Panzer General

About Panzer General

Panzer General (1994) is SSI's accessible World War II wargame, inspired by Sega's Daisenryaku, which linked battles into a campaign with veteran units and became the best-selling computer wargame of all time.

Panzer General in Depth

It is a turn-based operational wargame on hex maps, with units roughly the size of battalions and scenarios that approximate historical situations. Players fight single battles as Axis or Allies against the computer or a human, or a campaign as a German general. Its novel feature linked scenarios into a campaign spanning 1939 to 1945, where units gain experience and grow stronger, and victories earn prestige to upgrade and buy units and choose better next battles. Combined-arms tactics are essential: artillery softens dug-in positions but needs protection, bombers can take out artillery but first air defences must go, fighters must both destroy enemy aircraft and escort bombers, and engineers bridge rivers, all rewarding a Blitzkrieg advance.

There are 38 scenarios, and the German campaign can start in Poland, North Africa, Barbarossa, Italy or Kharkov. Most missions demand capturing objective cities within a set number of turns, with a major victory for finishing at least five turns early, while later ones demand holding out. Major victories can change history: after beating France the player can invade Britain, and after taking Moscow early, even attack Washington, but failure ends with the general sacked or Germany driven back to Berlin.

Making Panzer General

SSI was inspired by Daisenryaku's streamlined design, though founder Joel Billings was initially hesitant, and Graeme Bayless praised that game for boiling down "a highly complex subject... to the pertinent parts". Released in 1994, Panzer General was a major hit, selling over 250,000 copies at full price by August 1996 and many more afterwards, SSI's best-selling game in any genre; Retro Gamer called it the "greatest-selling true wargame of all time" in 2007. It won Computer Gaming World's Wargame of the Year and PC Gamer US's Best Wargame, finishing runner-up to X-COM for Game of the Year, and was the first wargame since 1987 to top CGW's reader poll; the magazine later ranked it the 15th best computer game ever, and it won the 1995 Origins Award. 3DO and PlayStation versions were also well reviewed. Computer Games Strategy Plus suggested wargamers might divide history into "Before Panzer General, and After", and GameSpot said it resurrected the genre. Allied General, Panzer General II and other sequels followed.