Voici quelques captures d’écrans confirmant que le travail progresse bien sur ce futur important titre de la série Panzer Battles. Série qui propose donc des simulations à une échelle à mi-chemin entre celle de Squad Battles et celle de Panzer Campaigns, qui pour le moment comporte trois volets et qui devrait aussi à l’avenir bénéficier d’améliorations notables (par exemple de meilleurs graphismes pour représenter les routes, les forêts enneigées, etc.).
En attendant plus d’informations sur Panzer Battles – Moscow, dont la date de sortie n’est pas connue, voyez chez l’éditeur cette page pour la série, puis éventuellement nos articles Panzer Battles – North Africa 1941 : pas de révolution mais vingt ans d’évolutions et Premiers pas dans Panzer Battles : coup de boutoir à Hannut, la première partie de cet AAR se trouvant par ici. Et la seconde ici. Et la troisième par là.
Communiqué
2020 End of Year Update
Panzer Battles is another series that we may look at for a ‘mid-cycle’ update. Usually, we delay updates until after a new title is released, but there are several enhancements or fixes that may justify us providing new versions.
Probably the biggest change is to artillery. We had found an ‘issue’ where artillery scaled up or down based upon the target density in a hex. This resulted in units becoming impervious to indirect fire, the smaller they were, the larger the reduction in artillery firepower. The impact has been significant. In the Panzer Battles series, the maximum stacking was normally set at either 200 men (Normandy) or 250 (all other released titles). ‘Stack-Fire’ was the applicable modifier and instead of only applying when a unit’s strength was 50% or higher than the stacking limit, for indirect fire (only) it scaled down when a unit’s strength was below 50% of the stacking limit. This issue benefited smaller units such as platoons. This ‘bug’ was one of the reasons that mortars were so ineffective in game.
We are now struggling with the opposite problem where artillery units are proving to be extremely effective and causing large casualties if players are not careful. This is not an issue, but we are considering other measures to limit the flexibility of artillery generally.
We do not want to release upgraded artillery where it may impact balance in previous released scenarios generally. We are now testing a range of options. One of the most promising is the inclusion of spotters for artillery units. We are trialling these at corps and army level guns so that the heaviest artillery is not available to every lowly NCO on the battlefield. Initial indications are positive, and we have some interesting solutions on how to make artillery to feel more like World War Two era rather than the on-call Modern era equivalents.
There are also some changes being made for the current work-in progress Panzer Battles title and they will logically fit into some of the existing scenarios in the Panzer Battles Demo. We will try and update all at the same time and give everyone a sneak peek at some of the upcoming changes.
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In last years update we showcased the new Panzer Battles map covering the area around Moscow. Like the Civil War Battles title, we are making progress on what will become Panzer Battles Moscow.
This is a big title and we currently have scenarios planned or being tested covering from October 1941 into February 1942. About twenty of the forty to sixty scenarios are done and now being actively play tested. Mike Avanzini’s order of battle and map work has made creating scenarios a lot easier, but there is still a lot of work to do to cover the extended period.
There are a quite a few rule changes being considered to help model these operations. The previously mentioned changes to artillery will be new. We are also looking to change around the frozen penalty code to provide a wider range of issues and outcomes. We have found the current implementation is a little too simplistic, and we have some nice ideas that will hopefully make the code. The other change is that we are looking to have dedicated winter features. Here is an image that was shown in last years update and compare that to the new graphical inclusions. Trees are now snowy, and roads and buildings are more appropriate for a frozen landscape.
From a play perspective, this title is again quite different to the ones that preceded it. Its quite daunting to face Soviet human wave attacks for example! There is going to be a great mix of scenario included that range from meeting engagements, armour thrusts, attacks on prepared positions and crossing frozen rivers into the teeth of the enemy. There may even be some parachute drops as the Russians used their parachutists on several occasions.
The Soviets also have some very distinct troops with Russian, Siberian, Marines and NKVD troops all represented. There is a nice range of capabilities between them and none are pushovers, particularly when it is cold.
Here are a few shots from play test games.
