General tips & description for <Panzer Front bis.> on
Playstation.
Jap version revise here.
Written on Jul/Aug/Sep-2001. By Kurapica.


I never saw the Jap version of Panzer Front, but I had
c an English game. I guess which is the 1st game,
while this is suppose the 2nd of the series.

I feel this game is an excellent tank simulator. The
best way 2 feel the tanks clash-of-amour is only
through simulator, but tank simulators base on WW2 are
rare even on IBM, not 2 mention on PS. Most of the
other tank games are either strategy/war games or
simply 2D/3D shoot-em-up, not really simulator. So
this game is a rare gem 4 fans of this category. Maybe
I can even call it Tank Turismo.  ^_^

The graphic of all tanks are beautifully done, very
detailed, although the 3D environments are not as good
as Grand Turismo. The game physics, however, is good.
I dont know does this game means 2 create as
realistic as real 1 or not, but I felt which is
realistic enough. The AI of either side are not
stupid. The controls are simple n straight.

Im not going 2 put up an inch-by-inch walkthrough,
just aspects of game & hints. To overcome the various
missions, u can try it yourself by using different
combinations n tactics.

&#61656; The Tank select mode is base on 6 imaginary
tanks. If u prefer real tanks like me, go 2 Tactic
mode.

&#61656; Right now I only play the tactic mode n only
on German side. The 2nd game had include a
construction & story mode. I tried story mode a bit,
perhaps which is totally base on German side. It seems
like it tells a panzer commander had been possessed by
*something* n thus fought 4 the Reich. The
construction mode I tried once, is very useful but I
didnt build a thing. Try it yourself.

&#61656; U can switch any tanks in tactic mode, just
point 2 their name then choose from the list. We can
even place tanks of different countries into any side.
Now talk about mix-n-match. But doing so the high
scores will not be saved though.

&#61656; On tactical map, the colored units are:
     Red=enemies
     Light blue=yourself
     Blue=your units
     Green=Uncontrollable units

&#61656; As above, on battle field, the different
coloured markers indicate their position. Those with
lighter colours mean theyre further away (any side)
than brighter coloured.

&#61656; The 3 difficulty setting in option screen
although doesnt feel much different except changing
the parameters, but itll somehow affect the game
play. Example - in rookie or veteran difficulty, u can
switch ammo on the fly. But in ace mode, every switch
will need 2 reload again. The others will mention
later.

&#61656; If u set the tanks as damageable in option,
then besides blown out, the tank can be damaged. What
Ive experienced are:
   
- Main gun= Cant fire main gun. Better replay
instead.

- Threads= The tank cant move except rotate. I had
notice that once thread is damaged, then after certain
time, that tank (either side except myself) will be
grey out on map n die. I guess which is due 2
mechanical breakdowns. But I cant figure out how 2
specifically crippled a tanks thread.

- Turret= The turret cant rotate. Not too serious.

&#61656; If u play as rookie or veteran difficulty,
then MG=machine gun, AP=armor piercing round & HE=high
explosive round, APCR is a variant of AP, but seems
like it is more powerful than normal AP at close range
while may get weaker than AP at further distance.

&#61656; Knowing the capabilities of different tanks
can be helpful. Do the research if u wish. What I
think useful 4 this game are:
- Armor thickness of individual tank (front, flank &
rear; sloped or rounded is even better)
- AP firepower of main gun
- Maximum ammos carried
- Speed

&#61656; Unlike your tank, which can be on short
supply of APCR, your fellows tank is based on a
common pool of max ammos carried, so they can fire AP
or HE at will. Sounds like they can always fire APCR,
unlike me. :-(
 
&#61656; U can tell the remaining ammos of your blue
unit by looking at the numbers in parenthesis. But u
can never know the remaining ammos of green units or
enemies.

&#61656; On tactical map, u can move your blue units
by Movement command, it came with four speed. Sometime
u may not need 2 move them that fast.

&#61656; U can control up to 3 other blue units. If u
need all of them 2 follow u, use the formation
command. If not, use the formation command 1st, then
plot the waypoint 4 individual unit 2 move; or give it
a defend command (dont do in reverse way).

&#61656; When u gave a Movement command, however, if
the unit encounter enemies, it will frequently stop n
engage them 1st. Sometimes this is clever act but at
times only cause trouble by disobeying order.

&#61656; The blue & green units tend 2 fire at enemies
when theyre within their gun range but still far
away. This waste up some ammos but pity this game had
no Hold fire command.  :-(

&#61656; On battle field, units have different use.
Their purposes n the way 2 handle them are describe
below ->

Tanks=Most important units. U have 2 engage/manipulate
them. Use AP rounds 2 destroy them. Tanks on your side
can be your spotter.

