Panzer Corps 2 - Spanish Civil War || Dev Diary #1

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Panzer Corps 2 - Spanish Civil War || Dev Diary #1

Post by AlbertoC »

After last week's DLC reveal announcement went out, we were humbled by our community’s fantastic response and excited enquiries, so we've prepared a follow up for you to further sink your teeth into.

Here are a few additional details regarding Panzer Corps 2's upcoming Axis Operations - Spanish Civil War.

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Extra details on the Spanish Civil War

The Axis Operations campaigns aren't just going to be more scenarios.  The goal is to be bigger, better, and more advanced than the campaign that Panzer Corps 2 has already provided.  

1.  The factions involved, and new mechanics to represent them.

So, in our research of the Spanish Civil War, we uncovered a wealth of information that we felt deserved some recognition in the gameplay.  The Spanish Civil War wasn't just a Nationalist faction attempting to overthrow a Republican faction, there were Falangists and Communists and Monarchist and Anarchist factions all taking sides. Not to mention all of the foreign involvement from fascist Italy and Germany to the International brigades and Soviet military aid...

Suffice to say, it was not a simple conflict.

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Historically, German aid to Nationalist Spain during the Spanish Civil War was fairly unique in nature.  There were no mass divisions of German infantry roaming the battlefields of Spain.  Such a level of military aid would have seriously undermined the legitimacy of the Spanish Nationalist cause.  The Condor Legion was primarily made up of aircraft, though there were some other armour and supporting artillery and air defence assets at their disposal.

To try and properly represent some of this complexity, we've done several things.  

Firstly, we're adding a wealth of infantry types to the game.  Players should expect to encounter everything from Republican militia troops to Franco's professional Army of Africa colonial troops to standard Republican Mixed Brigades (Brigada Mixta) to various International Brigade formations and more.

Each infantry type has been carefully stat balanced to present a good spectrum of unit types, and here are just a few of the infantry that we've created new models for, all based on historical references.

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Secondly, rather than just placing pre-scripted friendly AI controlled units on the board, we've added a new system of communication so that the campaigning player can influence the behaviour of their computer controlled friendly forces!  We felt this would be a very interesting new feature to bring to Panzer Corps 2, and look forward to putting it in your hands very soon.

The reality of this conflict has dramatically altered gameplay, because it means that the player has no German infantry of any kind at their disposal for the length of the Spanish Civil War.  You will be expected to work closely together with the AI controlled Spanish Nationalists to achieve your victories.

With the player controlling tanks, artillery, and air forces and the AI controlling all infantry forces, coordination and co-operating between you and the Spanish Nationalists is the key to achieving victory above and beyond the most basic of objectives.

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And prepare for the dramatic conclusion of the Spanish Civil War that will feature the very first multi-sided, 3-way conflict in a Panzer Corps 2 campaign scenario.

Because we realize that this design change may be too radical for some, we have taken an extra step to make sure the Italian CTV (Corpo Truppe Volontarie) has proper representation in this conflict.  If a player is so inclined that they feel they must have their own infantry, Italian CTV forces are available.


2.  New Enemies

To aid in their fight against the player, the AI has received several improvements since the launch of Panzer Corps 2, and it also has received several new types of orders that it can use to good effect.  Hit and run tactics were especially prevalent and are at the AI's disposal in these campaigns, so maintaining secure flanks and good vanguards for your forces will be more important than ever before.

Additionally, we're levelling the playing field by introducing Panzer Corps 2's first appearance of enemy units with hero abilities attached to them.  Double Fire artillery and Zone of Control ignoring tanks have joined the ranks of the enemy, so watch out.

There might even be a very special “Nemesis” level enemy unit that might just haunt and harass you throughout the course of the entire campaign... unless you manage to defeat them decisively!  Mechanically, this represents the first appearance of enemy units that can potentially survive and progress between scenarios.

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3.  New scenario victory conditions beyond Victory Hex capturing.

One complaint about the traditions of Panzer General and Panzer Corps is the lack of mission variety.  We've all seen maybe a bit too much of 'Capture all Victory Hexes' by now, we think.

While we’ll still make appropriate use of this mission type occasionally, players will also see a lot more objective variety moving forward.  Missions types such as rescue, escort, interception, mine laying, and others have been spread out across the campaign.

