Steel Panthers

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Steel Panthers (or SP) is a game made by Proein some time ago. It run under DOS (later, it was possible to run it under Windows). It was a very good representation of the warfare in WW2, in the ASL (Advanced Squad Leader, boardgame by Avalon Hill) style. There, one "unit" represented one single vehicle or a single squad of men (8-12 men). So it was pretty much realistic.

Soon, some people started pulling out more scenarios for the game, modifications to the OOB (Orders of Battle) to support better historical accuracy, and so on. Then, it came SP2, a game like SP but instead of representing WW2, it represented post-WW2 wars, reaching the year 2000. The engine was very similar to the old SP. but it had many good modifications: allowed for a bigger amount of units, bigger maps, better AI, better game engine...

Then it came SP3. This was a different game. It was an operational game. That is, the units represented a "section of vehicles" and a "platoon" of men (20-50 men). It was fun, though. I never played this game, because I prefer more tactical games. I'm a Rommel, not am Eisenhower.

So, enthusiasts got SP2 and SP3 and did more modifications. There came the people that reworked the old SP OOBs and unit images, so you were able to fight WW2 battles with the better SP2 engine and with better icons.

After some years, it looks like Proein gave the program code to some enthusiasts so they could perfect, enhance and change the game. Then, we had SP-Camo, SP-WW2, SP-Nam, SP-Moderna ... and so many others. They all did modifications to the game, but without changing it too much. In the end, there were better games, games that were more fun, covered different periods of the recent history and were trying to be far more realistic. They had their stuff at www.thegamers.net and other sites, now MIA.

Recently, a bunch of enthusiasts started a gaming company: Matrix Games. They worked hard and produced SP derivatives, games thaat were real Windows applications, putting their best on it. They have released several versions (all downloadable at no cost) of the game, named "Steel Panthers: World at War" or SPWaW for short. Recently, they released the version 5.0. And then, some patches to correct the bugs and made enhancements that the game enthusiast had found and requested. Then, they produced a MegaCampaign (that you can buy) that puts lots of scenarious linked in a long-campaign-way, with all the expertise of seasoned scenarious dessigners available in the form of challenging battles.

I've been playing SP since it was out in the market. And I also played most of the modifications, using new OOBs, new sets of icons.... I had lots of fun. But, I decided that I had enough Blue Screens Of Death (BSOD) and I switched to GNU/Linux. Unfortunately, you cannot run Windows games on GNU/Linux... or can you? In this web you will find information on how to survive tactical WW2 combat, and how to play SPWaW on GNU/Linux!

Good Gaming!