Steel Panthers

Developer(s)
Publisher(s)	Strategic Simulations, Inc.
Designer(s)	Gary Grigsby and Keith Brors
Platform(s)	MS-DOS
Release date	1995-1997
Genre(s)	Tactical wargame
Mode(s)	Single player / PBEM
Rating(s)	Mature
Input methods	Keyboard, mouse

Steel Panthers is a complex, tactical-level turn-based computerized wargame series for the PC with World War II and modern warfare settings. The original three-part Steel Panthers series was developed and released by Strategic Simulations, Inc. from 1995 to 1997, with design and programming by Gary Grigsby and Keith Brors. Later the series was supplemented with freeware remakes by two different parties.

Gameplay

All of the games in the series are quite similar in features and appearance. However, the third part in the original series is clearly distinct in that it offers platoon-size formations instead of the scale of individual tanks and squads of the other installments.

The games offer various modes of play: human vs. human(Hotseat or On-Line), human vs. AI and PBEM (play by email). The players receive historical military units at the beginning of a scenario and have the option to buy reinforcements with points earned in different ways. The units are then moved on a hexagon grid map similar to a large number of board and computerized wargames. In addition to ready-made battles and campaigns, players can customize single scenarios or create their own campaigns.

The goal is usually to occupy several 'objective hexes' and hold them until the scenario is finished either by completely eliminating the opposing commanders forces or reaching the turn limit.

Series history

The game mechanics are basically a streamlined version of the system used by Grigsby's late-80s series of three strategy games for the Commodore 64 and Apple II: Panzer Strike, Typhoon of Steel and Overrun!. The original Steel Panthers series includes the following titles:

Steel Panthers (1995)
Steel Panthers II: Modern Battles (1996)
Steel Panthers III: Brigade Command 1939-1999 (1997)

Rights to the game and source code were later acquired by Matrix Games who developed and released as freeware an improved remake based on the Steel Panthers III engine (but limited to the timespan of World War II):

Steel Panthers: World at War!

There also exists ongoing development by The Camo Workshop based on the Steel Panthers II code. The Camo Workshop have introduced many new and innovative features to their two Windows based versions of Steel Panthers.

Steel Panthers: World War 2 (WinSPWW2)
Steel Panthers: Main Battle Tank (WinSPMBT) (features battles from 1945 to 2020, with 90 different nations to allow for the simulation of a wide variety of different real and hypothetical conflicts)

In 2005 Shrapnel Games took over distribution of SPCAMO's output, handling the distribution of the Windows version of their games. WinSPMBT was released in June of that year as a free download. A CD version with added bonus features was also offered as a commercial product, the first time SPCAMO had charged for one of its games. WinSPWW2 was released on May 15, 2006.

Community

Despite the original Steel Panthers being over a decade old, the game still has a fairly large following who play the freeware remakes. The official support forum for SP:WAW has over 2000 registered members. Surprisingly, for such an old video game, and one that was not initially released with any mod tools, a small modding community has emerged. Scenarios (standalone battles which plays like a single level in a videogame) and campaigns (series of linked scenarios) are still regularly produced by fans. SP:WAW has roughly a thousand scenarios available for it.

This community is mostly concerned with improving historical accuracy and fixing OOB errors that came with the game. This modding takes place exclusively on the freeware remakes. One such example is the STEEL PANTHERS ENHANCED mod which places special interest on Gamecode issues, Orders of Battle and Tables of Organization, that are as historically accurate as available information, and the gamecode allows. Its developers are especially pleased with the community involvement and open debate which gave birth to it. All this was done with input from the original programmer of SPWAW. Nearly all of the original Campaigns from SPWAW have been updated so as to play correctly with Enhanced. Also, a vast number of new scenarios have been created, and/or edited, using Enhanced. SP Enhanced tries to give the gamers a taste of ALL variations of the Steel Panthers Series of games. The Steel Panthers Enhanced Forum is dedicated to this version of the game and features many downloads of Campaigns, Scenarios, and useful tools.

As of June of 2007, Matrix Games announced a partnership with the SP:WaW Depot Association, Inc. to begin work on the next incarnation of this classic game. The SP:WaW Depot Association, Inc. is the non-profit owner of the SP:WaW Depot website.

External links

The Camo Workshop website Features info and links to full downloads (freeware) of WinSPWW2 and WinSPMBT.
The Steel Panthers Online website features a full download version (freeware) of Steel Panthers: World at War! ver8.2 as well as an upgrade to 8.4
World at War international Steel Panthers community
SPWaWWiki - The official Wiki for Steel Panthers: World at War!
The SP:WaW Depot Features forums where "Steel Panthers: World at War" fans can meet and converse with other members of the community. New scenarios, online and PBEM opponents can also be found here along with many other game related items. The site also boasts an extensive collection of WW II photos and sound files in a Library section, as well an online players Academy, to instruct new players, staffed with volunteers from the community. As of June, 2007 this site was designated as the official support site for the game by Matrix Games.
Theblitz.org A forum in which opponents for PBEM can be found and questions concerning Steel Panthers will be answered.
Shrapnel Games Features download of WinSPMBT, WinSPWWII and purchase of the full version.

Steel Panthers (series) series at MobyGames

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