And the way we've balanced this is by bringing back Degrees of Victory.  Rather than have every mission be a binary 'win or lose', we've added more variety.  Every scenario has a basic objective that you must complete to progress the campaign.  This is the lowest degree of victory though, and is suitably easy to achieve.

However.

If you really want to see some very unique rewards and bonuses, you'll want to push yourself to accomplish the far more difficult and varied bonus objectives.

We've even implemented a new currency system to handle this interaction.  As you complete bonus objectives, you’ll earn Commendation Points.  At various points in the campaign, offers will be made to players who have earned enough Commendation Points... offers of fantastic bounties of captured equipment, special prototype units, and possibly even access to famous and legendary historical aces and officers of the war.

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A full roster of new units being added to Panzer Corps 2 alongside the Axis Operations – Spanish Civil War release will be coming soon, as will complete scenario lists for both Axis Operations – Spanish Civil War and Axis Operations – 1939.

We hoped you’ve enjoyed this bonus reveal and are looking forward to firing up your Panzers for a new campaign full of new features starting next month.

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Re: Panzer Corps 2 - Spanish Civil War || Dev Diary #1

Post by ErissN6 »

AlbertoC wrote: Wed Jun 17, 2020 2:57 pmExtra details on the Spanish Civil War

1.  The factions involved, and new mechanics to represent them.

The Spanish Civil War wasn't just a Nationalist faction attempting to overthrow a Republican faction, there were Falangists and Communists and Monarchist and Anarchist factions all taking sides. Not to mention all of the foreign involvement from fascist Italy and Germany to the International brigades and Soviet military aid...
Suffice to say, it was not a simple conflict.

Secondly, rather than just placing pre-scripted friendly AI controlled units on the board, we've added a new system of communication so that the campaigning player can influence the behaviour of their computer controlled friendly forces!  We felt this would be a very interesting new feature to bring to Panzer Corps 2, and look forward to putting it in your hands very soon.

And prepare for the dramatic conclusion of the Spanish Civil War that will feature the very first multi-sided, 3-way conflict in a Panzer Corps 2 campaign scenario.

2.  New Enemies
Hit and run tactics were especially prevalent and are at the AI's disposal in these campaigns, so maintaining secure flanks and good vanguards for your forces will be more important than ever before.

3.  New scenario victory conditions beyond Victory Hex capturing.
We've all seen maybe a bit too much of 'Capture all Victory Hexes' by now, we think.

And the way we've balanced this is by bringing back Degrees of Victory.  Rather than have every mission be a binary 'win or lose', we've added more variety.  Every scenario has a basic objective that you must complete to progress the campaign.  This is the lowest degree of victory though, and is suitably easy to achieve.

However.
If you really want to see some very unique rewards and bonuses, you'll want to push yourself to accomplish the far more difficult and varied bonus objectives.

We've even implemented a new currency system to handle this interaction.  As you complete bonus objectives, you’ll earn Commendation Points.  At various points in the campaign, offers will be made to players who have earned enough Commendation Points... offers of fantastic bounties of captured equipment, special prototype units, and possibly even access to famous and legendary historical aces and officers of the war.
Will there be negative Victory Points? The Republican made all they can so Anarchist conquier nothing, and they even made all they can to take the Anarchist 'VP's, as all Anarchist had or take was negative for the republican bourgeoisy.
So, as "allied", the Republican ordered the Anarchists to just Defend, and remove them ammo so they can't advance, taking nothing (Saragosa: never!), and Republicans used Communists to take the Anarchists VPs (all Catalunya then Barcelona).
Another way for the Republican to take Anarchist VPs, was to controle them by becoming military.
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Re: Panzer Corps 2 - Spanish Civil War || Dev Diary #1

Post by Ballacraine »

We have some nice new game mechanics to try out here.
I hope there are enough details in the briefings to be aware of the options & consequences of decisions we are asked to make. :)

Also I am hoping that with these extra DLCs we can move away from the base game fail to gain victory & game is stalled ie you cannot progress but have to redo scenario.
I really do not like that.
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Re: Panzer Corps 2 - Spanish Civil War || Dev Diary #1

Post by T34M43 »

The campaign seems to be shaping up nicely.

