Panzer General - Campaigns

Campaigns

Panzer General has 38 scenarios based on real or fictitious battles from World War II. The player can engage in a single battle or a campaign mode.

In Campaign Mode, a series of battles unfolds as a campaign heads to victory. There is one long campaign as Germany, with five starting locales:

• Poland (1939); from Poland, through Norway, to the West with possible amphibious landing in Britain.
• North Africa (1941); from North Africa to the Middle East.
• Barbarossa (1941); from the initial crossing of the Soviet border to Moscow.
• Husky (1943); from Allies landing on Sicily to the end of the war.
• Kharkov (1943); from the German spring offensive to the end of the war.

The task in most scenarios is to take all objective cities in a given number of turns; taking them at least 5 turns earlier is considered a major victory. In scenarios from later stages of war, the Germans try to hold positions against a stronger enemy. A typical task is then "Hold at least two of our objective cities for 20 turns; for Major Victory, hold at least five."

All campaigns branch out and end either by the general being sacked for incompetence or end of the war. In Campaign Mode, a Major Victory could possibly change known historical events. For example, defeat in the 1940 Battle of France results in game over; after a Major Victory the player invades Britain; after a Minor Victory the player can either command the North African campaign or capture the Balkans and Greece and then invade Russia (Barbarossa). After a Major victory in Barbarossa the player can either convince the High Command to attack Moscow immediately (which costs him or her much prestige, needed for buying units) or attack Kiev and then Moscow (but then Moscow is surrounded by formidable fortifications).

If the player achieves a Major Victory both in Britain and in Moscow, he or she is allowed to invade Washington. In any other case, he/she must fight well in many battles to get another chance to attack them. If Britain or USSR survives this attack, they drive the Germans all the way back to Berlin. The best the player can do now is to fight well in each battle to have enough prestige for the next one - and to achieve a Major victory in the final defense of Berlin.