Steel Panthers

{{about|the video game series including the first game, Steel Panthers (video game)|the American band|Steel Panther}} {{Infobox video game series | title = Steel Panthers | image = Steel Panthers.png | platforms = MS-DOS, Windows | developer = Strategic Simulations Matrix Games Camo Workshop | publisher = Mindscape Strategic Simulations Matrix Games Shrapnel Games | genre = Tactical wargame | creator = Gary Grigsby Keith Brors | first release version = ''Steel Panthers'' | first release date = 1995 | latest release version = ''Steel Panthers: Main Battle Tank'' and "Steel Panthers: WW2" | latest release date = 2018 }}

thumb|''Steel Panthers: World at War!''

'''''Steel Panthers''''' is a series of computer wargames, developed and published by several different companies, with various games simulating war battles from 1930 to 2025. The first ''Steel Panthers'' game was released in 1995, and the most recent update was released in 2018 and is still updated regularly (yearly).

Players control individual tanks and vehicles from a top-down perspective, on a map with a hexagonal overlay. Infantry are mostly in squad/section (8-12 men) sized units, but some units, like snipers, can be controlled individually. The whole force under a player's control would typically be Battalion sized, but may be as small as a Platoon or Company, or as large as a Regiment/Brigade.

The games are turn-based and are played against the AI or other humans via email or hotseat.

==Gameplay== As with other tactical turn-based wargames, the game features realistic military control, with the smallest common units being squads, up to a brigade sized force. The player takes control of nearly every aspects of warfare around his soldiers, from simple ammunition usage, to the morale, disposition, and command-chain of his troops.

The game features: packed single-battle scenarios and campaigns (either branched or linear), single battle generator, campaign generator, and long campaign generator.

All of the games in the series are quite similar in features and appearance. However, the third part in the original series is clearly distinct in that it offers platoon-size formations instead of the scale of individual tanks and squads of the other installments.

The games offer various modes of play: human vs. human (hotseat or online), human vs. AI and PBEM (play by email). The players receive historical military units at the beginning of a scenario and have the option to buy reinforcements with points earned in different ways. The units are then moved on a hexagon grid map similar to a large number of board and computerized wargames. In addition to ready-made battles and campaigns, players can customize single scenarios or create their own campaigns.

==Series history== The ''Steel Panthers'' series includes the following titles:

*1995 ''Steel Panthers'' by Strategic Simulations **1996 ''Steel Panthers: Campaign Disk'' by Strategic Simulations **1997 ''Steel Panthers: Campaign Disk #2'' by Strategic Simulations *1996 ''Steel Panthers II: Modern Battles'' by Strategic Simulations **1996 ''Steel Panthers II: Modern Battles - Campaign Disk'' by Strategic Simulations *1997 ''Steel Panthers III: Brigade Command: 1939-1999'' by Strategic Simulations *1998 ''SP2WW2'' (''Steel Panthers II: World War 2'') by Camo Workshop **1999 ''SPWW2'' by Camo Workshop **2006 ''WinSPWW2'' by Camo Workshop, Distributed by Shrapnel Games *2000 ''Steel Panthers: World at War'' by Matrix Games *2002 ''SPMBT'' (''Steel Panthers: Main Battle Tank'') by Camo Workshop **2005 ''WinSPMBT'' by Camo Workshop, Distributed by Shrapnel Games

Rights to the game and source code were acquired by both Matrix Games and the Camo Workshop.

Matrix Games developed and released as a freeware a remake based on the ''Steel Panthers III'' engine (but limited to the timespan of World War II), ''Steel Panthers: World at War!''

