OpenPanzer

Overview

On any given hex, what settles the fight is less the raw attack value than how type, facing, and terrain stack together — a tank with its front armor toward an infantry strongpoint on rough ground survives, while the same tank caught in the open by an anti-tank screen vanishes in a single resolution. That combined-arms engine is what OpenPanzer inherits from Panzer General II, the 1997 SSI classic, rebuilt as a self-contained JavaScript and HTML5 application by Nicu Pavel and released under the GPL, running in a modern browser with no server and no external libraries. The roster pulls thousands of unit entries converted from the Adlerkorps equipment files — infantry, armor, artillery, reconnaissance, air defense, engineers, plus air and naval transports — each carrying its own fuel, ammo, movement class, and initiative. Between linked scenarios your core force persists, gaining experience and randomly awarded leaders, while prestige earned from captured objectives pays for reinforcements and upgrades. Fog of war, weather, mud, entrenchment, and zone-of-control rules all apply, so the front shifts one hex at a time and a single unexpected contact can unravel a plan that looked clean on paper.

How to Play

Click a unit to select it and the reachable hexes light up; click one to commit the move, with fuel spent by terrain cost rather than raw distance traveled. Click an enemy inside range to bring up the combat prediction before resolving the attack, after which support fire, initiative, and entrenchment decide the losses. Right-click any hex for its terrain info, drag with the mouse to pan the map, and click a selected unit again to deselect it. A context menu surfaces mount, resupply, reinforce, undo move, and upgrade whenever the action is legal. The End Turn button hands the phase to the AI, and your core units, prestige, and campaign progress save to local storage automatically between sessions.

Tips & Strategy

Park artillery one hex behind the line so its support fire covers adjacent friendlies without exposing the guns to a direct assault — losing your tube artillery to a probing reconnaissance unit is the fastest way to stall an advance. Against entrenched veteran infantry in a city or forest, a frontal armored push triggers rugged defense and bleeds strength, so soften the hex with artillery first or bait the defender into moving. Lead with reconnaissance units, which spot far beyond their combat range, so the fog lifts before your armor blunders into a hidden anti-tank screen. Preserve a prestige reserve for mid-scenario reinforcements near a captured objective hex, and after every move check the unit's facing — rotating a tank toward the threat is often the cheapest defense you can buy. Engineers can bridge rivers, so funnel armor across a defended crossing in one impulse rather than wading hex by hex under fire.