Panzer Corps 2

I held off buying this game because it was listed as incompatible on the Steam deck which is a deal breaker for me. I saw a video of someone playing it on the deck though, so I decided to give it a try. It actually works perfectly and flawlessly on the Steam deck straight away with zero adjustments whatsoever, so this game should absolutely be listed as playable now. The game doesn’t show controller icons like A or B button, but it took all of two minutes if that to figure out which steam deck button did what I needed, super simple really.
With that out of the way, I absolutely love everything about this game! I played the original Panzer Corps and this game so far has been everything I had hoped for in a sequel and more. Panzer Corps 2 is bigger, better, and more immersive for me in every way than the original Panzer Corps, and I’m sure I will sink many more hours into it before moving on to the DLC. The strategic depth of the gameplay, and variety of options available in setting up each campaign exactly how you like are phenomenal.
If, like me, you held off on Panzer Corps 2 because of the supposed deck incompatibility, it runs flawlessly and looks amazing on the deck! What a treat to be able to play this strategy gem on the couch or on the go. I would whole heartedly recommend this game to any and every strategy gaming fan.

Panzer Corps 2 is an excellent strategy game built on the legacy of the classic Panzer General.
It’s perfect for sinking hours into, with a superb campaign that guides your units through different eras of WWII. Units carry over from one campaign to the next, retaining their skills, and heroes can be attached to them for even greater impact.
The campaign DLCs are highly recommended for the full experience, with the last two (Axis Operations 1945 and 1946) even offering an alternative history path where the war doesn’t end in 1945 but continues into 1946 with different outcomes.
A must-play for fans of the genre and anyone who enjoys turn-based hex strategy games.

I've been playing these kind of games going back to the original 'Panzer General' series from the mid-90's and I'm in the middle as far as recommending it or not.
- As technology advances so do the graphics. Outstanding in this case, but... it's far over done for what's necessary. To really appreciate the quality you have to zoom in so far that it makes the game incredibly difficult to play, in a practice sense.
-At times the Axis operations campaigns, battles are exactly that. I don't know many battles that you go from being the primary force, then cutting it to a fraction to support allies forces. it doesn't sound like an issue until you have to completely reorganize your units as well as all the heroes' to fit the changing mission. If you don't know what you'er doing this can take a significant amount of time that could be used for actually play.
In addition to that, you sit there watching the computer fight itself and some of the battles are big, with two or there friendly forces plus the enemy. Sure, you can set the AI turn to fast, but still... The way I see it, is that it's just robbing your core forces of experience.
- Now to the biggest issues with any of these games. The AI programming itself. There are numerous ways to make the game more difficult for the player; give you less core slots, making the enemy stronger among other ways to hinder the player, ect.
No matter how difficult you make the game it still doesn't fix the root problem- the AI has the tactical/ operational sense of a tree stump. Imagine kicking over a nest of fire ants. It swarms and attacks everything in range until they are all dead. Except when the programming tells them to stay in place and do nothing. (even when they should)
It doesn't matter what the mission is, just assume that you start in a defense mindset or cautious movement to contact. Let the enemy come to you when you're in a favorable position and destroy themselves. Bound forward a little more and let them do it again. Rinse and repeat.
That programming doesn't take things into consideration that the player does, like economy of force or force preservation, because they start out fresh and strong at the beginning of every battle.
- As the game progresses beware of the sucker punch. Just when you think the enemy is on the ropes, you've fought your way through several waves of what you 'thought' was the bulk of the enemy, then the enemy 'cheat' units attack. Or they are sitting on some Elite objective. They will be stupid powerful, most times beyond what you could ever have, with the equivalent of 4 or 5 hero perks. It's all about having bigger and tailored units instead of having an AI that 'thinks' smarter in a tactical sense. Find these guys and tear them up before they do the same to you.
-There are steam cheat codes and I use them in moderation; nothing more than evening the odds, as I see it. Especially when you keep getting worthless heroes after a battle, over and over again.
- Despite all that, I've played this game a lot and it is fun. It could just be so much better is all.

PC2 is a huge step up from PC1.

Firstly, PC1 is a good game and I enjoyed it, but it’s outdated now, especially the UI. Anyone gaming above 1080p will find the interface almost unreadable, and the game only offers two zoom levels. Since the original UI isn’t scalable, that alone is a deal-breaker for many players. PC2, on the other hand, has continuous zoom and a fully scalable UI.

The new mechanics are also much better. There’s no more farming prestige at the end of missions, and no selling SE units. You now have to balance finishing a mission quickly for bonus prestige, usually at the cost of more losses, versus playing it slow and conservative. Airplanes behave more realistically and are far easier to manage thanks to automatically returning to base at the end of each mission. Encirclement is implemented very well, and the basic supply system adds meaningful depth.

Upgrading is vastly improved. Mountain map coming up? Upgrade to Gebirgsjäger. Need bridging units next mission? Switch to Brückenpioniere. Upgrading and downgrading is seamless and flexible.

Heroes and commander traits add several layers of optional complexity. I enjoy figuring out which heroes pair best with which units, and then using them effectively in the field. If that's not your thing, turn them off or don't use them.

When everything finally clicks, when you start moving your units as a coordinated group with artillery and AA support, and you consistently deny the AI good shots, PC2 becomes incredibly fun. The longer base-campaign missions (Middle East, Persia, Caucasus, Moscow), where you deploy separate army groups with distinct objectives and then converge for a decisive blow, have been some of the most enjoyable strategy experiences I’ve had in a long time.

That's what I call a good game.

Good looking, fun turn by turn game. Easy to play for a couple minutes when you are in between stuff.

The campaign can be replayed with different theater so I suppose you can at least play it two time without much repetition (if not more). Beating it the first time took me a good 80h+ so good value there.

Something I found particularly interesting is the fact that you play Germany and while you win your battles your still facing the inevitable fact that your losing the war. It gives you a special point of views that few other games offer.

So I recommend it for some good relaxing gameplay time.

I cannot recommend this game more if you are a WWII game fan. The DLC for the main game (Axis Operations) adds a huge value to the playing experience. The game has enough challenge to keep you coming back for more. If you put enough randomization into the campaign, no two play throughs will be the same. Get the base game and AO and you have hundreds or more hours of playing time available to you.

Like its predecessor, this game resembles a classic wargame from the 90s, with its core rules and presentation carefully reworked. This is what you get, and you should know that before buying.
Yeah, it's a good game. Yeah, Panzer Corps is a better game. The reason is simply that Panzer General is a bit of a better game than Panzer General II.
Panzer Corps 2 is a lot fancier as Panzer Corps in it's presentation, and for me it's not really an improvement but confusing at times and actually a bit distracting. Above that It needs way more resources and you won't get it to run, say, on your Steam Deck.
But still it's a very good wargame and well worth your time and money providing an awful lot of maps, historical and semi-historical campaigns spanning all of World War II.