==Reception== In 1998, Jim Cobb of ''Computer Gaming World'' referred to the ''Steel Panthers'' series as a "cash cow".<ref name=cgw>{{cite magazine | archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20000816011800/http://www.gamespot.com/strategy/steel3/review_cgw.html | url=http://www.gamespot.com/strategy/steel3/review_cgw.html | title=''Steel Panthers III: Brigade Command 1939-1999'' | author=Cobb, Jim | date=February 27, 1998 | magazine=Computer Gaming World | archivedate=August 16, 2000 | url-status=dead }}</ref> Author Rusel DeMaria later summarized the situation: "about 18 months in marketing time after ''Panzer General''{{'}}s phenomenal success, another series did extremely well for SSI."<ref name=highscore>{{cite book|title=High Score! Expanded: The Illustrated History of Electronic Games | chapter=Opportunity Knocks: The Story of SSI | edition=3rd|author=DeMaria, Rusel | date=December 2018 |publisher=CRC Press|isbn=978-0-429-77139-2|pages=166–171 }}</ref> The original ''Steel Panthers'' proved highly popular,<ref name=gdmint>{{cite web | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19980121144116/http://www.gamasutra.com:80/features/game_design/061997/interview_grigsby_panthers.htm | url=https://www.gamedeveloper.com/design/interview-with-gary-grigsby-developer-of-ssi-s-steel-panthers | title=Interview with Gary Grigsby, Developer of SSI's ''Steel Panthers'' | author=Dunne, Alex | date=1996 | work=Game Developer Magazine | archive-date=January 21, 1998 | url-status=live }}</ref> and ''Steel Panthers II'' became a "major" hit, according to DeMaria.<ref name=highscore />

''Steel Panthers'' was named the best wargame of 1995 by ''Computer Gaming World'', ''PC Gamer US'' and ''Computer Games Strategy Plus''.<ref name=pcgamerusawards>{{cite journal |date=March 1996 | title=The Year's Best Games | pages=64, 65, 67, 68, 71, 73–75 | journal=PC Gamer US | author=((Editors of ''PC Gamer'' ))| volume=3 | issue=3 }}</ref><ref name=cgw1995>{{cite magazine | author=Staff |title=The Computer Gaming World 1996 Premier Awards |magazine=Computer Gaming World |issue=143 |date=June 1996 |pages=55, 56, 58, 60, 62, 64, 66, 67 }}</ref><ref name=cgm1995awards>{{cite journal | author=Staff | journal=Computer Games Magazine | title=A Decade of Gaming; Award Winners of 1995 |date=November 2000 | issue=120 | pages=56–58, 60, 62, 66, 68, 70–76 }}</ref> The editors of ''PC Gamer US'' called it "easily one of the best tactical simulations ever developed for the PC."<ref name=pcgamerusawards />

''Steel Panthers'' and ''Steel Panthers II'' were named, collectively, the 62nd best computer game ever by ''PC Gamer UK'' in 1997.<ref name=pcgameruktop100>{{cite magazine |author1=Flynn, James |author2=Owen, Steve |author3=Pierce, Matthew |author4=Davis, Jonathan |author5=Longhurst, Richard | magazine=PC Gamer UK | title=The ''PC Gamer'' Top 100 |date=July 1997 | issue=45 | pages=51–83 }}</ref>

==References== {{reflist|refs=

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== Literature == * ''Walker M. H.'' Games That Sell!. — Wordware Publishing, 2003. — 550 p. — (Wordware Game and Graphics Library). — {{ISBN|9781556229503}}. — {{ISBN|155622950X}}. * ''Black M.'', ''Kurlander E.'' Revisiting the «Nazi Occult»: Histories, Realities, Legacies. — Boydell & Brewer, 2015. — 297 p. — (German history in context). — {{ISBN|9781571139061}}. — {{ISBN|1571139060}}.

== External links == *{{MobyGames|id=-group/steel-panthers-series|name=''Steel Panthers'' series}}

Category:Computer wargames Category:DOS games Category:Multiplayer hotseat games Category:Play-by-email video games Category:Panhistorical video games Category:Strategic Simulations games Category:Tank simulation video games Category:Top-down video games Category:Video game franchises Category:Video game franchises introduced in 1995 Category:Video games developed in the United States Category:Video games set in China Category:Windows games Category:World War II video games Category:Video games set in South Africa Category:Video games set in Russia Category:Video games set in South Korea