A COMPREHENSIVE ARTICLE INDEX TO PANZERBLITZ
by
Alan R. Arvold
The following is an article index to every known article and
variant having to do with the game PANZERBLITZ. It is based on
the author's vast collection of articles to that game. It is
estimated that over 80% of all PANZERBLITZ articles are in this
collection. The author also has knowledge of other articles that
are not in his collection but knows enough information about them
to list them here in this index.
The index will be divided up by magazine and/or company title.
Each entry will have the magazine issue number, title, author's
name, and a short description of the article or variant contents.
Starting in this edition selected Internet websites and E-mags
devoted to PANZERBLITZ will also be included on this list if they
have a sizable amount of articles pertaining to the game on file.
Note that in many cases not all entries will have all of this
information present. This is due to the author not having a copy
of the article or variant in question. Also note that this index
will include articles that PANZERBLITZ shares with its sister
game PANZER LEADER.
This index will be an ongoing work. As more old articles and
variants become available to the author and new ones get
published, they will be added to this list.
POULTRON PRESS
It seems most appropriate to start at the beginning and this
would be with TACTICAL GAME #3 (hereafter referred to as TAC 3).
TAC 3 was the original playtest game of what would become
PANZERBLITZ. The designer was James F. Dunnigan and it was
originally published in 1969. It contained a six page rule set, a
single mapsheet, an unmounted counter set, six scenarios, several
set up sheets, a combat results table, and some miscellaneous
information pages. There were two print runs of the game. The
first was the actual playtest kit that was sent out to
prospective playtesters of the period. The second, published in
the early Seventies, was merely a reprint of the game to be
available to any gamer would wanted a copy for his collection.
The difference between the two was in the counter sets. In the
first print run the counters were printed on light blue and pink
paper. The artwork was crude and the tanks were hand drawn on the
counters. In the second print run the counters were on a single
sheet. The backround colors were the traditional brown and grey
found in the regular game. The symbols were professionally done
and the vehicle counters had the well known vehicle silhouettes
on them. Note that in some copies of the second print run, there
were some of the old leftover pink and light blue counter sets
inserted into them and thus had both versions of the counters, a
rare find indeed for any collector.
STRATEGY & TACTICS Magazine
After Poultron Press became Simulations Publications Inc.
(SPI) in 1969, it started to sell some of its games to other
companies. One of these was TAC 3 to Avalon Hill (AH) where it
eventually became PANZERBLITZ. Note that most of the work on the
game was done at SPI and AH only put the finishing touches on it
prior to publication. SPI was allowed to publish an introductory
version of the game in its STRATEGY & TACTICS (S&T) magazine , to
get the public ready for the finished version by AH.
S&T #22 - Game Design: Down Highway 61, Through State Farm 69,
Around Tactical Game 3, and into Panzerblitz (Steve
List and James F. Dunnigan) - Story of the design
history of the game and also the first analysis of the
game as well.
TACTICAL GAME #3 - This was the introductory preview of
PANZERBLITZ using its old title. Was part of the two
games in the issue. Included a small set of counters
and a rules sheet which also had all pertinent tables.
There was no separate mapsheet as this version used the
mapsheet of the other game in the issue. A look at the
rules shows this version to be a transitory phase
between TAC 3 and PANZERBLITZ although it is certainly
closer to the latter in content.
S&T #23 - TACTICAL GAME: T-34 (Arnold Hendricks) - This was
supposed to be a miniatures version of PANZERBLITZ. It
had a set of rules and paper stand up counters for the
miniatures. It was actually based on TACTICAL GAME #3,
not PANZERBLITZ as many people would like to believe.
S&T #24 - Panzerblitz GAGE' (James F. Dunnigan) - This was a
review of the game using SPI's short lived GAGE system.
S&T #27 - Tactical Notes (Robert Champer) - This was a short
lived column that gave strategy tips for scenarios in
various tactical games. In this issue the featured game
was PANZERBLITZ.
STRATEGY & TACTICS SUPPLEMENT
This was a supplemental magazine for STRATEGY & TACTICS,
containing articles for which there was no room in the parent
magazine to publish. Lasted eleven issues and was the direct
predecessor to MOVES magazine.
Issue #10 - Panzerblitz Variants (Steven List) - This was an
article on variant rules for the different terrain hexes on the
board.
GENERAL Magazine
The Avalon Hill GENERAL, can rightly be considered the
original home magazine for PANZERBLITZ. It lasted from 1964 to
1998, a period of over 34 years. Included with these references
are PANZERBLITZ contests and their answers, and pertinent letters
to the editor which have appeared in that magazine. References
which have an (*) after the title were also published in the
original Avalon Hill Wargamer's Guide to PANZERBLITZ, a
collection of previously published articles from the GENERAL.
This list also includes two original articles which only appeared
in that same wargamer's guide.
Volume 7, #4 - Avalon Hill Philosophy - Part 24: Why PANZERBLITZ?
(Avalon Hill Staff) - The story of the design and
development of the game by SPI before Avalon Hill
bought it.
Volume 7, #6 - Russian Emphasis on Close Assault Tactics (Bill
Freeman) - A critique on Russian play in the
original Situation #3.
Volume 7, #6 - Contest #42: "Gamble at Bednost."
Volume 8, #1 - PanzerBlitz Situation 13* (Tom Oleson) -
Introduction to the original DYO system for
PANZERBLITZ.
Volume 8, #1 - The Organized Wargamer (Randy C. Reed) - A list of
two early variants to PANZERBLITZ.
Volume 8, #1 - Letters to the Editor (Tom Oleson) - Points out an
alternate Russian strategy in the original
Situation #3.
Volume 8, #1 - Infiltrator's Report (Avalon Hill Staff) - Answer
to Contest #42.
Volume 8, #2 - Panzerblitz MSM (Dennis G. Mehaffey) - A variant
for simultaneous movement in PANZERBLITZ.
Volume 8, #2 - More Panzerblitz Variants* (Tom Oleson) - Further
refinements and expansions to his DYO system.
Volume 8, #2 - Letters to the Editor (Riley R. Geary) - Points
out an error in the answer to Contest #42 in
Volume 8, #1 and corrects it.
Volume 8, #3 - Airborne Panzerblitz (Shelby Stanton) - Order of
Battle for the Parachute Panzer Division "Hermann
Goring".
Volume 8, #4 - PanzerBlitz Championship Situations* (Lenard
Lakofka) - Tournament situations used in the
Panzerblitz tournament at the 1971 Lake Geneva
Convention held that year.
Volume 8, #4 - Letters to the Editor (David and Lawrence Huss) -
Points out errors in the Order of Battle for the
"Herman Goring" division in Volume 8, #3 and
corrects them.
Volume 8, #5 - Panzerblitz Concealment* (Peter R. Bradie) -
Variant rules for spotting units in covered
terrain.
Volume 8, #6 - Pincers ... another Panzerblitz Situation (Mathew
S. Buynoski) - A new situation involving armored
envelopments.
Volume 8, #6 - ... a kriegspiel Panzerblitz (Riley R. Geary) -
Variant rules for a kriegspiel type of Panzerblitz
game with three players.
Volume 9, #1 - Panzerblitz Revisited (George Hopp) - Variant
rules for opportunity fire in PANZERBLITZ.
Volume 9, #1 - Panzerblitz Double Attack (Ian L. Straus) - A
statistical analysis of pairs of attacks in
PANZERBLITZ.
Volume 9, #2 - Situation 101 (Roy Easton) - A 1945 situation.
Volume 9, #2 - Letters to the Editor (Nick S. Jewett) -
Modifications to the experimental rule on Impulse
Movement in the PANZERBLITZ rules.
Volume 9, #3 - Situation 207 (Roy Easton) - A variant situation
dealing with British Commando raids.
Volume 9, #3 - Letters to the Editor (Richard Thomas) - New rule
that allows certain AFV units to CAT dismounted
units in covered terrain.
Volume 9, #4 - Letters to the Editor (Keith Gross) - New rule on
how many units certain units such as trucks and
wagons count as in victory conditions requiring
numbers of units or opposing unit ratios.
Volume 9, #5 - Incremental PanzerBlitz* (Andy Lewis, Tom Oleson,
and Jim Snellen) - Another set of rules for
simultaneous movement in PANZERBLITZ.
Volume 10, #1 - Experimental Panzerblitz (Jerry Thomas) - New
experimental rules for the PANZERBLITZ combat
system.
Volume 10, #1 - Series Replay Preview (Alavon Hill Staff) - A
preview of the new Series Replay column in the
magazine. PANZERBLITZ Situation #4 was played
between Richard and Russell Vane with neutral
commentary from Seth Carus and Randall Reed.
Volume 10, #3 - Panzerblitz Revision Upheld (Paul D. Mills) - A
critique on the original Situation #6 and why the
Russians can not win it.
Volume 10, #3 - Letters to the Editor (Robert Chiang) - Two rule
modifications to Situation #10 to better balance
the scenario.
Volume 10, #3 - Letters to the Editor (Rolf Luchs) - Points out
some errors in the Experimental Panzerblitz
article in Volume 10, #1.
Volume 10, #4 - Blind Panzerblitz* (Ian L. Straus) - Another
kriegspiel variation of PANZERBLITZ involving two
players and a referee.
Volume 10, #6 - Panzerblitz Revisited (Kurt Nordquest) - A German
set up in the original Situation #1 which shows
why this situation had to be revised.
Volume 11, #1 - Series Replay (Avalon Hill Staff) - A replay of
Situation #6 (revised) with Richard Plock and
Robert Livermore as the Russian and German
players respectively and with Roy Easton giving
the neutral commentary.
Volume 11, #1 - Letters to the Editor (Mark Saha) - Modified
victory conditions for Situation #4.
Volume 11, #2 - The Professional German (Dean Miller) - An
analysis of the German play in Situation #10
(revised) and how they can win.
Volume 11, #2 - Contest #61: "Save that 88!"
Volume 11, #3 - PanzerNacht* (Robert D. Harmon) - Variant rules
for movement and combat at night in PANZERBLITZ.
Volume 11, #3 - Infiltrator's Report (Avalon Hill Staff) - Answer
to Contest #61.
Volume 11, #4 - The Pieces of Panzerblitz* (Larry McAneny) - An
analysis of the playing pieces of PANZERBLITZ.
One of the best articles on the game.
Volume 11, #4 - Beyond Situation 13* (Robert D. Harmon) - Twelve
new situations for PANZERBLITZ, considered by
many players to be the second official set of
scenarios for the game.
Volume 11, #4 - Another Situation 13: Parablitz* (Christopher
Chyba) - Variant rules and a scenario for Russian
paratroops. Included variant counters in the
magazine insert.
Volume 11, #4 - Contest #63: An end of the game problem out of
Situation #9.
Volume 11, #5 - Experimental Panzerblitz (Micheal Markowitz) -
Variant rules for incendiary attacks to start
fires in game board hexes.
Volume 11, #5 - Infiltrator's Report (Avalon Hill Staff) - Answer
to Contest #63.
Volume 11, #6 - Professional Russian (Carl Hoffman) - An analysis
of the Russian play in Situations #4 and #6.
Volume 11, #6 - Letters to the Editor (Editor) - Corrections to
the Beyond Situation 13 and Parablitz articles in
Volume 11, #4.
