PRODUCT PRESENTATION

The year is 1943. The Wehrmacht has begun Operation Hawk in an attempt to capture Kharkov with its steel claws. The SS Division Totenkopf has moved forward to crush the Soviet tank forces, but the Red Army has held the line, digging in and putting up a fierce resistance. In response, German tank armies have renewed their offensive with Operation Panther, and Soviet tank crews are now finding themselves severely outnumbered.
Want to step into the role of a commander in the very heart of Kharkov’s defense? You'll have everything the officers had back then: tanks, guns, and fearless soldiers. The success of each opposing force hangs in the balance every day. Your decisions will determine who wins the Battle of Kharkov.

Main Features:

High replayability and flexible AI: "smart" AI analyzes the players’ tactical movements and chooses the best strategy based on behavior rather than a script. Scenarios can be replayed using different tactics, as though playing against a human opponent

Painstaking reconstruction of Kharko in scope and size

Detailed recreation of weapons, artillery, and vehicles: all battle characteristics, including missile trajectories and crew numbers, have been modelled according to archived military records and WW2 chronicles

Dynamic day, night and weather effects, all of which affect combat through terrain traversability, battlefield visibility, hidden force capabilities, and more

Destructible environment: nearly everything can be blasted and destroyed, from ground terrain to houses and enemy defenses. All traces of previous battles (shell holes, broken vehicles, corpses, etc.) remain on the battlefield

Realistic ballistics: bullets and projectiles follow accurate trajectories. Proper shot longitude, number of frags, and their range are calculated

Comprehensive vehicle damage system: engine, suspension, weapons, and aiming mechanisms can all be damaged separately, affecting the combat capabilities of the vehicle

Real soldier behavior: every soldier has several basic parameters, such as experience level, fatigue, and morale, which affect their behavior and effectiveness

Military encyclopedia with 3D model viewer and detailed data on all units, describing their historical and in-game characteristics

Fast Facts:

6 scenarios taking place in 1943 during the operation to defend Kharkov

2 playable opposing forces: the USSR Red Army and German Wehrmacht

Up to 250 soldiers and officers and up to 40 vehicles in each tactical battle

Detailed global map: 36 square kilometers in size

87 unit types: infantry, artillery, support vehicles, battle tanks, and aviation

More than 40 accurately and carefully reconstructed weapons and vehicles

2 control modes: turn-based strategic mode and real-time tactical mode

The Achtung Panzer forum is by far the most active third party forum at the moment, if not one of the most active forums overall. Very, very good indication of the interest this has caused in the Wargamer community.

Gamer reviews

Wargamer forum http://www.wargamer.com/forums/

“The game has EXTREME potential. As it is, its a steal at $16.95 which is what I paid. I would have paid $39.99 for it and felt happy with the purchase. Its a little rough around the edges, but this is a game every wargamer should own.”

“Just want to add my voice to the chorus of praise for Achtung Panzer. Really, *really* impressed by this game.”

Matrix games forum http://www.matrixgames.com/forums

“I just got Achtung Panzer 1943 today, and I have been playing whole day. I have to say for my point of view Achtung Panzer is the best WW2 tactical combat wargame simulator on PC today. Achtung Panzer is to the WW2 tactical wargames on PC as what IL2 is to the flight sims on PC....it's a benchmark...the best $20 CAD I ever spent on wargame for my computer.”

“Been playing the demo and I love this game. It finally feels like a 3d Close Combat with some combat mission thrown in.”

“I hate RTS games but this is the first one since the CC series that I can handle. One hell of a game that Im going to buy as soon as possible.”

Paradox forum http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/

“Wow! Probably the most important wargame to be released this year.”

“I was a big fan of Close combat ans was waiting for a successor. I think I have found it.”

“The best wargame in a long time.”

“I'm in love :) This is the best Squad based wargame (more like HARD CORE tactical simulator) I have ever played on computer…”

Media reviews

GameOn 8.5/10

”I applaud the developers for their attention to detail and their creation of one of the best strategy games I have seen in a long time.”

http://www.gameon.co.uk/game/review/pc/achtung-panzer-kharkov-1943-pc-review

Eurogamer.dk 8/10

”Achtung Panzer: Kharkov 1943 bliver på min harddisk og jeg vil uforbeholdent anbefale det til folk med interesse i strategi- og krigsspil.”

http://www.eurogamer.dk/articles/achtung-panzer-kharkov-1943-anmeldelse?page=3

EGC Games 78%

” Historical accuracy, vehicular detail, AI and gameplay will not disappoint wargamers. ”

http://www.egcgames.com/content.php?id=1884

GamersAthome 7/10

”All in all I give this game a 7/10 purely for the lack of control of the camera, but with that aside it is a really cool game”

http://www.gamersathome.co.uk/achtung%20panzer%20review.htm

GirlGamers 7/10

”…and you end up with a package which will delight hardcore armchair WWII generals everywhere.”

