Panzer Corps 2 News

[p]Today is Panzer Corps Day! To celebrate this moment with the whole community, we've prepared a lot of content and hosted a live event on our Twitch channel.

We retraced the history of Panzer Corps and all the series that contributed to making it the fantastic franchise it is today, such as Axis Operation, Frontlines, Elite and more.

In particular, we had an in-depth live chat with Volcanite Games, discussing one of the upcoming Allied multi-linked campaigns: the invasion of Italy by the Allied forces.

In case you missed it, you can re-watch the live event here: YouTube.

Before we move on, here's a special message for the community from Kerensky, one of the developers and a cornerstone of our community.

Frank Leone aka Kerensky

"As we mark this 14th Anniversary of Panzer Corps releasing in 2011, I thought I’d see if I could define what Panzer Corps Day is, and why we go out of our way to mark this particular day.[/p][p]There are just so many numbers involved after all that time.  Hundreds of scenarios created, tens of thousands of hours of work from across our small team, more than one hundred thousand unique players who have logged multi-millions of hours spent playing our game…[/p][p]I never would have dreamed about those kinds of numbers when I was BETA testing the original Panzer Corps back in 2010 and just beginning to learn how to make Panzer Corps content with the original Grand Campaign, and even today 14 years later those numbers are still difficult to comprehend.[/p][p]But it’s those numbers that we are here to celebrate.  It’s been an unbelievable journey for those of us involved with Panzer Corps, and it’s incredible to think that so many players have been along with us through all these years.  This day is as much our developers’ day to celebrate as it is a celebration of our player community.  Without all of your continued support and interest for over a decade now, our game would be long forgotten and abandoned.  It is thanks to you that this game will probably represent my life’s work, as I realize there’s probably no bigger or longer running project I’ll embark on like I have with Panzer Corps. [/p][p]Nothing has driven that home like the realization that Panzer Corps is approaching a generational title, as some of our potential newest campaign designers learning the trade are less than half my age.  It’s endearing to know that our work to translate the history of the World War II into our game continues to inspire and educate the next generation of people, just as I remember experiencing WWII gaming through the original Panzer General that I was playing way back in the 90s.[/p][p]Through our exploration and celebration of historical gaming, we have in our own way joined that history as we continue to retell these stories through media and games that now inspire the interest of the next generation of humanity.[/p][p]And lastly, here’s to all of the friends and family, who after all of these years, are no longer with us.  May you never be gone, as long as you are remembered.[/p][p] [/p][p]Sincerest thanks to all from San Francisco in the United States of America,[/p][p]-Frank Leone aka Kerensky"

NEW TOURNAMENT We're also glad to announce that sign-ups for a new tournament are now open.

For the first time in Panzer Corps 2 history, players will compete for a coupon prize pool. Prizes will be distributed as follows:[/p]

• [p]1st: $60 coupon[/p]
• [p]2nd: $50 coupon[/p]
• [p]3rd: $40 coupon[/p]
• [p]4th: $30 coupon[/p]
• [p]5th to 7th: $20 coupon each[/p]
• [p]8th to 10th: $10 coupon each[/p]

[p]The tournament will feature 4 brand-new scenarios with 15-days round length:[/p]

• [p]Round 1: Bardia[/p]
• [p]Round 2: Jarabub[/p]
• [p]Round 3: Desert Arena[/p]
• [p]Round 4: Benghazi[/p]

[p]PLEASE NOTE: You DO NOT need to own the Cyrenaica DLC to join and play the tournament.

[dynamiclink][/dynamiclink]WESTWALL We're also happy to announce that Panzer Corps 2: Frontlines - Westwall will be released on August 19th.

Get ready to take command of US Army formations as they battle through the formidable Siegfried Line between September and December 1944. What starts as a rapid advance into a crumbling enemy front quickly escalates into a grueling, high-stakes campaign where every inch of ground must be earned.