Volume 12, #1 - Battle for Berlin (Roy Easton) - Two hypothetical
situations between the Western Allies and the
Russians at the end of the World War Two. Uses
rules, boards, and pieces from the game PANZER
LEADER as well as PANZERBLITZ.
Volume 12, #1 - Infiltrator's Report (Avalon Hill Staff) -
Correction to an error found in the answer to
Contest #63 in Volume 11, #5.
Volume 12, #2 - Series Replay (Avalon Hill Staff) - A replay of
Situation #4 with Robert Livermore and Richard J.
Plock as the Russian and German players
respectively with Roy Easton giving neutral
commentary.
Volume 12, #2 - Design Analysis: The Fallacy of "Panzerbush"
(Robert D. Harmon) - A critique of the spotting
rules in PANZERBLITZ and modified Opportunity
Fire rules for both PANZERBLITZ and PANZER
LEADER.
Volume 12, #3 - Mathematical LOS Determination (Andrew Katsampes)
- Graphical analysis and playing aid to using
real line of sight in PANZERBLITZ.
Volume 12, #3 - Letters to the Editor (Roy Easton) - Corrections
to his Battle of Berlin article in Volume 12, #1.
Volume 12, #3 - Letters to the Editor (Mark Matuschak) - Flaws in
the revised Situation #3 and his solutions to
them.
Volume 12, #3 - Infiltrator's Report (Avalon Hill Staff) -
Correction to the correction of the perceived
error to the answer to Contest #63 which was
listed in Volume 12, #1. It seems that the
original answer in Volume 11, #5 was right after
all.
Volume 12, #4 - 3-D Panzerblitz (Richard L. Borczak) -
Suggestions for converting the PANZERBLITZ game
into a miniatures format.
Volume 12, #5 - Panzerblitz: Hex by Hex (Larry McAneny) - An
analysis of the PANZERBLITZ playing boards.
Companion piece to the "Pieces of Panzerblitz"
article in Volume 11, #4. Another one of the best
articles ever written on PANZERBLITZ.
Volume 12, #6 - Weather or Not? (Roy Easton and Norman Kluksdahl)
- Variant weather rules for both PANZERBLITZ and
PANZER LEADER.
Volume 12, #6 - Letters to the Editor (Ian L. Straus) - Comments
on some perceived errors in the Design Analysis:
"The Fallacy of PanzerBush" in Volume 12, #2.
Volume 13, #1 - Adding the Luftwaffe (Kenneth L. Benton) -
Variant air power rules for PANZERBLITZ.
Wargamer's Guide to Panzerblitz - Chopperblitz (Phil Kosnett) -
Variant rules for the use of
helicopters in PANZERBLITZ.
Includes six scenarios and
variant counters printed in
the magazine.
Wargamer's Guide to Panzerblitz - Commander's Note Book (Robert
D. Harmon) - An analysis of the
twelve original situations in
PANZERBLITZ. Still another one
of the best articles ever
written on PANZERBLITZ.
Volume 13, #3 - Panzerblitz, 1941 (Ramiro Cruz) - An article that
included new scenarios and variant counters for
playing the game in a 1941 setting. First real
attempt to portray PANZERBLITZ in the early years
of the war. Variant counters in the magazine
insert.
Volume 13, #3 - Letters to the Editor (Mark Brazas) -
Substituting an alternate German strategy in
Situation #4 in place of the modified victory
conditions by Mark Saha in Volume 11, #1.
Volume 13, #4 - Increasing Infantry Firepower (Norman Beveridge
Jr.) - New variant combat rules for both
PANZERBLITZ and PANZER LEADER.
Volume 13, #5 - Battles in Germany, 1948 (Roy Easton) - Three
hypothetical situations between the Western
Allies and the Russians in a post World War Two
setting. Uses rules, boards and pieces from the
game PANZER LEADER as well as PANZERBLITZ.
Volume 13, #6 - Panzerblitz Mit Das Wetter (Joe Connolly) -
Another set of weather rules for PANZERBLITZ
only.
Volume 13, #6 - Series Replay (Avalon Hill Staff) - A replay of
Situation #4 with modified victory conditions.
Robert Chiang was the German player and Kyle
Bolar was the Russian player.
Volume 14, #3 - 1941 Panzerblitz (William A. Farone) - A 1941
situation using 1943 counters. Not very good.
Volume 14, #3 - Letters to the Editor (Robert Chiang) -
Corrections to the Series Replay in Volume 13,
#6.
Volume 15, #3 - Letters to the Editor (Lorrin Bird) - Suggestions
for the incorporating the Split Move-Fire rule
out of ARAB-ISRAELI WARS into PANZERBLITZ.
Volume 15, #4 - Panzerblitz Situation "X" (Robert Chiang and Tom
Oleson) - Still further refinements and
expansions to the PANZERBLITZ DYO system
introduced way back in Volume 8, #1.
Volume 16, #1 - Series Replay (Avalon Hill Staff) - Part One of
a replay of Situation #10 with Richard Plock and
Robert Livermore as the German and Russian
players respectively with Robert Chiang giving
neutral commentary.
Volume 16, #2 - Series Replay (Avalon Hill Staff) - Part Two of
the series replay started in Volume 16, #1.
Volume 16, #5 - More Bangs Per Buck (Gene Boggess) - An article
providing unit effectiveness ratings for units in
both PANZERBLITZ and PANZER LEADER.
Volume 16, #5 - Letters to the Editor (Tom Oleson) - Corrections
to some minor errors in the Panzerblitz Situation
"X" article in Volume 15, #4.
Volume 16, #6 - Two is Better Than One (Andrew Katsampes) - A
further refinement of the statistical analysis of
double attacks in PANZERBLITZ which was started
in "Double Attack" article back in Volume 9, #1.
Volume 18, #1 - Mobile Panzer Defense (David K. Rod) - An
analysis of the German play in Situation #6
(revised) and how they can win.
Volume 20, #3 - Supplement to the Commander's Notebook (John
Hunter II) - An analysis of the twelve situations
in the article "Beyond Situation 13" from Volume
11, #4. Yet another of one of the best articles
written on the game.
Volume 21, #4 - How to Win at Panzerblitz (Steve Powlesland) - A
humorous critique of the first five original
situations of the game.
Volume 22, #3 - The Bend in the Corridor (David A. Schaffer) - A
series replay using a totally different format
than that normally used in the GENERAL. The
replay was of Situation #11 with Brad Schaffer
and Steve Anderson as the German and Russian
players respectively.
Volume 25, #3 - The King of Battle (Carl Schwamberger) - An
article on the representation of artillery in the
PANZERBLITZ series of games (PANZERBLITZ, PANZER
LEADER, and ARAB-ISRAELI WARS).
Volume 26, #2 - The Forgotten Year (David Howery) - An article
containing six situations set in 1942 and some
guidelines to what was available during that year
to both sides.
Volume 28, #3 - Panzer Hunters (Carl Schwamberger) - A better set
of variant rules for tactical air support in both
PANZERBLITZ and PANZER LEADER.
Volume 28, #3 - New Expressions for a Familiar Face (Alan R.
Arvold) - An article with six new situations from
various times during the war and three new
counters.
Volume 28, #4 - Letters to the Editor (Alan R. Arvold) -
Corrections to his article in Volume 28, #3.
Volume 28, #6 - A variant counter sheet was included in the
magazine sent to subscribers with forty mounted
PANZERBLITZ counters to use in the situations in
Volume 28, #3.
Volume 28, #6 - Letters to the Editor (Richard Gutenkunst) -
Suggestions on converting the Range Factors of
German and Russian infantry units in PANZERBLITZ
to those of PANZER LEADER. Note that for a while,
the Strategic Gaming Society, of whom Richard was
member of, offered variant counters that
reflected these conversions.
BOARDGAMER Magazine
The BOARDGAMER was an independently published magazine by its
owner (and editor) Bruce Monnin. After the demise of the GENERAL,
the BOARDGAMER became heir to the GENERAL's readership. Like the
GENERAL it published articles on Avalon Hill and Victory Games
games and towards the end expanded its article coverage to all
games played at the World Boardgaming Championships. Since the
publication of its Special PANZERBLITZ issue, the BOARDGAMER
became the home to the game. It should be noted that although the
magazine gave PANZERBLITZ an equal share of space as it would any
other game, it was NOT devoted to PANZERBLITZ to the exclusion of
all others. That it appeared to be devoted to the game in the
final years was only because many of the article submissions had
been of the PANZERBLITZ/PANZER LEADER variety. The BOARDGAMER put
out its last issue in September 2004 and then folded, due to the
Machiavellian machinations of Multi-Man Publishing, a company
that seems bent on sweeping away all vestiges of the old classic
PANZERBLITZ to make way to the new version that they are working
on.
Vol.1, #2 - Revised Rules: Combining Panzerblitz & Panzer Leader
(Bill Scott) - An article combining the two games
into one system.
Vol.1, #2 - Revised Panzerblitz & Panzer Leader Rules Questions
and Answers (Bill Scott) - A Q&A article that deals
with the previous article's system.
Vol.1, #4 - Incidents on the Yukhnov Road; A Panzerblitz
Narrative (Leslie Geraty) - A pseudo-historical
description of a particular PBM game between the
author and another player.
Vol.3, #3 - Deciphering the Panzerblitz Rules (Dave Giordano) -
An article dealing with rule clarifications never
directly addressed by Avalon Hill.
Vol.3, #4 - Shermans in the East: Some Panzerblitz/Panzer Leader
Situations (Leslie Garaty) - An article that lightly
deals with Lend Lease to the Soviet Union. Contains
three scenarios that have Lend Lease Sherman tanks on
the Soviet side.
Vol.4, #4 - Katyusha!: Russia's Secret Weapon Against the Blitz
(Leslie Geraty) - An article that deals with the
Russian mobile rocket launcher units during the war.
Includes four scenarios from various times during
the war.
Vol.6, #4 - Panzerblitz: Situation #99 - Rasienai (Ray Freeman) -
An article featuring a scenario on the Battle of
Rasienai on 23 June, 1941.
Vol.6, #4 - The Panzerblitz Point System for DYO Purposes
(Alan R. Arvold) - An article that expands and
clarifies the old Panzerblitz DYO point system
created by Tom Oleson all the way back in the GENERAL
Vol.8, #1.
Vol.7, #1 - Errata to the Boardgamer's Special Panzerblitz Issue
(Alan R. Arvold) - Errata for various article in the
magazine.
Vol.7, #2 - Corrections to Panzerblitz Situation #99 - Rasienai:
Errata to the Situation #99.
Vol.7, #4 - Panzerblitz and Panzer Leader: Random Design Your Own
Scenario Methodology (Ken Perry) - An article dealing
with adding random factors into DYO scenario
creations. Includes tables for all units in both
games.
Vol.8, #1 - Leaders and Morale in Panzerblitz/Panzer Leader
(Thomas Williams) - A variant adding leader counters
to both games as well as political officers to
PANZERBLITZ and CPs to PANZER LEADER. Also includes
rules for their use.
Vol.8, #4 - A New (Inter)face for Panzerblitz and Panzer Leader
(Dennis Jorgenson) - An article dealing with the new
PB/PL PBEM system using the VASSAL engine.
