by Lloyd “Gus” Sabin, 8 June 2026
Are you like me? Have you played wargames for your entire adult life? Has a large chunk of your reading been dominated by titles covering the Second World War? Do you have family who participated in the war, either as a combatant or a civilian who got swept up in the actual events?
Panzer Corps 2 – Allied Operations – Italy: Volume 1
Developer: Flashback Games, Volcanite Games
Publisher: Slitherine Ltd.
click images to enlarge
If you answered ‘yes’ to any of those questions (my answer is yes to all), by this point you may be looking for something a little different in your World War II gaming. Flashback Games and Volcanite Games, together with Slitherine Ltd., are more than happy to oblige with this first installment of a planned trilogy to cover all of the Italian theater in Panzer Corps 2 – Allied Operations – Italy: Volume 1.
Both the US Seventh Army, commanded by General George Patton, and the British Eighth Army, commanded by Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery, are covered in two interweaving campaigns in this new DLC offering, similar in structure to Panzer Corps 2: Frontlines – Cyrenaica . With a dozen scenarios total starting with the seaborne invasion of Sicily, a series of historical events and details are portrayed.
The ability for players to carry over their forces from mission to mission continues to be featured along with the Panzer Corps 2 points system. Points earned during missions are spent on weapons stockpiles, new, more advanced weapons as they become available, unit upgrades and historical personalities in the form of recruitable officers as you (hopefully) advance through Sicily commanding the British or Americans. The scenarios themselves, not often seen in PC wargames covering World War II in the Mediterranean (if they cover that theater at all) include:
British
- Operation Ladbroke
- British Landing
- Assault on the Eastern Shores
- Operation Fustian
- Securing the Plain of Catania
American
- American Landing
- Battle of Gela
- March to the West
- Fall of the West
- The Hauptkampflinie
Combined Armies (British + American)
- Piercing the Etna Line
- Race for Messina
Similarly, a variety of more exotic units for the UK, the US, Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany are also featured. Without spoiling any surprises, some are very intriguing to see portrayed (think super weapons) and tread into borderline ‘what-if’ territory.
The maps, artwork, animations, game mechanics and polish here are very good as well, as I expect from Panzer Corps 2. However, one niggling little gripe from me is the music has not been updated or changed – very minor, but it would be great to have a few new tracks to reflect the geography, theater, etc. With that said, if you have enjoyed what Panzer Corps 2 has offered in recent years, you will enjoy Panzer Corps 2 – Allied Operations – Italy: Volume 1. That goes double if you, like me, are always looking for a campaign, scenario or front of a well known conflict that has traditionally seen less coverage in the media. Also of note – this campaign does not appear to be as heavily scripted as some previous DLC campaign installments.
For the novelty factor alone, this DLC is worth picking up. The campaign is a bit short, but the amount of fascinating detail included makes up for the campaign length – even more so when considering this is the first installment of a trilogy. I would love to see the chance to play as the Germans or Italians (as was possible in the Cyrenaica campaign) in the Mediterranean, and hold out hope that they will be available to play in future releases.
So buy with confidence if you are indeed like me and enjoy slightly lesser known theaters and fronts of World War II, and some lesser-known equipment and vehicles. Panzer Corps 2 – Allied Operations – Italy: Volume 1 continues its path to wargame accessibility and polish. The Sicilian and Italian fronts are not my first choice when gaming the Second World War (I have always been most interested in the Eastern Front) but I would be lying if I said I did not enjoy this DLC.
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