History VideoGame / CodenamePanzers

* {{Fanservice}}: The only reason [[LaResistance Michelle]] exists.
** FanDisservice: However, it's painfully clear the Developers weren't very good at modeling high-res human characters, meaning her promo shots look like something out of the UncannyValley, and her in-game appearances are just as low-poly as the infantry she fights alongside.

* MoreDakka: Most tanks have some flavor of machine gun - most have two (one in the hull, one on the front of the turret. A few vehicles - like the Panzer I, and M3 Halftrack AA - are armed only with a pair (for the M3, [[UpToEleven a quartet]]) of machine guns, making them the only units that fire a stream of bullets. They will eat infantry alive.

* FranchiseKiller: ''Cold War'' was panned and wasn't very good commercially. Combined with Stormregion being defunct, it's likely the last game that will bear the title.

* [[BodyArmorAsHitpoints Armor Plating As Hitpoints]]: How much damage a tank can withstand isn't a function of how much health it actually has - but instead how much armor it has, since (nearly) all vehicles flatly have 200 health. This acts as both the tank's health (a more damaged tank has less armor) and as a damage-reducing mechanic. Damage is done according to how much "left over" damage is after a hit, meaning that a gun that does 37 damage wouldn't do squat to a unit with 110 armor until the armor is low enough that the 37 points of damage is greater than the armor. For a better example, see an IS-2 shooting at a Tiger, a historically more or less even match up. The IS-2's gun, dealing 122 damage, exceeds the Tiger's 110 frontal armor rating from the front, while the Tiger's 88 damage doesn't exceed the IS-2's 110. The Tiger thus has to fire an extra round to wear down the IS's armor enough to hurt it, while the IS-2 is hurting the Tiger on the first shot. Additionally, damage dealt to the armor moves the decimal to the left and rounds to the nearest whole - not only did the IS-2 immediately start by doing 12 damage to the Tiger's hitpoints it also reduced its frontal armor down to 98, so the next shot will do 24 damage instead and still reduce the armor by 12. The Tiger, doing 9 armor damage per shot, has to fire three times before it starts hurting the IS-2, when the IS-2's armor would be whittled down to a rating of 83, where it would then deal 5 damage to the IS-2's hitpoints.

** The Italians definitively get the short end of the stick here, as even their INFANTRY is below par, though their best tanks do remain competitive with their counterparts until you get access to Panzer [=IV=]s.

** Averted for the rest of the games, save for comparatively minor details - for instance, the camouflage of given tanks, Soviet tanks having red stars (in reality, red stars were reserved for parade markings), and tanks appearing a few months earlier or later than they actually did. However, the appearance of the Sherman Firefly in American colors is quite ahistorical, but is likely supposed to represent the identical-in-gameplay-terms 76 mm-armed Sherman. The choice of the BA-12 instead of the BA-10 armored car is an odd choice given the physical similarity of the vehicles.
* AnyoneCanDie: Granted, you'll fail if a hero dies, but you might want to restart if you lose your more experienced units. Even on Easy mode, where you [[UnexplainedRecovery get them back]] or receive [[SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute trained recruits]] at the end of the mission. However, from a storytelling standpoint the game only has four characters (the Heroes), all of which are mission-critical. This means that any importance placed on the units is entirely up to the player, though you WILL regret loosing that four-star crew that you had with you since your best tank was a Panzer II.
* AwesomeButImpractical: Rocket Artillery. They saturate the area and do a fair amount of damage - at the expense of blowing through their ammo insanely fast, and having shorter range than regular artillery.

* BoringButPractical: Many units fill this job, mostly Medium Tanks and Tank Destroyers. Sure, you could use a Tiger or Panther - or, you could use two Panzer [=IV=]s and a Krupp filled with Riflemen towing a antitank gun.

