Open panzer (Panzer General 2)

Open Panzer is a Panzer General 2 game written in HTML5. Wargames are one of the most conservative genres. Since the early 1980s, when SSI released the first adaptations of board games, little has changed. Not only the fundamentals of the gameplay remain unshakable, but also the interface, and even the graphical execution. Panzer General of 1994 broke away from the cohort of previous wargames in many ways, popularized the genre and became a laureate of various prizes and awards. And now, after three years since the release of the original PG, a brood of games on its engine and all kinds of re-issues for cutting coupons with a combine, he is here. Panzer General 2 again offers to take control of the fate of the largest military conflict in the history of mankind.

The first thing that catches the eye is the changed graphics engine, where instead of ascetic tile graphics, drawn maps are used, and instead of "chips" with units - scanned miniatures, animated screensavers of battles have also been abolished and did not reach the 97th year. The interface actually remained the same, only a few buttons for multiplayer were added and some windows were edited. The person who played the first "General" will immediately get used to the new assignment.

In PG 2, separate campaigns for the Germans (even two), the Russians and the British with the Americans. Moreover, the hostilities do not begin with the canonical invasion of Poland, but earlier, in the era of the civil war in Spain, where, under the flag of Francisco Franco, Italian and German troops would have to lead to Madrid. All sides of the campaign (with the exception of the US and Great Britain) are located at different time intervals so that the battles do not repeat. Unlike the original "Tank General", the victory can be different in importance: Brilliant Victory, Victory and Tactical Victory, each corresponds to a certain number of moves for which you need to defeat the enemy; if you can't meet the allotted time, you can put your cap on the shelf, and in case of a "diamond" victory there is a small chance of getting your hands on a prototype unit that will appear at the front only a long time later.

However, it is not necessary to "smash" the enemy in the literal sense: so, to win, you only need to capture all the key positions, the tactics of the blitzkrieg here justifies itself in full. And, at the same time, it makes the need for the presence of any significant contingent of stationary anti-tank or anti-aircraft equipment in the troops questionable.

The battlefields themselves have decreased in size, each hexagon is equal to one and a half to two kilometers, now aircraft do not need to return to the airfield to refuel, and later models of tanks can shoot through the cage.

Each unit has a number of characteristics by which its combat qualities are assessed. This is the attack / defense rating against manpower, armored vehicles, aviation and the navy, initiative in battle, firing range and movement, visibility radius and also the amount of ammunition and fuel for all iron. But in addition to technical parameters, other factors influence the outcome of the battle. Choosing the right terrain for your maneuvers is a huge time-saver. Everything is logical here - crossing the mountains will be equally difficult for all subordinates (except for the mountain infantry units that move in the mountains without delay), wheeled vehicles will go farthest on the roads, that is, trucks and armored cars, and the infantrymen hiding in the forest have much greater chances survive in a confrontation with steel monsters, rather than in an open field. An important role is played by the ability to dig in, that is, if the soldiers do not move during the turn, they receive a bonus to defense, its size varies depending on the type of terrain - cities and trenches give the greatest increase. In this case, the capture of a settlement can turn into a meat grinder for the attacking side.

A rather interesting innovation was the appearance of commanders: every time a combat unit gains a new hundred experience points, there is a certain probability that it will have a "leader" that gives two special abilities. For example, planes will be able to fly in any weather, and artillery will have an increased firing range.

There are a lot of vehicles in Panzer General 2. On the way from the Pz. I to the IS-3, hundreds of vehicles of well-known models, such as the Tiger, Sherman and T-34, and non-widespread modifications of tanks and self-propelled guns fit. Airplanes, artillery are also presented in all their variety - take on what you want, it would be for what.