Vol.9, #1 - The Tao of Panzerblitz/Panzer Leader: Utility and
Psychology in a Game System (Thomas Williams) - A
short strategy article on some basic tactics in both
games.
Vol.9, #2 - Flame Tanks and Other New Units in Panzerblitz/Panzer
Leader (Alan R. Arvold and Michael P. Flagiello) - An
article introducing various flame vehicles in the
Second World War and various other units. Includes
rules for their use and four new scenarios.
Vol.9, #3 - Reconnaissance Units in Panzerblitz/Panzer Leader
(Alan R. Arvold and Michael P. Flagiello) - An
article introducing new reconnaissance units for the
Germans. Includes rules of their use and four new
scenarios.
Of course this section on the BOARDGAMER would not be complete
unless I added the article index to the Special PANZERBLITZ
issue. Here it is:
More New Expressions for a Familiar Face (Alan R. Arvold) - An
article introducing new units, rules, unit compositions for
different periods of the war, and historical corrections to
published scenarios.
Prokhorovka: New Scenarios for Panzerblitz (Alan R. Arvold) - An
article introducing six new scenarios dealing with the various
engagements around the town of Prokhorovka on 12 July 1943.
Historical Addendum to Prokhorovka (Alan R. Arvold) - An
historical order of battle for both sides in each scenario of the
previous article. A must for history buffs.
Panzerblitz Clarifications and Question Box (Alan R. Arvold) -
A comprehensive listing of all published and unpublished rules
questions to Avalon Hill and their answers.
Variations on a Theme (Alan R. Arvold) - Variations of certain
published scenarios where they are placed in earlier years in the
war and given the appropriate substitute vehicle counters for
those earlier AFVs in service at the time.
Tournament Situations (Alan R. Arvold) - A guide for turning
certain published scenarios into suitable tournament scenarios
that give both sides and equal chance of winning.
Panzerblitz Tournament Situations Part II (Alan R. Arvold) Three
new scenarios that were created specifically for the PANZERBLITZ
tournament at the World Boardgame Convention and a detailed
analysis of each one.
The Pieces of Panzerblitz Part 2 (Alan R. Arvold) - A
continuation of the work started in article by Larry McAneny all
the way back in the GENERAL Vol.11, #4. Includes all pieces that
have been introduced into the game over the years since its
introduction.
References from the General (Alan R. Arvold) - A detailed listing
of all PANZERBLITZ articles and other items in the GENERAL over
the years. This list was used in this article in the GENERAL
section above.
New Expressions for a Familiar Face II: Still More Situations for
Panzerblitz (Alan R. Arvold) - Six new situations which were
modified and historically corrected version of various older
scenarios that were published in other magazines.
Operation Wintergale: The Relief of Stalingrad (Alan R. Arvold) -
Six new scenarios dealing with the relief of Stalingrad by the
German 6th Panzer Division. Based on an earlier published article
by Eric Bonner.
Beyond Situation 25: Yet More new Scenarios for Panzerblitz
(Micheal Flagiello) - Eight updated scenarios by the original
author that were published in the STRATEGIST magazine fifteen
years before.
More Historical Corrections to Panzerblitz Situations
(Alan R. Arvold and Micheal Flagiello) - More historical
corrections to previously published scenarios.
Additional Panzerblitz Counters Required to Play Scenarios in
This Issue (Alan R. Arvold and Bruce Monnin) - A page of new
counters for the game. They were both printed on a page and also
printed on a pull out counter sheet included with the magazine.
References from the Boardgamer (Bruce Monnin) - A list of
PANZERBLITZ articles in the BOARDGAMER.
OLD SOLDIERS Magazine
OLD SOLDIERS magazine is an E-mag published by Tom Cundiff. It
started in September 2004 as a replacement for the outgoing
BOARDGAMER magazine. It publishes articles for old out-of-print
games and some brand new ones as well. While the editor has a
large reserve of PANZERBLITZ/PANZER LEADER articles, he only
publishes them sparingly as he wants this electronic magazine to
be for all games, not just for PANZERBLITZ and PANZER LEADER.
Volume 1, #3 - Panzerblitz Master Unit Function Charts
(Alan R. Arvold) - These were master unit function
charts which included every counter came in the
game, and was published in the GENERAL, the
BOARDGAMER, and a couple of articles in VAIPA. The
charts were based on the ones in PANZER LEADER and
included functions that applied in that game as
well as PANZERBLITZ.
Volume 2, #1 - Axis Minors in Panzerblitz/Panzer Leader - Italy
First! (Byron Henderson) - This article introduced
new Italian counters into both game systems. The
article starts by using the format used in "The
Pieces of Panzerblitz" from the GENERAL Vol.11,
#4, but then switches over to Unit Composition
Tables for the various levels of Italian units and
finishes off with a Unit Function Chart. There is
a counter set for these new Italian units
available for purchase from the OLD SOLDIERS
magazine.
Volume 2, #2 - Axis Minors in Panzerblitz/Panzer Leader - Hungary
(Byron Henderson) - This article introduced new
Hungarian counters into both game systems. The
article uses same format as the previous entry.
Again there is a counter set for these new
Hungarian units available for purchase from the
OLD SOLDIERS magazine.
Volume 2, #2 - Axis Minors in Panzerblitz/Panzer Leader - Romania
(Byron Henderson) - This article introduced new
Romanian counters into both game systems. The
article uses the same format as the previous two
entries. Again, as usual, there is a counter set
for these new Romanian units available for
purchase from the OLD SOLDIERS magazine.
Volume 2, #3 - Autocannone: Additional Units for Panzerblitz
(Byron Henderson) - This article introduced seven
rare Italian vehicles for Panzerblitz. These were
available on counter set for the issue available
for purchase from OLD SOLDIERS magazine.
Volume 2, #3 - What if?.. Additional Italian AFV's for
Panzerblitz & Panzer Leader (Byron Henderson) -
This article introduced six more Italian AFV's
that exited only in prototype and were probably
never used in combat. These were available on the
same counter set for that issue for purchase.
PANZERBLITZ HOMEPAGE Website
This is the original website devoted to the PANZERBLITZ family
of games. It was readily identifiable by its orange backround on
the website. It was started back in 1997 and is still online
today, although it has not been updated since 2003. Once a very
active website, it lied dormant with only an occasional entry
on its forum for several years, then in 2006 its webmaster moved
the sight to another webpage. It has various scenarios, articles,
and variant counters, most of which can not now be brought up due
to the link between the entry on the website and the original
author's website being broken. Still if one can contact the
original author, one may still be able to get the item in
question.
Chisinau (Gilbert Garza) - This is a scenario about a 1941 battle
between the Russian and the Romanians. It uses some PANZER LEADER
components such as some counters and one mapboard, but the
scenario uses the PANZERBLITZ rules, thus its inclusion here.
Linkup at Andrejevka (Gilbert Garza) - This is another scenario
about a 1941 battle between the Russians and a combined German-
Romanian force. Again the scenario uses components of PANZER
LEADER but it is a PANZERBLITZ scenario.
Traitors Attack (John Ayers) - This is a scenario about one of
the opening battles during the Kursk Campaign in July 1943. It
comes in two versions, one is a pure PANZERBLITZ version and the
other uses some PANZER LEADER counters in place of some
PANZERBLITZ ones, but they are both the same scenario.
Panzerblitz Campaign Game (Brian McCue) - This is an article
describing a campaign system where the players play a series of
scenarios in order to determining a overall campaign winner.
Double-Blind Panzerblitz (Brian McCue) - An article describing
how to play a PANZERBLITZ scenario using two games with a third
player acting as an umpire. Supposedly an improvement over the
"Blind Panzerblitz" article published way back in the GENERAL
Vol.10, #4.
Panzerblitz Optional Rules (J.D. Ehlers) - A list of optional
rules for PANZERBLITZ, most of which incorporate the rule
improvements in PANZER LEADER and ARAB-ISRAELI WARS.
Variant Counters (Tim O'Neal) - This was a series of variant
PANZERBLITZ counters.
IMAGINATIVE STRATEGIST Website
The IMAGINATIVE STRATEGIST is a website devoted to PANZERBLITZ
and PANZER LEADER. It was created and is run by Ward McBurney.
This website is now one of the main websites for this game
system. On it there are a host of downloadable items. These
include countersheets of all the counters in the game, both those
in the game and those variant counters that were published in the
GENERAL and BOARDGAMER magazines, brand new variant mapboards for
both games, and a series of articles on the Dunnigan System, the
system originally used to determine the counter values for the
counters in the games. This series of articles, which will be
listed below, has caused a lot of controversy as they invalidated
a lot of previously published variant counters because their
counter values were wrongly formulated by using incorrect
precepts. Aside from that, the most important fact about the
IMAGINATIVE STRATEGIST is that it is safely located up in Canada
where Multi-Man Publishing can not shut it down.
Artillery Factors in the Dunnigan System (Alan R. Arvold) - This
article describes how the artillery counter factors were
formulated.
Mortar Factors in the Dunnigan System (Alan R. Arvold) - This
article describes how the mortar counter factors were formulated.
Rocket Artillery Factors in the Dunnigan System (Alan R. Arvold)
- This article decribes how the rocket artillery counter factors
were formulated.
Infantry Factors in the Dunnigan System (Alan R. Arvold) - This
article describes how the infantry counter factors were
formulated. Note that this article has caused the most
controversy.
Cavalry Factors in the Dunnigan System (Alan R. Arvold) - This
article describes how the cavalry counter factors were
formulated.
Anti-Armor Attack and Range Factors in the Dunnigan System
(Alan R. Arvold) - This article describes how the A Class attack
and range factors were formulated for the various types of
vehicular and artillery counters in both Panzerblitz and Panzer
Leader.
Vehicular Defense and Movement Factors in the Dunnigan System
(Alan R. Arvold) - This article describes how the defense and
movement factors for the various vehicular counters were
formulated.
Miscellaneous Units in the Dunnigan System (Alan R. Arvold) -
This article goes into the formulation of the counter factors of
various units that were not included in any of the articles
listed above.
The Combat Results Table in Dunngian System (Alan R. Arvold) -
This article goes into the theory behind the results on the
combat results table.
Effects of New Terrain on New Panzerblitz Boards (Alan R. Arvold)
- This article describes the effect of the new terrain features
that have been introduced in the new series of mapboards that
have been posted on the IMAGINATIVE STRATEGIST. Note that these
rules stay within the original form and structure of the rules of
the game and seek to expand the game, not change it into
something else as most variants tend to do.
Obstacles and Elevation (Modified) (Alan R. Arvold) - This
article is essentially a rewrite of the Obstacle and Elevation
Rules in the original game rules in order to incorporate the new
Level 2 Slope and Hilltop hexes that have been introduced in the
new mapboards. Included with this article in a separate posting
is a new Target Elevation Table which incorporates these new
elevation levels.
Situation 7: A Scenario in Serious Need of Updating
(Alan R. Arvold) - This article describes the history of this one
particular scenario, the past attempts to fix it, and the current
one utilizing the new mapboards from the IMAGINATIVE STRATEGIST.
Includes the revised scenario with five more alternate orders of
battle to reflect different periods of the war.
An Informal History of the Development of Panzerblitz
(Alan R. Arvold) - A short history of the development of the game
starting back in 1968 through to the mid-Seventies. Utilizes
information from many sources.
