PanzerBlitz (1970)

A groundbreaking board game of armored warfare on the Eastern Front in World War II.

The game is tactical scale (company/platoon sized units) with geomorphic map boards. The counters are 5/8' and were very striking for their time.

A stand-alone follow up game, Panzer Leader, was set on the Western Front. Although it introduced a revised rules system, Panzer Leader used geomorphic map boards that were compatible with those used in Panzerblitz.

The second direct descendant of Panzerblitz was 'Arab-Israeli Wars', which involved modern armored combat in the Middle East.

Panzerblitz: Hill of Death was released in 2009. It is only related to the original Panzerblitz by way of name, scale (tactical), and general topic (World War II armored warfare, albeit on the Western Front). PB:HOD is not a redesign or expansion of the original game.

Avalon Hill Complexity Rating for Panzerblitz: 6

From "The Avalon Hill General Index and Company History, 1952-1980"

Panzerblitz (1970) Revised 1971
Designed by Jim Dunnigan
Development by Redmond Simonsen

PANZERBLITZ was actually designed and packaged lock, stock and barrel by SPI as a complete package to AH on a royalty basis. Game actually evolved from an earlier experimental game by SPI called Tactical Game 3. The revisions to Panzerblitz was limited to slight changes to the scenario cards in the second printing. The revision notice can be found in red on the LOS example card.

250 meters per hex, 6 minutes per turn. Units represent platoons and companies.

PanzerBlitz microbadges:

Armored Combat Game microbadges:

Wargamer microbadges:

Magazine References:

The GENERAL Index Article List:

