Panzer General

Panzer General is the game that made turn-based wargames accessible to a broad audience. Set in World War II, it puts you in command of a German army from the invasion of Poland onward. Instead of overwhelming players with rules, it offers clear mechanics and a campaign where your army and achievements carry over from battle to battle. It became one of SSI’s biggest hits and launched a whole series of General games.

Gameplay

Battles take place on hex-based maps, where you move and attack with your units turn by turn to capture key cities and objectives within a limited number of turns. The strength of the game is how much depth it gets from simple rules:

• Varied units: Infantry, tanks, artillery, anti-aircraft, fighters, bombers, recon units and naval units each have clear roles and counters.
• Core army: Your best units carry over between battles and gain experience, so veterans become valuable and losses really hurt.
• Prestige: Victories earn prestige, which you spend on new units, reinforcements and upgrades to newer equipment.
• Supply and conditions: Fuel, ammunition, weather and terrain all affect how and when you can attack.
• Branching campaign: Faster, more decisive victories open up different paths, including alternative scenarios that go beyond what happened in history.

You can also play individual scenarios as either the Axis or the Allies, and there’s support for two-player games.

Verdict

Panzer General is a landmark strategy game that’s still easy to learn and hard to put down. Its rules are simplified compared with hardcore wargames, and the graphics are dated, but the campaign structure and core army system still work brilliantly.