Panzer General II

Panzer General II is a turn-based strategy computer game by Strategic Simulations, Inc. Released September 30th, 1997, Panzer General II is the sixth SSI game in the "General" series and the first in the "Living Battlefield " series. It takes place during World War II, covering events from the Spanish Civil War in 1938 to hypothetical battles in 1946. In the April 2000 issue of the magazine PC Gamer, it was voted the 44th best computer game of all time. (The highest rating in the General series.)

Gameplay
The game of Panzer General II is divided into scenarios, each representing a specific battle. All are played on a hex map, which is divided up into hexagons that represent between one and two kilometers. At the beginning of the game, the entire map is revealed to the player, but enemy units are covered by fog of war and are not visible.

Each hex is assigned one of thirteen terrain types that penalize or assist the movement of units. Mountain, city, and forest types block line of sight. The game also features four kinds of capatureable hexes marked a flag indicating the country owning it: ownership, designating a player's ownership of a city, town or other important feature; supply, allowing unit deployment; victory, indicating critical cities or objectives; and victory-supply, combining victory and supply. The objective is to defeat an enemy by capturing all of their victory hexes in a specified number of turns.

The player attacks enemies and captures hexes by moving units, which approximately represent a battalion, regiment or squadron. There are eight types of units, each with different properties: Infantry, Tank, Anti-Tank, Recon, Air Defense, Fighter, Artillery, and Bomber. Each unit is assigned a numerical value to represent its movement (in hexes); its line of sight (in hexes); its attack abilities against armored targets, unarmored targets, ships, and airplanes; its defense against ranged, close, and air attacks; as well as a values for initiative and remaining ammunition and fuel. The final value, health, is represented by a fraction, usually out of 10.

The player has several options that units may take in a turn: A unit may move as many hexes as it has movement points (modified by terrain). It may then fire its weapon, resupply, gaining back ammunition and fuel points, or reinforce, gaining back health points. Reinforcing costs the player prestige, the unit of currency used to buy units between scenarios in the campaign. Prestige is gained by capturing enemy hexes and as a reward for completing a scenario quickly.

When moving up to one of the five enhanced experience levels, units may receive special abilities (called leaders.) See List of Leaders in Panzer General II for details.

The standard game occasionally contains many hypothetical and real life scenarios such as Battle of Suomussalmi where no German soldiers fought. Similar to other games of the series, players will be able to play some hypothetical scenarios if they perform exceptionally in their command career. For example, Germany can invade and capture British Isles by capturing Windsor or they can invade Malta with Italy. Again, if player attains victories in the east and defeats Soviet Union, Germany can invade United States from Port of Savannah and then march to Oak Ridge in Tennessee to capture prototype US atomic bomb.

Strategy
The player's pieces are carried between scenarios: optimizing what is effective in one scenario (say aircraft) may lead to problems in a subsequent scenario where what is effective differs. Optimal strategies, especially between the scenarios in a campaign, can be complex, as evidenced in the External Links. The Panzer General II Official Strategy Guide (ISBN 7615-0105-3) explains both general concepts, and one strategy among many for winning.

Changing game characteristics
At the beginning of a scenario or a campaign, the player can select the amount of points gained for capturing supply points. (This, in turn, affects how many units and how strong the player units are.) The manual states that the intention is to make for a more or less challenging game, but the actual effect is rather different, since to some degree the computer player adjusts strategy to compensate for the human player's strengths.

The player is also allowed to chose which side to play in individual scenarios (but not in campaigns).

Patches and modifications
Panzer General II was patched, and users may want to upgrade at least to version 1.3. Since the manufacturer is no longer in business, it is necessary to consult the External Links for update and bug information. Users have created their own scenarios, campaigns, maps, and units — taking place in many areas, and some which are more involved than the original scenarios. The community continues to create and discuss new material, and to discuss strategy.