As development on Panzer Corps 2 Pacific and the next Axis Operations DLC continues, we thought this week we’d take a look at some of the best rated and most popular mods for the game on the Steam Workshop.

First we have Panzer Corps 1 Grand Campaign https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2410075863 which is the grand campaign for Panzer Corps 1 remade for Panzer Corps 2 by a group of six fans (Ezequiel Romanko, Rick Kesler, Davidson, Grondel, R2G2 and Swifty).

It’s a large mod, and the most downloaded on the whole of the Workshop. It is currently playable up to 1943, and development is still ongoing.



On second position, here’s the New Units Pack https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2406908759&searchtext= which adds 10 new german units to the game, including the Command Panzer A, the BF110 Heavy Fighters and the Fallschirm sPzB 41 (airborne anti-tank). It’s developed by one of the authors of the Panzer Corps 1 Grand Campaign remake, R2G2.



The third most downloaded mod is The Big Red One https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2323744661&searchtext= a campaign comprising of 15 custom made missions following and detailing the chronicles of the Big Red One (1st Infantry Division) as they fought from the dunes of Africa to the end of the war in Germany in 1945. This is also developed by one of the authors of the Panzer Corps 1 Grand Campaign remake, Davidson.



Give them a try and let us know what you think about them!

We'd like to thank everyone in the modding community for Panzer Corps 2: modding is a key component of the Panzer Corps saga and we're really happy to see such interesting mods spring up.

The Panzer Corps 2 - World Championship moves into the fifth round today.

This round, we have a special treat for everyone - a brand new and never before seen map, The Siege of Leningrad. Study it carefully, as the battle you win may be your own.



Will you break the encirclement? Or simply hold the line?



In leaderboard news, PlannedParenthood drew blood from Kleko11 last round, but it wasn't enough for him to secure a victory. Nevertheless, another 3000 point Kleko11 victory was prevented and now around 1000 points separates the top of the leaderboard.

Everything is to play for.

Round 3 leader board:
1 kleko11 11069
2 Daystick 10616
3 FritzchenEK-I 10272
4 Adel77 9916
5 Folklore 9898



AFK Players
We have heard your feedback about AFK players and have taken action this round to remove those that have not played in the last 2 rounds. We hope between this and the scoring system, there will be a lot less chance that an active player will face an AFK player.

As always, we are improving the system based on your feedback and the data we collect on our side.

Two days ago we had our Home of Wargamers Live+ stream, in which we delivered news on all fronts, including for Panzer Corps! You can watch it here in case you missed it:



David Sharrock, producer for the game, went through the new mechanics of Panzer Corps 2: Pacific, which will be released later in 2022.

We've also released new free scenarios as a holiday gift! As is befitting the season, all three of them have a distinctly wintery theme to them. We hope you enjoy them, and are getting ready for more upcoming Panzer Corps 2 content arriving early next year.

Scenario: End of the Bulge


This historical scenario played from the German perspective and takes place in the immediate aftermath of the Battle of the Bulge. While the German counteroffensive made impressive initial gains, it has now stalled out for lack of supply and fierce Allied resistance, such as the stubborn defense of Bastogne at the hands of the American 101st Airborne.

But when German High Command insists the limited gains of the offensive not be abandoned, several elite Panzer Divisions find themselves dangerously exposed to flanking attacks from British and American forces aiming to erase the 'Bulge' created in their lines.

Is it still possible to preserve Germany's elite Panzer Divisions, or will the half-victories accomplished by Operation Wacht am Rhein turn to another defeat Germany can no longer afford?

Scenario: Voronezh43


The second Soviet Winter counteroffensive is underway! While Soviet encirclements stamp out the last embers of German 6th Army resistance at Stalingrad, more Soviet forces race across the snowy landscape of the Motherland to reclaim vital cities and territories back from the fascist invaders.

One of their main objectives is to regain control of the Don River, and to do that the Soviets have set their sights on Voronezh. Defended by a motley scattering of Axis auxiliaries, this vital crossing is just one of the many lightly guarded positions the Axis powers have been forced to create as their forces are stretched to breaking across the enormous distances of the Eastern Front.

