Panzer Corps 2: Allied Operations – Italy: Vol.1 goes beyond Sicilian shores

Since I just returned from time travelling after covering the American Revolutionary War, I feel right back at home sitting in front of a new DLC from Slitherine known as Panzer Corps 2: Allied Operations – Italy: Vol.1.

In case you forgot, I have more time with Panzer Corps 2 than any other game on Steam (before that, I didn’t keep track of the time spent, but it was all straight from Matrix, then later from Slitherine). To avoid any confusion, this is a new DLC… not to be mistaken with the older scenario which is part of the Wehrmacht Campaign scenario list.

The first thing that caught me off guard, of course, was the deployment phase itself. Instead of having the few computer units assigned to you, then having a bunch of yellow hexes where you’re allowed to set up (after you’ve bought everything to fill any gaps in both your Core and your Auxiliary), you then ponder and start to strategize about what you hope will work against the enemy.

In Panzer Corps 2: Allied Operations – Italy: Vol.1, all of your forces start in the water. So, everything you’ve learned thus far is moot… and out the moot’s window. You still buy units to fill up any gaps in your Core and/or Auxiliary slots, however, placement is still reserved to the sea… and its yellow-colored available hexes. Your ship total is two Light Cruisers. Oh yeah! Pro Tip (a leetle spoilery, just to save you some grief): during Deployment, don’t buy any planes. Why? Because you don’t control the one air-strip… which is held by the Italians… plus, there’s not any available hexes to even place planes on the playing field or on your ships just offshore.

After you get everyone landed, then it’s almost like back to normal. However, the Italians have littered Sicily with tons of minefields. Luckily, the game gave you a couple of Engineers… also, you have the ability to buy more if that’s up your alley. Still, there’s no way to buy ships, but this is a land-based battle. Their only purpose would be to bombard units and buildings from their position

Since this is DLC, even though I want to, I could blather on incessantly. Fortunately for you, whatever I added would be mainly spoilers about things I found, logistics, enemy weak spots, etc. As always, Slitherine has improved on a now-classic game… mainly by “innovative gameplay mechanics”… which means there will be two campaigns. I started with the American’s landing which will be followed by the English part of invading Sicily. (If you start with Britain, then vice versa.)

Fresh approach, fresh ideas, and fresh ingredients (well…) makes this another DLC you need for Panzer Corps 2.

Panzer Corps 2: Allied Operations – Italy: Vol.1 is available now for PC