About the objectives: I think in the grand campaign you are able to be a bit more varied as it is taking place more on the Core level, than the Army Group size in the standard campaign.

AI-controlled allies: This is something I am excited about. I enjoyed the mission after Stalingrad a lot with the "blue" team backing you up and hopefully giving the AI some basic commands will improve on this.

Heroes: Can I ask more about how you will limit the player. I think Generals abilities, Heroes, Unit Ranks, and Super Heroes will be a bit much. In my opinion, the current campaign is already too in favor of the player. Considering that there are five difficulty levels and special options I hope you limit the player a bit more.
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Re: Panzer Corps 2 - Spanish Civil War || Dev Diary #1

Post by Vesa »

Very nice. I hope Finnish Winter War and Continuation War will be coming too as DLCs.
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Re: Panzer Corps 2 - Spanish Civil War || Dev Diary #1

Post by adiekmann »

T34M43 wrote: Wed Jun 17, 2020 11:23 pm Heroes: Can I ask more about how you will limit the player. I think Generals abilities, Heroes, Unit Ranks, and Super Heroes will be a bit much. In my opinion, the current campaign is already too in favor of the player. Considering that there are five difficulty levels and special options I hope you limit the player a bit more.
I can see why you'd say that, but remember that the GC for PC1 was more difficult than the vanilla campaign and I expect that Axis Operations campaigns will be a significant step up too - or at least I hope so. :P

Someone who likes the game enough to invest in the DLCs is most likely good enough at the game that they're ready for more of challenge. So let's have faith that they will do it right and balance it properly. Nothing so far leads me to think they won't.
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Re: Panzer Corps 2 - Spanish Civil War || Dev Diary #1

Post by Kerensky »

adiekmann wrote: Fri Jun 19, 2020 11:17 pm Someone who likes the game enough to invest in the DLCs is most likely good enough at the game that they're ready for more of challenge. So let's have faith that they will do it right and balance it properly. Nothing so far leads me to think they won't.
The design philosophy is for completing basic objectives to actually be easier than the base Panzer Corps 2 game. While completing full bonus objectives is significantly harder and costlier and potentially isn't actually possible when playing with the most extreme rulesets (denied air force, denied artillery, Manstein +5 enemy strength)
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Re: Panzer Corps 2 - Spanish Civil War || Dev Diary #1

Post by Kerensky »

adiekmann wrote: Fri Jun 19, 2020 11:17 pm I can see why you'd say that, but remember that the GC for PC1 was more difficult than the vanilla campaign and I expect that Axis Operations campaigns will be a significant step up too - or at least I hope so. :P
Any PzC veterans who remember Battle of the Bzura... well just wait until you see the Battle of the Ebro.

Why is it always the rivers that are the most epic battles? :?:
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Re: Panzer Corps 2 - Spanish Civil War || Dev Diary #1

Post by Matyna »

Kerensky wrote: Sat Jun 20, 2020 4:15 am
adiekmann wrote: Fri Jun 19, 2020 11:17 pm I can see why you'd say that, but remember that the GC for PC1 was more difficult than the vanilla campaign and I expect that Axis Operations campaigns will be a significant step up too - or at least I hope so. :P
Any PzC veterans who remember Battle of the Bzura... well just wait until you see the Battle of the Ebro.

Why is it always the rivers that are the most epic battles? :?:
I hope we will se new Battle of Bzura too! Will capture units in AO work same as in PC2 campaign or will there be something new?
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Re: Panzer Corps 2 - Spanish Civil War || Dev Diary #1

Post by adiekmann »

Kerensky wrote: Sat Jun 20, 2020 4:15 am
adiekmann wrote: Fri Jun 19, 2020 11:17 pm I can see why you'd say that, but remember that the GC for PC1 was more difficult than the vanilla campaign and I expect that Axis Operations campaigns will be a significant step up too - or at least I hope so. :P
Any PzC veterans who remember Battle of the Bzura... well just wait until you see the Battle of the Ebro.

