Panzer Battles 2 - The Official Teaser Thread

[Strela]

Hi All,

For anyone following it, JC has put up his latest blog entry for his AAR here;

http://kriegsimulation.blogspot.com/2015...art-3.html

I can feel the tension rising...!!!


David

[Xaver]

My F5 button says thanks.

Tension... allways a dangerous thing

[Xaver]

Ummm Strela in PzC thread talks about PzB3 on the way (i feel is going to be Afrika title if the teaser rule is applied again... i remember before Kursk release a teaser with Shermans and we receive here an Afrikan teaser) BUT the interesting part is that at least 2 more titles are on their table.

Maybe could be interesting here open a "think tank" thread to explore what players prefer see in future to adapt PzB4-5, i dont say release the names of candidates but at least show the way... west, east... pacific... and if is indiferent for team start with one or other priorize them by players preference.

For example one thing that PzB can explore is a system ala Salerno43, i refer if you have an interesting battle but is small to fit a complete title join in 1 title diferent battles BUT with a tematic, for example a title covering the Finland participation in WWII, German desesperate defenses in diferent battles etc etc. the idea is create a title where you cant do it by lack of material, is not the same focus in Normandy that offer a big ammount of units+situations than do it with smaller battles that are not set in a bigger battle/campaign.

Maybe Normandy is going to open an interesting point in PzB serie because is not a "small" campaign and PzC offer a lot of options here to be ported to PzB scale (for example out of north Afrika titles i think in... Budapest45 or Minsk44, specially Minsk) apart cover new actions never covered before in PzC (Berlin, east Prusia actions, barbarosa or 1944-45 battles in east).

First we need have PzB Normandy and in ... lets see 15-16 months know what is going to be PzB3 and of course the weekend leak, i am going to use this post to remember it hehehe.

[Strela]

Verrieres falls!!! in JC's latest blog entry.

More details here;


http://kriegsimulation.blogspot.com/2015...art-3.html




David

[Strela]

Well it's Friday here (at least this side of the dateline!!!) and we all know that there has to be some form of update to keep you all 'happy', 

As promised we said we would move beyond 'pretty graphics' this week and get into more of the 'meat' of the game.




So today we are sharing a snapshot of the 'Getting Started' scenario. This will probably give you a flavour of the kinds of scenarios in game and the sort of details we're including.





But before we dive into that I thought I'd share the Cover Art for the game. This is final (until I change my mind again!);




If you can't tell - it's not very specific on the focus of the game!!!






So getting back to the Getting Started scenario. Here is the description from the scenario/manual;


#00 Getting Started: Pegasus Bridge - The Initial Landings                                       Turns : 10

Pegasus Bridge, North of Caen: June 6th, 1944. (Scenario Size: Brigade. Allied Human vs Axis AI)  In the early morning hours of the 6th of June, the paratroopers and glider men of the 6th British Airborne Division were landed on the far left end of the Normandy Beachhead. Their mission was to protect the flank of the British 3rd Infantry Division scheduled to land just west of the Orne Estuary. The action began with the glider coup-de-grace by Major John Howards D Company of the 2nd Battalion, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry. Their task was to secure the bridges across the Orne River and Canal and hold until relieved. Over the next 2 hours all of Brigadier Nigel Poett's 5th Parachute Brigade would land to build this easternmost bridgehead before the local German forces counterattacked. This scenario is a truncated version of #0606_02: East of the Orne - 6th Airborne's Landings. See the 'Getting Started' guide for a play through tutorial.



With that clear, here is the command report for the first turn and the map section for the scenario (all screens can be made full size by opening in a new tab). You'll note the Canal and Orne River bridges that the paratroopers had to capture to prevent the Germans from attacking into the flank of the Allied landings;






Here is a section of the reinforcement dialogue for the arriving British. Note that there is both parachute and glider borne troops;






The actual units arriving on the first turn are the bridge 'coup de main' glider force led by Howard. There are also the initial parachute pathfinders who were to drop where each of the Brigade's 3 battalions were expected and to provide navigational guides for the following Dakota troop carriers;

 




After the initial landings/drop here are the dispositions of both sides. The glider troops at the bridge are ready to assault across and clear the German security troops. A pathfinder has landed a little too close for comfort at le Mesnil (new tab for a full size version);






