With E3 over, and with no hot new flight sims in hand, its time to come down to earth (literally) and see what is new. What fell into my hands while cruising the local software store was SSI's Panzer Commander. I had read Maurice Fitzgerald's review on Combat Sim, and that peaked my interest. So here we go, alarm! Panzerkampfwagen!

After the flawless installation (~130 Mb), you're greeted by very cool introductory video sequence and military march sound clip. I couldn't wait to get right into the fray. What I saw was stunningly good 3D graphics, great sound effects and object physics that I haven't seen since "A10 Cuba!".

What impressed me immediately was the immersive quality over other tank sims I tried in the past. Of course I chose the King of tanks, the King Tiger II, and was delighted with the renditions of the German spoken in response to my platoon orders (the same is true for the other countries and languages).

The GUI (graphical user interface) is set up very cleanly and is intuitive. I didn't even have to crack the manual. In fact, the only reason I had to read the manual was to figure out the targeting range finder and to set up my programmable sticks. Panzer also comes with a glossy key reference card with graphics detailing the views and their associated key commands. Setting up my TM F22pro, TQS and RCS wasn't hard, but it did take a little coordination with the built in key mapping interface.

I did have trouble getting settings to stay set in that interface, so I opted to edit the controller.ini file manually. If you are using a non-programmable controller stick, I would use this controller.ini file for all your key mapping. But in my case where I use TM programmable controllers, I found that you need to have both the controller.ini file _and_ your panzer.f22 file set up. Panzer comes with controller.ini files for most sticks, but only one programmable stick file.

So I offer mine as a working solution. Modify it to your liking. I've only shown the portion that needs to be different from the default and have snipped out the rest (replace and insert this portion into yours). Note that "disabled" mapping is equal to "J_AXIS_~". All other keys should be disabled because your programmable stick will map the others.

Here is my Thrustmaster F22pro "F22" file for Panzer. No "M22" file is required if you put the key commands directly into the "F22" file, thus bypassing the macro definition mechanism. I will add this, I used the 1.60 CS Commander to make this file and it correctly made the RAW code and keystroke commands. The only hitch being it didn't warn me not to use a hold stroke "/H" with RAW codes.

Now back to the hunt. After the main splash screens, you have the choice of single scenario, career (static linear campaign), multiplayer game modes. Single scenario gives you many solo missions with you leading two other platoon members. You choose from USA, Germany, USSR and UK sides of the conflicts. The tank is chosen appropriately for the scenario.

As a die hard flight simmer, mud tactics are very much different than with blue sky. Mobility is on the opposite sides of the spectrum, and the hunt goes from a 3-dimensional aerial ballet to a 2-dimensional chess game where the terrain is your best friend and worst enemy. The developers gave you a view that gives a bird's eye view of the battle ground. This was probably to help make the game move at a faster pace. This be a selectable option.

It does take out the element of surprise somewhat to use it. There are many tactics that I could go into that apply to tank warfare, but let it suffice to say that there is a strategy guide for Panzer Commander. Tactics would include: hit and run, pincers, ambushes, bag&drag, AND don't remain still in open field unless your hull is under cover.

About the only technology to be mastered in this sim is the range finder for the main gun and coaxial (or inline) machine gun. With any artillery weapon, the variables to a solution are mainly range, elevation and lead. As you can see from the picture of the gunners sight, you have range ticks demarking meters (on the 5.0X view) and elevation ticks (on the 2.5X view). There is also a series of 7 arrow heads for lead reference on moving targets.

Once you practice and master the main gun, then you're ready for real action. On a further note, I recommend that you use the cupola and chase views when mobile, and the gunner views for close and distant gun engagements. Also, decide if you want do all the 5 man tank positions yourself, or be the commander and give the orders and trust your squad and platoon members. Warning however. Use your platoon members wisely.

This is probably the Achilles heel of this sim (listening SSI?). The computer AI is good in the area of offense against you, but is poor in the area of defense and in knowing how to deal with objects that block its path. For example, if a dead tank or forest is in the AI tank's way; it may get stuck up against it. Another example was when I had an arrow formation while I crossed a bridge. You judge for yourself what happened to my platoon mate. Guess I'll call an follow the leader formation next time. )8^P

The career mode is a static linear campaign where your team gets better with experience. I will only say that between the single, career and multiplayer missions available; Panzer has a lot of different scenarios to keep you busy. If that isn't enough, there's a mission editor that allows you to make your own from scratch or read in an existing mission. The terrain generator does take some getting used to, or else you'll create a battle field that you cannot traverse in a tank. The best part of this editor is that it is for solo or multiplayer, one of SSI's strengths (i.e. Su27 Flanker) that other great sims seem to keep missing the mark on. The picture here doesn't even begin to show all the depth to the editor, but I include it here to illustrate the simplicity of design.

Click for larger image.

And now on to my favorite subject: multiplayer support. I am very pleased to say that Panzer is very robust and stable over IPX and TCP/IP. Note that no provision was made for modem-modem or serial connection setups. Panzer has every commander for themselves Melee, Teams, Platoons, and Capture the Flag scenarios with many missions under each category. The focus is on human players versus human players in teams or by themselves.

What seems to be lacking is cooperative game play versus AI platoons in the canned multiplayer scenarios. Remember too, that you can make your own multiplayer missions with the editor. I have yet to test it, but I do believe it is possible to mix AI and human players with the mission editor. Other good news is that there is text chat both before and during game play. Note that while in game play, you must be in the buttoned cupola to use chat. Having voice comms would do great in multiplayer platoon maneuvers.

To sum it up, I _really_ like this tank simulation. It is very immersive and is has good 3d graphics, booming sounds and appropriate foreign language. The object and trajectory physic modeling is superlative. Unexpected air CAS can ruin your day. Lots of options to assure realism and optimize CPU usage. It definitely has warts. The AI is the biggest offender.

Next is the lack of multiplayer support of more than one player in the same vehicle. Tanks need 4 to 5 persons, at least 2 (commander and gunner/driver) would be perfect. I would also like to see more ground activity in the areas of ground troops, vehicles, mine fields, tank traps, weather, and forests that let you hide in them (at least the first few tree depths). A cupola machine gun would allow dealing with them pesky CAS aircraft.

To make it really trick, I would like to see a tank skin editor. Allow me to customize my tank's camo and markings, and let the platoon leader have his pennant on a whip antenna. On a P2 333 running Voodoo2, Panzer ran silky smooth with all the trimmings on. I therefore give SSI's Panzer Commander a solid 8.5 AV8R Rating. For me, this is a great value for today's demanding sims. If SSI fixes the things mentioned here in a patch, this sim could easily become a classic, IMHO. Till we meet behind 70 tons of JadgPanzer steel, watch your tracks!