** The game has a degree of Rock Paper Scissors balance in this regard - cannons counter tanks and buildings, machine guns counter exposed infantry, gun-equipped infantry counter anti-tank infantry, and artillery is reasonably useful against all of them. The only problem here is that the list of tanks that ''don't'' have some means of machine gun is a very short one. Most tanks have at least two - one mounted with it's cannon, and the other mounted in the hull. Beyond a certain point in the game, many game guides actually recommend you simply stop using infantry period.

** The Soviets soon cement themselves as a having a more Powerhouse lean. After spending the first two missions with rather anemic cavalry tanks that have little in the way of armor or firepower, you soon find yourself commanding T-34s with long-barreled German tanks being relatively few and far between, and get access to the KV-2 for a mission. It isn't for long that the Germans enjoy a temporary advantage over you in the firepower department, as you are soon able to deploy the capable [[JackOfAllStats T-34-85]] and the powerful [[MightyGlacier IS-2]], which together can deal with most threats, as well as the SU-85, SU-100, and SU-122 (the last one actually being an ''artillery'' unit) for emergencies. Together, you'll soon be making your way into the heart of Berlin.

* HoistByHisOwnPetard: In the final mission of ''Cold War'', [[spoiler:Beria is facing increasing pressure from the military due to the worsening situation of the war. Not wanting to be deposed in a military coup, he decides to use a nuclear weapon on Berlin to finally rout NATO as their forces begin its liberation. NATO commanders, fearing just this occurrence, decide to surround the city and cut off the vast bulk of the Soviet forces still inside, effectively using them as human shields. In one last act of desperation, Beria orders the nuclear weapon to be dropped anyway, but the bomb fails to detonate thanks to sabotage by a few Soviet officers not wanting the war to go nuclear. Once the Soviet government realizes that Beria almost killed off tens of thousands of his own soldiers, he's quickly arrested by the NKVD and is summarily executed for treason, which then leads to the Soviet Union agreeing to a armistice with NATO forces and an end to the war.]]

** Averted for the rest of the games, save for comparatively minor details - for instance, the camouflage of given tanks, Soviet tanks having red stars (in reality, red stars were reserved for parade markings), and tanks appearing a few months earlier or later than they actually did. However, the appearance of the Sherman Firefly in American colors is quite ahistorical, but is likely supposed to represent the identical-in-gameplay-terms [=M4A3E8=] Sherman.
* AnyoneCanDie: Granted, you'll fail if a hero dies, but you might have a VideoGame/ValkyriaChronicles-esque breakdown if you lose your more experienced units. Even on Easy mode, where you [[UnexplainedRecovery get them back]] or receive [[SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute trained recruits]] at the end of the mission. However, from a storytelling standpoint the game only has four characters (the Heroes), all of which are mission-critical. This means that any importance placed on the units is entirely up to the player, though you WILL regret loosing that four-star crew that you had with you since your best tank was a Panzer II.

* KilledOffForReal: [[spoiler: Dario [=DeAngelis=] in the Allied campaign, [[DroppedABridgeOnHim by a random artillery shell]].]]

* SpiritualSuccessor: To [[VideoGame/{{SWINE}} S.W.I.N.E.]], an equally-obscure RTS game. To an extent, CDV (Phase 1 and 2's publisher in the west) likely intended ''Joint Task Force'' to be this to ''Codename Panzers'', with similar gameplay in a Modern Warfare setting, while also expanding upon the RPG "Leveling Up" elements of ''Codename Panzers'' - unfortunately, critical response to JTF was "meh", meaning it'll likely not see any sequels.

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Vladimirov is nowhere to be seen in ''Cold War'', even though he lived through ''Phase One''.

* AnyoneCanDie: Granted, you'll fail if a hero dies, but you might have a VideoGame/ValkyriaChronicles-esque breakdown if you lose your more experienced units. Even on Easy mode, where you [[UnexplainedRecovery get them back at the end of the mission]]. However, from a storytelling standpoint the game only has four characters (the Heroes), all of which are mission-critical. This means that any importance placed on the units is entirely up to the player, though you WILL regret loosing that four-star crew that you had with you since your best tank was a Panzer II.

