Achtung Panzer: Kharkov 1943

[Gunther]

I downloaded this game through File Planet and I printed off a copy of the rules. The rules are not easy to read. There is a tutorial and it is not the best tutorial you could find. What is awesome about this game is the authenticity of combat on the Eastern Front in WWII. You can zoom in to the guys at squad level and watch them fight and die. It is part RTS game and TBS game. The TBS portion is a one over the world view and then the real "meat and potatoes" of the game is the RTS portion.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1Ka9zYG ... _embedded#

I have two rifle platoons. The first one has 4 9-man rifle squads and 1x 50mm mortar section. The second platoon has 3 9-man rifle squads and 2x 7.62mm MG teams. I deployed the 2nd platoon around this stretch of road east of a major river amongst buildings of a small town. the enemy will have to move up a gentle slope of a river bank to reach this platoon dug in around this small town.

The first platoon is dug in, inside a forest with excellent overwatch of both a secondary road and the primary road leading east and north toward where the 2nd platoon is dug in.

Now, I clicked the feature to insure they were dug in. I didn't want them to jump up out of their foxholes because I knew the enemy was using Haltracks with machineguns mounted on them.

I click the button to start the RTS portion after deploying my platoons. Within a few minutes, three German halftracks come into view. Two of them had 7.62mm MGs and the third had a 57mm AT gun. This may have been a reconnaissance element for some larger force. One of the halftracks moved to the north along the secondary road my 1st platoon was covering. The other two vehicles moved along hte primary route toward where the 2nd platoon was dug in.

I was able to call in a flare with my artillery battery to illuminate the battlefield (Night time fighting). The 1st Platoon fired on the near vehicle and the infrantry dismounted. I used my 50mm mortar to fire HE on the dismounting infantry. The four squads of 1st Platoon were close enough that they were all putting effective fires on the German squad in front of them. When their buddy started taking fire, the other two vehicles came over to help out. I had the advantage because my Russian Infantry were dug in, inside a forest and the vehicles were not about to enter the woods to take me out.

I zoomed in for a closer look and saw with horror as all four of my squads jumped out of their foxholes and charged into the machine guns and AT gun; probably firing HE now. The German Panzergrenadier Platoon chewed them all up.

So then I moved the view over to the 2nd platoon dug in on the far side of the river. The platoon had already left their position and were running in single file down that primary road -- running right toward their eventualy virtual deaths.

Pure Frustration. I'm sure I'm missing something here. I had a nice little Company sized Area Ambush set up and my little Virtual Warriors gave up. They panic and charged right into the enemy machine guns.

[roadrunner]

I will have to take a look into this. I miss playing my old board games.

[Gunther]

Ok, I figured out how to get them to remain in their positions. When the game goes to the RTS mode, you go to a Squad Deployment phase first. During that you click the "Dig In" button or Build Trenches button. Then once you turn the "Game On" button, which allows the AI to deploy the German units and begin movement, then you have to return to the units and hit another button that puts them inside their defensive fighting positions. This time when I zoon in on my little digital warriors they were in their holes waiting for the enemy to come to them.

Ok, so this is what happened. The German Panzer Grenadiers anihilated my 1st Platoon that was deployed forward. The Germans spared no man; chasing down the few survivors that tried to make it away from the slaughterhouse.

When they hit the 2nd Platoon, which this time I had dug in in front of a River instead of the town east of the River, I was able to employ Artillery fire. I had a fierce barrage coming down upon the enemy and the Russian Infantry was pouring deadly fire into them.

Or at least I thought. The game jumped back to the TBS mode and I saw a screeen that showed the results just before it switched. 5% of the Russians survived and 64% of the Germans survived. Ugh; back to the old drawing board.

[Gunther]

This is why I like File Planet and my ability to test games before I actually play them. This game has some good points and some bad points. The good points are the graphics. You can zoom right down to soldier level and watch the fight as it happens. That is impressive. You can also check Line of Sight (LOS) and Line of Fire (LOF) to see if your units can actually see the area you want them to fire in. This is realistic. Units will also "Panic!" and run from a fight, which is synonymous to real life reactions to combat. For each of those reason there, I would buy this game.

The number one reason I will not buy this game is the game mechanics. They are too convoluted and cumbersome. They do not always work; you tell a unit to defend from one spot and whenever they feel like it, they'll get up out of their defensive positions and attack; dying in the process.

I've played this game about a dozen or more times already and have lost every time. Never has a fight been evenly matched. In the demo version, you play the Russians. In every battle I have fought, the Germans have always had the upper hand. I came close to winning one, but was then overwhelmed by six Pzkw IVs; game over - Germans win. I don't mind losing once in awhile, but not every game. And it has always been that the Germans get an unfair advantage in every fight. That may have been how Kharkov was in 1943 or maybe not; I don't know. But either way, I don't want to play a video game where I lose every time I play.

As a fan of Strategy/Tactical Military TBS/RTS games, I would not recommend this one.