Matrix Games

Hello again Gamers!

As Axis Operations rapidly approaches its November 30th launch date, we have yet more previews to share with you. Today I want to talk about the new three tier objective system, and we’ll look at the new hardware employed by the Americans to resist the Axis invasion.

Revamped Objective System

So there are actually four items to get into regarding this system. First and foremost, because it is so often requested, we’re happy to say that for players who do NOT enjoy fighting against the clock, practically every single of Axis Operation 1946’s huge 30 scenario campaign will allow you to DISABLE the mission timers if you prefer to play without this time pressure element.

To properly support this style of gameplay, we had to revamp Panzer Corps 2’s objective system, which we’ll get into right now.

Primary Objectives:

These are the traditional bread and butter objectives that fans of the Panzer General series have come to know and love: Battle for territory control as you advance your armies across the United States.

These objectives are required for campaign progression, and are designed to be manageable for all players. Note that as soon as your Primary Objective is completed, the current scenario will end, so if you want to hunt for bonuses, you will need to prioritize accomplishing them before completing your Primary Objective!

Bonus Objectives:

Different from previous Axis Operations bonus objectives, 1946 bonus objectives are locations that are off the beaten path. Players looking to scour for extra prestige resources will find abundant bonus objectives to pursue to make sure their Panzer Corps is well maintenanced and ready for combat.

These objectives have been designed with one and only one concept in mind: To give you, the player, better control over your prestige resource.

In the past, prestige has generally been an automatic function. You get a set allotment to begin a given scenario, and you’re expected to make do with that, generally having little control during the scenario to manipulate this number. A scenario might give a per turn prestige allotment, but again, this number is out of player control. So a player swimming in tens of thousands of prestige just keeps accumulating more, but a player who is starving and out of prestige would have no recourse to get their CORE back in fighting condition if the scenario allotments were inadequate for their gameplay style/difficulty settings.

By putting prestige rich bonus objectives into every single scenario, players will be able to better exercise a measure of control over their resource management. Players who have abundant prestige might have the freedom to not divert their forces to secure these bonuses they don’t need, while a prestige starved player has a vital lifeline they should absolutely prioritize going after if they need more resource injections!

All bonus objectives are purely optional.
 

Elite Objectives:

These objectives are designed to be tackled by veteran players with deeply imported CORE forces. Expect to see brutal enemy hero combinations, massively overstrengthed enemies, and potentially much worse...

But the rewards for these brutal elite objectives will always be special units that you can otherwise never acquire via normal purchasing. If you ever want to deploy your own Atomic weaponry, additional Landkreuzers, and other special equipment, you better be prepared to earn them through elite objective completion!

All elite objectives are purely optional.
We hope you’re looking forward to 1946’s revamped objective system, and now on to some new units!

American Armor

We’ve already covered several new American aircraft that will appear in the 1946 campaign, so today’s focus will be on new American armored forces. One thing to note is that when you see a name in parenthesis (), it means it is a designation that is original to Panzer Corps 2’s Alternate History Timeline!

We picked these names to give more personality to new American tanks, without them merely being referred to as M number or T number. No one calls the most iconic American tank an M4, everyone says Sherman tank! And in American naming traditional, all of the names we picked are derived from American Civil War Generals.

First up we’ll look at a new recon vehicle, the M38 Wolfhound.

The Wolfhound was designed to serve as a direct upgrade over the venerable M8 Greyhound. Though it still carried the same 37mm main gun as the Greyhound and Chaffee, it was thought that a larger ammunition capacity and massively improved sloped armor would afford much greater staying power to the Wolfhound compared to the thinly armoured Greyhound.

While only a few prototypes were ever actually built before the end of WWII ended Wolfhound production, in this Alternate History, the Wolfhound serves as the premier US recon vehicle of the 1946 conflict.

M6A1 Heavy Sherman

The so-called Heavy Sherman is actually a very early war design from 1941, being an attempt to design and create an American Heavy Tank. Like many early war heavy tank designs such as the German Neubaufahrzeug or Soviet T-35, it proved to be very underwhelming. By 1946, the main 76mm gun was woefully obsolete, so it is unlikely the few tanks of this type you will encounter will pose much of a threat.