• The GENERAL Vol.7,No.3
  • “COVER STORY: For the Hard Core Fanatic... PanzerBlitz” (Commentary)
• The GENERAL Vol.7,No.4
  • The Avalon Hill Philosophy - Part 24: Why PanzerBlitz?
• The GENERAL Vol.7,No.6
  • PanzerBlitz – “Vyazma: Russian Emphasis on Close Assault Tactics” (Strategy) Bill Freeman
  • PanzerBlitz – “CONTEST NO. 42” (Strategy)
  • The Question Box - The Battle of the Bulge, PanzerBlitz
• The GENERAL Vol.8,No.1
  • PanzerBlitz – “Panzerblitz Situation 13” (Variant Discussion) Tom Oleson
  • PanzerBlitz – “The Organized Wargamer” (Discussion) Randall C. Reed
• The GENERAL Vol.8,No.2
  • PanzerBlitz – “Panzerblitz MSM” (Variant Discussion) Dennis G. Mehaffey
  • PanzerBlitz – “More Panzerblitz Variants” (Variant Discussion) Tom Oleson
  • The Question Box - Luftwaffe, PanzerBlitz, D-Day
• The GENERAL Vol.8,No.3
  • PanzerBlitz – “Airborne Panzerblitz” (Variant Discussion) 1st Lt. Shelby L. Stanton, USA
• The GENERAL Vol.8,No.4
  • PanzerBlitz – “Panzerblitz Championship Situations” (Variant Discussion) Lenard Lakofka
• The GENERAL Vol.8,No.5
  • PanzerBlitz – “Panzerblitz Concealment” (Variant Discussion) Peter R. Bradie
• The GENERAL Vol.8,No.6
  • PanzerBlitz – “Pincers ... another Panzerblitz Situation” (Variant Discussion) Mathew S. Buynoski
  • PanzerBlitz – “... a kriegspiel Panzerblitz” (Variant Discussion) Riley R. Geary
  • The Question Box - Origins of World War II, Jutland, PanzerBlitz, Luftwaffe, Blitzkrieg
• The GENERAL Vol.9,No.1
  • PanzerBlitz – “Panzerblitz Revisited” (Variant Discussion) George G. Hopp
  • PanzerBlitz – “Panzerblitz Double Attack” (Variant Discussion) Ian L. Straus
• The GENERAL Vol.9,No.2
  • PanzerBlitz – “Situation 101” (Variant Discussion) Roy Easton
• The GENERAL Vol.9,No.3
  • PanzerBlitz – “Situation 207: A Commando Raid Against Occupied Europe” (Variant Discussion) Roy Easton
  • The Question Box - France, 1940, Luftwaffe, Jutland, PanzerBlitz, 1914, Midway
• The GENERAL Vol.9,No.4
  • Reader Buyer's Guide - France, 1940, PanzerBlitz
• The GENERAL Vol.9,No.5
  • PanzerBlitz – “Incremental PanzerBlitz” (Variant Discussion) Andy Lavis, Tom Olson, and Jim Snellen
  • Reader Buyer's Guide - PanzerBlitz, Luftwaffe
  • The Question Box - France, 1940, PanzerBlitz, Midway, Blitzkrieg, Luftwaffe, Origins of World War II, Stalingrad
• The GENERAL Vol.9,No.6
  • The Question Box - Afrika Korps, Waterloo, France, 1940, Origins of World War II, PanzerBlitz
• The GENERAL Vol.10,No.1
  • PanzerBlitz – “Experimental PanzerBlitz” (Variant Discussion) Jerry Thomas
  • Series Replay Preview - PanzerBlitz Richard Vane, Russell Vane, Seth Carus and Randall C. Reed
• The GENERAL Vol.10,No.3
  • PanzerBlitz – “Panzerblitz Revision Upheld” (Discussion) Paul D. Mills
• The GENERAL Vol.10,No.4
  • PanzerBlitz – “Blind Panzerblitz” (Variant Discussion) Ian L. Straus
• The GENERAL Vol.10,No.5
  • The Question Box - Anzio, Afrika Korps, PanzerBlitz
• The GENERAL Vol.10,No.6
  • PanzerBlitz – “Panzerblitz Revisited” (Variant Discussion) Kurt Nordquest
  • The Question Box - Anzio, Waterloo, Richthofen's War, PanzerBlitz, Guadalcanal
• The GENERAL Vol.11,No.1
  • Series Replay - PanzerBlitz Richard Plock, Robert Livermore, Roy Easton
• The GENERAL Vol.11,No.2
  • PanzerBlitz – “The Professional German: Situation 10 - The Uphill Struggle” (Strategy) Dean Miller
  • PanzerBlitz – “CONTEST NO. 61” (Insert)
• The GENERAL Vol.11,No.3
  • PanzerBlitz – “PanzerNacht: Night Panzerblitz Rules” (Variant Discussion) Robert D. Harmon
• The GENERAL Vol.11,No.4
  • “COVER STORY: The Pieces of PanzerBlitz”
  • PanzerBlitz – “The Pieces of Panzerblitz” (Discussion) Larry McAneny
  • PanzerBlitz – “Beyond Situation 13” (Variant Discussion) 2nd Lt. Robert D. Harmon
  • PanzerBlitz – “Another Situation 13: Parablitz” (Variant Discussion) Christopher Chyba
  • The Question Box - 1776, PanzerBlitz
  • PanzerBlitz – “ParaBlitz unit counters” (Insert)
  • PanzerBlitz – “CONTEST NO. 63” (Insert)
