Panzer Corps 2 News

Hello Generals,

During today's Tea Time, Marco has announced the upcoming release of Panzer Corps 2: Frontlines - Bulge, the latest DLC in the Panzer Corps 2 series. The DLC is scheduled to launch this spring.

For more insights, check out the full interview with the game's producer, David Sharrock:

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

Get ready to immerse yourself in the Battle of the Bulge, experiencing the intensity of WWII strategy gaming like never before.



A Strategic Onslaught
Beginning just days before the infamous December 16th, 1944, the campaign kicks off with a smaller-scale US offensive, setting the stage for the tumultuous 4-6 weeks of the Battle of the Bulge



Dive into the Details
Panzer Corps 2: Frontlines - Bulge cleverly divides the entire operation into smaller, focused battles, each spanning just a few days and a limited area. This approach allows you to relive crucial moments with unprecedented detail.

New Challenges and New Rewards
As you face a surprise German offensive in adverse weather conditions, you'll be outgunned and outnumbered. Earn heroes and extra units to tip the scales in your favor. Plus, tailor your experience by selecting easier or more challenging battles – it's your call.



Key Features:

• Experience the Battle of the Bulge within a more zoomed-in scale, featuring the famous Siege of Bastogne
  
• Unique Campaign Structure divided into smaller battles for detailed, focused gameplay.
  
• Allied airpower is restricted for a few turns due to adverse weather conditions.
  
• Earn heroes and extra units as rewards.
  
• Tailor the experience by selecting easier or more challenging battles.
  
• Enjoy a balanced gaming experience with rewards and scenario selection.
  
• Adapt difficulty to individual skill levels and preferences.
  
• Stay tuned for more information.
  

Wishlist now:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2711250/Panzer_Corps_2_Frontlines__Bulge/


Join now the Beta

You can now apply to the beta and help us in developing the game. If you are willing to test it, find bugs, offer feedback and criticism and you love Panzer Corps, we definetely could use your help.

What are you waiting for? Click here to sign up.

[h2]To celebrate the announcement of Panzer Corps 2 - Frontline - Bulge, we are excited to announce a new Chess Tournamen[/h2]

It will feature the 3 multiplayer chess maps. You can sign up here

The Tournament follows Swiss Tournament rules: you can find the full list of rules here

The first round will start on Thursday, 15th February 2024 at 12.00pm. No further entries can be accepted after the tournament has begun.

The tournament will last 3 rounds, 10 days each. Games are paired, so each matchup will be played both ways. All you need to do is sign up, then the system will pair you with opponents and create your PBEM games. You will be notified by mail of when the tournament is starting and when it will be time to play your turns.

Greetings to our Panzer Corps 2 Community,

While we are thrilled to celebrate the launch of a project as large and expansive as Axis Operations 1946, this is by far the biggest single content drop we have ever had since the original launch of Panzer Corps 2 way back in early 2020, but we cannot help but realize we dropped the ball on its deployment to you, our players.

Some of our players ran into serious, game-breaking problems with 1946 when it released. Since then, we've taken every possible step to resolve these issues ASAP, and they are now fully resolved to the best of our knowledge.

We fully accept your criticisms as they are well deserved and serve as a lesson to us that we really must do better. Thanks for your continued interest and support; it helps us to improve and gives us powerful motivation to more diligently utilize our time and energy in the ongoing work surrounding Panzer Corps 2. To disappoint so many players is extra heartbreaking for us, because of the literal hundreds if not thousands of man-hours of effort that has been poured into making 1946 possible. Still, we would like to use this opportunity to once again apologize for these issues and say thank you for your patience and support.

But we know that words alone are also pretty hollow, so as part of that apology, we also have a little gift for you to enjoy. Thank you for calling us out on our failures and for continuing to show your passion and support to prove that you really care about our game by expressing your frustrating when it’s unacceptably broken.



Many thousands of you have embarked on the new Axis Operations 1946 campaign, and we’re absolutely humbled by so many gamers playing our little WW2 strategy game!
Thank you.

Now then, on to our announcement:



As part of our apology and to show our thanks to our players, we have a very special treat for you to enjoy this holiday season. We’re rolling out one very special, very humongous solo scenario that will be free for all owners of any edition of Panzer Corps 2 to play and enjoy!

Installation instructions can be found at the very bottom of this post.



