Total Tank Generals Review (PC)

If you’re a sucker for hex-based military strategy games like Panzer General, Total Tank Generals is definitely up your alley. There have been lots of games that have tried to recreate the charm of the 30-year-old game, but few improved on the formula.

The game developed by Noobz From Poland retains many of the gameplay mechanics that made Panzer General so addictive, but introduces some innovative features that add new layers of strategy that players must take into account.

I’m pretty sure Panzer General was a great source of inspiration for Total Tank Generals, but playing the latter like the former will get you nowhere. Total Tank Generals comes up with its own take on the hex-based strategy formula, one that you must familiarize with in order to be successful in the three campaigns it proposes.

In Total Tank Generals, you take control of an army during World War II and try to achieve all the goals throughout the six missions of each of the three military campaigns. If you love to immerse yourself in the history of World War II, this is certainly one way to do it.

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Across three dozen scenarios, you’ll be stepping into the shoes of some of the greatest generals during the World War II: Patton, Zhukov, and Rommel. You’ll be leading armies and strategize your way to victory using the arsenal each military faction is known for.

Unlike Panzer General where everything is simple to figure out, Total Tank Generals adds more complexity to the hex-based formula by introducing a few new concepts and removing some annoying mechanics.

The most important new mechanic that you’ll have to get used to in Total Tank Generals is stacking different units on the same hex for concentrated attacks. You can stack up to three different units on the same hex, which not only allows you to take easier take on entrenched locations, but also makes it possible to control much more units.

Instead of the “overrun” mechanic from Panzer General, the majority of units in Total Tank Generals (with the exception of artillery) has the ability to assault the enemy. Before you attack, you get a statistic that includes information about how much health you and the enemy will lose. If you opt for the assault option, then the bigger the percentage number, the higher the chance that your unit will successfully assault a location.

The assault action requires 1 attack’s worth of action points and 2 ammo. If your units’ assault is successful, then the enemy will take higher than normal damage. In addition, the enemy units are pushed back and you take control of their location. Having the “overrun” perk will allow you to continue to assault (or attack) adjacent enemy units.

In Total Tank Generals, your units can attack even if they don’t have ammo, but their efficiency will be drastically reduced. Which is why the “resupply” mechanic is very important, especially since it doesn’t consume any resources. Whenever one of your units takes damage, you can use the “resupply” action to recover as high as 5 points of health and their entire load of ammo.

In Panzer General, “resupplying” a unit would require prestige, in-game currency that is rewarded after achieving major and minor objectives, as well as after each mission. I’m happy to say that “resupply” is completely free in Total Tank Generals and doesn’t cost anything except the full action bar of you unit.

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One other important resource in the game is morale. Whenever this drops to zero, your troops will retreat if they’re attacked. To raise your morale, you simply need to resupply your units. This is very important for when you want to overrun an entrenched position.

Unlike Panzer General where you could also manage your air units, Total Tank Generals does away with this particular aspect. However, the game features so-called “air missions” that allows the player to make use of air support during missions. Once you capture an airfield, you’ll start earning air mission points, which can be spent on various air missions such as reconnaissance, paradropping and bombarding.

If your planes are intercepted and completely destroyed, the mission will fail, but as long as you have air mission points, you can make use of the air missions endlessly. It’s an interesting concept that pushes players to conquer airfields as quickly as possible even if these are not among the objectives of the mission.

Depending on how well you fared during a mission, you’re rewarded with an amount of prestige points that you can use to buy new units. More often than not, if you manage to achieve a brilliant victory, you’re also awarded more powerful units for free.

Basically, the more prestige points you have, the bigger your army will be. Considering that you can deploy new units whenever you conquered a new location, having many units (and varied) at your disposal is very important. One thing that I thing that I’m missing is the option to upgrade your units before battle.

As your units gain experience, they can be leveled up and raised to the veteran status. For each new level, you’re given the option to choose from three traits that define that unit’s role in your army. Unfortunately, you can’t upgrade them, so you’ll end up using light tanks that you get at the beginning of World War II in the later stages of the conflict. Also, you can’t sell any of your owned units, so you’ll be stuck with rather obsolete units until the end of the campaign.

Speaking of which, Total Tank Generals has a total of 18 scenarios split into three main campaigns. During these campaigns, you’ll control three different armies, each with their strengths and weaknesses that have been tailored to be historically accurate.

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The Good

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