Mobile Warfare on the Eastern Front
During the early months of 1943 following the destruction of the 6th Army in Stalingrad, the Red Army has launched an offensive towards Army Group South. The Russian advance culminated in the city of Kharkov. There, the stage was set for mobile warfare actions between Axis and Russian forces. As one of the most fluid engagements of World War 2, the three battles for Kharkov (Kharkiv) are perhaps few of the most tactically interesting studies in mobile warfare. Graviteam throws the player during the Third battle from either the Axis or Russian perspective. Gentlemen, roll your tanks, load your artillery tubes and disperse your infantry. This looks promising.
Command and Control using an interface with the grace of a KV-2…
Being a wargame, Acthung Panzer Kharkov 1943 has to strike the golden balance between a wealth of information and user friendliness with respect to its interface. After all, in a title of such realism and historical accuracy, it’s imperative to have an intuitive, direct and most of all trouble-free way of interaction. This game falls under the ‘functional, cumbersome and lackluster’ category when it comes to ways of managing your units and issuing orders. It gets the job done but only just. The lack of detail on its interface elements is evident throughout the game, from squad orders during battles to refitting, reinforcements and statistics layers. You would find it strange at times to have a very good 3D engine covered with interface elements of lower detail and quality. It seems that one of the age-old game design axioms of Eastern Europe bulky interfaces holds true here.
In the strategic layer, you’ll be presented with a well-drawn 2D map based on actual terrain topography, through which you can order your units to move, attack, repair and refit. The first problem is that both Axis and Russian forces have the same color coding. In other words, it can be rather tricky to quickly assess the overall situation as both friend and foe elements are shown with the same color. Reinforcements and repairs are done within a separate layer which could have been more user friendly. During combat, you’ll be treated to an amazing 3D map full of detail as well as a top-down two-dimensional one to have an overall view of the situation. The issue is that the 2D one feels rather crowded with elevation values, contours, cover and objective squares struggling to find a few pixels. Although drawn accurately, there’s a sense of data overload in addition to an inherent inability to co-ordinate the 2D map with the 3D battlefield. The squad orders panel offers quite a few options and info regarding each unit, however its lack of detail makes it stand out like a sore thumb. Add to that a mysterious bug that makes the map scroll towards the opposite direction that you drag your muse and you might have a few moments of fighting the interface instead of the enemy.
One has to wonder why Graviteam has pulled off a solid and great looking 3D engine hasn’t demonstrated the same attitude in this aspect. They’ve succeeded in the hard technical part but seem to fall behind in simple things.
Historically accurate, ballisticaly correct and good looking.
Achtung Panzer Kharkov 1943 is blessed with a fantastic 3D engine. The developers have certainly managed to create a solid, trouble-free and amazing detailed engine. From small brush to individual houses and terrain overlays, this game will not disappoint wargamers and strategists alike. Turn up the level of detail to the max and zoom in to ground level to get a first person view and you’ll be amazed. The battlefields not only look realistic without any ‘arcadey’ approached of huge elevation differences but the actual units right down to individual soldiers are portrayed accurately. Vehicles and heavy weapons are filled with details right down to a Marder 3’s rivets or ZIS gun shields, all with their proper camouflage patterns. In addition, tactical markings on tanks and APC’s are there, making it possible to tell at a glance which unit you are looking to. A welcomed historically accurate and logical approach that increases user friendliness and immersion up a level. Each weapon is drawn up to proper scale, from small 50mm infantry mortars to tanks and halftracks, although the environment could use an extra ‘air’ of detail. As far as wargames go, this one comes equipped with a very good graphics engine that won’t disappoint. Its major flaw are the added interface and information elements such as objective flags, squad control boxes and game menus imposed on top of the 3D engine. As mentioned earlier, it gets the job done but with the grace of a Ferdinand assault gun or a KV-2 monster tank. Furthermore, vehicle battle damage could have been improved further besides lost tracks but I have the feeling that if that was the case, your graphics card would start crying and accuse you of inhumane treatment. Nevertheless, vehicle detail is of high standards especially when talking about halftrack variants and their equipment. You will be able to see individual crew members on open-topped Marders, 251 and 250 APC’s. As for combat effects, it only takes one night engagement to fully appreciate the work done on the game’s lighting effects and overall ambience. Flares going up under a steel sky in the middle of the night and muzzle flashes along the front raise the immersion by a good factor, resulting in very good graphics regardless of genre. If only the interface was up to its high standards…
Not bad, but could have been done better.
The game’s sound is a mixed bag of pixels. On one hand you have the very good battle chatter and heavy weapon effects with their appropriate ‘weight’, while on the other a rather strange soundtrack selection during combat. There you are in World War 2 listening to a beat track as soon as firing starts, putting a dent to the game’s overall atmosphere. Small arms fire sounds as accurate as can be, although MG34/42’s could have sounded somewhat better. The overall technical approach of succeeding in the difficult parts but failing in the easy ones carries over to the games sound suite.
It’s a wargame and not afraid to say it.
The game is divided in two distinct layers, a turn-based strategic one –if you can call it that due to its company/platoon scale- and a real time combat one. During the strategic phase you can issue orders to platoons and squads in the operations map or refit/rearm your units. Following an engagement you’ll be thrown to the fray where you’ll take command of vehicles, infantry and heavy weapons. This approach seems to work wonders as the player can set the rules and conditions of a given battle depending on decisions made during the operational phase. In combat, depending on your force composition and terrain you’ll be tasked to take or hold key objectives such as rail crossings, hills or villages. Sometimes just managing to survive an onslaught from vastly superior enemy forces is an accomplishment by itself. Be prepared though, as the AI tends to throw substantial forces on the offensive and manage to use each and every rock, bush and house when defending. In short, the game’s AI is definitely up to the task. It will maneuver its troops using each and every terrain feature, adapt to a given tactical situation and overall give you a good run for your money. Witnessing a handful of units perform a highly successful reverse slope defense or counterattacking at the right place and time with overwhelming force is definitely worth your time.
Achtung Panzer: Kharkov 1943 is a ‘serious’ strategy game. You cannot ‘micro’ your way out of a situation or abuse any game glitches to gain an advantage. Although it might seem ‘stiff and difficult’ at the beginning especially from the action RTS crowd, it’s refreshing to see a game based on actual weapon performance and historical accuracy of this level. Weapon and armor values are as close as they can be without heading over to Bovington, Munster or Kubinka to fire a few dozen AP rounds on steel plates. Thus, those not familiar with WW2 hardware might have to do some homework but with wargames, that’s the name of the game. In the days of single faction/country watered down campaigns, it’s refreshing to be able to play with both sides of the conflict throughout a series of operations, another positive aspect of gameplay.
Is this the heir to the Close Combat saga? Could be.
Achtung Panzer: Kharkov 1943 is a squad-based real time wargame, following the footsteps of the revered Close Combat and Steel Panthers series. Instead of a ‘safe’ top-down approach, the developers have opted for a full-blown 3D engine that’s up to the task giving a real sense of combat during World War 2. Historical accuracy, vehicular detail, AI and gameplay will not disappoint wargamers. If only its interface and sound were more polished we could have been talking about a classic. Graviteam has a rough diamond on their hands that can and should be refined further to provide wargame and strategy fans alike with a few titles capable of devouring their spare time. Next stop, Kursk?
Crazy George
Achtung Panzer: Kharkov 1943 
