Panzer General 3D Assault simulates the horrors of World War II without all the bloodshed. With elements of chess and football, the game teaches you harsh lessons about strategy, strength, and sacrifice. Don't expect to jump into the game and win immediately, as doing so will require practice and a somewhat significant time investment.

While Panzer General 3D Assault falls short of many strategy games, such as the Commandos series, it's still fun to play, especially for those who prefer the look and feel of an animated board game to that of a blood-and-guts action game. Because there are so many units to deploy and place on the board, individual turns can last a very long time. Depending on the commitment of the gamer, this allows time to think about moves or can lead to intense boredom and haphazard troop movement.

The original PG series echoed the early board games, using flat maps and two dimensional units moving on a hex map grid. But in the new version, terain has become three dimensional, and objects (towns, tanks, aircraft) are similarly 3d. Now the battleground has a realistic feel to it, mingling th.

Like all good simulations, many variables determine the outcome of each battle. The stronger tank, plane or platoon doesn't necessarily win, making the game extremely tough. A good battle scenario can take an hour or more to complete while an intense campaign can run a full day. Nothing is certain in Panzer General 3D Assault. To be successful, you need to know capabilities of various weapons and vehicles -- learn which tank does the most damage, which plane can absorb the most hits and which ground troops can face down a machine gun nest. The absurdly thick manual is necessary reading for gamers who wish to win the war.

The game contains no graphic violence but there is a real human element evident. When a unit is destroyed, a picture of its commander is displayed with a stamp designating KIA (killed in action) or MIA (missing in action). This might seem hokey but the point is driven home that the game is all about a war where hundreds of thousands of men lost their lives. In terms of graphics, Panzer General 3D Assault is fairly good. The textures of the game maps are remarkable and the men and vehicles quite detailed.

The only complaint is the difficulty in clicking on some icons on the game board due to their small size. However, the miniaturization is necessary due to the wide scope and nature of gameplay but, at times, your units are indiscernible from enemy units, especially when smoke is rising from the battlefield. Bigger graphics might have helped but a different color scheme would be a better fix.

Panzer General 3D Assault is filled with blaring military music. No important audio instructions are heard in the game so the option to silence the trumpets and tubas by lowering the settings is welcome. There are a few sound effects in the game, including planes diving, trucks rolling and machine guns blazing but none are important to the game per se.

Although enjoyable, the game doesn't rank as high as other war simulations for several reasons. There are too many units to place and move during each turn and it seems to take an inordinate amount of time if you're going to do it correctly. Additionally, your enemy has just as many units to place and you're forced to sit through those maneuvers as well. It's possible to left-click a unit to override animations but, unfortunately, there's no 'override all animations' feature, requiring you to click on every single unit you want to skip. Obviously, this can result in a clicking-fest after each turn.

Panzer General 3D Assault features dozens of campaign variations as well as good single-battle scenarios leading to a high replay value. Engaging in multiplayer games via the Internet proved to be problematical as the program went through several software updates with the final result being a no-go. Fortunately, the computer AI provides a sufficient challenge.

Among war simulations, the game ranks high intellectually and is fun and fulfilling as well. World War II buffs should love the intricate scenarios and campaigns but gamers who want an easier and simpler title with more action may not have the patience required to get the most out of the game. No matter what your preference, though, Panzer General 3D Assault is definitely worth a look.

Graphics: The battlefield textures are rich but the units could be a bit larger.

Sound: The soundtrack sounds like a never-ending marching band practice. The sound drips patriotism, along with a few sounds of war.

Enjoyment: The game is tough to play and requires an in-depth study of strategy and troop movements. If you're looking for a mental challenge, look no further.

Replay Value: Dozens of campaign variations and battle scenarios ensure a high replay value. Arturia v collection 7 review.

How to run this game on modern Windows PC?

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The 3rd Panzer Army (German: 3. Panzerarmee) was a German armoured formation during World War II, formed from the 3rd Panzer Group on 1 January 1942. Openbravo pos download.