[dynamiclink][/dynamiclink]FREE SCENARIOS
In addition, we're happy to come out with two new free scenarios as a symbol of gratitude for the continued support of our players. But before you jump into the game, here’s a brief preview into some of the unique gameplay gimmicks each scenario offers:[/p][p][/p][p]NERETVA[/p][p]The first new scenario explores the famous Yugoslav Partisans as a playable faction and covers the Battle of Neretva River. The year is 1943, and the Axis occupation of Yugoslavia enters its darkest hour as recent Axis offensives have managed to surround the Partisans in a death trap with their backs to the Neretva River.[/p][p]Facing total annihilation and relentless assaults from all sides, your only option will be to lead a desperate breakout attempt by crossing the Neretva River in a bid to link up with friendly forces in the mountains to the southeast. At the same time, the Axis and their collaborators will do everything in their power to thwart your escape.[/p][p][/p][p]TARGU FRUMOS[/p][p]The second new scenario shifts the focus over to Romania and the Second Battle of Targu Frumos. As the Red Army threatens to isolate Iasi by targeting the crucial railway hub of Targu Frumos to the west of the city, you will get to command the determined Romanian resistance to the Soviet invasion of their country.[/p][p]However, you will not stand alone against the Soviet war machine; the Germans have sent an elite tank formation to reinforce the beleaguered Romanians. Your Romanian force will have to coordinate with German armor to effectively counter the endless Soviet assaults.[/p][p]We would love to hear your feedback on the scenarios and the new theaters they explore!

DAILY DEAL To celebreate Panzer Corps Day, enjoy discounts starting today until July 18th. The entire Panzer Corps series is discounted up to 65% on Steam.

[dynamiclink][/dynamiclink]STREAMING SCHEDULE
Lastly, here is the schedule with all the upcoming Panzer Corps 2 streams. Enjoy, have fun, and let us know what you think about all these announcements![/p]

[p]Welcome to the second Dev Diary for Panzer Corps 2: Frontlines - Westwall. This part is all about campaign details: how long is the campaign, and what are the key battles included in this DLC?  [/p][p]To answer the first question right away – the DLC includes 14 scenarios in a linear campaign. But before we go more into the details, let’s recap the situation you find yourselves in at the start… [/p][p] [/p][p]
Summertime, and the livin' is easy…[/p][p]It’s summer 1944. The Wehrmacht has suffered heavy defeats both on the Eastern Front, and in the West. Entire formations have been destroyed or suffered losses so heavy that they had to be rebuilt completely. [/p][p]Paris was liberated in August, and during the next weeks Allied forces were racing through France and the Low Countries towards Germany, meeting little opposition. [/p][p]
Optimism was running high in Allied circles these days. Ambitious plans for daring operations were brought up, to swiftly breach the Siegfried Line, or to get over the Rhine quickly after securing key bridges in a massive airborne operation. Could it all be over soon?[/p][p]Panzer Corps 2: Frontlines - Westwall begins when this - for the Allies easier - period slowly comes to an end. 
[/p][p]Where to start?[/p][p]But during the first battles in this campaign the Wehrmacht is still battered from heavy fighting in France before, so you encounter weaker opposition initially.[/p][p] [/p][p]The US First Army’s V Corps is the first American formation which hits the German border, and sends a small recon force into the later infamous Schnee Eifel east of St. Vith. This reconnaissance in force mission is the intro of the campaign. [/p][p]As it is meant to be an easier opener again we just throw you in here with a limited force of mechanized cavalry you cannot change initially. But this setup provides you with a couple of veteran units, and a few heroes. [/p][p]Don’t worry, you can change everything to your liking from the next mission onwards. The intro does not require you to hold large areas, you just need to probe the state of the German border defenses. [/p][p]
[/p][p]Afterwards V Corps attempts the first determined drive into Germany, towards the city of Bitburg. [/p][p]This time the Germans react in a way that becomes a common sight late in the war – by throwing small, ad hoc battle groups of armor and infantry at you, which however can be a serious headache if you underestimate them.
[/p][p]Heating up[/p][p]With the third battle we enter one of the hotspots of this campaign – the area between Maastricht in the Netherlands and the city of Aachen on the German side, which is covered by two separate bands of the Westwall.
[/p][p][/p][p]Several maps deal with various US formations approaching, encircling, and finally taking Aachen. When these advances are delayed in late September due to supply problems and intensifying opposition, we spend some time elsewhere.[/p][p]However, even later, after the city has fallen, we return to this area as continued heavy fighting in the nearby Huertgen Forest requires your attention, and Allied forces aim to reach the Roer River.[/p][p]