This historical scenario played from the Soviet perspective and takes place near Kursk in January of 1943.

Scenario: Meridian


This fictional scenario played from a British perspective pits your forces against a Soviet enemy in a MidWar Era setting. Featuring many game improvements such as enemy heroes, secret caches, and randomized enemy reinforcement waves, this scenario promises strong re-playability as you must plan defensive positioning and offensive maneuvering against a series of unpredictable threats.

Quick word on Axis Operations
While it is still too early to reveal any new details just yet, we want to reaffirm our commitment to this DLC series, and have huge plans to finish it in spectacular fashion!

Right now we need a little extra time and work for 1943 though, so as you have noticed it is taking longer to produce than the previous DLC installments. This is mostly so we can properly lay the ground work for how exactly the split timeline will take form and be handled through the game's mechanics, but also to make sure we can continue to innovate and design new and interesting content for both new players and veterans alike to enjoy. We also still have plans to continue to revisit and improve past DLC, for example turning on the Commendation Point display in the early Axis Operations content.

Have a Happy Holidays!

The Panzer Corps 2 - World Championship moves into the forth round today. Kleko11 remains steadfastly at the top, but there has been considerable movement below his position. Can PlannedParenthood conceive of a path to victory over Kelko11's remarkable hold of the top spot?

Round 3 leader board:
1) kleko11 9152
2) PlannedParenthood 8150
3) a432 7713
4) Trepko 7386
5) Dardalon 7359

Round four sees us battling in the Ardennes. The famous operation that took place here, used late war equipment combined with blitzkrieg tactics. The unusual weather conditions (for Western Front) gave Germany ample scope for a last-ditch tank offensive. The hope was to regain momentum and control of the war...

We're releasing a new update today, this one consisting of a number of fixes.

You can find the full changelog below.

Change log:
- Fixed crashes and errors when assigning heroes outside the Deployment Phase (both manually or from scripts)
- Fixed crashes which some people experienced with "Show Instances" option turned off
- Fixed tooltips over difficulty levels
- Fixed red selection getting stuck in "import core" popup
- Fixed encirclement markers not showing for allied players

The Panzer Corps 2 - World Championship moves into the third round today and the battle for the top of the leader board remains mostly unchanged, with Kleko11 extending their lead.

Round 2 leader board:
1) kleko11 5930
2) bubu13 5716
3) FritzchenEK-I 5429
4) DarkBlueInk 5428
5) KhalilGibran 5347

The next battle takes us to Moscow in 1941. This will be a tough and protracted battle for the heart of a nation. Expect to score lots of points here...

Tournament Scoring Update
There have been two significant changes to how scoring works for this round, which you should be aware of:

1) In case of early victory the winner will get full points for all victory hexes for all remaining turns.
2) There are also separate points awarded for victory itself (500 points).

These changes have been introduced due to the feedback we received after the first two rounds.

We hope you'll like these changes to scoring. Please let us know if you have any questions.

We're about to release a new update for Panzer Corps 2. You can find the full changelog below, so please let us know what you think.

The update should go live in 30 minutes.

Change list for the game
========================
- Axis Operations campaigns have been reverted to use legacy paratrooper rules. Other content still uses new rules introduced in 1.2.0
- Fixed issues with fog of war related to combined bad weather and high ground effects
- Fixed torpedo animations getting stuck in some cases
- Fixed "Shroud" advanced option
- Fixed crash issues with 3d units in strategic mode
- Fixed some cases of mouse cursor stuttering too much
- Fixed chat messages in Multiplayer disappearing when a player exits and reloads the game
- Various other minor fixes
- "Limited stock" challenge no longer limits available land transports
- It is now possible to specify the size of limited stock using a slider. It is no longer fixed to 20 points per unit type per scenario.
- "Mortal heroes" challenge has also been extended with a slider to fine-tune probability of heroes dying in combat
- It is now possible to access and change advanced options between scenarios in a campaign
- It is now possible to drag Unit Details around the screen
- Loading speed of Camouflage tab in Unit Details has been improved
- Options screen has been rearranged, Display/UI section has been split into three: Display/UI, Units and Terrain
- Options -> Display/UI section now has a selection of different hex grid styles
- Options -> Other section now has some controls for game's map cache. You can turn the cache off completely, limit its size or clear the cache from inside the game
- Added new parameters and options for more advanced scoring in tournaments