• The GENERAL Vol.11,No.5
  • PanzerBlitz – “Experimental Panzerblitz” (Variant Discussion) Michael Markowitz
• The GENERAL Vol.11,No.6
  • PanzerBlitz – “Professional Russian” (Strategy) Carl Hoffman
• The GENERAL Vol.12,No.1
  • PanzerBlitz, Panzer Leader – “Battle for Berlin; A World War II Fantasy: Allies vs. Russians in Europe, 1945” (Variant Discussion) Roy Easton
  • The Question Box - Rise and Decline of the Third Reich, PanzerBlitz, Afrika Korps
• The GENERAL Vol.12,No.2
  • Series Replay - PanzerBlitz Robert Livermore, Richard J. Plock, Roy Easton
  • Design Analysis - PanzerBlitz, Panzer Leader 2LT Robert D. Harmon
• The GENERAL Vol.12,No.3
  • PanzerBlitz – “Mathematical LOS Determination” (Variant Discussion) Andrew C Katsampes
• The GENERAL Vol.12,No.4
  • PanzerBlitz – “3-D PanzerBlitz” (Variant Discussion) Richard L. Borczak
• The GENERAL Vol.12,No.5
  • “COVER STORY: PanzerBlitz”
  • PanzerBlitz – “PanzerBlitz Hex by Hex” (Discussion) Larry McAneny
• The GENERAL Vol.12,No.6
  • PanzerBlitz/Panzer Leader – “Weather or Not?” (Variant Discussion) Roy Easton and Norman Kluksdahl
• The GENERAL Vol.13,No.1
  • PanzerBlitz – “Adding the Luftwaffe” (Variant Discussion) Kenneth L. Benton
• The GENERAL Vol.13,No.3
  • PanzerBlitz – “Panzerblitz 1941 counters” (Insert) Ramiro Cruz
  • PanzerBlitz – “Panzerblitz, 1941” (Variant Discussion) Ramiro Cruz
• The GENERAL Vol.13,No.4
  • PanzerBlitz – “Increasing Infantry Firepower: Special Panzerblitz Infantry Tactics Rules” (Variant Discussion) Norman Beveridge, Jr.
• The GENERAL Vol.13,No.5
  • PanzerBlitz/Panzer Leader – “Battles in Germany, 1948” (Variant Discussion) Roy Easton
• The GENERAL Vol.13,No.6
  • Series Replay - PanzerBlitz Robert Chiang, Kyle Bolar
  • PanzerBlitz – “PanzerBlitz Mit Das Wetter” (Variant Discussion) Dr. Joe Connolly
• The GENERAL Vol.14,No.3
  • PanzerBlitz – “1941 PanzerBlitz” (Scenario) William A. Farone
• The GENERAL Vol.16,No.1
  • Series Replay - PanzerBlitz Part 1, Richard Plock, Robert Livermore, Robert Chiang
• The GENERAL Vol.16,No.2
  • Series Replay - PanzerBlitz Part 2, Richard Plock, Robert Livermore, Robert Chiang
• The GENERAL Vol.16,No.5
  • PanzerBlitz/Panzer Leader – “More Bangs Per Buck - Unit Effectiveness Ratings For PanzerBlitz and Panzer Leader” (Commentary) Gene Boggess
• The GENERAL Vol.16,No.6
  • PanzerBlitz – “Two is Better than One - Probability Tables For Two Successful Attacks in PanzerBlitz” (Strategy) Andrew Katsampes
• The GENERAL Vol.18,No.1
  • PanzerBlitz – “Mobile Panzer Defence - Or How to Be Both German and Happy in Situation Six” (Strategy) David K. Rod
• The GENERAL Vol.25,No.3
  • PanzerBlitz, Panzer Leader, The Arab-Israeli Wars – “The King of Battle- Artillery in the PanzerBlitz series” (Variant) Carl Schwamberger
• The GENERAL Vol.28,No.3
  • PanzerBlitz, Panzer Leader– “Panzer Hunters- Tactical air support rules for PanzerBlitz, Panzer Leader” (Variant Discussion) Carl Schwamberger
  • PanzerBlitz – “New expressions for a familiar face- More scenarios and units for PanzerBlitz” (Scenarios) Alan R.Arvold

Panzerfaust Article List:

• Number 53 May-Jun '72
  • PanzerBlitz - "Western Panzerblitz Revisited" (Variant), Paul Mills
  • PanzerBlitz - "Assorted Comments on Western Panzerblitz" (Variant), Roy Easton
  • PanzerBlitz - "More Western Panzerblitz" (Variant), Roy Easton
• Number 55 Sep-Oct '72
  • PanzerBlitz / Combat Command - "Panzerblitz & Combat Command: Incompatible Brothers?" (Review), Paul Mills
• Number 56 Nov-Dec '72
  • PanzerBlitz - "Panzerblitz Defenses Part II" (Strategy), Vance von Borries
• Number 61
  • PanzerBlitz - "The Tactics of Panzerblitz" (Strategy), Roy Easton
  • PanzerBlitz - "Panzerblitz Potpourri" (Review), Tom Oleson
• Number 63
  • PanzerBlitz - "Incremental Panzerblitz" (Variant), Andy Lavis, Tom Olson, Jim Snellen

Panzerfaust and Campaign Article List:

• Number 72 Mar-Apr 1976
  • PanzerBlitz - "Solitaire PanzerBlitz" (Variant / Session), Herschel M. Sarnoff