Infantry=Useless. But some missions require them 2
capture or defend certain territory. They can be your
prying eyes on map. Can be killed by MG or HE.

AT Gun=Dangerous 2 tanks, no harm 2 infantry. Use HE
or MG 2 smash it.

Bunkers=Either fires AP or MG. Those fires AP will
threaten tanks. The MG type can kill infantry. Fire
two HE rounds 2 blow them up or simply roll over them.
Also can be your prying eyes.

Plane=Fire MG then drop bomb on your head. No way 2
handle them.

&#61656; On some scenarios, the enemy will keep firing
heavy artillery n this rain wont stop. A hit will
kill any tank; very irritating!
      
&#61656; Move 2 supply zone 2 rearm. If u place a blue
unit on it permanently then it will gain infinite
ammo.

&#61656; Like real tanks, tanks are thicker on armor
at front while thinner at flank & rear, so unless
surrounded, always keep your front 2 enemies.

&#61656; If u need 2 move your blue unit away while it
is still engaging enemies, its better 2 use the Move
backwards command instead of Movement, albeit this is
slower in speed, but is safer than exposing their ass
while turning.

&#61656; On some scenarios, u will receive
reinforcement tanks. The reinforcement is actually
base on a certain tank of your unit. Eg. - if your
certain tank is an assault gun, then the back up will
also be assault gun. Or if a particular tank is a
Hedzer, then the back up tank will also be Hedzer. So
if u try mix-n-match, changing that default tank will
alter all the reinforcements.

&#61656; U can park your tank at lower land or higher
ground 2 intercept opponents. On 1st case, your hull
will be less exposed 2 enemies fire, on 2nd case, your
AP may drop on their roof whereas which is vulnerable.

&#61656; Smoke bomb can be helpful at times. I use it
on two ways:

- Fire a Smoke bomb 2 obstruct enemies vision
(especially if its main gun can kill me) when in
danger.

- If target is still far away 4 my gun while it can
kill me instead, fire smoke 2 confuse it until it
moves into my kill zone or vice versa.

&#61656; Do u feel your main gun isnt effective
enough in this game? I thought so initially. While the
German 88mm gun was known 2 blow away enemys tanks at
beyond 2Km, my King Tiger; with its Pak 43 88mm gun
cant even destroy an American M10 at 500m easily. The
main points are due 2 their sloped armor & the way u
aim. Explain below.

&#61656; Aiming = The trick here is 2 aim higher. The
physic is accurate so only if u aims higher, then the
AP round will hit the intended location. I guess the
trajectory of fired rounds are flying in arc, so only
by aiming higher, it will reach targets. Instead if u
only aim parallel 2 target, say a tank at 1500m, the
fired shot will lose kinetic energy then drop 2
ground. So unless u are at kissing range, always aims
HIGHER. Play as ace difficulty must aim even higher
than veteran. Basically, the weaker your main gun or
the further away the target is, the higher u aim.
Using this trick, my King Tiger could smash a T34/85
at 1500m, M4 Sherman at 1600m n once a T34/85 at
beyond 2Km. Wow!

&#61656; Amour = Any sloped amour will make the
penetration more difficult. If it is both sloped &
slanted at a steep angle then u can hardly nail it.
When I drove my Tiger I, fire at a T34/85 which was
approaching fast at 800m->1Km, heading SE from my
location. By this bearing, its hull was position at
about 45 to my gun. I fired several shots, but by
this angle its sloped & slanted hull kept deflect away
my AP. Same thing if the shell only hit the edge of
its rounded turret. Now thats physic.

&#61656; But we can use the same trick ourselves. Some
tanks like the German Panzer III/IV & Tiger I just do
not have sloped amour. If the frontal amour cant
withstand enemies fire, then try this trick. 1st, park
the tank head on towards enemy, then turn 30 to
enemy, then rotate your turret 2 engage it, this will
create an angular & slanted hull on your tank (or try
approaching enemies diagonally). Lets hope by align
it this way, the enemys AP will hit the hull (not
turret) n bounce off.

&#61656; From my experience, turret is easier 2
penetrate than sloped hull.

&#61656; During the play back moment of a tanks
destruction, the play back angle of the initial
"coming in" is where the AP came from. So by looking
at the play back screen, u can tell what direction the
AP came from n possibly who did the kill. Plus your
own units will also report their kill.

&#61656; After completing a mission, the game will ask
u 2 save the score only if your current score is
higher than previous 1.

&#61656; The way this game calculates your score is
probably base on these factors...

- No. of enemy units destroyed (AT guns, bunkers,
infantry, tanks). The more u do it yourself, the
better.
- No. of tanks lost (penalty).
- Time taken.
- No. of ammos fired n hit percentage.