The supply issues mentioned above are only sufficiently dealt with after the port of Antwerp is reopened. This is primarily an Allied matter, especially for Canadian forces, so not depicted here.[/p][p]Neither is Operation Market Garden, the large British-led airborne assault to bypass the Siegfried Line by swiftly taking key bridges over the Rhine. [/p][p]Still those Allied operations hugely impacted US progress along the Siegfried Line both in terms of supply and troop deployments. [/p][p][/p][p]As a result some US forces were fighting under British command in the Low Countries, so we included actions in support of the Battle of the Scheldt, and in the so-called Peel Marches near the German border.[/p][p]Some little side-notes at this point: as screenshots indicate, units are using historical names on a bigger scale than they did in Bulge. We do not aim to do this for every unit, but key formations, German and Allied, will often show correct names. [/p][p]
[/p][p]In rare cases the Germans are still using Beutewaffen, which display their correct Wehrmacht designations as custom names in this DLC.[/p][p]Some German supply dumps are placed on a few maps, and almost all of them can be captured for bonus prestige and enemy equipment. They are not meant to provide tons of German hardware, but taking a number of them may allow you to field full units at some point.[/p][p][/p][p]Things go...south?[/p][p]Aside from the Aachen sector the second hotspot of this DLC is the Lorraine Campaign fought by the US Third Army and Free French forces, in the southern part of the front. [/p][p]Wait...Lorraine? Isn’t this about the Siegfried Line? History buffs surely are aware of it – the Lorraine Campaign was not treated as a separate effort in 1944, in fact the whole term was only created and popularized after the war.[/p][p]
So when the US advance on Aachen is paused we make the first excursion to this side of the war: in the Battle of Arracourt US forces have to defeat superior German armor. In November 1944 we return to Lorraine in the Battle of Metz and subsequent US advances. [/p][p]The city, guarded by a ring of old, but massive fortifications, blocks access to the German border in the Saar region, where the player finally hits the Siegfried Line again at the end of this campaign. [/p][p]
[/p][p]Let’s sum up[/p][p]Since the German side struggles to regain strength during the early battles of this campaign the overall increase in difficulty is more gradual. [/p][p]In Bulge, some of the most intense German attacks happened soon after the intro mission, when the Ardennenoffensive was in full swing. In this DLC there is no comparable onslaught, and most battles have the player on the offensive instead.[/p][p]
[/p][p]Still, there are two outright defensive missions, and some heavy German counter attacks in various battles.[/p][p]In several cases, but surely not always, players have to deal with various types of fortifications. Usually this is only happening in a part of any given map, while other parts allow for and even require armored advances.  [/p][p]However, there is certainly one battle where infantry takes the lead, and armor plays only a secondary role.[/p][p][/p][p]Conclusion[/p][p]So that’s it for the second part. We hope you welcome the additional info about the battles included, and the overall campaign progression. [/p][p]In the third and final part of this diary we focus on gameplay changes and additions, and share a lot more previews regarding visual enhancements and new units added to this DLC.[/p]

