''Steel Panthers'' is a series of computer wargames, developed and published by several different companies, with various games simulating war battles from 1930 to 2025. The first '' Steel Panthers'' game was released in 1995, and the most recent update was released in 2018 and is still updated regularly (yearly). Players control individual tanks and vehicles from a top-down perspective, on a map with a hexagonal overlay. Infantry are mostly in squad/section (8-12 men) sized units, but some units, like snipers, can be controlled individually. The whole force under a players control would typically be Battalion sized, but may be as small as a Platoon or Company, or as large as a Regiment/Brigade. The games are

turn-based In video and other games, the passage of time must be handled in a way that players find fair and easy to understand. This is usually done in one of the two ways: real-time and turn-based. Real-time Real-time games have game time progress cont ...

and are played against the AI or other humans via email or hotseat.

Gameplay

As with other tactical turn-based wargames, the game features realistic military control, with the smallest common units being squads, up to a brigade sized force. The player takes control of nearly every aspects of warfare around his soldiers, from simple ammunition usage, to the morale, disposition, and command-chain of his troops. The game features: packed single-battle scenarios and campaigns (either branched or linear), single battle generator, campaign generator, and long campaign generator. All of the games in the series are quite similar in features and appearance. However, the third part in the original series is clearly distinct in that it offers

platoon A platoon is a military unit typically composed of two or more squads, sections, or patrols. Platoon organization varies depending on the country and the branch, but a platoon can be composed of 50 people, although specific platoons may rang ...

-size formations instead of the scale of individual

tank A tank is an armoured fighting vehicle intended as a primary offensive weapon in front-line ground combat. Tank designs are a balance of heavy firepower, strong armour, and good battlefield mobility provided by tracks and a powerful ...

s and squads of the other installments. The games offer various modes of play: human vs. human ( hotseat or online), human vs. AI and PBEM (play by

email Electronic mail (email or e-mail) is a method of exchanging messages ("mail") between people using electronic devices. Email was thus conceived as the electronic ( digital) version of, or counterpart to, mail, at a time when "mail" mean ...

). The players receive historical military units at the beginning of a scenario and have the option to buy reinforcements with points earned in different ways. The units are then moved on a hexagon grid map similar to a large number of board and computerized wargames. In addition to ready-made battles and campaigns, players can customize single scenarios or create their own campaigns.

Series history

The ''Steel Panthers'' series includes the following titles: *1995 '' Steel Panthers'' by Strategic Simulations **1996 ''Steel Panthers: Campaign Disk'' by Strategic Simulations **1997 ''Steel Panthers: Campaign Disk #2'' by Strategic Simulations *1996 '' Steel Panthers II: Modern Battles'' by Strategic Simulations **1996 ''Steel Panthers II: Modern Battles - Campaign Disk'' by Strategic Simulations *1997 '' Steel Panthers III: Brigade Command: 1939-1999'' by Strategic Simulations *1998 ''SP2WW2'' (''Steel Panthers II: World War 2'') by Camo Workshop **1999 ''SPWW2'' by Camo Workshop **2006 ''WinSPWW2'' by Camo Workshop, Distributed by Shrapnel Games *2000 '' Steel Panthers: World at War'' by Matrix Games *2002 ''SPMBT'' (''Steel Panthers: Main Battle Tank'') by Camo Workshop **2005 ''WinSPMBT'' by Camo Workshop, Distributed by Shrapnel Games Rights to the game and source code were acquired by both Matrix Games and the Camo Workshop. Matrix Games developed and released as a freeware a remake based on the ''Steel Panthers III'' engine (but limited to the timespan of World War II), ''Steel Panthers: World at War!''

Reception

In 1998, Jim Cobb of ''

Computer Gaming World ''Computer Gaming World'' (CGW) was an American computer game magazine published between 1981 and 2006. One of the few magazines of the era to survive the video game crash of 1983, it was sold to Ziff Davis in 1993. It expanded greatly throug ...

'' referred to the ''Steel Panthers'' series as a "cash cow". Author Rusel DeMaria later summarized the situation: "about 18 months in marketing time after ''

Panzer General ''Panzer General'' is a 1994 computer wargame developed and published by Strategic Simulations Inc. (SSI). It simulates conflict during World War II. The designers of ''Panzer General'' were heavily influenced by the Japanese wargame series '' ...

''s phenomenal success, another series did extremely well for SSI." The original ''Steel Panthers'' proved highly popular, and ''Steel Panthers II'' became a "major" hit, according to DeMaria. '' Steel Panthers'' was named the best wargame of 1995 by ''

'', ''

PC Gamer US ''PC Gamer'' is a magazine and website founded in the United Kingdom in 1993 devoted to PC gaming and published monthly by Future plc. The magazine has several regional editions, with the UK and US editions becoming the best selling PC games ma ...

'' and ''

Computer Games Strategy Plus ''Computer Games Magazine'' was a monthly computer and console gaming print magazine, founded in October 1988 as the United Kingdom publication ''Games International''. During its history, it was known variously as ''Strategy Plus'' (October ...

''. The editors of ''PC Gamer US'' called it "easily one of the best tactical simulations ever developed for the PC." ''Steel Panthers'' and ''Steel Panthers II'' were named, collectively, the 62nd best computer game ever by ''PC Gamer UK'' in 1997.

References

Literature

* ''Walker M. H.'' Games That Sell!. — Wordware Publishing, 2003. — 550 p. — (Wordware Game and Graphics Library). — . — . * ''Black M.'', ''Kurlander E.'' Revisiting the «Nazi Occult»: Histories, Realities, Legacies. — Boydell & Brewer, 2015. — 297 p. — (German history in context). — . — .

External links

* {{Gary Grigsby Computer wargames DOS games Multiplayer hotseat games Play-by-email video games Panhistorical video games Strategic Simulations games Tank simulation video games Top-down video games Video game franchises Video game franchises introduced in 1995 Video games developed in the United States Video games set in China Windows games World War II video games Video games set in South Africa Video games set in Russia Video games set in South Korea