Pyramid Review
Panzer Grenadier
Published by Avalanche Press
Wargame boxed set with 495 2/3 inch Counters, four 11x17 inch hard mounted polymorphic maps, Rules Booklet; $59.95
Panzer Grenadier is a platoon level combat game set on the Eastern Front during the Second World War. The box includes 4 geomporphic mounted gameboards (200 meters a hex), 330 playing pieces (2/3 inch), 165 markers, a 16 page rulebook, a 64 page scenario book (51 scenarios), 4 cardstock charts, and an errata insert. The game is designed to be simple, without being simplistic.
West End Games released a series of Tank Leader games in the eighties, which were also platoon level simulations set on the Eastern, Western, and the deserts of Africa respectively. This game used an innovative card mechanic for activation of various units, which really served to show how the Germans were able to win versus superior forces, using superior equipment. The Germans had an essential flexibility which the Soviets lacked. Panzer Grenadier is also able to showcase this superior flexibility of the Germans, versus the material superiority of the Soviets. Panzer Grenadier uses leaders to determine the activation and movement of its units. The Soviets have much fewer leaders than the Germans; therefore they tend to bunch up, and they lack an essential flexibility. When they are able to concentrate their force they can be devastating, but if they are disrupted, then there is hell to be paid.
Squad Leader was one of the first games to . . .
This article originally appeared in the second volume of Pyramid. See the current Pyramid website for more information.
Article publication date: November 24, 2000
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