Review Steel Panthers: Main Battle Tank Retrospective

[Trash]

Tags: Camo Workshop; Shrapnel Games; Steel Panthers: Main Battle Tank

Steel Panthers originally got released in 1995 and has since then recieved more sequels, expansions and even full overhaul mods than you can shake a stick at. Our very own Garfunkel dives into the melee to try and make sense of it all and bring us a retrospective of fan fav Camo Workshop's Steel Panthers: Main Battle Tank.

For those who do not know, in any Steel Panthers game, you control infantry squads and individual vehicles and guns. You might only have a single company; whereas some battles you control an entire, reinforced battalion. Each unit has a plethora of statistics, including experience and morale and a named leader with four skills – yay, Steel Panthers is an RPG! Units and their leaders can be renamed. Units are moved on a hex-based map where each hex is roughly 50 meters. Terrain is, naturally, of supreme importance. Tanks can get stuck in streams or swamps while infantry in the open is machinegun fodder. Units can have up to four weapons – plus smoke ammo or dischargers, and those weapons can have up to four different types ammunition; HE, AP, HEAT and Sabot. Vehicles have three sorts of armour: regular steel, reactive armour and anti-HEAT armour. Winner is the one who, after a certain number of turns, controls more victory locations, though destroyed units give points as well. During a campaign, units and their leaders gain experience and can be upgraded with new kit. This is why you shouldn’t rename your units as there is no other way to track what gear they are actually using, in the upgrade screen between battles. In battle, units can be suppressed and require their leader to rally them. Retreating and routed units are out of control, fleeing towards home and easy targets. Tube artillery, mortars, rocket artillery can be both on-map and off-map and counter-battery fire is possible against both. In short, if it’s possible in actual combat, it’s most likely possible in Steel Panthers.

Did I mention the game is free? Read Garfunkel's Steel Panthers: Main Battle Tank Retrospective here.

 

[Trash]

Nice read GarfunkeL. I used to love the Korea and Vietnam scenarios back when I played it. Napalming the opposition or holding a hill against hordes of Chinese really is neat. The Rhodesian and South African scenarios are also something to behold. Can't recall any other wargame giving attention to these brush wars. I was wondering about SP: World at War and SP: World War Two. One of those standing head and heels above the other?

 

[GarfunkeL]

I'll have to write an article on both at some point, since one uses SP2 engine and the other uses SP3 engine, meaning that while they look very similar, there are subtle differences under the hood.

 

[TripJack]

nice work

I too would be interested in reading a comparison between SPWW2 and SPWaW. I have never played the latter.

 

[Yeesh]

Thanks for the article, bro. I've been waiting til I'm a brain in a jar with a mouse to play SPW, but I also would find the above comparison interesting. For when the time comes.

 

[Galdred]

I just found this article, and thanks ! It made me reinstall SPWW2 and SPBT, and they work much better than the originals on modern OSes. I read SPWW2 is more "robust" than SPWaW. The main advantage of SPWaW is the mega campaigns (branching campaigns) included in the general edition.

 

[bot]

WinSPMBT has always been about doomsday WW3 hotseat sessions for me. Gotta love WP armored, battalion-sized charges through the Great European Plane and the havoc and destruction left in their wake.