Gameplay

So I just spent a page talking about the game without actually mentioning how it plays.

Codename: Panzers gives the player a small number of infantry squads, trucks, artillery units and tanks to control. Rarely have we been in charge of more than 20 units, 30 at the most. The player is pitted on missions in a linear campaign. A typical task involves the capture of a landmark, escorting units to a location, or anything else that serves as an excuse to bring combat around.

The combat, naturally, revolves around the tanks. The game is named after them, the real war was defined by them, thus they do tend to play a leading role. Tanks can charge through forests, ignore enemy infantry fire and even put up with anti-tank attacks. Their spearheads are what permit the rest of the player’s forces to come up in support.

The game relies on a hitpoint system to simulate combat and, thanks to some complexities, it does an admirable job. Every vehicle has an armor rating on its four sides, typically strongest up front, weaker in the side and very weak in the rear. This armor not only deducts damage taken, but takes damage itself as well, becoming less effective the longer its been abused. All friendly vehicles can be repaired by repair trucks, even while in combat or motion. The repair truck does have a limited supply of parts, but it’s still not likely to run out even after a major engagement. Its only weakness is its own fragility. The vehicles have to be resupplied with ammunition as well, so there are ammo trucks for that.


Of course, it’s not all about tanks. Bring a force of all-tanks or all-tanks-and-trucks into combat against even the skirmish AI and you’re going to get your goose cooked – quite literally. Infantry are remarkable resilient and numerous, and a flamethrower is as effective against the mighty IS-2 as it is against a Pz I. Furthermore, once the crew of a tank bails due to the heat, the same tank can be re-occupied by another crew, even if it’s not of the tank’s original nationality. This is true even in single player – you can trade up your Pz I for a Renault R-35. In fact if I can’t afford to buy a whole tank between missions, I buy a crew and then hijack one during the mission.

In fact, one of the greatest abilities of infantry in general is to use various howitzers and anti-tank guns. With their long range and high powered shots, they can often turn the tide. Finding an artillery piece can often save the player from having to call in air support against a bunker or tank cluster.

Unfortunately, the game doesn’t let the player keep captured vehicles, which is a real shame since historically all armies in the conflict used captured hardware. There were German T-34s and Russian Panthers, and both sides used each others’ artillery routinely.

Other tidbits are likely to annoy grognards. The combat and vehicles in-game aren’t modeled with as much emphasis on realism as on balance and ease of play. Typically weapons do as much damage as they have barrel size in millimeters. So, a German rifle squad with Mauser Kar 98 rifles of 7.62 millimeters caliber does 8 damage. The huge Soviet KV-2 tank, with its 6” gun will do 152 damage. This does neglect all sorts of other factors, like muzzle speed, ammunition quality and so-on. As a consequence, a Tiger tank doesn’t dominate Sherman 75s quite as completely as it did historically. Of course, this is all balanced out by vehicle costs in the final equation.


In the end, Codename: Panzers is a more enjoyable RTS than we dared hope while retaining as much realism as possible. The game’s been out in Europe for some time, so we’re a touch confused as to what is and is not final material in the preview code we were sent, but the core gameplay is final.

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