• 13rd Panzer Group

3rd Panzer Group[edit]

The 3rd Panzer Group (German: Panzergruppe 3) was formed on 16 November 1940. It was a constituent part of Army Group Centre and participated in Operation Barbarossa and fought in the Battle of Moscow in late 1941 and early 1942. Later it served in Operation Typhoon, where it was placed under operational control of the Ninth Army. Panzergruppe 3 was retitled the 3rd Panzer Army on 1 January 1942.

Orders of battle[edit]

At the start of Operation Barbarossa the Group consisted of the XXXIX and LVII Army Corps (mot.).

2 October 1941[edit]

• Commander: Colonel GeneralHermann Hoth
• Chief of Staff: ColonelWalther von Hünersdorff
• XLI Motorized Corps under General of Panzer TroopsGeorg-Hans Reinhardt
  • 1.Panzer-Division under Lieutenant GeneralFriedrich Kirchner
  • 36.Infanterie-Division (Mot.) under Lieutenant General Otto-Ernst Ottenbacher
• LVI Motorized Corps under General of Panzer TroopsFerdinand Schaal
  • 6.Panzer-Division under Major GeneralFranz Landgraf
  • 7.Panzer-Division under Major General Hans Freiherr von Funck
  • 14.Infanterie-Division (Mot.) under Major General Friedrich Fürst
• VI Corps under General of EngineersOtto-Wilhelm Förster
  • 6.Infanterie-Division under Lieutenant General Helge Auleb
  • 26.Infanterie-Division under Major General Walter Weiß
  • 110.Infanterie-Division under Lieutenant General Ernst Seifert

3rd Panzer Army was formed by redesignating 3rd Panzer Group on 1 January 1942.

In March 1944, the 3rd Panzer Army took part in the forced assembly and deportation of Russian civilians in the Borisov area. The civilians were deported to Germany for use as forced labor.^[1]

During Operation Bagration in July 1944, 3rd Panzer Army became part of the encirclement at Tekino, the Duna and Vitebsk, where it was largely destroyed. Surviving units retreated through Lithuania before reforming a line near Courland, fighting and being defeated during the Battle of Memel in late 1944.

In February 1945 the 3rd Panzer Army was one of the armies that made up the new Army Group Vistula. On 10 March 1945, General Hasso-Eccard von Manteuffel was made the commander of the 3rd Panzer Army, which was assigned to defend the banks of the Oder River, north of the Seelow Heights, thus hampering Soviet access to Western Pomerania and Berlin. They then faced an overwhelming Soviet attack launched by General Rokossovsky's 2nd Belorussian Front during the Battle of Berlin. On 25 April the Soviets broke through 3rd Panzer Army's line around the bridgehead south of Stettin^[2] and crossed the Randow Swamp.

Following the defeat at Stettin, 3rd Panzer Army was forced to retreat into the region of Mecklenburg - the headquarters of 3rd Panzer Army. Manteuffel made negotiations with British generals including Field Marshall Bernard Montgomery at Hagenow on 3 May 1945 so that he with 300,000 German soldiers would surrender to the British rather than Soviet forces.^[3]

Commanders[edit]

Notes[edit]

1. ^Hamburger Institut für Sozial Forschung, Verbrechen der Wehrmacht, p. 18
2. ^Richard Lakowski, Das Deutsche Reich und der Zweite Weltkrieg, Vol. 10/1, pp. 653-654, München: Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt, 2008
3. ^Mitcham Jr/Mueller, Samuel W./Gene (2012). Hitler's Commanders: Officers of the Wehrmacht, the Luftwaffe, the Kriegsmarine, and the Waffen-SS. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 137. ISBN9781442211544.
4. ^Raus, Erhard. Panzer Operations p. 353

References[edit]

• Wilhelm Tieke, Das Ende zwischen Oder und Elbe, Stuttgart: Motorbuch Verlag, 1995
• D. F. Ustinow et al. Geschichte des Zweiten Welt Krieges 1939-1945, Berlin: Militärverlag der DDR, 1982
• Marcus Wendel. Axis history3. Panzer-Armee

External links[edit]