Why is it always the rivers that are the most epic battles? :?:
I'm not sure, Kerensky, if that was meant to be a rhetorical question, but if not I think it is fairly obvious. Rivers are natural barriers, natural lines of defense.
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Re: Panzer Corps 2 - Spanish Civil War || Dev Diary #1

Post by Kerensky »

Matyna wrote: Sat Jun 20, 2020 4:31 pm I hope we will se new Battle of Bzura too! Will capture units in AO work same as in PC2 campaign or will there be something new?
As much as we want to explore new, uncharted content like the Spanish Civil War... we would be folly to neglect also including recreations of famous battles of the previous Grand Campaign. I would be ashamed to call the Axis Operations 'bigger and better' than the original Grand Campaign if it omitted the Battle of the Bzura from AO 1939. Bzura will be back, and returning with new mechanics as well.

Captured units functionality is ingrained in Panzer Corps 2, and there's no reason to toss out a perfectly good system that puts control of captured equipment in the hands of the player. If you want that shiny T-26 instead of only deploying Panzer Is, you need to use good surround/suppression tactics to salvage as many 'parts' as you can. Also, the very nature of a Grand Campaign environment means you should have a lot of opportunities to get your hands on more equipment.

Now that said, improvements are coming to help shore up the system, primarily through the bonus objective system which can award large stockpiles of enemy equipment as well as other systems too.

And yes 'why are rivers important' is of course a rhetorical question. Their importance goes far, far beyond military strategy as well. =)
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Re: Panzer Corps 2 - Spanish Civil War || Dev Diary #1

Post by Matyna »

Kerensky wrote: Sat Jun 20, 2020 7:27 pm
Matyna wrote: Sat Jun 20, 2020 4:31 pm I hope we will se new Battle of Bzura too! Will capture units in AO work same as in PC2 campaign or will there be something new?
As much as we want to explore new, uncharted content like the Spanish Civil War... we would be folly to neglect also including recreations of famous battles of the previous Grand Campaign. I would be ashamed to call the Axis Operations 'bigger and better' than the original Grand Campaign if it omitted the Battle of the Bzura from AO 1939. Bzura will be back, and returning with new mechanics as well.

Captured units functionality is ingrained in Panzer Corps 2, and there's no reason to toss out a perfectly good system that puts control of captured equipment in the hands of the player. If you want that shiny T-26 instead of only deploying Panzer Is, you need to use good surround/suppression tactics to salvage as many 'parts' as you can. Also, the very nature of a Grand Campaign environment means you should have a lot of opportunities to get your hands on more equipment.

Now that said, improvements are coming to help shore up the system, primarily through the bonus objective system which can award large stockpiles of enemy equipment as well as other systems too.

And yes 'why are rivers important' is of course a rhetorical question. Their importance goes far, far beyond military strategy as well. =)
Great to see. Then i hope i will get my hands on those Trubia tanks. :D
Traits like "Trophy of war" will be available in AO?
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Re: Panzer Corps 2 - Spanish Civil War || Dev Diary #1

Post by scott_mathieson »

the more I hear about the better it sounds
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Re: Panzer Corps 2 - Spanish Civil War || Dev Diary #1

Post by best75 »

This sounds like exciting stuff. I especially look forward to seeing how the Spanish Civil War scenarios are and how having ai controlled allied units will be.
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Re: Panzer Corps 2 - Spanish Civil War || Dev Diary #1

Post by GUNDOBALDO08 »

I’m really happy about starting of GC, but honestly I hoped we can play a campaign against nazi... Allied or Soviets no matter but I’m just tired doing my job for Hitler! :|
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Re: Panzer Corps 2 - Spanish Civil War || Dev Diary #1

Post by GUNDOBALDO08 »

IMO the problem is not map scale (meters per hex) but units scale, or better its a problem if from a map to other units level change to divisional to regimental or vice versa...
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Re: Panzer Corps 2 - Spanish Civil War || Dev Diary #1

Post by Kerensky »

adiekmann wrote: Tue Jun 23, 2020 12:38 am And Panzer General 3D sucked (though not because of that reason). I myself never finished playing it.
I remember Panzer General II missions as if I played them yesterday. That final mission at Oak Ridge? Burned in my brain.
I can recall Panzer Corps Grand Campaign scenarios as if I made them yesterday. Bzura, Stonne, Kharkov 42, Kursk from DLC 43 East... epic battles.
So much drama over Warsaw Uprising...