Change log for Axis Operations 1942
===================================

General:
Fixed a number of text errors and typos

01Rzhev1942:
Some Encircling Force Soviet units raised to default strength, up from 3
Encircling Force Soviet Artillery units raised from 3 to 7 strength
Several Soviet Aircraft now guard the eastern edge of the map
A large cluster of Soviet units now patrols the eastern edge of the map
A road now leads to the northwestern map corner
A hidden cache of Soviet equipment has been added to the map
A hidden cache of captured Italian equipment has been added to the map
Text pop up for both caches added to the script file
Pre-made CORE hero von Blonde moved from 8.8 AD to Panzer 38t unit

02DemyanskPocket:
Added more swamp and forest terrain around the river lines
Added a lot of Soviet infantry to patrol the river lines to further discourage crossings
Added Soviet fighters to guard the river lines
Mission critical JU52 increased to 30 strength

03OperationCerberus:
Raised KMS Scharnhorst strength by 5
Raised KMS Prinz Eugen strength by 5
Mine warning triggers two turns earlier now
Turn limit reduced from 30 to 28

04Kummersdorf1942:
Fixed an issue with Commendation Points not updating properly during this scenario
Female or Male special hero options both set to costing 3 CP each now
Deploy limit increased from 50 to 99 to allow for more large slot unit deployment for training
Campaign prestige awarded for entering this scenario increased from 1500 to 3500
Experience cap set to 5000 to prevent experience loss for elite units entering this scenario

05KerchPeninsula:
Reduced the amount of swamps on the bottom end of the Soviet defensive line to make the briefing recommended flanking maneuver easier
Added some swamps in the center of the Soviet defensive line
Added some bomb damaged villages to the bottom section of the Soviet defensive line
German supply hex moved to an urban tile instead of a port tile to allow deploying of units during the battle
Soviet units defending the Quarry have received a hero and large strength buff
Hidden cache of Lend-Lease equipment added to a flag on the map
Text pop up for cache added to the script file
Fixed an incorrect briefing portrait image
Romanian forces now start with 2000 prestige to allow for some limited repairing
Converted one dirt airfield to normal airfield near the center of the map

06SecondBattleofKharkov:
Fixed an issue with Commendation Points not updating properly during this scenario
Converted one dirt airfield to a normal airfield near the middle of the map
Romanian HQ unit does not patrol so far to the east to make it easier to protect
Added a set of 4 Romanian units to escort their HQ unit around
All Soviet Fighters have been recolored for visual camo variety
Allied Romanian Prestige now visible, and increased for more repair options
Turn amount reduced from 27 turns to 22 turns
Scripts now properly check for and award a Commendation Point for the Romanian HQ Survival on scenario Victory
One mislabeled Donets River hex relabeled to Oskol River
Added several more Soviet Partisans around the map to delay any German force from directly advancing on Izium

07Voronezh:
Increased scenario turn limit from 19 to 23
Replaced a few 'rough' tiles with 'countryside' tiles to make travelling across the vast stretches of Russian terrain a bit easier
Fixed a very strange rail bridge visual near Kursk
Ju52(3) have been made available for this scenario

08VoroshilovgradSDO:
CP event now properly says it will cost 3 CP instead of incorrectly saying it will cost 4
There is now a formation of Soviet vehicles that patrols and defends the eastern most victory hexes
Several Soviet aircraft have been added to defend the eastern part of the map
Two more Soviet airfields added to move back new Soviet bombers slightly away from the middle of the map
Replaced some rough terrain with clear terrain for more unit mobility

