Panzer Front Ausf.B
Encyclopedia
Panzer Front Ausf.B is a tank
simulation game for the PlayStation 2
home console. Released in 2004, it is the third game in the Panzer Front
franchise.
Panzer Front Ausf.B lets the player fight as a tank commander in historic simulated tank battles. Each battle involves manoeuvring on a large battlefield, with varied terrain. Most battles involve over thirty units per side, ranging from infantry to tank platoons. The player pilots the lead tank in a formation of two to five tanks that can be separated into sub-units. The player can utilise variable zoom binoculars from the commander's hatch, or view the field using the vision devices from inside the tank and the aiming reticule. The main view is from outside the tank.
Most missions feature the ability to call in high-explosive or smoke artillery
barrages and attacks from support aircraft. The player also has the option of changing to play the opposing force, and changing which unit he commands.
A scoreboard at the end of each mission displays enemy units killed and their corresponding points. This score will only be saved if the player and the allied units in his formation used the default unit and type of vehicle.
Each weapon, from machine gun to 88mm
, has a different sound, recoil
and ammunition types. The tanks also sustain realistic battle damage. Hits to the different areas of the tank, depending on armour
type, range, angle and power of the gun, produce a different effect, such as track, gun, gun turret or mount damage. Individual crew members can be killed or wounded, affecting the operation of the tank. Engine damage effects the tank's speed, or can disable it altogether. A repair and reload area can be used to replace injured or killed crew, or to repair damaged tanks.
, the Cruiser MkIII
, and the Matilda tank
.
during the early stages of World War II's Western Desert Campaign
. Missions include the Italian Tenth Army
's attempted breakout at Beda Fomm
and the assault at Fort Capuzzo
. Each mission allows the player to play one of the combatant sides, such as the Afrika Korps
, Italian Tenth Army
, Britain's Eighth Army, and the Australian 6th Division
.
Tank
A tank is a tracked, armoured fighting vehicle designed for front-line combat which combines operational mobility, tactical offensive, and defensive capabilities...
simulation game for the PlayStation 2
PlayStation 2
The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan...
home console. Released in 2004, it is the third game in the Panzer Front
Panzer Front
Panzer Front is a World War II tank simulation game first released in Japan by Enterbrain for the PlayStation and Dreamcast game consoles in 2000.-Gameplay:...
franchise.
Gameplay
Panzer Front Ausf.B lets the player fight as a tank commander in historic simulated tank battles. Each battle involves manoeuvring on a large battlefield, with varied terrain. Most battles involve over thirty units per side, ranging from infantry to tank platoons. The player pilots the lead tank in a formation of two to five tanks that can be separated into sub-units. The player can utilise variable zoom binoculars from the commander's hatch, or view the field using the vision devices from inside the tank and the aiming reticule. The main view is from outside the tank.
Most missions feature the ability to call in high-explosive or smoke artillery
Artillery
Originally applied to any group of infantry primarily armed with projectile weapons, artillery has over time become limited in meaning to refer only to those engines of war that operate by projection of munitions far beyond the range of effect of personal weapons...
barrages and attacks from support aircraft. The player also has the option of changing to play the opposing force, and changing which unit he commands.
A scoreboard at the end of each mission displays enemy units killed and their corresponding points. This score will only be saved if the player and the allied units in his formation used the default unit and type of vehicle.
Each weapon, from machine gun to 88mm
88 mm gun
The 88 mm gun was a German anti-aircraft and anti-tank artillery gun from World War II. It was widely used by Germany throughout the war, and was one of the most recognizable German weapons of the war...
, has a different sound, recoil
Recoil
Recoil is the backward momentum of a gun when it is discharged. In technical terms, the recoil caused by the gun exactly balances the forward momentum of the projectile and exhaust gasses, according to Newton's third law...
and ammunition types. The tanks also sustain realistic battle damage. Hits to the different areas of the tank, depending on armour
Armour
Armour or armor is protective covering used to prevent damage from being inflicted to an object, individual or a vehicle through use of direct contact weapons or projectiles, usually during combat, or from damage caused by a potentially dangerous environment or action...
type, range, angle and power of the gun, produce a different effect, such as track, gun, gun turret or mount damage. Individual crew members can be killed or wounded, affecting the operation of the tank. Engine damage effects the tank's speed, or can disable it altogether. A repair and reload area can be used to replace injured or killed crew, or to repair damaged tanks.
Vehicles
All of the vehicles in the game, especially the tanks, are based on actual units in service in 1940 and 1941. They include the Panzer IIIPanzer III
Panzer III was the common name of a medium tank that was developed in the 1930s by Germany and was used extensively in World War II. The official German designation was Panzerkampfwagen III translating as "armoured battle vehicle". It was intended to fight other armoured fighting vehicles and...
, the Cruiser MkIII
Cruiser Mk III
The Tank, Cruiser, Mk III was a British cruiser tank of the Second World War. It was the first British cruiser tank to use the Christie suspension system which gave higher speeds and better cross-country performance, previous models of cruiser tanks having used triple wheeled bogie...
, and the Matilda tank
Matilda tank
The Infantry Tank Mark II known as the Matilda II was a British infantry tank of the Second World War. It was also identified from its General Staff Specification A12....
.
Missions
Except for one mission set during the 1940 German invasion of France, Panzer Front Ausf. B is mostly set in LibyaLibya
Libya is an African country in the Maghreb region of North Africa bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west....
during the early stages of World War II's Western Desert Campaign
Western Desert Campaign
The Western Desert Campaign, also known as the Desert War, was the initial stage of the North African Campaign during the Second World War. The campaign was heavily influenced by the availability of supplies and transport. The ability of the Allied forces, operating from besieged Malta, to...
. Missions include the Italian Tenth Army
Italian Tenth Army
The Italian Tenth Army was one of two Italian armies in Italian North Africa during World War II. The Tenth Army in Cyrenaica faced the British in the neutral Kingdom of Egypt...
's attempted breakout at Beda Fomm
Beda Fomm
Beda Fomm is a small coastal town in southwestern Cyrenaica, Libya located between the much larger port city Benghazi to its north and the larger town of El Agheila further to the southwest...
and the assault at Fort Capuzzo
Fort Capuzzo
Fort Capuzzo was a fort in the Italiancolony of Libya, near the Libyan-Egyptian border. It is famous for its role during the World War II.Within a week of Italy's 10 June 1940 declaration of war upon Britain, the British Army's 11th Hussars captured Fort Capuzzo...
. Each mission allows the player to play one of the combatant sides, such as the Afrika Korps
Afrika Korps
The German Africa Corps , or the Afrika Korps as it was popularly called, was the German expeditionary force in Libya and Tunisia during the North African Campaign of World War II...
, Italian Tenth Army
Italian Tenth Army
The Italian Tenth Army was one of two Italian armies in Italian North Africa during World War II. The Tenth Army in Cyrenaica faced the British in the neutral Kingdom of Egypt...
, Britain's Eighth Army, and the Australian 6th Division
Australian 6th Division
The 6th Division of the Australian Army was a unit in the Second Australian Imperial Force during World War II. It served in the North African campaign, the Greek campaign and the New Guinea campaign, including the crucial battles of the Kokoda Track, among others...
.