I can't remember a single detail from Panzer General 3D. I don't even remember if you invaded the USA at the end of the campaign?
The only thing I remember about Panzer General 3D was that it was so bad, it killed the franchise until Panzer Corps brought it back.
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Re: Panzer Corps 2 - Spanish Civil War || Dev Diary #1

Post by KesaAnna »

Kerensky wrote: Tue Jun 23, 2020 1:16 am
I remember Panzer General II missions as if I played them yesterday. That final mission at Oak Ridge? Burned in my brain.
There were three Panzer Generals ?

I don't know.

All I know is that I played it to death on a Nintendo console 20 years ( ? ) ago.

Somehow I missed Panzer Corps entirely , or , maybe I saw it , but the graphics reminded me too much of Panzer General ?

Like I said , I played Panzer General to death , but how much was really available then ? Avalon Hill folded right about the time that computers became more than very expensive adding machines . And as for consoles ? It was Pac Man and Space Invaders , and , near as I can tell , basically still is.

Panzer General was pretty crude. AA ? Ha Ha ! --- you simply didn't buy it. Recon ? Again , you simply didn't buy it.

The whole economy of force / balanced force idea , perhaps best symbolized in the German Army with the Bf 110 ? You simply didn't do it.

I'm not sure why Oak Ridge was burned in your brain ? I suppose there were differences between console and computer versions ?

But it was burned in my brain for the reasons touched on above.

I could ONLY take Maus's , jets , and some kind of super , super , super SP to Oak Ridge. Anything less simply evaporated in one turn.

My five star pionieres , veterans of the Spanish Civil War ? I couldn't take them to Oak Ridge. They would be exterminated in the first engagement.

In my case it was the graphics that brought me back , and graphics are NOT typically on my priorities list.

I figured given the improvement in graphics , maybe other improvements had also been made , and it was time to re - visit the concept ?

And I'm glad I did.
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Re: Panzer Corps 2 - Spanish Civil War || Dev Diary #1

Post by adiekmann »

Kerensky wrote: Tue Jun 23, 2020 1:16 am
adiekmann wrote: Tue Jun 23, 2020 12:38 am And Panzer General 3D sucked (though not because of that reason). I myself never finished playing it.
I remember Panzer General II missions as if I played them yesterday. That final mission at Oak Ridge? Burned in my brain.
I can recall Panzer Corps Grand Campaign scenarios as if I made them yesterday. Bzura, Stonne, Kharkov 42, Kursk from DLC 43 East... epic battles.
So much drama over Warsaw Uprising...

I can't remember a single detail from Panzer General 3D. I don't even remember if you invaded the USA at the end of the campaign?
The only thing I remember about Panzer General 3D was that it was so bad, it killed the franchise until Panzer Corps brought it back.
I actually don't remember many of the vanilla PG2 missions. The one that most sticks in my mind was Dunkirk. If I saw them I'm sure they'd come flooding back to me. That's probably because > 95% of the hours I spend playing PG2 were on user-made campaigns. Many of them were epic, really foreshadowing the Grand Campaigns of PC1.

I actually remember many more of PG1's missions, but that's probably because its release in 1994 (?) was at the dawn of the internet so not much (if anything) was available online in terms of mods or DLCs, or at least not that I was aware of. PG2 on the other hand had a huge online modding community and I can't help but feel greatly influenced the design of PC1 in numerous ways.
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Re: Panzer Corps 2 - Spanish Civil War || Dev Diary #1

Post by kondi754 »

Kerensky wrote: Tue Jun 23, 2020 1:16 am
I can't remember a single detail from Panzer General 3D. I don't even remember if you invaded the USA at the end of the campaign?
The only thing I remember about Panzer General 3D was that it was so bad, it killed the franchise until Panzer Corps brought it back.
My first conatct with turn-based-hexes PC games was Allied General, I played it for weeks...
Later PG, PG 2, Pacific General and PG 3D
PG 2 is a game that I don't like until today, I didn't like the maps that are illegible to me even now
Pacific General was not bad but I wouldn't play it for the second time
I liked PG 3D and I don't agree that it was a disaster, I think there were many interesting solutions that could be used in PzC 2:

first of them -> the experience gained can be used to buy additional APs, so that the player (as well as AI) can perform more attacks during his turn - then the number of units on the map and its scale could be significantly increased
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