Panzer - gmtgames.com

1 Old tanks, new tanks Panzer Wargamers and tanks: nine out of ten times a recipe for success. We like to maneuver around with tank armies, tank divisions, tank brigades, but individual tanks? The Advanced Squad Leader crowd will enjoy this. The miniature gamers most certainly do. This comes as no surprise, seeing their nicely painted miniature tanks. But then? There is a game system that was launched in 1979 and had a solid fan base up to the early 90s. A WWII tank vs. tank game system, which translated miniature armored warfare into a hex and counter game. Well, it originated from a miniature modern day tank combat system. And it was the work of one man. James M. Day. The game system: Panzer . Panzer At local conventions James used this homemade modern armored warfare system in a tournament setting.

2 The rules were mainly aimed on the use of our armored friends. Infantry only held a secondary role. The Yaquinto company picked it up and asked Jim to convert it into a WWII, hex and counter wargame. And this way a series of games were launched using this rules set: Panzer (1979), Armor (1980), and 88 (1980). In 1981 Yaquinto also published a set of solitaire scenarios. In 1989, the game returned to its modern roots with the publication of MBT (1989), by Avalon Hill, and IDF (1993). The modern titles made use of a more streamlined set of rules, which were next converted to a set of WWII miniature rules, Panzer Miniature Rules, published by Lost battalion Games. These were published from 2004 up to 2008. At that same time the older game titles were still being played and it was widely acknowledged that gamers would not mind seeing the game being modernized and updated and back into print.

3 And so it happened. GMT Games In 2008 the first rumors started to appear that work was in progress on an updated version of this boardwargame series, and on May 1st, 2009 this became official. GMT Games was going to publish the new version of it. And so, in 2010 Panzer appeared on the market. Great news, but it was not only jubilation that greeted the game. The large 7/8 vehicle counters are large than the map hexes, and overlap the hexsides. So moving a counter on the map might initiate more movement than anticipated. Next to this, the base game only contains one map. After you have played all of the ten scenarios of the base game, you are quite familiar with the lay of the land as represented on the map. Others judge the basic rules of the game to be too basic . On the other hand, the German and Russian vehicles counters are really nice to look at.

4 The double-sided data card used in conjunction with the vehicle counters are printed on thick and sturdy cardboard, containing all of the needed information on the particular vehicle. The rulebook, divided into a Basic/Advanced/Optional configuration and the accompanying charts are easy to use. At first glance this all looks quite complicated and overwhelming, but in practice this is not the case at all. Command and Control have been integrated into the game system in a rather clever way. Expansions In 2012, GMT Games published two expansions that extended both the German and Russian Order of Battle on the Eastern Front, covering the majority of the vehicles used there. But what might probably be even more important is the fact that these two expansions added six double-sided geomorphic maps to the game.

5 So the one map limit was off the board. And in 2014 a third expansion appeared, covering the Americans and British forces on the Western Front during 1944-1945. And another four double-sided maps were added to the system. The information and vehicles added by these expansions now gives gamers the option to design and develop new scenarios. And so several dyo scenarios have become available now. One gamer started working on a dtp-project, covering the French during the invasion of 1940. But soon it became known that the enthusiasm generated by this project was so overwhelming that a decision was made to turn this into an official game module. And work on a standalone North African module is in progress. MBT This year, GMT Games will be publishing an updated version of MBT, and two expansion are in available for preordering in their P500 system; FRG (the Bundeswehr) and BAOR (British Army of the Rhine).

6 Through MBT, the Panzer game system returns to its roots, modern armored warfare between NATO and WarPac forces. Conclusion Panzer is about the same age as Ducosim. And just like Ducosim/Spel!, it has undergone some changes and been updated to cope with progress. A new and more colorful appearance, taking advantage of modern technologies. But this is only possible if the foundation has been solid all along. Note: On BGG I came across an image of a 33rpm record with introductory rules for the Panzer game system. After some research I was told that Yaquinto had used these records as a promotional item. Their agent distributed the records to game stores that were selling games published by Yaquinto. Text: Hans Korting Note to the reader: The reference to Ducosim and Spel! mentioned in the Conclusion was made because Ducosim had its 40th Anniversary this year (2016).

7 All of the authors of the different game types had to pick a game that was around when Ducosim and Spel! (well, actually its predecessor) started, and that is still around today.