09OperationNordlicht:
Reduced turn limit from 14 to 13
Reduced chance for rain from 10% to 4%

10BattleofLakeLadoga:
Added an additional mobile airfield to the player's AUX forces
Special unit exp raised from 2500 to 3500
Special unit ammunition amount raised from default to 8
Special unit strength raised to 30
Special unit for unique objective now has a unique name and camo skin
CORE slots raised from 70 to 85
Completing the Unique Objective now awards 2 CP over 1 CP
Chance for rain decreased to 15%
chance for clouds increased to 40%
Fixed a problem with scripts that was blocking Special Unit leader from being offered as a hero to join the player
Turn 16 now checks for Special Unit survival
Turn 17 awards Commendation Points for Special unit Survival
Turn 18 offers Special unit hero reward
PLACEHOLDER text replaced with proper text line for special unit survival event
Assigned new string ID to new text to prevent blank text box issues
Fixed an issue with Commendation Points not updating properly during this scenario
Cleared some forest out of the eastern edge of the map to make traversing and searching this area easier
Some Soviet artillery has been given hill tiles to extend their bombardment range
Some soviet artillery has been slightly weakened from their trek up said hills

11Novorossiysk
Chance for Clouds reduced from 20% to 10%
Turn limit increased from 20 to 25
CORE slots increased from 100 to 115
Campaign prestige increased from 1500 to 3000
2 Train transports have been made available

12Grozny
Fixed an issue with Commendation Points not updating properly during this scenario
Chance for Clouds reduced from 30% to 20%
CORE slots increased from 100 to 115
Two extra caches of equipment have been added to this scenario
Text pop up for both caches added to the script file
Added an additional mobile airfield unit for the player
Increased turn limit to 29
Elite La5 now has a custom skin and custom name
2 Train transports have been made available
One town added along the scenario rail line

14BombingofStalingrad
Map updated with new visual variety in damaged city tiles and industrial tiles
6th Army Default skin changed so reinforcements share appearance with existing units
The second 6th Army Reinforcement Wave has been removed
Even more Soviet Fighters have been added around the map
Turn limited reduced from 26 to 23
One player AUX mobile airfield has been removed
Soviet position around Pavlov's House strengthened
Soviet ground defenses around the Central Rail Station greatly strengthened

14StreetsofStalingrad
Map updated with new visual variety in damaged city tiles and industrial tiles
Added some roads on the Soviet reinforcement area to prevent units from getting stuck here before their bridge engineers are gone
CORE slots have been increased to 122
Victory requirement increased from holding 6 VH to holding 8 VH in briefing, objectives, and any other config locations
Main Night Witch increased in strength and experience
More aggressive Night Witches added to the map
Soviet global experience reduced from 2250 to 1250
Removed a CP reward script that wasn't being called on during the scenario
Ju52(3) have been made available for this scenario

15AssaultonStalingrad
Map updated with new visual variety in damaged city tiles and industrial tiles
Amount of Tiger Is offered for CP increased from 35 to 45
A new CP event has been added to scour warehouses of various German and Allied Lend-Lease equipment
Scenario text links now properly point to scenario_AssaultonStalingrad
Campaign prestige reduced from 1500 to 500
Chance for snow increased from 33% to 55%
Changed Soviet mobile airfields into deployed state so their aircraft dont crash on turn 1
Removed about half of the Soviet aircraft from the map, as it is now a bad weather scenario
Flags now all have appropriate prestige settings for their capture applied
A pair of train transports has been made available, for quick reaching of the Chir Rail Station
Train embark points have been added near the outskirts of Stalingrad
Added a player Supply hex on the edge of Stalingrad to deploy reinforcements, if necessary
South Rail Station string added to the map
Added some truck equipped Soviet engineer infantry to join the assault on the Chir Rail Station

42_path_selection_5.json
After Mission Decision text shortened so it properly fits into the UI