Set in 1947, the new scenario, Escape to New York, gives you command of American forces struggling to survive the Axis invasion of the United States. For those of you who really like your gigantic scenarios, this one is definitely for you. There are over 500 units participating in this battle, not counting additional waves of Axis reinforcements that will also attempt to block your forces from reaching your ultimate goal of New York! The map size is over 2000 hexes!



This is the ultimate battle of 1946 era equipment, with Atomic Bombers, Landkreuzers, E-Series tanks, and advanced American tanks and aircraft on full display. And it is our holiday gift to all owners of Panzer Corps 2 to enjoy for free as a solo scenario! We hope you enjoy this behemoth scenario, and we can’t wait to show you what is coming up for Panzer Corps 2 in 2024!



Don’t forget though, if you want to play a full 30 scenario campaign with these awesome new weapons of war, be sure to check out the brand new Axis Operations 1946 DLC package:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2393021/Panzer_Corps_2_Axis_Operations__1946/

[h2]Escape to New York manual installation instructions:[/h2]

To get this scenario into your hands as quickly as possible, and also as CLEANLY as possible, we’re going to hold off on adding this scenario to the game via a patch for now. We certainly don’t want to clog the patch pipeline that is vitally needed to deploy critical hot fixes and bug fixes, so if you would like to play this mega scenario before it is officially integrated into the game in a future patch, follow these simple instructions for more Panzer Corps 2 gameplay fun!

1. Download this zip file.

FILEDOWNLOAD LINK HERE

2. Extract the 4 scenario files found inside to this directory location:

[Documents]\My Games\Panzer Corps 2\Scenarios

Note, that in the following example image 'smoke' is just my PC name, your user name will be unique.



3. You can now launch the scenario through the custom scenario interface:



4. Enjoy!

And if you have any feedback on this mega scenario, we would love to hear from you, and perhaps we can even fine tune and improve the scenario even more before it is officially integrated as part of the base Panzer Corps 2 game.

Hello Panzer Generals!

With the launch of Panzer Corps 2: Axis Operations - 1946, we've unveiled the changelog:

- Added Axis Operations 1946 campaign.
- Added 50+ new late war units.
- Added 5 new traits: "Area of Effect 1", "Atomic Bomber", "Atomic Missile", "Minimum Range 1", "Landkreuzer".
- Improved performance of destination predictions.
- Improved handling of units from deactivated mods. When a saved game or core with such units is loaded, the game will not crash, but instead show all such units as "invalid".
- "Heroic showdown" option now has an additional slider to set the number of heroes added to enemy units from 1 to 5. Also, this option no longer assigns heroes to mines.
- Half-tracked units now spend 1.5 movement points over snowy clear terrain, instead of 2.
- Discard transport now correctly returns slots used by that transport.
- Overrun is now only works for zero-range attacks.
- It is now possible to deploy and rebase aircraft to carriers of an allied player (when "share airfields" option is used).
- Heuschrecke Tank now has NoPurchase trait.
- E-75 is now a part of redesigned E series of units, and appears on 01.01.1946.
- Vehicle engine smoke is now emitted backwards, not forwards.
- Rocket flying speed now changes according to "animation speed" setting.
- Fixed suppression tooltip.
- Fixed a number of formatting issues in all localizations.
- Removed "translator's notes" from russian localization.
- Fixed the Editor showing unnecessary parameters for AI orders.
- Fixed Nagato collision box, so it's not detected in random locations
- Fixed shop crash related to JP infantry models after save/reload
- Fixed frozen water displaying incorrectly
- Fixed ground unit staying in the air when Embark command is undone
- Other minor fixes

Thank you to all the players for support the game

Brace yourselves, commanders!





This immense expansion includes 30 epic campaign scenarios that stretch from sea to shining sea across America. Wehrmacht invasion forces are gearing up for an all-out showdown across the Continental US, and you're the maestro orchestrating this symphony of strategic mayhem!

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

Key Features:

• Immersive Campaign: Dive into a sprawling narrative that challenges players to navigate the intricacies of a captivating alternate history, drawing upon rich lore while remaining accessible to both new and veteran players
  
• Tiered Objective System: Experience a new level of strategy with the introduction of a tiered objective system, featuring Primary Objectives, Bonus Objectives, and Elite Objectives that add depth and complexity to the gameplay
  
• Exciting Gameplay Elements: Encounter special extra-large unit models, including the formidable Japanese Super Battleship Yamato, American Atomic B-29 Bombers, German Atomic-armed V-2 Rockets, modified Japanese Fugaku bombers with Fritz X Missiles, and entirely original unit designs exclusive to Panzer Corps 2. Brace yourself for the awe-inspiring Landkreuzers!
  
