Hi All,

We’re proud to announce the release of the Gold version of Panzer Campaigns Smolensk ’41.

As mentioned last April, we have been working with John Tiller Software to relaunch the Panzer Campaigns series of games. All 11 games covering the Eastern Front have been updated to the Gold standard and will be progressively released shortly. We want to ensure there are no issues before releasing all of the titles and Smolensk will allow us to determine if there are any problems.

The titles that updates have been completed for are listed below;

Panzer Campaigns 01; Smolensk ‘41

Panzer Campaigns 03; Kharkov ‘42

Panzer Campaigns 06; Korsun ‘44

Panzer Campaigns 07; Kursk ‘43

Panzer Campaigns 09; Rzhev ‘42

Panzer Campaigns 14; Moscow ‘41

Panzer Campaigns 15; Stalingrad ‘42

Panzer Campaigns 16; Budapest ‘45

Panzer Campaigns 17; Minsk ‘44

Panzer Campaigns 19; Kharkov ‘43

Panzer Campaigns 21; Moscow ‘42

Panzer Campaigns Demo; Mius ‘43

All these titles will come as either a new game replacing the existing Panzer Campaigns title for purchase or will be a free patch to existing owners. We have to go through a fairly convoluted process due to both the HPS and JTS communities, but essentially anyone with the JTS 2.00 version will get the patch and any HPS upgraders will get the brand new JTS installer and an applicable key.

The new Gold version of Smolensk includes the following updates and upgrades;

The game code will now be standardized on the JTS codebase. There will be no further support for the HPS version

All new 2D & 3D map graphics

All new unit graphics and counters on map

All new unit cards

All new in game sounds; weapon, explosion, background and miscellaneous

All the expansion pack scenarios previously released for Smolensk ’41

All released Volcano Man scenarios

A single balanced play by email scenario from the Blitz.

A brand-new master Map – this impacts all scenarios and there is a lot more detail on the recrafted Smolensk map.

New ‘modern’ toolbar icons

Code update – disruption no longer halves movement during the day and is reduced by one third at night.

Code update – reinforcement ‘place all’ has been migrated across from the First World War Campaign series.

As shown, we have been focused on completing the Eastern Front games first. This has sped up the process as it’s quicker to reuse graphics across associated titles. Unfortunately, I won’t be able to work on the Western and Mediterranean games until later in 2018. With the Eastern Front done, we must double down on the North African Panzer Battles title as that has languished slightly while first the American Civil War title, Petersburg was released followed by these Eastern Front updates. We will move onto the other theatres after North Africa is released.

Here are some additional screenshots (all can be clicked to view at full size);

Here is how the original JTS 2.00 release looked like on release and by comparison the new map and graphics

Original map;

And the same scenario using the Gold version. The map, terrain, units & unit cards are new;

Here is a sample of a few of the various 46 scenarios included with the game;

Here is a comparison of the original toolbar and the new ‘Modern icon’ bar. The icons are equivalent to each other;

At 100% size;

At 200% size;

Here is the original 3D with graphical unit icons;

And the new and improved 3D of the same shot;

The 2D units also come with graphical unit icons. This view is fully zoomed in;

And the traditional NATO symbols;

The range of scenarios cover both small and large engagements as well as different ground states;

Here is an example of one of the larger scenarios detailing the fighting around Smolensk – at maximum zoom out;

And finally, here are a few more shots of the 3D map. This one is at medium zoom with graphical unit icons;

This shot is the same one with NATO symbols – again at medium zoom;

And finally, the traditional counter view;

This has been a big project and like everything taken longer than we expected. The Eastern Front covered more games than any other theatre and we knew we would get the biggest bang for the buck doing this series first. We really hope that we can breathe more life into the Panzer Campaign games as they are such a strong series. We really wanted to put the time in and update them to be more aesthetically pleasing both graphically and aurally.

Expect to see the aforementioned titles being released very soon…

Additional product information is here Smolensk ’41 Gold Product Page

If you already have the JTS 2.00 version of Smolensk ’41, please get the 2.01 Gold patch from here JTS Update Page

If you own the HPS version and would like the Gold version then email JTS support for your game key Support@johntillersoftware.com

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