MOVES Magazine
MOVES magazine was originally published by SPI from 1972 to
1982. It lasted sixty issues. It was then picked up by TSR in
1982 when they took over SPI and it became a section within the
S&T magazine. 3W then bought S&T from TSR in 1987 and the MOVES
section moved to their WARGAMER magazine. And finally it was
picked up by Decision Games in 1991 and it became a magazine
again. Forty-eight more issues were published before it was
finally terminated in 2002. It featured games reviews, variants,
and scenarios primarily for SPI games but under 3W and Decision
Games it featured games from all companies.
Moves #2 - Some Panzerblitz Optional Rules (Steven List) - An
article which introduce some variant rules and some
new counters.
Panzerblitz Revisited (George G. Hopp) - A variant
introducing an Opportunity Fire rule. Note that this
article (slightly reworded) was also published in the
GENERAL Vol.9 #1.
Moves #8 - Armor/Infantry: Another Factor in Tactical Simulations
(Jerrold Thomas) - A variant dealing with Overrun
Attacks for various tactical games at the time.
Moves #9 - Maxi-Panzerblitz (Jerrold Thomas) - A new scenario
which depicted a hypothetical extended armored
engagement.
Moves #17 - Footnotes: Mechanized Infantry in Panzerblitz
(Dennis Blazey) - A variant which gave additional
capabilities to halftrack units. Included a scenario
as well.
Moves #78 - Patton's War: Rules and Scenarios for Panzerblitz and
Panzer Leader (Tom Cundiff) - Twelve new scenarios
dealing with a hypothetical post World War II
conflict between the Western Allies and the Russians.
FIRE & MOVEMENT Magazine
FIRE & MOVEMENT (F&M) was originally founded by Roger B.
MacGowan back in 1976. Since then it has changed ownership four
times, finally culminating with its purchase by Decision Games
back in 1989, who owned it to the end. It lasted a total of 150
issues. Essentially a game review type magazine, it has
occasionally published some variants and scenarios as well.
F&M #4 - Panzer Leader '77 (Roy Easton) - This is a PANZER LEADER
variant that includes PANZERBLITZ pieces as well.
F&M #53 - 20 Years Later and 10 Years After Squad Leader: A
History of Tactical Games (Roger B. MacGowan) - A
history of the development and evolution of tactical
armored warfare games, in which PANZERBLITZ (and TAC 3)
played an important early part.
F&M #62 - World War II F&M Anthology: Chapter 3; The Eastern
Front (Rick Swan) - Part of F&M's great anthology of
WWII wargames. Both PANZERBLITZ and TAC 3 are featured
in quick reviews.
WARGAMER Magazine
WARGAMER was the house magazine for World Wide Wargames (3W)
which was originally based in England but later moved to
California. Founded in 1977, it lasted until 1990. There were two
volumes, the first lasted 62 issues, then in 1987 switched to the
second volume which lasted 25 more issues. Was originally an S&T
type magazine, in the second volume it switched to a MOVES type
magazine. (It even incorporated MOVES into itself as one of its
sections.)
Wargamer Vol.1, #6 - Blinkered Panzerblitz (No Author Listed) -
This was a new scenario with a replay of it
included in the article.
PHOENIX Magazine
PHOENIX was published by SimPubs Ltd., a British subsidiary of
SPI, and was distributed in Great Britain. It could rightly be
considered to be the British version of MOVES magazine. It lasted
six years, from 1976 to 1982, and had 36 issues. I do not have
any copies of the magazine as it is so rarely seen here in the
United States so the information below I got from a master
article index I obtained from the Internet.
Phoenix #12 - A Rear-Area Raid: A Game History of Panzerblitz
(AH) (Francis Comerford) - This was a short
description of a replay of Situation #14.
Phoenix #21 - Banging Your Head on the Belgium Border:
A Game Review (Of Sorts) (Francis Comerford) -
This is a review of Situation #13 from PANZER
LEADER. The reason that it is listed here is that
it is listed as a PANZERBLITZ article in the
magazine index. However, PANZERBLITZ is only
mentioned in passing and the article concentrates
on PANZER LEADER. This entry is for completeness
so now one thinks that I missed something with this
one.
World War II Tactical Games Review (Geoff Barnard)
- A review of WWII armored warfare tactical games
which included PANZERBLITZ.
GRENADIER Magazine
The GRENADIER was the house magazine of Game Designer's
Workshop (GDW). It lasted from 1978 to 1990 and comprised of 35
issues. It started off as a quarterly magazine, but towards the
end was published sporadically. Although it covered games from
all companies, it gave most of the magazine space to GDW games.
Grenadier #21 - Panssari Salama (Michael Bennighof) - This was
one of the better variants published. It covered
the Russo-Finnish Wars, both the Winter War of
1939-40 and the Continuation War of 1941-44. It
contained many variant counters to cover the
Finnish and early war Russian units, variant
rules to cover the use of certain units and the
climate conditions of the area, and ten new
scenarios. There was no counter sheet, but
examples of all variant counters were printed in
the article, and several enterprising gamers have
produced counter sheets based on these examples
over the years.
VAIPA QUARTERLY Magazine
VAIPA QUARTERLY is a privately produced magazine by Mike
Sanchez. VAIPA stands for Variants Artificial Intelligence Pb(e)m
Aids. He also has a smaller magazine named the VAIPA EXPRESS. The
QUARTERLY has multiple articles in it while the EXPRESS deals
with single large articles. These magazines have produced
variants for several different games. These are only sold on
Ebay, so I guess that is how the owner distributes it (to the
highest bidder).
VAIPA #1 - Polish Legions (No author listed) - This a variant
that covers the Polish Campaign of 1939. It contains a
mounted counter set of Polish and early war German
units, variant rules dealing with certain units, a
single mapsheet for use in certain scenarios, an
overlay with railroad symbols on it for use on the
regular game boards, and ten new scenarios. Another
must have variant for collectors and gamers alike.
VAIPA #4 - SS Leader (Ron Marchal) - This is a variant that
covers selected Waffen SS battles in PANZER LEADER. It
contains a mounted set of black variant Waffen SS
counters for each of the German units in the game, a
set of eight scenarios, and special rules for certain
units and scenarios. Although the variant is designed
for PANZER LEADER, the counters can be used in
PANZERBLITZ as well. Another must have variant.
VAIPA #6 - Lend Lease in Panzerblitz (Alan R. Arvold) - This is a
variant that covers the use of Lend Lease vehicles by
the Russians in PANZERBLITZ. The article contains
eight scenarios, plus variant counters for the
Russians and Germans. This variant needs both the SS
Leader and the Prokhorovka variants listed in this
section in order to be played, if you want to use the
SS counters. Still another must have variant.
VAIPA #11 - Prokhorovka Update (Alan R. Arvold) - This is an
update of the original article found in the
BOARDGAMER's Special PANZERBLITZ Issue. Besides
having updated information and scenarios, it also
supplies variant counters. The nice thing about the
German counters is that they are made in the black
variant Waffen SS versions which also have the proper
range values for PANZERBLITZ as compared to PANZER
LEADER. This variant still needs the SS Leader
Variant previously listed in order to be played, if
you want to use the SS counters. Still yet another
must have variant.
COUNTER MOVES Ltd.
COUNTER MOVES Ltd. is a name of company (of probably one or
two people) which is among a group of individuals and companies
that have been selling reprints of PANZERBLITZ/PANZER LEADER
articles, from the GENERAL magazine, on Ebay over the past few
years. In a way these individuals are doing a great service to
gamers as copies of the GENERAL are getting harder and more
expensive to find. But that is not why they are included on this
list. COUNTER MOVES also publishes a series of variants
containing scenarios from magazines that are still in
publication. To avoid out right accusations of plagiarism, they
make minor changes to the articles and scenarios. A lot of other
authors had done this, myself included, but at least we have the
decency to acknowledge the original authors of our source
materials. COUNTER MOVES on the other hand puts out the material
as if they are the original authors and the rest of the world is
full of plagiarists. Since the following variants are taken
directly from the BOARDGAMER Special PANZERBLITZ Issue, one can
see why I personally concerned about this. It would not be so bad
if they acknowledged the original authors of the source material,
but no, they go right on with what they are doing, confident in
the fact that everyone in the wargaming industry is so poor that
they will never be sued and brought to court. Recently in all of
the reprints of their products, they have included a bibliography
of various books, magazines, and articles, in which the original
article is included, all in a vain attempt to avoid the
plagiarism charges. About their only redeeming feature is the
fact that they have never been successfully shut down by Multi-
Man Publishing.
Panzerblitz '41-'42 (No author) - This is a reprint of two
articles from the GENERAL, the Panzerblitz 1941 one from issue
13-3 and the 1941 Panzerblitz one from issue 14-3. It has the
scenarios from both articles plus the ones from the Forgotten
Year article in issue 26-2 and Situation #15 from issue 11-4. The
counters are their standard fair quality. They do have a one page
rules section for their own variant rules. Avoid this one.
Citadel: Prokhorovka; Ride of the 2nd SS Panzer Korps (No author)
- This is a blatant copy of the Prokhorvka article out of the
BOARDGAMER Special PANZERBLITZ Issue. Whole paragraphs were
lifted out the article and placed in this variant with only one
or two word changes. The six scenarios each have some changes to
them, mostly so that they can be played with one PANZERBLITZ
game, whereas my article requires two games. The editing of this
article is bad, I have found dozens of misspelled words that even
a fourth grader could not miss. The counters included with the
variant are of fair quality. They do include some original rules
sections of their own in the variant, but there is nothing new in
these, other authors have explored these ideas in the past. All
in all, this is a variant to be avoided.
Stalingrad: Operation Winter Storm (No author) - This is a
blatant copy of the Operation Wintergale article from the
BOARDGAMER Special PANZERBLITZ Issue. Again, whole paragraphs are
lift out of the original article and placed in this variant with
only a few word changes. Each of the seven scenarios, one of
which was taken from the article "New Expression of a Familiar
Face II" in the BOARDGAMER Special PANZERBLITZ Issue, have some
minor changes, mostly to avoid charges of plagiarism. On the
other hand there are fewer mispellings of words in this variant,
so the editing has improved a little. As before the counters are
of fair quality and there are some original rules that have been
explored before in the past. Another variant to be avoided.
Panzerblitz 1941; The Forgotten Year (No author) - In a bid to
make more money, Counter Moves divided up their first product
listed above into two separate products, one for each year. In
this one they have changed their artwork and have rewritten the
Panzerblitz 1941 article out of the GENERAL so it looks more
different, but if you looks closely one will still see whole
paragraphs that have not been changed. There are more scenarios
in this one, stolen right out of the BOARDGAMER Special
PANZERBLITZ Issue. The counters are the same as before. Feed this
one to the fire.
Situations for 1942; The Pivotal Year (No author) - This is the
second product of the split-up. Like above they have changed
their artwork and the have rewritten the Forgotten Year article
as the basis of their text. It also has the six situations from
that article as well as Situation 15 from issue 11-4. To their
credit, they did not steal any more articles from the PANZERBLITZ
Special issue when they made this. Still putting this through the
shredder would be too merciful a fate for it.
Panzer Busters (No Author) - This is a blatant plagiarism of
Carl Schwamberger's article Panzer Hunters from the General
Vol.28, #3. As usual there are several word changes and no author
listed. The counters that are included are shoddy at best. Avoid
this one like the plague.
