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Panzer Corps 2: Axis Operations 1940 DLC – Yay or Nay

 3 years ago
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Germany focused expansion for a solid military tactics game

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   Panzer Corps 2: Axis Operations - 1940 artwork

Does a Ju-88 add more flexibility and firepower than a new Panzer III (plenty of versions to choose from)? Does artillery and infantry based slow advance through fortifications seem like a better idea than a tank led move through a road clogged with infantry? Can a gamer replicate the fast and ruthless conquests that Nazi Germany achieved during the first full year of World War II?

Axis Operations 1940 is the third piece of downloadable content for Panzer Corps 2, which itself arrived at the start of the year. The pace of new content is commendable and the teams at developer Flashback Games and publisher Slitherine are clearly aiming to keep fans engaged with their new military tactics title for as long as possible.

The basics of the experience are not radically different. The game is turn and hex-based. Each turn players can move units, attack enemies, rely on some special moves, reinforce or defend. Players need to carefully consider how to best take out enemy forces, slowly completing a complex tactical puzzle. Tanks can overrun enemies, infantry is best in cities, and on rough terrain, air support is very necessary.

Artillery can often be the forgotten king of the battlefield and cooperation between all kinds of forces is not encouraged but required. A core set of units evolves as the battles go by and players have a requisition pool to get new hardware to play with (the Industry Connections trait is basically the most interesting one when designing a general).

Panzer Corps 2: Axis Operations - 1940

The core elements of Panzer Corps 2 are very close to those of classic Panzer General and the new content does not tweak them too much. There’s a lot of pleasure in creating a personalized force and then seeing how it can be customized and used to overcome a variety of enemy positions. There’s a lot of detail to interact with and plenty of tricky moments that require the use of the priceless undo feature.

Axis Operations 1940, as the name implies, re-creates the fast advances that happened on the Western Front during that year. Norway is the initial focus, then the Low Countries, before moving to subdue France. Trying to emulate the actual blitzkrieg is fun if often challenging. There are also some fantasy scenarios that World War II connoisseurs can guess relatively easily.

Their featured units include a wide variety of hardware that was on the field or in development for Germany during real-world 1940. Enemies are similarly historical or close to, even if they are sometimes a little overpowered to make missions challenging. The computer opponent is not easily baited into foolish attacks or bad moves, although it is sometimes a little shy when it comes to pushing into a weak spot.

A combination of mission design, potential player choices, and mechanics makes the missions in Axis Operations 1940 more interesting than those of the base game. It’s easy to make mistakes (remember that undo function) but when the solution to a particular situation emerges it feels great like you’re a better general than Rommel.

The presentation is as good as that of the base version of Panzer General 2. Information is easy to find and the units look great without distracting wargamers too much from the task at hand. The music is also fitting and seems to soar at just the right moments, just as a massive tank thrust finds a way to get to the required victory hex.

Conclusion

Panzer Corps 2 – Axis Operations 1940 is a good downloadable content package for a good game, a chance for those who have already played through the extensive campaign to get into a new set of challenges that will keep them occupied for many hours.

The biggest issue is that all this Germany focus seems a little weird for a game that aims to portray the complex tactical elements of the entire World War II. If the Flashback Games team plans to continue to prepare only Wehrmacht-focused battles for another 5 core DLC pieces then I don’t really plan to return to the game until they deliver something featuring the Brits, the Russians, the USA, or even some more minor powers.

At the moment, from a pure gameplay standpoint, the newest Axis Operations content delivery is an engaging one and shows the potential that Panzer Corps 2 has to be one of the leading military tactics titles of the coming years.


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