealment and only fire at either the appropriate range or target.

--Fortifications (Improved Positions, Trenches, Bunkers and Pill-Boxes) are owned by either side. This allows ‘friendly’ minefields, obstacles and fortifications to be seen.

--Intel markers have been included for known or suspected enemy positions that are out of LOS or in persistent concealment. These Intel markers are set within the scenario.

--Raised rail and roads have been included to allow embanked transport routes.
This is important for Kursk where many of the railroads were raised to avoid the effects of the spring thaw (Rasputitsa). At Prokhorovka the raised railway significantly divided the battle in two.

--Off board units are available. This is particularly pertinent for headquarters and artillery. In a smaller battle these units are available to provide command or fire, but are their historical distance from the battlefield. The inclusion of off board units allows smaller maps to be employed yet available assets to be used.

--Air units have to be plotted a turn earlier than the actual airstrike resolution. If the target hex is empty, there is a chance that an adjacent hex is attacked. Some air units are one time use while other may be available from turn to turn.

[carl11]

ah, thank you CR.