• Expanded Roster: With over 50 new, high-quality, 3D unit models, Axis Operations 1946 further enriches the game's extensive roster of World War II vehicles and aircraft, offering players an even broader array of choices for their tactical battles and strategic endeavors
  
• Continuation of Core Forces: Building upon the success of previous Axis Operations DLCs, players can import their core forces from the Axis Operations 1945 East campaign or jump straight into the action with a preset core force for the Axis Operations 1946 Amerika campaign
  

Prepare to rewrite the fate of nations as you lead the Axis Powers in an audacious invasion of the United States.

To celebrate the launch, Axis Operations - 1946 will be on discount of 10% off for a limited time:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2393021/Panzer_Corps_2_Axis_Operations__1946/

And if you haven't had the chance to play the game yet, now is the moment: Panzer Corps 2 and the Axis Operations series will be on sale at up to a 60% discount!
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1072040/Panzer_Corps_2/

Make sure not to miss XTRG playing the game on the Slitherine Twitch channel today at 17:00 UK time!

Achtung Panzer Generals! We are only one week away from Axis Operations 1946 arriving, and so we have one more Dev Diary to share with you as a final preview to what’s coming.

So far we’ve looked at many examples of new aircraft, American equipment, and even Landkreuzers, but with more than 50 new models being added for Axis Operations 1946, we still have even more to showcase! Today we’ll be looking at not just new German equipment, but also some other Axis equipment.



German Equipment

The first order of business is to look at the whole E-series of vehicles. Not only do we have models for them all now, but we have a pretty specific concept for approaching their stats and balance.



As a quick preamble, let’s talk a little bit about logistics. Everyone likes to say the Sherman was not a very good tank, and they’ll go to pointing to stats like needing a dozen Shermans to take on a single Tiger, as the Sherman 75mm gun was just not able to penetrate the frontal protection of a Tiger at any range, and needed to close in for a side or rear shot for any chance at knocking out a Tiger tank.

While all that is well and true, it has to be remembered that Sherman tanks needed to be very transportable, not just crossing the English Channel, but starting their journey all the way in the United States before travelling across literal oceans to fight in European or Pacific Theaters.

Given the entire purpose of the German E-series was to create streamlined designs that were easier to mass produce and less prone to mechanical failure, we thought this was a perfect opportunity to put the shoe on the other foot, and give the E-series of tanks more varied stats than just increasing their power over existing designs such as the Panzer VII Lion or Panzer VIII Maus.

But rather than work our way up, let’s start big with the E-100 and work our way down!



First off, we have the E-100 Heavy Tank. Before we talk about the tank, let’s compare its stats to the existing Panzer VIII Maus:



So right away, we can see there is a bit of give and take going on here. While the E-100 has undeniably weaker attack and defensive values with a higher prestige cost doubling the existing Maus, it also has an incredibly low slot cost, even lower than a Tiger I. And compared to the venerable old Tiger I, the new E-100 has superior stats in every category except Soft Attack!

Like the Huckebein we saw before, the E-100 is a vehicle we want to coexist alongside existing German Heavies in the 1946 campaign. While a tank fleet of Lions or Maus with respective CORE slots weighing in at 9 and 10 will VERY quickly eat up your slot limit, the slightly leaner E-100 is a very combat effective alternative with a much lighter logistical footprint on your forces. Of course, it does carry that insanely high prestige cost to purchase (and repair!) so better make sure you grab a few bonus objectives to pay for your shiny new E-series tanks.

We’ve had the E-75 in Panzer Corps 2 for a while now, so we’ll move ahead to the E-50.



Where the E-100 might be considered a streamlined Maus, and an E-75 is a refined and upgrade Tiger II, the E-50 is definitely a next generation Panther tank.

With very similar stats to the new Panther II we introduced previously, the E-50 comes in at a shocking 4 CORE slots, giving it the logistical footprint of a late model Panzer III M! So if you want something with Panther speed and power but the slot cost of a Panzer III, the E-50 is your weapon of choice. Just keep in mind, this sleek and streamlined tank platform might struggle against the heaviest American equipment, as your E-50 has become the ocean travelling design while something like an American Longstreet is a heavy beast that is made to defend the land it was built on!