http://www.girlgamersuk.com/2010/02/achtung-panzer-kharkov-1943-2

Kriegsimulation N/A

”In closing, I'm impressed with APK43 and I will be playing this war game a lot.”

http://kriegsimulation.blogspot.com/2010/02/achtung-panzer-kharkov-1943-review.html

VIDEOS

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GAME DOCUMENTS BY CUSTOMERS

There are no game documents to Achtung Panzer: Kharkov 1943 yet

CUSTOMER REVIEWS

12th Aug

By jimminysausage

This is a great game for WWII wargaming fanatics. My personal favourite feature is seeing your forces arrayed below like tiny dots, and then being able to zoom right in and see all the details of men, equipment and combat: the tracks coiling off a tank as it is hit by shells, watching the tank catch alight and burning men run screaming into the snow. Meanwhile, a lone dog howls mournfully in the frozen, Kharkov, pre-dawn village air.

When the game tells you your tank is struck in the track or the turret it's not just a report: you can zoom in and see that exact battle damage. You can even get full armour penetration statistics and diagrams at the end!

The atmosphere is great and there is a lot of attention to detail, particularly in the terrain. While it seems daunting at first you very quickly get the hang of reinforcing and resupplying your troops.

I agree that Hearts of Iron players would love this. Achtung Panzer is tactical where HOI is strategic, and you finally get the thrill of seeing the little troops running around. I would compare it to the Sturmovik and Silent Hunter games too, just because for me it is an all round great WWII combat sim. I'd rank it as one of the great all-time WWII games and I'm looking forward to replaying it all on the hardest difficulty setting.

I love this game!

12th May

By Brigal

This is the greatest tank i have ever play, is a grand strategic game in the field. If you are a Hearts of Iron fan, you will enjoy this game a lot because is like command yourself your troops in the east field. This game deserve a 9/10

5th May

By callmegina

Many WWII Eastern Front games are on the market, but none of them achieve the magic balance of realism, immersion, gaming fun, and extremely challenging AI as successfully AP:K. Add to that the fact that AP:K is available for a fraction of the cost of those other games AND runs rock-steady out of the box, and you've got a must-buy for anyone interested in squad- and company-level 3D wargames. If you have been a fan of the Close Combat, Combat Mission, or Theatre of War series, you owe it to yourself to try AP:K. Free demo will give you a good feel for the game.

4th May

By Dact

I'm not going to waste time on details of this game. This is the best tactical battle simulator on the market!

It's $10.00!

'Nuff said!

4th May

By nachinus

If you like Combat Mission or Close Combat series (or even perhaps Theatre of War), you will probably enjoy this tactical wargame. You'll probably need a couple of tries before you get it, but you'll like it.

It has some important differences from the rest of the genre. Forget about micromanaging unit orders, here you'll give more general directions. You'll order units to move to certain areas, with certain attitude and rules of engagement, and let them do it. You won't get to tell them to move inside that particular small cottage, or hide behind that particular bush. They'll do it (or no) on their own. The sooner you get this, the sooner you can start to relax and enjoy.

The interface doesn't help to quickly get grip of the game. It's dark and textured and somewhat ugly for my liking. I prefer solid colors and easily identifiable buttons or info panels. Some things will be familiar to those used to the genre, but the way some buttons and orders work is not very straightforward. Read the manual, pay attention to tooltips and ask in the forums if you are confused. Also, having soviet unit symbols instead of the widespread and familiar NATO ones adds another new feature you'll need some time to familiarize with for most gamers.

Once you'll get over these first little obstacles that this game offers, you'll find a solid operational system, realistic units, OOB and weaponry, flexible AI, exhaustively researched and recreated terrain and thrilling tactical battles. A must for tactical wargamers.

10th Mar

By Gilgamesh

For those of you who have enjoyed Battlefront's Combat Mission series and were disappointed when they axed the operational version of their Barbarossa game, give Achtung Panzer a look. I like that Achtung has moved beyond the phased time to real time but without turning the game into a mindless clickfest. The graphics are also an upgrade--no stick figure men or tanks of stone. It's fun to watch your troops work their way through a village that looks like a real village, while halftracks knock down fences, trees, even bushes (all the terrain is destructable). The night battles are fascinating to watch, especially as missed shots knock down some tree half a kilometer away and machine gun bullets throw up puffs of snow around targets while arty observers fire flares arcing high over the battlefield. When the battle is over, you can even see how all your shots are labled on the carcass of a blown-out tank. Units upgrade with experience and win metals as in the old Close Combat series. The game designers got this one right in that they kept total number of units to command within a reasonable number while giving maximum manuvering room. The AI is no slouch, either. You can adjust the tactical battles from 30 minutes to 2 hours. Only only wish that a player could record battles in order to watch them on the ground level. The documentation is pretty straightforward and written in English although the illustrations are in Russian. I am eagerly awaiting any sequels to this--and please more operations like this one that have been overlooked by other wargame designers!

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