[p][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink]Welcome to the first Dev Diary for Panzer Corps 2: Frontlines - Westwall, the newest entry in the Frontlines series. [/p][p][/p][p]To get things started we explore the broad idea for this new campaign and share some more general info about it. As this is the second US-themed DLC we’ll also highlight similarities and differences compared to the earlier Frontlines-Bulge campaign.[/p][p]More Dev Diaries with details about campaign progress, specific battles included, and new additions to the game will follow soon. As with Bulge, the full campaign path, and a list of Frequently Asked Questions are provided later separately
[/p][p]Several details seen in this preview are not final and may still change.[/p][p]
Border Wars[/p][p]Frontlines - Westwall is played once again from the American side. The DLC depicts the Siegfried Line campaign from ca. mid-September 1944 to early December 1944.[/p][p]But while the Battle of the Bulge is a quite compact subject – happening in a timeframe of ca. 8 weeks, and in a rather limited area – the Siegfried Line campaign is a somewhat different beast, so let’s get a bit more background first.
[/p][p][/p][p]Siegfried Line is the term usually used in English for the German border defenses built in the late 1930s. In German these were simply called the Westwall, which made it back into the Anglosphere as the West Wall.[/p][p]These fortifications were not as extensive as World War I trench lines, nor as impressive as the French Maginot Line with its sophisticated underground installations. Still the Westwall, made of several fortified zones littered with mines, anti-tank obstacles and a myriad of pillboxes, soon posed a serious problem for the Allies.[/p][p]Outside Germany the existence of those defenses was certainly known, but the Allies had only a vague understanding of the exact locations and depth of the fortifications.
[/p][p]
As the Westwall covered nearly the entire German border from the Netherlands down to Switzerland almost everything that happened in fall 1944 on the western front is either part of the Siegfried Line campaign, or at least somehow linked to it.[/p][p]So in a broad sense this DLC depicts Allied efforts to liberate Western Europe as far as possible – notwithstanding isolated locations still held by the Wehrmacht – with the goal to approach and breach the Siegfried Line to finally enter German core territory. 
[/p][p][/p][p]To the wall...[/p][p]We will go more into the details of the campaign in the next diary, but for now only this: Frontlines - Westwall offers a larger variety of battles compared to Bulge. [/p][p]Players get to fight in the Low Countries, France, and in Germany, in vastly different settings and conditions ranging from rather open areas with towns and villages in between to heavy terrain covered by dense forest or larger swamps that restrict movement. 
[/p][p][/p][p]Often maps are a mix of the above, and on top of that several scenarios include larger urban areas protected by extensive fortifications.[/p][p]Players don’t have to destroy each and every bunker on the map, but may get tasked to clear specific areas or simply need to break through fortified lines to be able to reach the mission objectives.[/p][p]
…and into Germany[/p][p]But once you are past those fortifications things are not always easier, as German armored reserves may just be waiting there to make their move.[/p][p]That requires players to balance their cores – of course heavy hitting tanks and tank destroyers rule in the open, but without experienced infantry and artillery support they can quickly get stuck. [/p][p]However, if you overdo it on the infantry side to get through the fortifications more easily you may suffer once you get into tank terrain again.
[/p][p][/p][p]Since we start in late summer the USAAF can play a bigger role in this DLC. On the other hand the Luftwaffe might become a more frequent problem soon, even if it does not have the numbers to challenge Allied air superiority. [/p][p]As the campaign progresses adverse conditions like rain and even the first snow may temporarily hamper air operations, but this never gets as serious as in the early stage of the Battle of the Bulge.
[/p][p]The more things change, the more they stay the same[/p][p]Despite all these differences this is still part of the Frontlines series, so it should be no surprise that there are also similarities to Bulge: 
[/p][p]Frontlines - Westwall includes more battles than Bulge. Since players often ask for longer campaigns this DLC offers a linear campaign, and so the longest campaign path is, well, longer. [/p][p]But map scope and detail are very much similar to Bulge, so you can expect detailed maps, and a consistent or near-consistent scale in many scenarios of the campaign. 
[/p][p][/p][p]Most battles are based on historic developments, so there are no outright ahistorical scenarios. Only the intro is more loosely based on the first US actions at the Westwall, but still has a historic core. [/p][p]Sometimes details are changed or added purely for gameplay reasons in various battles - that is no different from any other content for Panzer Corps.[/p][p]As in Frontlines - Bulge the timeframe of this DLC is somewhat challenging with key developments happening simultaneously, especially early in the campaign.
[/p][p][/p][p]To deal with this we give players the chance to experience many of these developments in consecutive scenarios, where we just jump in at a certain date, and join the next battle a bit later.[/p][p]This too is very similar to the approach taken in Bulge, so individual scenarios often focus on key aspects or crucial stages of certain battles. 
[/p][p]Conclusion[/p][p]That’s all for the first part of this Dev Diary. Hopefully this appetizer gives you a good impression of the new campaign. The next part with more details about campaign progress and some of the battles is not too far away, so watch this space![/p]