Further down the line, we have the E-25, an anti-tank platform in the E-Series.



Like the E-100 and Maus comparison, the E-25 faces a similar relationship with the existing Jagdpanther. The Jagdpanther’s stats definitely far exceed the relatively diminutive E-25. Our one saving grace for the E-25 is that it comes in at half the slot cost of the Hunting Panther, and that makes it a very cheap and reliable vanguard unit that you can deploy en masse, as you can literally deploy twice as many E-25s as you can Jagdpanthers. And compared to the workhorse StuG IIIG, the E-25 is a pure upgrade in every sense, including a lower slot cost than the StuG IIIG.

Lastly, we have the E-10, another anti-tank platform.



Like the Hetzer, a similar lighter self propelled anti-tank design, the E-10 somewhat struggles to find its place amongst bigger and more lethal platforms like the Jagdpanther and Jagdtiger. Even so, this unit serves its role as a slot inexpensive unit to deploy, the perfect sort of unit for protecting distant objectives that need a watch over, as slot expensive units are ill-spent on garrison duty type tasks. Expect to see the E-10 a few times in this defensive role, and there’s definitely one very specific scenario the E-10 and E-25 absolutely shine in, but we don’t want to spoil that particular battle! Let’s just say it’s the kind of battle you want a... expendable delaying force to take the brunt of enemy attacks, instead of risking your elite veteran units in their big slow Jagdtigers or Maus in such a dangerous position.

Up next we’ll look at a few non-German Axis units starting with one very special piece of...

Nationalist Spanish Aid

As with the Second World War proper, the role of Nationalist Spain is going to be extremely limited in Axis Operations 1946. But we have not forgotten about Germany’s Spanish allies, and so their contribution to 1946 comes in the form of a very special and original concept tank made exclusively for Panzer Corps 2: the Verdeja 3!



So basically the story goes in our Alternate Timeline is that, much like in our History, Germany shared the spoils of captured Allied equipment with its fellow Axis Nations. While Nationalist Spain ostensibly remained neutral in the Second World War, we thought they could lend their aid to Axis Operations 1946 by marrying the hull of their Verdeja 2 design with a new turret taken from stocks of captured Soviet KV-85s.

And I have to say, I think the hull size and shape looks very cool with this larger KV-85 turret on it!



One more thing we should note, the Verdeja 3, given its Spanish origins, is not available for purchase as a normal unit during Axis Operations 1946. So how do you get a Verdeja 3? I’d start looking at some Elite Objectives if you want to get your hands on this very special reward! Did I mention it has some pretty insane stats?



The only way we could keep stats this good and slot cost that low was to make it available in limited amounts and also place the unit behind the wall of Elite Objective completion!

Japanese Units in 1946



So joining Japan in a mutual Axis invasion on the Western Coast of the United States is a little bit of a conundrum. We listened to Spanish Civil War feedback, and we’ve opted to NOT make Japan an AI controlled ally that you need to heavily rely upon. As interesting and thematic as that concept was for the Spanish Civil War, we have to agree it was frustrating for players to rely on a unit as critical as infantry in the hands of an AI ally you could only give vague instructions to. Either way, such a relationship between Germany and Japan would be inappropriate for 1946, so we’re approaching them a little bit differently.

You’ll see Japanese AI units in several scenarios, especially early on as the Japanese Combined Fleet assists in naval operations at the start of the invasion. But these units have their own orders and instructions, and it should not interfere with your Primary, Bonus, or Elite Objectives.

Here for example, we see the newly produced Nagato Class Battleship, in all of its super-sized model glory!



To use your own Japanese units, well we also wanted to keep that door open, and so we made acquiring a few new Japanese units possible through Elite Objective rewards. Have fun finding out what kind of rewards are sprinkled throughout the multitude of Elite Objectives present in practically every scenario of Axis Operations 1946!

Conclusion

We hope you enjoyed these previews of so many of the new units arriving alongside Axis Operations 1946. This campaign has been an absolutely monumental work of total passion to produce, and we’re incredibly eager to get it into your hands to enjoy very soon!

Get ready for Axis Operations 1946, launching November 30th:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2393021/Panzer_Corps_2_Axis_Operations__1946/