A little bit of chrome - we have managed to include the various platoon leaders names for the bridge landing party;






Here is a view of the second turn reinforcements. The yellow outline indicates disrupted status. Glider troops will normally arrive undisrupted, paratroops less so. There is randomness on when and where units will arrive and the British player will need to both await for disruption recovery and to start to move the scattered platoons back into companies and battalions. Dropping amongst the German garrison doesn't help. Howards glider men have captured the Benouville bridge and are (hopefully) ready for anything that approaches from that side of the bridge. Brigadier Poett's HQ is shown in the unit box on the left;





Here is the start turn report for turn 3. You can see that the British recover quickly - now just to get them consolidated into a reasonable fighting force!





Here is the situation at turn 3 (it's only 2am!). Ominously, there are 21st Panzer forces at Ranville. These are significantly tougher than the local garrison that consists of Ost troops and under trained soldiers. Glider borne AT guns are also arriving and will be needed with the 21st Panzer Division nearby;






Looking from the German perspective in turn 4, there is already a mix of Panzergrenadiers and armoured vehicles converging on the British landing zones. This may not be as easy as first thought....







That's it for this week. I'll share more of what we actually cover in scenarios for D-Day in my next update....



David

[Xaver]

Thanks for the info.

Well, the game cover art is classic, nothing says "wellcome to Normandy" like a Tiger I aiming to your face 

Ummm to be a getting started scen is an interesting option, usually these scens are less "attractive" to play them, maybe we have a scen covering same action but with more duration??? 

Oooo the "A team" Panzer... nothing like mount a gun over something that can move using an engine 

And the fight continue in Velliers... and i spot a new cat in the south...

Again thanks for the info and waiting next week leak, this is going to be a hard month for you with test, living using coffe and energy bars... feeding "the hungry beast" with pics, info and some sweets 

Good luck and have a good working weekend 

[ComradeP]

Thanks for the information on the getting started scenario, it should be an interesting one.

At the moment, I don't like the depiction of the word Normandy. It looks a bit too artistic/"fun with WordArt". It might grow on me though, like the new terrain tiles.

The cover for PB: Kursk was perhaps a bit too "full" with all the medals, but it was certainly good and functional. The "Cover Joe" which is also in the folder is good as well.

The cover for Normandy has restyled the way "Panzer Battles" is written into Gothic, I'm not sure if it is different for all of the PzC titles as well as I only own PzC Moscow '42.

I'm probably one of the youngest community members, but I'm old fashioned when it comes to wargame covers. "Keep the fonts straight and the covers simple" kind of old fashioned. I also like consistency between fonts for the name of the series.

[Compass Rose]

Great stuff Strela; thanks for posting.

[Strela]

Thanks for the information on the getting started scenario, it should be an interesting one.

At the moment, I don't like the depiction of the word Normandy. It looks a bit too artistic/"fun with WordArt". It might grow on me though, like the new terrain tiles.

The cover for PB: Kursk was perhaps a bit too "full" with all the medals, but it was certainly good and functional. The "Cover Joe" which is also in the folder is good as well.

The cover for Normandy has restyled the way "Panzer Battles" is written into Gothic, I'm not sure if it is different for all of the PzC titles as well as I only own PzC Moscow '42.

I'm probably one of the youngest community members, but I'm old fashioned when it comes to wargame covers. "Keep the fonts straight and the covers simple" kind of old fashioned. I also like consistency between fonts for the name of the series.

Like everything we do there is multiple choices for players to pick the look they want.

There is no shortage of cover choice as I'm leaving in game the various versions that have been done over the games development.

There are the 8 (currently) covers you can choose from. Note we adjusted one to keep ComradeP happy...!

(one extra note re viewing these images, they will zoom perfectly on a tablet/touch device)








David

[ComradeP]

I guess I just have nostalgia for early boardgame covers from a time when I wasn't even born yet. Simple cover, something to catch the eye.

The second cover with the Tiger has a more consistent font, more pleasing to my eyes.

Including numerous covers, so everybody can pick what he likes, even for something like the opening splash screen, is a nice touch. The move to more customization options for the graphics is greatly appreciated.

The two bottom row covers have an interesting water colour look to them, they're certainly well done.