Panzerblitz for Smarties (No author) - This is nothing more than
a booklet that has republished articles from the GENERAL, the
BOARDGAMER, and the IMAGINATIVE STRATEGIST. As usual the original
authors names have been deleted and occasional sentences have
been reworded so these people can claim original authorship. Pass
this one by and get the originals instead.
PANZERFAUST/CAMPAIGN Magazine
PANZERFAUST was created by Don Greenwood back in 1967. It was
basically a standard game review, variant, scenario, and analysis
article type magazine. It did occasionally have some historical
articles too. In 1972 Don Lowery of Guidon Games assumed control
of the magazine when Greenwood moved on to Avalon Hill. In 1976
the magazine name was changed to PANZERFAUST & CAMPAIGN and in
the following year it was changed again to just CAMPAIGN, the
name it kept until the end. The magazine lasted until early 1983
when Guidon Games went out of business. It had total of 111
issues, plus several specials. As I have all issues from #41 on
forward, plus an article from #40, I believe that I have all the
PANZERBLITZ articles that were printed in the magazine.
Panzerfaust #40 - Panzerblitz Observations (George Phillies) -
One of the earliest reviews of the game.
Basically comments on some of the obvious
faults in the game.
Panzerfaust #41 - Thumbnail Analysis (Donald Greenwood) - A short
review of the game. While it condemns its most
obvious fault, the spotting rules, it overall
praises the game.
Panzerfaust #42 - Panzerblitz Situation Analysis
(George Phillies) - A short critique of eleven
of the twelve original scenarios that came in
the first print run of the game. (Situation 4
is missing.)
Panzerfaust #43 - New Armor Units: "Panzerblitz" (Mike Kelly) -
Values for some early war Russian and German
tank units as well as some French and British
tank units for 1940 type situations.
Panzerblitz Commentary (Gregory Lyle) - A short
commentary on each situation in the game.
Panzerfaust #45 - Panzerblitz: Solution to Situation #3
(Edi Birsen) - A Russian defensive strategy and
set up for Situation #3.
Panzerfaust #46 - Panzerblitz: Possibilities in Situation #5
(Edi Birsen) - A Russian defensive strategy and
set up for Situation #5.
GHQ Micro Panzerblitz (Mike Kelly) - A system
of substituting miniatures for counters in
PANZERBLITZ games.
Panzerfaust #49 - A Panzerblitz Holding Action (Chuck Lane) -
A new holding action type scenario for the
game.
Panzerfaust #51 - Western Panzerblitz (Bruce Belcher) - One of
the early West Front variants for PANZERBLITZ.
Contained counter values for American and
British units and five scenarios.
Panzerblitz: The Quick Game (Dennis Fustini) -
A new scenario dealing with a Russian raid on a
German truck convoy.
Panzerblitz Terrain Notes (Vance von Borries) -
A rather severe critique of the terrain on the
PANZERBLITZ boards.
Panzerfaust #52 - Panzerblitz Defenses (Vance von Borries) - The
author's favorate defensive set ups for the
first six scenarios. Note that these are based
on the original situations from the first print
run of the game.
Panzerblitz Changes (Dennis Fustini) - A
variant containing some new optional rules.
Close Assault Tactics (Vance von Borries) - A
short strategy article on close assault
tactics.
Panzerfaust #53 - Western Panzerblitz Revisited (Paul Mills) - A
critique of the Western Panzerblitz article in
PANZERFAUST #51. The author provided a table
with his own counter values for the Allied
units as well as what their equipment and
manpower compositions were.
Assorted Comments on Western Panzerblitz
(Roy Easton) - Another critique on the Western
Panzerblitz article in PANZERFAUST #51. The
author also provided a table for counter values
for Allied units.
More Western Panzerblitz (Roy Easton) - A
variant article providing more new counters as
well as a T.O.& E. table for mid and higher
level Allied formations using his counters.
Panzerfaust #55 - Panzerblitz & Combat Command: Incompatible
Brothers? (Paul Mills) - An analytical
comparison of the two games and why they are
not compatible.
Panzerfaust #56 - Panzerblitz Defenses Part 2 (Vance von Borries)
- The author's favorite defensive set ups in
Situations Seven through Twelve. Again these
are based on the first print run scenario
cards.
Panzerfaust #61 - The Tactics of Panzerblitz (Roy Easton) - A
short strategy article on game tactics.
Panzerblitz Potpourri (Tom Oleson) - A series
of comments and observations about the game.
Panzerfaust #63 - Incremental Panzerblitz (Andy Lewis, Tom
Oleson, and Jim Snellen) - Another set of
simultaneous movement rules for PANZERBLITZ.
Note that this is the same article that was
published in the GENERAL Vol.9 #5.
Panzerfaust &
Campaign #72 - Solitaire Panzerblitz (Herschel M. Sarnoff) -
An article on how to play PANZERBLITZ solitaire
(at least in the author's opinion).
Panzerfaust &
Campaign #74 - A Panzerblitz Ramble (Herschel M. Sarnoff) - A
look at the tactical games that trace their
evolutionary roots to PANZERBLITZ.
Campaign #85 - On the Path of the Rational Tactical Wargame
(Lorrin Bird) - Another short look at tactical
games that trace their roots back to PANZERBLITZ.
JAGDPANTHER/BATTLEFIELD Magazine
JAGDPANTHER was originally the house magazine of the SS
Jagdpanther Korps Wargame Club, which was part of the the
International Confederation of Wargamers (ICW), a national club
system which tried to be on par with the other national clubs at
the time such as Spartan International and the International
Federation of Wargamers. It was published by Jagdpanther
Publications, which was founded by Steven V. Cole back in 1973.
By the end of the 1974 it had become a national magazine in its
own right. The magazine was basically a MOVES type magazine with
variants, scenarios, and strategy tips for different games, but
it also had a game in each issue. Besides the magazine, the
company also put out newsletters and produced a number of games
and game accessories. JAGDPANTHER lasted from 1973 to 1976 for a
total of fifteen issues, the last one being renamed BATTLEFIELD.
The first four issues of JAGDPANTHER placed a heavy emphasis on
PANZERBLITZ in its article coverage and are extremely rare to
find. However some articles from the first four issues have been
rediscovered in recent years and have been posted on the
Internet. I have all of the issues of the magazine, but am still
missing some of the newsletters and other products so there will
be some small gaps in the coverage of the articles.
Jagdpanther #1 - Organization for Combat: The Panzergrenadier
Battalion (Steven V. Cole) - A short article on
the deployment and maneuvering of a
panzergrenadier battalion in PANZERBLITZ. Too
short to give much useful information.
Panzerblitz Unlimited (Steven V. Cole) - This
was a huge article which offered counters for
sixteen different nations plus some notes for
each nation's counters and 35 new scenarios. The
counters were hand drawn and looked rather
crude. The counter values may seem strange in
some instances but then Steven used a totally
different approach in figuring out the values.
Jagdpanther #2 - Vertical Envelopment in Panzerblitz (Steven V.
Cole) - A variant for helicopters, gliders, and
paratroops in PANZERBLITZ. Included variant
rules and rather crudely drawn counters. Is
supposed to tie in with the Fliegenkampf
article.
The Private Armies (Steven V. Cole, CPT Al Hall,
and Anthony V. Travelian) - Orders of battle for
two hypothetical German divisions during the
Second World War, the PanzerFusilier and the
Herman Goering Airborne Panzer Divisions. Uses
the counters not only from the game, but also
from the Panzerblitz Unlimited article from the
previous issue.
ACAV: Mechanized Warfare in Vietnam
(Steven V. Cole and Rick Pavek) - This was
variant based on PANZERBLITZ for combat in
Vietnam. It had rules, two counter sheets, five
scenarios and a six mapsheets. The mapsheets
were really half mapsheets and two of them would
combine to make one mapsheet of the same size as
the ones in the PANZERBLITZ game. The whole
mapsheets were titled boards 4, 5, and 6 on the
scenario information. The counter sheets were fair
and the mapsheets were fairly good.
Fliegenkampf (Steven V. Cole and CPT Al Hall,
USAF) - This is a massive article on tactical
air rules in PANZERBLITZ. Included extensive
rules, tables, and counters. Was quite well done
for its time but was over complicated.
Jagdpanther #3 - ICW Panzerblitz Command College (Anthony V.
Trevelian) - Information on a sort of elite
society within the ICW, with one's mastery of
PANZERBLITZ being the criteria of one's ranking
within it. One had to know not only the game,
but all existing variants to be able to play the
scenarios offered by the society.
Black Star/Blue Star (Steven V. Cole) - A
variant where the counters from the SPI game RED
STAR/WHITE STAR were converted to the
PANZERBLITZ standard so it could be played with
the game. Also included some conversion rules.
Panzerblitz Order of Battle (Steven V. Cole) -
An order of battle for the US 1st Marine
Division on Guadalcanal using the counters from
the Panzerblitz Unlimited article in Issue #1.
MGB: The Game of Amphibious Warfare
(Steven V. Cole) - This is a variant putting
naval and amphibious warfare into the
PANZERBLITZ system. It contained rules, two
countersheets, six scenarios, and eight
mapsheets. Again these mapsheets were actually
half mapsheets which combined to make four full
size ones. While innovative for its time, state
of the art, and games like ASL have left it far
behind. Like ACAV in the previous issue, the
counter sheets were fair and the mapsheets were
fairly good.
Jagdpanther #4 - Sidi Rezegh: Panzerblitz in North Africa (Steven
V. Cole, Anthony V. Trevelian, Roman Rias, and
Louis Clement) - This was the PANZERBLITZ
variant for combat in North Africa. There were
no rules or scenarios for this variant, only
two countersheets (British and German) and six
mapsheets. The mapsheets again were actually half
mapsheets which combined to make three full ones.
Two of the mapsheets had the Italian counters in
their margins. The variant was meant to be a test
vehicle for a larger PANZERBLITZ based game on
North Africa which was in development in
Jagdpanther Publications. However the project was
abandoned after SPI came out with DESERT WAR and
Spartan International published DESERT RATS during
this time period.
The Panzerblitz Module System (Steven V. Cole) -
These are the legendary 110 optional rules to
PANZERBLITZ. I say legendary because for many
years gamers talked about them but never really
knew what they were (due to the rarity of the
issue), and over time they achieved a sort of
legendary, almost mythic, status. In truth they
were 110 rule ideas for gamers to experiment
with in PANZERBLITZ. These ideas were submitted
by various members of the ICW. Some of these
ideas were quite well developed as rules in the
article, others were just ideas for the gamers
to work on. Some ideas were very good (Outposts,
Morale, Snipers, and Casualties), others were
ludicrous (a John Wayne Leader counter giving
units that it is stacked with super-human
abilities and Brothel counters as scenario
objectives), and there were some ideas which
would be considered politically incorrect by
today's standards (Civilian counters where
overrunning Russians are raping the women and
Gay Fairy units). I still laugh every time that
I read it.
Alderkampf: Strategic Movement for Panzerblitz
(Steven V. Cole) - A grand system combining the
games PANZERBLITZ, MIDWAY, SPITFIRE, BATTLE OF
BRITAIN, and the Fliegenkampf article from issue
#2. A system for delivering PANZERBLITZ units
into a scenario from a another scenario, be it
by air, naval, or land transport.
