Achtung Panzer "Attention Panzer" is more than just a funny German word...
To start your introdused to a confusing menu more like a spreed sheet than a campaign map. There is a editor included which is handy and that I tinkered around with in which you can alter the time of day, eperience, weather and what side you fight on etc. There are a total of six operational situations and this may not seem like much but each camapaign can take hours to complete if not more. Its basically in eniglish a set battle that actually took place during Khakov in 1943 when the Russians were on the move counter attacking the Germans and the Germans were trying to hold their ground and take back what ground they lost from the previous year. We all know history but its fun to re-live these battles and operations especially in a great looking and immersive game like Achtung Panzer.
The map has tons of icons (ones for Russian or Soviet locations and ones for German locations or units like capture points (flags) that are in the Battlefield series. Whichever team your playing your objective is to capture these points and defeat the enemy in your way. You can move your units on this map by hex squares which is just like of game of Civ IV then when these unit icons meet thats when you switch to the RTS battle map and you move your units by way of a standard RTS game.
The AI is smart as well I thought. You can issue micro orders to each unit such as hold position, cancel a move order, tell your men to take cover, lay down and if the unit comes under fire from the enemy it will move into the best firing position possible and open up. Also this depends on your units experience and I also set my teams AI to experienced setting just so I wouldn't have to baby sit them all the time which works out great. The enemy will also retreat if they get overwelmed or trapped depending again, on the settings you set.
After you win or lose one of these engagements your back to the overhead map moving your unit icons forward or backward whichever is in your favor. You must also keep flanking the enemy meaning dont just hit them head on but move around them on both side to create a "pincer" move and then close in for the kill. Mechanized units such as half-tracks, tanks, and guns usually stick to the roads that are avaliable but just right clicking where you want them to go and there will be a marker set on the map so you won't forget. I believe you can turn this feature off also.
You are allowed reinforcements or reserve units depending on the difficulty you play on and if you win your battles. So you repeat these steps moving on the Turn Based map and then fighting on the RTS battle map until you complete the overall objective of capturing all or most of the enemies positions. Your also governed by a battle timer meaning you cant just fiddle around on the battle map however there is a handy pause menu in which you can pause and look at the overhead map and where you need to move to meet your enemy. After the battle you can scan the battlefield and see your units and enemies that were knocked out and by clicking on them you can even see where they were hit and by what caliber of gun... which is excellent if your a detailed kind of person like me. This was a hit feature that was present in the tank sim Steel Fury as well if you played that game.
The graphics surprised me as they represent the terrian of conditions of the area in question meaning the eastern front in winter. Though some may think the low light conditions in the day time and the bland browns and greys are ugly this to me is what its all about. Effects are surreal especially at night where bullet tracers, shell explosions, fires are all eye-catchers but I believe its the sounds that makes it so immersive for me in this game. You can tell if a anti-tank gun just fired or if it was small arms fire. A MG-42 sounds deep and is awesome to hear and the men screaming when they get either blown to bits or shot to death is really cool.
The music also reflects the time period as you will hear some of the old Russian scores of the period and that were favorites during the war.
This game is really immersive once you get into the thick of things and dig in for the battles but the user-interface is cumbersome and the text for what each button does as you mouse over it is way too small to read but I have the resolution maxed out on a 22 inch wide screen monitor at 1680x1050 so that might be why.
Other than those things mentioned above and the fact I couldn't find a way to save a game in-progress which may be my fault, Acthung Panzer is a wargame that is worth playing even if your not a wargamer. If you take your time to learn the basic functions such as the camera zoom and pan, learn how to move your units correctly on the battlefield you'll will be so immersed in this game you'll forget all about where the real time went!