Panzer Command FAQ

[Erik Rutins]

ORIGINAL: ravinhood
Ok on this "reaction" phase. I noticed you called it a "turn based" game. Am I to assume we do all the targeting and firing for each unit ala SPWAW type during this reaction phase?

Nope, targeting and firing can happen in both phases. The main difference is that the reaction phase is only for "reactions" rather than "orders" so your choices are much more limited.

And/or Does the AI automatically do some of the reaction fire if we should miss something more important or that it feels is more important ala Combat Mission?

Absolutely. If you like, you can just click to go on to the next phase once the reaction phase comes up and the AI will handle targeting for you, no problem. The AI will not move your units, but it will definitely target enemies that are in range and give you a decent chance to do some damage.

Also can the AI play itself. In other words will it play both sides if I do nothing but load a scenario, assuming is will have individual pickable scenarios as well as a campaign? You did sort of compare it to Panzer General and I seem to recall I could let the AI play itself and just watch. Same here or no?

Nope. I don't recall Panzer General doing that, actually. I recall that option in TOAW and CM, but IIRC you had to play one side or the other in Panzer General (at least in the original).

Regards,

- Erik

[e_barkmann]

Hi

I can't see any mention of TCP/IP multiplayer support - will this be available?

cheers

[ravinhood]

Thanks for the quick responses Erik. Here's some more. heh

Will we be able to move the units through HQ's ala Combat Mission? Like a double click on the HQ's and all units under that HQ's will be activated?

Will Infantry be able to ride on tanks, trucks and any other large enough vehicles?

What is the scheme for melee between infantry? Do they goto hand to hand or stand/kneel across from each other and trade fire ala Combat Mission?

What kind of scenarios are planned? Assault? Defend? Meeting? Probe? ?????

Will the loss of a HQ unit have a great effect on command and control??

Will the AI (for either side) take cover on its own during the phases if it comes under heavy fire?

Is there a rally phase or some form of internal rally when units break and/or panic?

[hank]

ORIGINAL: Erik Rutins

Hank,


I'm not sure of the view controls you reference. However, you can definitely zoom out and zoom in. You never see enemies that your troops/tanks haven't spotted though you can look over the whole battlefield in terms of seeing the terrain. The spotting of your units determines what can be seen and each unit individually tracks what it can and can't see.

Regards,

- Erik

You answered my ? Mr. Rutins. It sounds a lot like steelbeasts and ground control combined. Its quite impressive looking from the screenshots you've posted.

hank

[benpark]

Any screens of Campaign mode yet? Will there be variable paths to take?

Thanks for the answers and the screens, Erik!

[Erik Rutins]

ORIGINAL: Chris Merchant
I can't see any mention of TCP/IP multiplayer support - will this be available?

Nope, at least not initially. The PBEM system will be the initial multiplayer method. There's only so much you can really fit into a first release, particularly for a 3D game on our budget.

Regards,

- Erik

[Erik Rutins]

ORIGINAL: ravinhood
Will we be able to move the units through HQ's ala Combat Mission? Like a double click on the HQ's and all units under that HQ's will be activated?

Click on the HQ, issue a group order and its subordinate units will obey. You can also issue individual orders.

Will Infantry be able to ride on tanks, trucks and any other large enough vehicles?

Yes.

What is the scheme for melee between infantry? Do they goto hand to hand or stand/kneel across from each other and trade fire ala Combat Mission?

Below 30 meters is "close assault" and is handled by a those rules whether infantry are attacking other infantry or vehicles. As far as the animations, I'm afraid you won't see them bayoneting each other. We just didn't have the budget for that degree of eye candy. They'll be firing close to each other. I'd love to see a real 3D melee, perhaps in a future release.

What kind of scenarios are planned? Assault? Defend? Meeting? Probe? ?????

Due to the nature of the campaigns and the player's position in them, the majority are Assault / Defend with a few Meeting engagements.

Will the loss of a HQ unit have a great effect on command and control??

The loss of an HQ can affect it's platoon temporarily. I wouldn't say a "great" effect but a significant one.

Will the AI (for either side) take cover on its own during the phases if it comes under heavy fire?

The AI always tries to use cover when available and reasonable, in my experience.

Is there a rally phase or some form of internal rally when units break and/or panic?

There are morale rules, units can break and rally based on their ratings and the situation. Units that fail to rally long enough are gone.

Regards,

- Erik

[Erik Rutins]

ORIGINAL: benpark
Any screens of Campaign mode yet? Will there be variable paths to take?

Not yet, sorry. The Campaign is still in development and will likely take us another month to finish. We'll post some shots as soon as it's ready. The campaign itself is linear, following a generally historical path with some allowances for replayability of each battle and maximum reusability of the maps by modders and post-release scenario folks. However, the battles can be quite replayable based on force choices, how well you've been doing in terms of losses and experience, the difficulty level you are playing at, etc.

Regards,

- Erik

[tsimmonds]

Is the campaign playable only vs the AI, or will campaign mode also be available for PBEM?

[kipanderson]

Eric, hi,

All looks and sounds great…. “very” CM but there is no harm in that as Battelfront.com move on to the next engine the fact that you guys “run with the ball” with something approaching the current CM engine is good, not bad . I am also a fan of the idea of a series along the lines of the John Tiller Panzer Campaigns series… all sounds great. I look upon it as a “product improved CMX1” and that is a very good thing, not a bad thing… I will be buying it for sure as will many of my CM chums.

Now for the tricky question has “the” big problem with the CMX1 engine been corrected in Panzer Commander?

The question is does Panzer Commander have each friendly unit doing its own spotting of enemy units, Relative Spotting in CM Speak, or once one of your friendly units has spotted an enemy unit have “all” your friendly units in Line Of Sight (LOS) of that enemy unit spotted it also. Let me explain for those unfamiliar with CM.