Jagdpanther #8 - Suppressive Fire (Lloyd Eric Catsan) - A variant
for suppressive fire.
Jagdpanther #9 - Nuke-Blitz (Steven V. Cole) - A variant putting
nuclear weapons in PANZERBLITZ.
Panzer '46 (Mike Kenny) - Two new counters
representing the PzIVj and the Panther K models
which would have appeared if the war would had
lasted little longer.
Russians at Prokhorovka (David L. Porter) - A
strategy article dealing with a JAGDPANTHER
variant map product for the battle of
Prokhorovka.
Paramutual Panzerblitz (Steven V. Cole and Gary
Seebo) - A DYO variant where both player wager
money for each coutner they purchase for the DYO
game and pay each other for each unit that their
opponent destroys during the game.
Jagdpanther #10 - PanzerSot (Pete Sausey) - A rather humorous
PANZER LEADER scenario where converging Western
Allied and Russian forces battle the German
defenders (and each other) for control of a
winery in central Germany in the last days of
the war.
BlitzLeader: Using Panzer Leader Rules in
Panzerblitz (Jahn Barry) - An article
intergrating PANZER LEADER rules into
PANZERBLITZ in order to make them compatible.
MARINE! - This is the magazine game in that
issue. Many gamers mistakenly believe that it
is a PANZERBLITZ variant. However, any
resemblance to PANZERBLITZ is superficial and
it is definitely a separate game, not a
variant.
Jagdpanther #11 - Panzerblitz - Situation 13 (Jim Brown) - A
simplified DYO variant.
The Use of Signal Units in Panzerblitz
(Jim Brown) - A simplified variant rule for CP
units sighting units hidden in trees and towns
for indirect fire.
Preparing a Cannon for Indirect Fire in
Panzerblitz (David Lohman) - A variant rule for
the delay of one or more turns for indirect
fire to arrive.
Battlefield #15 - Rapid Fire: Towns in Panzerblitz (Phil Kosnett)
- A letter to the editor questioning the rules
on Towns in the game.
JAGDPANTHER PUBLICATIONS also put out a short lived newsletter
called the BUSHWACKER, which only lasted eight issues.
Bushwacker #6 - Battling Busses (No author listed) - A humorous
variant where busses are commandeered and used as
troop transport units in the game.
Bushwacker #8 - Remagen Bridge (No author listed) - A PANZERBLITZ
scenario about the battle of the Remagen Bridge.
This included a small mapsheet and an order of
battle. The American side was to use the counters
from the Panzerblitz Unlimited article, thus
making this a PANZERBLITZ, not PANZER LEADER,
variant.
JAGDPANTHER PUBLICATIONS also put out a series of mapsheets for
particular battles in PANZERBLITZ. These usually included the
mapsheet itself (which came in one or more sections) and an order
of battle (which included reinforcements). There were no
counters, but all non German and Russian unit counters had to
come from the Panzerblitz Unlimited article. The mapsheets were
for the following battles:
Utah Beach (Bad artwork on the mapsheet)
Omaha Beach (Pretty decent)
City of Stalingrad (Pretty decent)
Battle of Prokhorovka (Mapsheet terrain looks nothing like the
ground where the real battle occurred and
the O.B. for both sides is pure fantasy.)
Tarawa Atoll (Really not that bad)
Dien Bien Phu (Fairly decent)
Dieppe (Fairly decent)
Midway (Don't have this one.)
OUTPOSTS Magazine
OUTPOSTS was the house magazine of the Conflict Simulation
Society (CSS). It was basically a MOVES type magazine, featuring
variants, new scenarios, and strategy articles. It covered games
from all companies of the time, but the majority of articles
covered SPI and AH games. The CSS was a national gaming club that
never quite achieved the fame of the bigger ones such as AHIKS,
SPARTAN INTERNATIONAL, and the INTERNATIONAL FEDERATION OF
WARGAMERS. OUTPOSTS lasted from 1974 to 1978 when the CSS broke
up, for a total of twelve issues.
Outposts #2 - Additional Panzerblitz Units Part I (John Garrett)
- The first of a six part series of articles
introducing new counters into the game. There were
not any new rules to explain each counter's
function in the game, but the counter artwork was
very decent. While the counters were printed in the
article, CSS offered mounted unpunched sets of
these counters for each part in the series. The
first part featured new German counters.
Outposts #3 - Additional Panzerblitz Units Part II (John Garrett)
- In this part new Russian counters were featured.
Outposts #4 - Additional Panzerblitz Units Part III
(John Garrett) - In this part new French and
Italian counters were featured.
Outposts #5 - Panzerblitz Situation #207 (Eric Kyllo) - A
hypothetical scenario dealing with a German
infantry delaying action in 1945. Note, this
scenario was later published in the BOARDGAMER
Special PANZERBLITZ issue.
Additional Panzerblitz Units Part IV (John Garrett)
- In this part new Japanese and US Marine counters
were featured. Garrett never did any counters for
the US Army, primarily because PANZER LEADER had
been released and he did not want to conflict with
the printed counter values for that game.
Reconnaissance: This was the Q&A section of the
magazine. A PANZERBLITZ game question was answered
here.
Outposts #6 - Additional Panzerblitz Scenarios (Bill Scott) -
Three new scenarios which used the counters from
the Panzerblitz Units Series in the magazine. One
scenario was a France 1940 situation and the other
two occurred in Russia. One of the Russian
scenarios was later published (in a revised format)
in the BOARDGAMER Special PANZERBLITZ issue and the
France 1940 scenario was later published (in a
revised format) in the BOARDGAMER Special PANZER
LEADER issue.
Additional Panzerblitz Units Part V (John Garrett)
- In this part new British and Polish counters were
featured.
Panzerblock (Richard Cochran) - An opportunity fire
variant were the attacker gets to fire back at
defenders who employ opportunity fire against his
moving units.
Outposts #7 - Additional Panzerblitz Units Part VI (John Garrett)
- The last part of the series. In this part new
Hungarian and Romanian counters were featured as
well as more new German, Italian, and Japanese
counters.
Blitzspiel (Michael "Dutch" Daly) - A new scenario
dealing with a German holding action against the
Russians in the final days of the war. One of the
glaring defects of this scenario was that the
author never indicated which playing board the game
was played on, although from reading the article
one would assume it was Board 2. This scenario was
later published (in a modified format) in the
BOARDGAMER Special PANZERBLITZ issue.
Outposts #8 - Guide to Panzerblitz (T.F. McGrath) - The first of
a two part series on game strategy and tactics. A
very well done series even if the author
misinterpreted a couple of rules. I highly
recommend it.
Reconnaissance: Two more PANZERBLITZ game questions
and their answers.
Errata for Outposts #6: Corrections to errors in
both the Additional Panzerblitz Scenarios and
Panzerblock articles in that issue.
Outposts #9 - Guide to Panzerblitz Part II (T.F. McGrath) - The
second concluding part of the series.
Outposts #11 - Limited Intelligence Panzerblitz (Mark Hanna) -
A hidden movement variant.
Outposts #12 - Balanced Panzerblitz: A New Tournament Scoring
System (Greg Hastings) - A new scoring system for
PANZERBLITZ tournaments.
BATTLE FLAG Magazine
A relatively unknown monthly magazine that was published in two
volumes, first by Third Millenia Incorporated from 1971 to 1975,
and then second by The Syndicate from 1977 to 1979. The first
volume of the magazine had a little bit of everything;
historical articles, variants, scenarios, and reviews. Every
other issue had a game that came along with it. Mostly
concentrated on Third Millenia games but it would occasionally do
articles on games outside of its parent company. In the second
volume of the magazine concentrated mostly on miniatures and had
next to nothing on other games.
The First Cavalry Division (Tricap) (Author Unknown) - An article
introducing new modern counters into the PANZERBLITZ system.
This article focused on the US 1st Cavalry Division and its then
unique TRICAP organization. Appeared in Vol.1, #8.
TRICAP Part 2 (Author Unknown) - A continuation of the previous
article introducing more new modern counters. Appeared in Vol.1,
#9.
Panzerblitz Tactics (Harold Totten) - An article on game strategy
and tactics. Concentrated on the twelve scenarios in the game,
followed by some general game strategy tips. Appeared in Vol.1,
#21.
RALLY POINT Magazine
Another relatively unknown magazine, this time from the
Nineties. Rally Point is the official name of the Northeastern
Gamers Journal.
New Units and a New Scenario of a Classic Wargame (Antonio J.
Munoz) - A variant article introducing 18 new counters and a new
scenario into the game. Most of the new counters have been
introduced before over the years. The scenario is a Meeting
Engagement East of the Dnieper River in July 1941.
PURSUE & DESTROY Magazine
A small size magazine published by First Echelon Publications
Incorporated in the mid to late Seventies. Mostly dealt with game
reviews, game strategies, and historical articles. Usually had
one variant per issue.
Vol.2, #6 - Wilson's Panzerblitz Situation #134 (Guy C. Wilson) A
scenario dealing with the Battle of Kustrin in March
1945. It has a hypothetical twist to it, it
postulates that the Western Allies had crossed the
Rhine a month sooner and were meeting the Russians on
the Oder River, not the Elbe as in history. A three
way battle between Germans, Russians, and Americans.
ANN ARBOR WARGAMER Magazine
A relatively unknown magazine from the late Seventies out of
Ann Arbor, Michigan. It serviced the local wargaming clubs in
that part of the Midwest. It only lasted for twenty issues.
Issue #6 - Panzerblitz for the Addict (David Winfree) - The first
of a long series of articles giving the "Z" ratings
for new counters not in PANZERBLITZ (or PANZER LEADER
for that matter). All that was listed were the counter
values, no counters were included. This part dealt
with US and British units in World War II.
Issue #8 - Panzerblitz for the Addict II (David Winfree) - The
second article in the series. This one dealt with
German units in World War II.
Issue #9 - Panzerblitz for the Addict: Part III; The Second
String Powers (David Winfree) - The third article in
the series. This one dealt with the French, Dutch,
Italian, Japanese, and Polish units in World War II.
Issue #10 - Panzerblitz for the Addict: Part IV; The Frigid North
(David Winfree) - The fourth article in the series.
This one dealt with the Finnish, Norwegian, and
Russian units, as well as US Marine units in World
War II.
Issue #11 - Panzerblitz for the Addict: Part V; When the Blood
Flows (David Winfree) - The fifth article in the
series. This one had five scenarios in it, three of
which were copied from the Panzerblitz Unlimited
article from Jagdpanther #1. These scenarios dealt
with Poland 1939, France 1940, North Africa 1941,
and two hypothetical ones dealing with US vs Russians
and US vs British.
Issue #12 - Panzerblitz for the Addict: Part VI; More Blood
(David Winfree) - The sixth article in the series.
This one had four more scenarios. These dealt with
the Falaise Gap 1944, Russians vs Germans 1945, and
two post war US vs Russian ones.
Issue #13 - Panzerblitz for the Addict: Part VII; Bang! You're
Dead (David Winfree) - The seventh article in the
series. This one had the "Z" ratings for modern US
(up to the 1970's) units. Two new Weapons
Classifications from the Arab-Israeli Wars game were
also introduced.