We’re excited to announce Panzer Corps 2 – Frontlines: Westwall, the next chapter in the Frontlines series, focused on the critical battles along the Siegfried Line between September and December 1944.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/3508950/Panzer_Corps_2_Frontlines__Westwall/
After the collapse of German forces in the Falaise Pocket and the liberation of Paris, the Allies turned their attention to the heavily fortified German border. As commander of US Army formations, you’ll lead the charge through fortified zones, dense forests, and urban strongholds, from the outskirts of Aachen to the Saar region in southern Germany.

Frontlines: Westwall introduces a dynamic campaign that evolves in intensity. Early progress will come quickly, but the deeper you advance, the tougher the resistance becomes. The DLC features a wide variety of mission types, fortified enemy positions, and several new units and visual elements to enhance immersion.

If you’re interested in helping us test this upcoming content, beta sign-ups are now open. This is your chance to gain early access and provide feedback on the campaign before release.

Click here to join the beta.

We look forward to your feedback as we prepare to launch this new addition to the Panzer Corps 2 experience.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/3714230/Panzer_Corps_2_Elite__Ghost_Division/

Panzer Corps 2: Elite – Ghost Division is now available for $4.99, inviting you to command one of the most iconic units of World War II through a new nine-scenario campaign. This DLC follows the full combat history of the 7th Panzer Division from its early battles in Poland as the 2nd Light Division, through the breakthrough in France, to brutal fighting on the Eastern Front.

Famous for its speed and surprise tactics, the Ghost Division campaign emphasizes momentum and historical accuracy, offering a mix of classic objectives and challenging bonus goals that reward you with rare prototype gear.

https://store.steampowered.com/bundle/18363/Panzer_Corps_2__Complete_Edition/

[h3]The Introduction from the book “The 7th Panzer Division”[/h3]
The Ghost Division DLC for Panzer Corps 2 is deeply rooted in real historical events, with the developers carefully tracing the 7th Panzer Division’s wartime path to shape the structure, scenarios, and tone of the campaign. As a tribute to that legacy, here’s an excerpt from the introduction of The 7th Panzer Division in World War II, a book written by veterans to preserve the memory of their unit and offer future generations a deeper understanding of its history.

Thirty years after the surrender of 1945, we published the book “The 7th Panzer Division in World War II,” which won admiration inside and outside of Germany. We did it to remember, and to express our thanks to the men of our division whom we have buried on the battlefields for their final sleep.

Today, another thirteen years later, the contours of war experiences have become less clear through the long passage of time, and even in our own memory many a picture of the service and sacrifice of Rommel’s onetime “Ghost Division” has faded away. Although the reality of the present day surrounds us and the fast pace of time wipes out one memory after another, the general striving for clear historical portrayal has grown stronger, even the younger people want to understand the reality of the war’s events.

For these reasons, there arose the plan to portray the war history of the old 7th Panzer Division once again. By presenting this work, our wish is fulfilled that it may be accepted not only a contribution to the better understanding of our history, but rather this volume of pictures should cause us to reflect and, through constant striving and mutual understanding, be able to build a good future.

Gerhard Hohensee
Honorary President
Tradition Society of the 7th Panzer Division
Summer 1978