*******

Below is my evaluation of some tanks. Since Im fond
of German so right now I only play as German n some
mix-n-match, so I can only write out what I already
drove or encountered plus theyre completely base on
Germans perspective. Maybe I can update them when I
play more. Also please note that due 2 the fact that
this is a game, so some pros & cons of some tanks are
not reflected. Like the durability/reliability of
Panzer III/IV, or the engine/gear/transmission
problems of Panther & Tiger are not featured.

All amour I mention below unless specify are refer 2
frontal amour.

Panzer III= Not spectacular. Not very fast 4 a medium
tank. The amour neither too thick nor sloped. The gun
is only slightly more powerful than other contemporary
Allied tanks.

Panzer IV= Same. But some versions like the Ausf H & J
came with a Pak 40 75L48 gun which is effective. So u
can kill enemies while it is still far away b4 it gets
u.

StuG III= This German assault gun, especially the G
version, came with sloped frontal amour plus a Pak 40.
Its low hull also makes it a hard target. Efficient.
But the F type is weaker in amour & gun.

Jadg Panzer IV= Either equips a Kwk 40 75L48 or Kwk 42
75L70 so is strong in fire power. Its glacis plate n
low hull can dodge many shots. The 70(V) version is
Slower though.

Horniness & Marder= A self-propelled gun I think.
Better use 4 defence or support fire only. Get killed
easily.

Hedzer= Not fast enough 4 a light tank class; but the
entire tank is very compact yet sloppy, with its
overall sloped amour, low silhouette n smallness make
it a hard target. Its Pak 39 75L48 gun still packs a
punch. A good light tank.

Panther= Fast & maneuverable. The Kwk 42 75mm gun is
even slightly more powerful in AP than Tiger I. All
amours & turret are sloped (albeit its flank is weak).
Nice 2 use.

Jadg Panther= ???

Elefant= Very slow. Can only carry 50+ ammos. Not
sloped but fortunately its amour can withstand most
fire. The Pak 43 88L71 gun is very, very hard hitting.

Tiger I= Average. No sloped amour. But the Kwk 36
88L56 gun is strong.

King Tiger= Slow, big & tall make it an easy target.
But overall is sloped in amour like Panther, with its
thick amour n Pak 43 gun make it nearly invincible.
Just dont get surrounded.

Jadg Tiger= Very slow n big. Although its Pak 44 128mm
gun can fire big HE, but its AP firepower is weaker
than Pak 43, plus it can only carry 50+ ammos n the
loading is so slooowww, not much use.

Maus= Same as above plus very, very slow. But is supra
thick n can carry 100+ ammos though.    

T34/76= Very fast plus overall sloppy amour make it
hard 2 destroy while moving. If only it can improves
its frontal amour n gun.

T34/85= Same but comes with a more rounded turret n
better gun. Now it can kill my Tiger I.

T70= Typical light tank. But still dangerous if it hit
your flank.

KV1= Slow heavy tank. Not outstanding.

JS2= Good overall heavy tank. All amours are sloped,
with a very round turret n a rather low hull; but is
low on ammos n slow on reload. Its sloped frontal
amour is so hard 2 penetrate 4 my King Tiger even at
kissing range. Pose a serious threat 2 Panther & Tiger
I.

SU-152= A medium tank comes with a very big howitzer
but weak in AP.

M4 sherman= Not as good as T34 plus the hull is high.

M4A1 & A3= Its better amoured n the 76mm gun packs a
heavy punch, watch out!

M10= A light tank with a medium tank size. But is
overall sloped in amour, its 76mm gun is a bit
stronger than Pak 40. Pretty good 4 a light tank
class.

M26 Pershing= ???

Churchill= Very slow but thick. Even my Tiger I had
trouble 2 nail it from front with AP.

Cromwell= Somehow better than Panzer III/IV except
firepower.

Firefly= Sherman fitted with a 17 pounder gun. This
76mm gun really packs a wallop. My Elefant & Tiger I
were blown away outright. Get it b4 it gets u.

The other imaginary tanks are probably better than
these WW2 tanks. Use them will make an easier game.

*******
>From conversations of message board, frankly I dont
think this game is so tough. By careful planning n
manipulation, surely u can win or else just keep
trying.
On the Berlin scenario, I had only two King Tiger at
my disposal, but I manage 2 destroy more than 50 of
Soviet T34/85, JS2 & SU-152 totally!  ^ ^
Actually the default tanks of each scenario is
frequently good enough already (or even more than
enough). When I play as Germans side mix-n-match,
frequently I even downgrade my own tank n my units (or
downgrade mine while upgrade some others) but still
manage 2 win.
 
P.s. I don't know is there any cheats in this game or
not.

