Panzer Command: Kharkov

Staten Island, NY, May 23rd, 2008 – Matrix Games ( www.matrixgames.com) and Koios Works are pleased to announce that Panzer Command: Kharkov, a major new release in the Panzer Command series of 3D tactical wargames, has now been updated to v1.01. In Panzer Command: Kharkov, players step back to the early days of May, 1942 as both the German and Soviet armies prepare major offensives focused on the same place – Kharkov.

The v1.01 update is a major new version with over 40 fixes, ranging from two serious international region-related bugs to unit data typos and an issue that could prevent medals being awarded correctly in campaigns. New features include a Trees On/Off toggle, better path-finding and collision handling and more intelligent use of maps and platoon sizes in random battles. The showcase new unit for this release is the mighty KV-2, a formidable addition to the Soviet forces! In addition, the requirement for Internet Explorer 7 components to run the tools has been dropped. Tools like the Scenario Editor and Random Battle Generator will now work fine with Internet Explorer 6 components, which are included by default with Windows XP and later, requiring no additional installation of software.

Panzer Command: Kharkov is a 3D tactical game in which players control a core force of vehicles and squads while battling through individual scenarios and historical campaigns. In addition, Panzer Command: Kharkov includes a Random Battle Generator and a Random Campaign Generator that cover battles and campaigns across the Eastern Front of World War II

David Heath, Director of Operations at Matrix Games, said “Panzer Command: Kharkov has been very well received by tactical wargamers and critics alike, earning an 89% from Armchair General and a 7/8 score from Out of Eight. While the official release was stable and relatively bug-free, we moved quickly to track, investigate and resolve all reported issues as well as add in some new features and new units. International customers in particular will appreciate two nasty region-related bugs being resolved, which were the only critical issues on our list.”

Panzer Command: Kharkov is a 3D simultaneous turn based strategy game where you command either the Soviet or German forces during the punch and counter-punch of the 1942 battles around Kharkov in the Ukraine. Two new Kharkov campaigns as well as some additional short campaigns tie the scenarios together, allowing core units to progress from battle to battle, gaining experience, medals and special abilities. A point system allows players to “purchase” additional units for each mission in the campaign as well as replace losses, forcing decisions on management of resources. The new random battles system and the random campaign system allow for virtually infinite replayability with a variety of historical forces and settings.

The design for Panzer Command: Kharkov lets first time wargamers sit down and start playing, while allowing hard-core gamers to enjoy the realism and historical accuracy. All campaign battles can also be fought as individual scenarios and a new random battle generator as well as a random campaign generator make for almost infinite replayability! The AI can control either side in each battle and a full Play-by-Email system allows for head to head play.

Panzer Command: Kharkov includes a full set of scenario and campaign editing tools as well as excellent support for moddability, extending to the game data as well as the 3D models themselves.

Owners of Panzer Command: Winter Storm are able to use the additional Winter maps from Winter Storm in Panzer Command: Kharkov, which expands the winter map selection for random battles and campaigns significantly (only one winter map comes with Kharkov). In addition, if Kharkov is installed on a system which already has Winter Storm, it will install bonus Winter Storm campaigns that are updated to work with all the new features and improvements of Panzer Command: Kharkov.

Panzer Command: Kharkov is available now from the Matrix Games Online Store at $39.99 US for the digital download and $49.99 US for a boxed copy with a printed manual. Owners of Panzer Command: Winter Storm can register for a special upgrade coupon to purchase Panzer Command: Kharkov at a $15 discount. A bundle offer is also available for new customers to purchase both Winter Storm and Kharkov together for $15 off the combined price. Check the Panzer Command: Kharkov game page and forums for information on these special pricing offers.

Features of Panzer Command: Kharkov include:

New Scenarios and Campaigns

New Random Campaign Generator

New Spring and Summer Maps

Minefields

Detailed LOS and Terrain rules for historical realism

Scenario Editor, Campaign Editor, Template Editor

Improved Commands, Improved Interface Options

Improved AI

Improved Infantry Combat

Reinforcements

Surrender Option

Smoke

New Auto-Targeting

Improved Graphics

Improved Sounds

Improved Performance

New Units

ABOUT MATRIX GAMES

Matrix Games produces, markets and publishes historical wargames as well as other computer gaming products. Since 2000, Matrix Games has published over three dozen titles and several award-winning games, including War in the Pacific, Conquest of the Aegean, Gary Grigsby's World At War: A World Divided, Crown of Glory, Battles In Normandy, Harpoon 3 Advanced Naval Warfare, Starshatter: The Gathering Storm and The Operational Art of War III. Matrix Games is based in Staten Island, New York. For more information, visit the Matrix Games website at www.matrixgames.com.