In CM if you have ten friendly tanks advancing over open terrain and one of your tanks spots an enemy AT gun all your friendly units in LOS of the enemy AT gun will have spotted it also. Every friendly unit spots on behalf of each other, as long as they are in LOS of the enemy unit. If CM had a weakness this is it.

What is needed is for each friendly unit to have to do its own spotting so all units in LOS of a given enemy unit do not all spot it at once…. if you follow my rantings

Finally…. amongst most, but certainly not all, CM fans this one matters… so I very much hope the spotting routines in Panzer Commander are done by each unit on its own and not as in the current, first generation CM engine.

Sounds good,
All the best,
Kip.

[Erik Rutins]

Kip,

ORIGINAL: kipanderson
All looks and sounds great…. “very” CM but there is no harm in that as Battelfront.com move on to the next engine the fact that you guys “run with the ball” with something approaching the current CM engine is good, not bad . I am also a fan of the idea of a series along the lines of the John Tiller Panzer Campaigns series… all sounds great. I look upon it as a “product improved CMX1” and that is a very good thing, not a bad thing… I will be buying it for sure as will many of my CM chums.

Thanks for the kind words on that.

The question is does Panzer Commander have each friendly unit doing its own spotting of enemy units, Relative Spotting in CM Speak, or once one of your friendly units has spotted an enemy unit have “all” your friendly units in Line Of Sight (LOS) of that enemy unit spotted it also. Let me explain for those unfamiliar with CM.

In CM if you have ten friendly tanks advancing over open terrain and one of your tanks spots an enemy AT gun all your friendly units in LOS of the enemy AT gun will have spotted it also. Every friendly unit spots on behalf of each other, as long as they are in LOS of the enemy unit. If CM had a weakness this is it.

What is needed is for each friendly unit to have to do its own spotting so all units in LOS of a given enemy unit do not all spot it at once…. if you follow my rantings

Each individual unit does its own spotting. If Tank #1 in a platoon can see an anti-tank gun, but Tank #2 technically has a line of sight (if there were no deductions for cover and distance) but is 50m further away than Tank #1 and fails its sighting check to actually "see" the ATG, it won't be able to actually fire at it just because Tank #1 spotted it.

Regards,

- Erik

[kipanderson]

EriK,

“Each individual unit does its own spotting. If Tank #1 in a platoon can see an anti-tank gun, but Tank #2 technically has a line of sight (if there were no deductions for cover and distance) but is 50m further away than Tank #1 and fails its sighting check to actually "see" the ATG, it won't be able to actually fire at it just because Tank #1 spotted it.”

EriK… that is great news.. in CM Speak you do indeed have Relative Spotting as opposed to the CMX1 Absolute Spotting… great many a CM fan will buy both your new games and of course the second generation CM games. Room for both

All the best,
Kip.

[kipanderson]

Erik, hi,

BTW… “If” you could marry a truly operational layer and Panzer Command you would really have take off… But I do know it is asking a lot.

A Panzer Campaigns type game married to a Panzer Command and you would have take off

All the best,
Kip.

[Andreas1968]

Hi

I think I know the answer, but I am going to ask it anyway - will there be a Mac version?

Thanks a lot in advance for the answer. It looks like you have a very interesting product with a lot of potential there.

All the best

Andreas

[Becket]

Looks great. I know you say it's not trying to be the next CM, but honestly that's going to be the bar in terms of gameplay. Most of the complexity of CM was under the hood, and it played simply.

Anyway, it looks great, and I'm moderately pumped to see it! (Especially since CM won't have a WWII East Front update for a long time (first CMSF, then CMX2 Normandy)).

[Becket]

ORIGINAL: Andreas1968

Hi

I think I know the answer, but I am going to ask it anyway - will there be a Mac version?

Thanks a lot in advance for the answer. It looks like you have a very interesting product with a lot of potential there.

All the best

Andreas

Whoa. Hi Andreas (we didn't interact much on the CM forums, but it's good to see you here, your posts there are typically must-read affairs. )

[Erik Rutins]

ORIGINAL: kipanderson
BTW… “If” you could marry a truly operational layer and Panzer Command you would really have take off… But I do know it is asking a lot.

A Panzer Campaigns type game married to a Panzer Command and you would have take off

I'd love to see that too. In time, perhaps... [8D]

The way the data works in the XML files, I think one could even build an external engine to do this.

Regards,

- Erik

[Erik Rutins]

Andreas,

ORIGINAL: Andreas1968
I think I know the answer, but I am going to ask it anyway - will there be a Mac version?

Thanks a lot in advance for the answer. It looks like you have a very interesting product with a lot of potential there.

Sorry, but we don't have the ability to develop for Mac at this time. We're open to discussing the possibilities if someone else would like to do a port though.

Regards,

- Erik

[Erik Rutins]

Becket,

ORIGINAL: Becket
Looks great. I know you say it's not trying to be the next CM, but honestly that's going to be the bar in terms of gameplay. Most of the complexity of CM was under the hood, and it played simply.

Anyway, it looks great, and I'm moderately pumped to see it! (Especially since CM won't have a WWII East Front update for a long time (first CMSF, then CMX2 Normandy)).

Thanks! I agree that CM is elegant in how it plays and is chock full of gameplay. However, we feel that Panzer Command is fun too and I hope you will agree once you get a chance to play it.

Regards,

- Erik

[Becket]

I hope so too. I realize my message can be read the wrong way, so let me clarify - I think the bar will be to make sure this game has simple and accessible gameplay, but with tactical depth. If you do that, then, for me at least, it should be a joy, whether or not it has every vehicle ever built or covers an entire theater.

Board wargames can co-exist on the same topics, no reason for computer wargames to be any different.