16OperationBlut
Flags now have prestige amounts assigned to them
The entire Evacuation zone has now been highlighted to be more clear for where the transports need to reach
Arrows now point directly to the Evacuation transport during the briefing
Objectives for this scenario have been completely redone
The objective to escort at least 6 Evac transports now required escorting them to exactly the six marked hexes
Custom scripts have been turned on to enable this proper escort objective
Scenario now ends in victory instantly upon the 6th transport reaching its destination
Improved some briefing markers slightly
Mission Critical Mission units have been camo painted for better visibility and recognition
Turn limit increased from 20 to 24

17OperationWinterStorm
Changed a debriefing portrait to be less cheerful
Moved some Soviet aircraft away from Stalingrad
Added a couple 6th Army AD units at Stalingrad
More Soviet attack waves have been added, especially before the scenario midpoint is reached
Soviet attack waves have stronger vehicle forces, including captured Axis vehicles, and slightly less infantry forces

The Panzer Corps 2 - World Championship moves into the second round today and the opening battle for the top of the leader board has been won by Kleko11, whose score of 2891 comfortably places them in the top spot.

Leader Board - Round 1
1) kleko11 2891
2) nutoha 2771
3) tkrysiak 2676
4) Folklore 2606
5) Bobkg 2584

However, everything is still to play for as we move forward on to our next map: El Alamein. As high scoring players are placed against each other, can we expect the end of the second round to change everything at top?

Only time will tell.



Tournament Scoring Update

We're aware that there has been some confusion and discussion on how the scoring works in the tournament scenarios. We would like to apologize for the lack of communication from our part, but we've listened to your feedback and we're working towards improving the system.

Unfortunately, we haven't been able get a patch out in time to make significant changes to how scoring works for the upcoming Round 2, but we'll have an update out before Round 3 starts to allow us to address some of the well vocalized issues.

In the meantime, shedding some light on how scoring works on the scenario in Round 2 might be helpful for all players. The score in this round is calculated as follows:

Each player gets 25 points at the beginning of each of their turns for every Victory Hex under their control.

They will also get additional points for destroying enemy units (the exact number of points is equal to unit slot cost of the unit destroyed).

You can view your score and your opponent's score at any time, by moving mouse cursor over one of player icons in the top-right corner of the in-battle screen. Note that the scores are only updated when the turn is ended.

You can also view the scores, at any time, from the Tournaments page on our website.

The first round of the Panzer Corps 2 - World Championship has begun and we're kicking off with the first of our new to multiplayer maps. 

"Bug River" is one of the iconic maps from the original Panzer Corps 2 single player campaign, but has now been re-imagined for multiplayer. It will be the first map competitors will play in the World Championship Tournament.

Rudankort, the lead developer of Panzer Corps 2, had this to say about the new map:

"From my experience playing this map I can add that it is a small square map (19x21 hex) which at the same time offers a big variety of strategic options. Exactly a kind of a map which I personally enjoy the most."

Historically, this battle occured on the 15th of September also and was an offensive in Eastern Poland. Interestingly, it was also the 15th of September when Russia signed the agreement that freed them to invade just days later.

The map will be coming to standard multiplayer along with our next patch. It is also our intent to add an extra map for every round of the tournament and to have these maps also make their way to standard multiplayer. The roster of multiplayer maps will therefore be greatly expanded as the tournament progresses.

We wish everyone playing the best of luck.

The first round will end in 21 days from now, so be certain to complete your match before that time.

Important notice.

The upcoming Panzer Corps 2 World Championships will start on September 15th (and not on September 1st as previously announced).

The good news is that you still have plenty of time to join us and to enjoy the tournament’s features:

- Each round will last 21 days, with 7 days of break until the next round, for a total of 12 rounds.
- There will be an expansion to the roster of available MP maps.
- We will continue to review and may adjust the scoring system to ensure fairness.

We want to remind you that everyone who owns Panzer Corps 2 is eligible to join. Players just need to either log in with their Slitherine account, or create a new Slitherine account (once again, entirely free) and click “Join” under the World Championship icon in the Tournaments page on our website.


Do you want to be the first World Champion?

Join the tournament now!