* ''Codename: Panzers: Phase One'': The first game in the series, it focused mainly on the war in Europe. The game is told from the points of view of [[NazisWithGnarlyWeapons Hans von Groebel]], [[UsefulNotes/RedsWithRockets Alexander Vladimirov]] and [[YanksWithTanks Jeffery Wilson]].
* ''Codename: Panzers: Phase Two'': The sequel focused mainly on the Mediterranean war, including North Africa and Italy, and had a campaign set in Yugoslavia. The game is told from the point of view of [[UsefulNotes/FascistItaly Dario DeAngelis]], Hans von Groebel, [[BritsWithBattleships James Barnes]], Jeffery Wilson, [[LaResistance the Wolf]] and Sergio [=DeAngelis=].

* SpiritualSuccessor: To [[{{SWINE}} S.W.I.N.E.]], an equally-obscure RTS game. To an extent, CDV (Phase 1 and 2's publisher in the west) likely intended ''Joint Task Force'' to be this to ''Codename Panzers'', with similar gameplay in a Modern Warfare setting, while also expanding upon the RPG "Leveling Up" elements of ''Codename Panzers'' - unfortunately, critical response to JTF was "meh", meaning it'll likely not see any sequels.

* ForMassiveDamage: The rear armor of most armored vehicles is weaker than in the front; in that way, it's possible to take out a [[MightyGlacier King Tiger]] by popping it to death with a [[CherryTapping Boys Anti-tank rifle.]] Also, attacks hitting from above, be they via artillery fire or a well-timed airstrike, bypass a tank's armor rating, going straight to the tank's HitPoint count.

* ''Codename: Panzers: Phase One'': [[CaptainObvious The first game in the series]], it focused mainly on the war in Europe. The game is told from the points of view of [[NazisWithGnarlyWeapons Hans von Groebel]], [[UsefulNotes/RedsWithRockets Alexander Vladimirov]] and [[YanksWithTanks Jeffery Wilson]].

* HeroMustSurvive: Save for an optional side mission disconnected from the campaigns, the Player must keep any heroes alive. It's probably because it's implied that you become the Hero for the mission, [[CaptainObvious and you can't exactly issue orders when you're dead.]] Otherwise mission-critical personnel will have this apply too.

* BritsWithBattleships

* UsefulNotes/RedsWithRockets

* NazisWithGnarlyWeapons

* YanksWithTanks

* UsefulNotes/WorldWarTwo: The setting of the first two games, natch.

* MightyGlacier: Heavy Tanks are the slowest machines in the game, but have the armor and firepower to make up for it.

* [[BodyArmorAsHitpoints Armor Plating As Hitpoints]]: How much damage a tank can withstand isn't a function of how much health it actually has - but instead how much armor it has. This acts as both the tank's health (a more damaged tank has less armor) and as a damage-reducing mechanic. Damage is done according to how much "left over" damage is after a hit, meaning that a gun that does 37 damage wouldn't do squat to a unit with 110 armor until the armor is low enough that the 37 points of damage is greater than the armor. For a better example, see an IS-2 shooting at a Tiger, a historically more or less even match up. The IS-2's gun, dealing 122 damage, exceeds the Tiger's 110 frontal armor rating from the front, while the Tiger's 88 damage doesn't exceed the IS-2's 110. The Tiger thus has to fire an extra round to wear down the IS's armor enough to hurt it, while the IS-2 is hurting the Tiger on the first shot. Additionally, damage dealt to the armor moves the decimal to the left and rounds to the nearest whole - not only did the IS-2 immediately start by doing 12 damage to the Tiger's hitpoints it also reduced its frontal armor down to 98, so the next shot will do 24 damage instead and still reduce the armor by 12. The Tiger, doing 9 armor damage per shot, has to fire three times before it starts hurting the IS-2.