Watch out for the upgunned M6A2E though, marrying the protection of a Heavy Sherman chassis with a 90mm main cannon is a serious threat.

T14 (Sumner)

Joining the ranks of Panzer Corps 2’s 1 range Close Support Tanks, we have the T14 Sumner. As is typical for an Assault Tank, extreme levels of protection combined with support fire capabilities characterize the Sumner. While nothing will approach the insane levels of a Sturmtiger, the Sumner provides the Americans with a solid vehicle with roughly the performance profile of a German Brummbar.

We choose the name Sumner for this CS tank after Union General Edwin Vose Sumner, who despite his advanced age, was apparently quite the tough cookie!

T21 (Pickett)

The primary light tank of the American forces in the 1946 campaign, the T21 Pickett acts like a Chaffee on steroids, with improved protection and a larger 76mm main cannon. While not any serious threat to the likes of a German Maus or E-100, these speedy light tanks can certainly be dangerous if they manage to outflank your heavy panzers and attack your infantry and artillery forces. As the Pickett is classified as a tank, it trades away the recon movement of the Chaffee for the ability to perform overrun attacks.

We choose the name Pickett for this light tank after Confederate General George Edward Pickett, who is infamous for leading Pickett’s Charge during the Battle of Gettysburg.

T23 (Sheridan)

While we are well aware there is already a Sheridan vehicle in our history, the M551 Sheridan is a 1960 vehicle design, so applying the name in this Alternate History of 1946 leaves it quite available to use in defense of a United States just fighting to survive to get to the 1960s intact!

The T23 Sheridan is basically a Super Sherman, acting as a solid medium tank platform produced in large quantities. Expect to encounter this vehicle everywhere in the 1946 campaign, as the Americans phase out their older Shermans in favour of this new and improved medium tank.

From internal testing, this tank was definitely a favourite for re-use as captured equipment, thanks to its well balanced stats and superior movement speed capabilities.

We choose the name Sheridan for this medium tank after Union General Philip Henry Sheridan, who is infamous for his scorched earth tactics against the South.

T29 (Longstreet)

As you noticed by now, we don’t have many new American ultra heavy tanks on roster for 1946. The Super Pershing, T28 Super Heavy, and T34 Heavy cover this niche quite well, all three of those tanks already well ready to go toe to toe with the likes of a Panzer VII Lion or Panzer VIII Maus. The T29 Longstreet is not a design meant to power creep even further over the likes of the T34 heavy, it is meant to be a lesser, but still very potent, American heavy tank adversary. The Longstreet rides the line between slow 3 and 4 speed heavy tanks and the swifter 6 speed light and medium tanks with a comfortable 5 move speed, while still boasting defense values that firmly put it in the heavy tank category.

We choose the name Longstreet for this heavy tank after Confederate General James Longstreet, second-in-Command to the honorable General Robert E. Lee.

M40 (Johnson)

The last vehicle we’ll be covering today is an anti-tank self propelled gun, the M40 Johnson. This unit serves one purpose and one purpose alone, to make absolutely certain the American possess an anti-tank weapon more than capable of harming the heaviest of the new German heavy tanks. Even the mighty Maus will suffer significant damage if it attempts to engage a target protected by the anti-tank support of a Johnson.

This overwhelming power comes in the form of a dedicated 155mm cannon that has no alternate artillery swap mode. Additionally, the Johnson is very vulnerable with a paltry ammo total of just 2, and it also lacks serious armor protection. Think of it as a super charged Nashorn; very lethal in ambush, but very vulnerable when under direct fire.

We choose the name Johnson for this anti-tank unit after Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston, a capable but often overlooked figure during the Civil War.

Conclusion

We hope you all enjoyed this reveal on just some of the new vehicles being added to Panzer Corps 2 for its upcoming 1946 Axis Operations campaign. Just remember these are just a few of the new designs being added to Panzer Corps 2, and there are even more coming that we have not covered today!