Issue #14 - Panzerblitz for the Addict: Part VIII; The Boom-Boom
Era (David Winfree) - The eighth article in the
series. This one had the "Z" ratings for modern
British and German units.
(Note: There were supposed to be more articles in this series,
but later issues of the magazine did not have them. It is
presumed that the author never did submit any more articles after
Part VIII.)
Issue #20 - Panzerschreck: Panzerblitz and Panzer Leader
(A. Lopata) - An variant article with new rules for
Overruns, Close Assaults, and Indirect Fire in both
games. Nothing really new here, these ideas had been
explored by previous authors in years past.
AMERICAN WARGAMER Newsletter
AMERICAN WARGAMER (AW) was the house newsletter for the
American Wargaming Association, a Northeastern based organization
that strove to become a national club to replace the IFW.
Although it tried hard, its membership never got above 200
members nationally. Was founded in 1973 and lasted until the
mid Eighties when it merged with another organization to form the
Strategic Gaming Society. The newsletter mostly dealt with club
and hobby news, with a strong emphasis on game reviews. However
it also published scenarios, variants, and game strategy articles
as well. At the time of the merger the AMERICAN WARGAMER's name
was changed to the STRATEGIST.
AW Vol.4 #10 - The Question Box: Panzerblitz (Mike Schell) -
Standard game question section of the newsletter.
There were seven questions, of which five had the
correct answers.
AW Vol.7 #7 - Battalion Under Siege (Tom Scholle) - A strategy
article about the #5 scenario from the article
Panzerblitz 1941 from the GENERAL Vol.13 #3.
INTERNATIONAL WARGAMER Magazine
INTERNATIONAL WARGAMER (IW) was the house magazine of the
International Federation of Wargamers (IFW), a national club from
the mid 1960s to 1973. The magazine, beside dealing with club
business, published game reviews, variants, scenarios, and an
occasional historical article. It lasted from 1968 to 1973 when
the IFW broke up. I do not know how many total issues were made
and I have large gaps on my collection. However there was not
much coverage of PANZERBLITZ by this magazine despite the fact
that it flourished during PANZERBLITZ's glory days in the early
Seventies.
IW Vol.4 #1 - This issue published copies of the counters found
in the Player Guide in the game. The artwork on
these counters was only fair.
IW Vol.4 #7 - Panzerblitz: Additions & Corrections (Arnold J.
Hendrick) - An variant article with some
corrections and several optional rules. Also
included tables showing how many counters were in
higher echelon formations.
IW Vol.4 #9 - Panzerblitz Addenda (Arnold J. Hendrick) -
Corrections to his article in Vol.4, #7.
D-ELIM Newsletter
D-ELIM was the house newsletter of the Military Strategy
Confederation (MSC) which was based at St. Johns University in
New York. The organization was formed in the late Sixties by
students at the university and lasted into the early Seventies.
While it was a local club, eventually it rose to the status of a
national club by virtue of having a lot of members from other
states, but most of the club members lived in New York. Several
of the members were also playtesters for Poulton Press/SPI and as
a result, strong ties developed between the club and the company.
D-ELIM was first published in 1969 and lasted until the summer of
1970 when it for reasons unknown it ceased publication for a
year. In the late summer of 1971, it resumed publication,
picking up right where it left off, and lasted until the club
disbanded. D-ELIM had one issue that was totally devoted to
Panzerblitz.
D-ELIM Vol.2, #11 - Panzerblitz Genealogy (David C. Isby) -
An article dealing with the developmental
history of Panzerblitz, starting with the
experimental games Highway 61 and State Farm
69, continuing through the test series game
Tactical Game 3 and its subsequent revision
to Panzerblitz itself. It also explains a few
offshoots of the game.
They Shall Not Pass (Ivan Denisovich) - A
strategy article discussing Russian play in
Situation #5.
Krupp I (Richard B. Wright) - A variant
article for up to seven players where each
town on the board is a separate Duchy, each
with its own military forces, and the players
vie to conquer the board. Sort of like a
miniaturized version of Risk using
Panzerblitz.
How to Charge a Festung With Cavalry
(Otto von Mellinghoff) - A strategy article
dealing with why the Russians can not win the
original version of Situation #1.
Panzerblitz Commentary (David C. Isby) - A
commentary where the author interviews the
game designer Jim Dunnigan and the art
director Redmond Simonsen about their
opinions about the game.
Additional Units For Panzerblitz
(David C. Isby) - Seven new units that were
created for Panzerblitz by various members of
the MSC. The counter pictures were crude
which was about par with the quality of the
newsletter.
Additional Situations For Panzerblitz
(David C. Isby) - Eight new scenarios which
were created by various members of the club.
Most of the situations were just variations
of the original twelve that came in the game.
SPARTAN Magazine
SPARTAN was the house magazine for Spartan International,
Inc., one of the three big national gaming organizations of the
late Sixties and early to mid Seventies. (The other two being the
IFW and AHIKS.) Like most gaming club journals it contained club
and gaming news, as well as the usual game reviews, variants,
scenarios, and historical articles. The magazine started in 1969
as a monthly magazine, with the name of Spartan International
Monthly (Spartan Monthly). In 1972 it changed its format and
became a quarterly magazine with the name of the Spartan
Simulation Gaming Journal (Spartan Journal). Although it did put
out four issues that year, in the following years it only put out
one or two issues a year, the last one being #10 in 1976. The
following year Spartan International Inc. broke up and it looked
like the end of the magazine as well. However, in 1978 it was
started up again with issue #11 by private individuals associated
with Balboa Games. It only lasted a little over a year and due to
poor quality articles and a declining readership, was terminated
with issue #15. SPARTAN is perhaps best remembered for its big
PANZERBLITZ variants by the great Norman Beveridge Jr. These
variants were in such big demand that SPARTAN published reprints
of these variant articles in order to preserve their supply of
back issues for gamers who wanted them for other reasons. In
recent years these variants have been rediscovered by gamers and
the variants have been making the rounds among various gaming
circles and websites.
Spartan Monthly Aug 71 - Practically Perfect Panzerblitz
(Tom Wilbur) - A strategy article for
the twelve original scenarios in the
game. Note that these are based the
first print run versions of these
situations.
Spartan Monthly Sept 71 - Panzerblitz: Air Power (Tom Wilber) -
An article discussing the need for air
power rules in the game. While it
discusses various planes that were used
by both sides and some ideas on how to
bring them about in Panzerblitz, no
rules are offered as these are left to
future authors.
Spartan Monthly Oct 71 - Situation 13 (Richard C. Gilberson) -
A review of the new Panzerblitz game,
along with a rehash of the official
corrections to the game.
Spartan Journal #1 - Westfront Panzerblitz Variants
(Norman Beveridge Jr.) - The first of the
big variants, this one was for the West
Front 1944-45. It contained an unmounted
counter sheet of American units, four
unmounted mapsheets which could be used in
conjunction with the regular mapboards in
the game, twelve scenarios, and extensive
rules that applied to the Western Front. Of
all of the West Front variants for
PANZERBLITZ that came out prior to the
release of PANZER LEADER, this one was the
best.
Situation 13: The Pacific?
(Richard C. Giberson) - A variant scenario
that converted PANZERBLITZ into a Pacific
War type game.
Spartan Journal #2 - Situation 13: The Double Feint
(Richard C. Giberson) - A short strategy
article on Situation #7 based on a recent
replay of that scenario.
Situation 13: Panzerblitz Rebuttal
(Norman Beveridge Jr.) - A rebuttal of the
Practically Perfect Panzerblitz article from
the previous year. Noted that this article
was reprinted alongside the rebuttal so that
readers could compare the different points
that Beveridge made about and against the
article there on the spot.
Spartan Journal #3 - Suribachi: The Battle of Iwo Jima
(Norman Beveridge Jr.) - Another big variant
depicting the battle for Iwo Jima in a
PANZERBLITZ format. The variant contained a
big two piece mapsheet of the island,
countersheets for both the US Marines and
the Japanese, three scenarios, and extensive
rules pertaining to that type of warfare.
Situation 13: The Germans are Coming!
(Joseph Miranda) - A variant scenario
depicting a hypothetical German invasion of
the United States.
Situation 13: Yonder are the Russians
(Joseph Miranda) - Eight scenarios depicting
a post WWII conflict between the Western
Allies and the Russians. Used the American
counters from the Westfront Panzerblitz
Variants article in SPARTAN #1.
Spartan Journal #4 - Omaha Beach: A Panzerblitz Supplement
(Norman Beveridge Jr.) - Still another of
the big variants, this one depicted the
D-Day invasion of France. It contained eight
mapsheets which could be used in conjunction
with the regular mapboard in the game, three
countersheets with American, British, and
German units, nine scenarios, and extensive
rules and tables for the variant. Prior to
the release of PANZER LEADER, this was the
best simulation of the D-Day scenarios by
any PANZERBLITZ variant.
Spartan Journal #5 - Situation 13 (Richard C. Giberson) - A
series of short articles by different
authors. These included an article on
Helecopters, Motorcycle Troops, and
Engineers by Steven V. Cole (prior to his
days with JAGDPANTHER), and an article on
combining platoon size units into company
size counters by Bruce Liddel and Norman
Beveridge Jr.
Spartan Journal #6 - Desert Rats: Variant for AH Panzerblitz
(Norman Beveridge Jr.) - Still yet another
of the big variants, this one depicted the
combat in North Africa. It included a fully
colored countersheet of German, Italian, and
British units. (The other variants had black
and white counters printed on colored
paper.) It also had 31 scenarios and the
usual extensive rules and tables for this
type of warfare. There were no mapsheets as
players were to play them on blank hexsheets
or on the regular game boards but ignoring
all terrain on them. However there has been
a set of desert terrain mapsheets developed
for this variant by Michael W. Myers and
some of these sets have made their way into
reprints of this variant.
Spartan Journal #8 - Standard German Armored Unit Strengths for
Panzerblitz (Norman Beveridge Jr.) - A short
article listing the counter values for
Germans AFV units that are not in the game.
Spartan Journal #10 - Banzai Blitz! (Norman Beveridge Jr.) - The
last of the big variants, this one
depicting warfare in the Pacific. Included
eight mapsheets which could be used in
conjunction with the regular mapsheet in
the game, two countersheets of American and
Japanese units, eight scenarios, and the
usual set of extensive rules and tables.
While not quite as popular as the earlier
articles, it is still very good.
Situation 13: Through the Peepsight
(Bill Comito) - A commentary concerning the
inaccuracy of the ranges on the units
compared to the real sighting ranges for
the various units depicted in the game.
Situation 13: Infantry Blitz!
(Joseph Miranda) - A strategy article about
infantry tactics in PANZERBLITZ.
SIMULACRUM Magazine
Simulacrum is a magazine by John Kula, currently based out of
Canada. It is basically a review type magazine that occasionally
reprints old variants. And of course, being in Canada, it is safe
from the Machiavellian machinations of Multi-Man Publishing.
Simulacrum #24 - The Germans are Coming! (Joseph Miranda) - A
reprint of the same article from Spartan Journal
#3. Nothing new here.
