Panzer Corps – Afrika Corps
Available from Matrix Games/Slitherine
This game is an expansion for the Panzer Corps – Wehrmacht game, or is capable of stand-alone play for those gamers who do not possess the first iteration of Panzer Corps.
As I said in my first review, if you are familiar with SSI’s Panzer General, or you own the first Panzer Corps, there will be no problem getting into the meat of this version.
The game has the same five levels of difficulty from Sergeant (easiest) to Field Marshal ( the most difficult). In the scenario menu, you will first select the side you wish to play, either Allied or Axis. There is also a provision for playing a “Hot Seat” game on the same computer. You then need to select your level of difficulty, as noted above. There are four check boxes available for Weather, Fog of War, Supply and an Undo button, in case you change your mind.
Afrika Corps has a single campaign game, covering the entire North African campaign. There are 24 new scenarios, covering the major clashes between the British and the Italo-German forces. There are also a couple for scenarios covering the Anglo-British invasion of North Africa and the clashes with Rommel and his soldiers.
The Sergeant level is a good place to start, getting your “feet wet” you can up the difficulty and re-fight the same battles over and over again without coming up with the same results. Victory is centered around the capture of specific “objectives”, such as cities or airfields. These objectives can be simply overrun or may be fortified with extensive dug-in units challenging your tactical ingenuity.
As you fight your way through the battle your units will take casualties and require re-supply. The re-supply is accomplished by not moving or fighting the unit and clicking on the supply or reinforcement buttons. If a unit is eliminated in combat, a new unit can be purchased by clicking on the purchase button (the Dollar Sign). This, as well as re-supply, will cost you prestige points. Prestige points are gathered by taking and holding “objectives”. All in all this game is a lot of fun to play and places the player in the position of a commander who has to win battles and yet conserve his forces for what comes next, especially in the campaign game.
An editor is included so that the gamer can create his own scenarios, or modify the existing ones by changing the unit OB’s and other setting. The “custom” option allows the user to import scenarios created by other gamers and play them as part of his game.
This game, and its predecessor Panzer Corps, make a good package for the World War II gamer. I recommend these games to those users who harken back to the days of Panzer General, as well as, the modern gamer who wants to get a handle on refighting the battles of World War II. This game is contains hours of enjoyment and gaming fun, and I highly recommend it all gamers. Happy Gaming!
This game is available from Matrix Games or Slitherine