STRATEGIST Newsletter
The STRATEGIST is the house organ of the Strategy Gaming
Society (SGS). Although it started out as just a newsletter with
club and gaming news, it quickly developed into another MOVES
type periodical where game reviews, variants, and scenarios were
printed. In fact, the STRATEGIST acquired the reputation of
printing articles that were rejected by the more professional
wargame magazines in the hobby. It was first published in 1973
as the AMERICAN WARGAMER and changed its name in the mid Eighties
after a merger between the AWA and another organization formed
the SGS. It seemed to have ceased publication in early 2004 when
the SGS was rumored to have dissolved. However this proved to be
false as the SGS is still in operation after a short civil war
among its top leadership. One would think that with such
longevity, there would be a lot of PANZERBLITZ articles printed
in them over the years, and in truth there probably were.
However, the STRATEGIST has had a few problems that precluded
locating them all. One is that there was no master article index
for the newsletter. This was due to the fact that there have been
many editors to the newsletter over the years, each one lasting
from one to three years on the job. Most of these editors never
passed on their work to their successors, many even took the
spare back issues with them when they left. Another problem was
that no one seemed interested in even trying to assemble a master
article index for the newsletter. (Some attributed this to apathy
in the organization.) Still another problem was that many copies
of the PANZERBLITZ articles from the STRATEGIST that have been
passed around among the various gaming circles do not have the
issue number listed on the pages (unless someone happened to
write it in the margin). This makes it very hard to list them in
chronological order. What makes this harder is that many of the
longer articles were spread out among several different issues,
some as many as seven. The following articles are the ones that I
have in my possession.
Battle of Bednost (Larry Cirelli) - This article appeared in
issue #159. It was a hypothetical, three phase battle scenario
centered around the town of Bednost on Board 2, even though the
scenario used a three board setup.
Stalingrad: A Series of Scenarios for Panzerblitz (Larry Cirelli)
- This article appeared in issue #165. It was an eight scenario
series of battle, both leading up to and occurring around the
vicinity of Stalingrad, from August 1942 to February 1943.
Air Support in Panzerblitz (Larry Cirelli) - This article
appeared in issue #170. Introduced some basic rules for air
support in the game. Featured the more prominent ground attack
planes on the Eastern Front. Counters for the planes listed in
the article were available for a short time from the SGS.
The Papa Gap: A Panzerblitz Scenario (Larry Cirelli) - This
article appeared in issue #172. This is a small hypothetical
scenario dealing with the Russian advance towards Vienna in late
March 1945.
Historical Panzerblitz (Richard Gutnekundst) - This article
appeared in issue #173. It was a variant article which added more
plane counters to Larry Cirelli's Air Support In Panzerblitz
variant back in issue #170. Again, counters for the planes were
available for a short time from the SGS.
Divisional Artillery for Panzerblitz (Larry Cirreli) - This
article appeared in issue #178. Gave a short historical
background of each of the artillery counters that are printed in
thePanzerblitz campaign Analysis booklet that come in the game.
More Air Support for Panzerblitz (Larry Cirelli) - This article
appeared in issue #183. Introduced some of the less well known
ground attack planes on the Eastern Front. Like with the previous
article, counters for these new planes were available for a short
time from the SGS.
Just Panzers (Ryan Schultz) - This article appeared in issue
#207. Another set of rules combining PANZERBLITZ and PANZER
LEADER.
PL Italian Style: The Macrogame: Relieve the Korsun Pocket
(Author Unknown) - This article appeared in issue #211. It was
the first of a series of macro-scenarios for both PANZERBLITZ and
PANZER LEADER that were contributed to the STRATEGIST from an
Italian wargaming group in the late Eighties and early Nineties.
These frequently used a modified version of the PANZER LEADER
rules with certain exceptions made for Eastern Front combat. This
one dealt with the relief of the Korsun Pocket.
OK PL/PB Players, GO FOR IT (Author Unknown) - This was the next
in the series of macro-scenarios from the Italian wargaming
group. This one dealt with the battles in the Korean War.
Included variant counters for more modern vehicles of the time as
well as new counters for the Koreans (North and South) and the
Red Chinese.
Assault at Dniepr: Bukrin (Author Unknown) - This article
appeared in issues #219-222. Another of the Italian
macro-scenarios. This one dealt with the paratroop drop and the
battle for the Bukrin bridgehead across the Dniepr River on 24
September 1943.
The SGS Artillery Park for Panzerblitz (Richard Gutenjunst) -
This article originally appeared in issue #226 and was later
updated in issue #252. It provided copies of some of the
artillery counters that were originally printed in the
PANZERBLITZ Designer's Notes and Campaign Book that comes in the
game. It also introduced some new ones as well. While the
counters were printed in the article, professionally mounted
die-cut ones were available from the SGS for a while.
The Battle of Hungary: Debrecen Oct 10th 1944 (Author Unknown) -
This article appeared in issues #253-256. Yet another of the
Italian macro-scenarios. This one dealt with the battle for
Debrecen, Hungary on 10 October 1944.
The Panzerblitz 1942-43 Tank Park (Richard Gutenkunst) - This
article was published in issue #255. It provided variant AFV
counters for both sides in the early war years. While many were
direct copies of those introduced in the GENREAL, there were some
new ones as well. Again while the counters were printed in the
article, professionally mounted die-cut ones were available for a
while from the SGS.
Operation Redbeard: The Beresina River (Author Unknown) - This
article appeared in issues #257-259. Still yet another of the
Italian macro-scenarios. This one dealt with the battle of the
German bridgehead across the Beresina River in early July 1941.
KV-1 and Other Considerations (Richard Gutenkunst) - This article
appeared in issue 259. It provided even more new AFV and other
vehicle counters for both sides in the game. While the counters
were printed in the massive counter-sheet for Operation Redbeard
(which came in that issue), there were also professionally
mounted die-cut ones available from the SGS for a while.
Origins of Change in Armored Warfare: Operation Wintergale
(Eric Bonner) - This article appeared in issues #259-260. It was
a series of six scenarios dealing with the relief of Stalingrad
by the German 6th Panzer Division. An errata to the six scenarios
was published in a later issue. These scenarios were later
modified, rewritten, and republished in the BOARDGAMER Special
PANZERBLITZ Issue.
Artillery in Panzerblitz/Panzer Leader (Byron Henderson) - This
article was published in issue #300 and provided variant
artillery counters for both games using the system of determining
HE Attack Factors in the game ARAB-ISRAELI WARS, the third game
of the PANZERBLITZ series of games. Counters were printed with
the article and were also available from the SGS for a while.
Thoughts on Panzerblitz 1941 and Bringing the Russians "Down to
Size" in Panzerblitz/Panzer Leader (Byron Henderson) - This
variant was published in issue #313 and provided counters for
early war Russian infantry units with different counter values
and also provided for Russian platoon size units. Counters were
printed in the article.
KRIEGSRAT Newletter
KRIEGSRAT is the house magazine for the National Wargaming
Alliance (NWA). Like most other club magazines it covers club
and hobby news, game reviews, variants, and scenarios. It started
publication in 1979 and lasted well into the Eighties.
Volume II, #4 - Panzerblitz Smoke Rules (Author Unknown) -
A variant providing smoke rules for PANZERBLITZ.
I can not comment on this one as I do not have
it.
Volume III, #1 - The Romans in Russia (Mike Bennighof) - A
variant presenting the Italians in Russia for
PANZERBLITZ. Provided counter descriptions, unit
compositions, and larger unit formations. There
were no scenarios included.
NWA's Panzerblitz Card 'A' (Mark Pfotenhauer) -
A PANZERBLITZ/PANZER LEADER postwar scenario
about a hypothetical battle between the
Americans (with German help) against the
Russians.
Volume III, #2 - The Italian counter sheet for the Romans in
Russian variant article was printed in this
issue.
Volume III, #3 - German Cavalry in WWII (Mike Bennighof) - A
short article about German cavalry units and
those of her allies on the Eastern Front.
Included a scenario involving German cavalry
units in 1941. A variant counter sheet was also
provided in the issue.
MISCELLANEOUS
This category includes articles whose magazine source can not
be positively identified.
Panzer Blitnz (D.H. Casciano) - A series of variant rules in
article form. Most of these have been seen before in earlier
articles from the Seventies.
Panzerblitz Scenario #106 Argenhaussen (Author Unknown) - A
scenario about a fight between German Wehrmacht and SS units in
the closing days of the war. The Wehrmacht units are trying to
escape to the West in order to surrender to the Western Allies
and the SS units are trying to stop them.
The Czechs Resist! Hypothetical Panzerblitz Scenarios for 1938
(Thomas H. Williams) - This is a short article with four
scenarios and a variant countersheet depicting hypothetical
armored actions between the Germans and the Czechs in 1938, had
the Czechs resisted the German takeover of Czechoslovakia.
Although the variant uses counters from Panzer Leader 1940, this
is a Panzerblitz, not Panzer Leader variant.
1939: Poland Falls! (Thomas H. Williams) - This is a short
article with four scenarios and a variant countersheet depicting
armored actions between the Poles and the Germans in 1939. Again,
although this variant uses counters from Panzer Leader 1940, it
is a Panzerblitz, not Panzer Leader variant.
Thunder on the Dniepr (Thomas H. Williams) - This is a short
article about a hypothetical war between the Russians and Czechs
on one side and the Germans, Polish, Romanians, and the Baltic
States on the other, in 1938. It comes with eight scenarios and a
counter sheet. Yet again, it uses some counters from Panzer
Leader, but it is definitely a Panzerblitz variant.
1919-The Dawn of Mechanized Armies (Thomas H. Williams) - This is
a short article with eight scenarios and two variant
countersheets about a hypothetical extention of the First World
War where mechanized warfare would have continued to develop to a
more advanced state, had the war continued into 1919. Still, yet
again, although this variant uses some rules from Panzer Leader, it
is definitely a Panzerblitz variant.
Reluctant Legions-Italy at War, 1940-43 (Thomas H. Williams) -
This is a short article with eight scenarios and two variant
countersheets about Italy in the Second World War. Half of the
scenarios occur in Russia and the other half occur in North
Africa so this variant works in both Panzerblitz and Panzer
Leader.
1948-Stalin Moves West: A Panzerblitz/Pazer Leader Variant
(Thomas H. Williams) - This is a short article with eight
scenarios and a variant countersheet dealing with a hypothetical
Western Allies/Soviet war in post war Germany in 1948. Although
some of the scenarios use the mapboards from Panzerblitz and
Panzer Leader, most of them require new variant mapboards which
are available for sale from Patrick Storto. This is a combined
Panzerblitz/Panzer Leader variant.
CONCLUSION
This concludes this index of PANZERBLITZ articles. Are these
all of the articles that were ever printed? Of course not. There
are still a lot of articles in both the STRATEGIST and KOMMANDEUR
that are waiting to be found. And then there are club magazines
which I am unaware of which probably have some more articles in
them as well.
I am putting out the call to all gamers who may have copies of
these missing articles. If you want to see them included in this
index, or have corrections to entries in this article (including
issue numbers for those entries without them), please contact me
at the following email address:
However be warned, I will only post new entries into this
index if I have copies of the articles in question. These can be
hard copies sent to me by mail or scans of them sent via email.
The reason for this is because I have already had too many would
be plagiarists tell me about an article that they have "written"
and was published, not knowing that I already had a copy of the
article in question with the real author's name in my possession.
With that being said, let's make this index complete with the
rest of the missing articles.