Matrix to Publish Panther Games Conquest of the Aegean

[David Heath]

The Conquest of the Aegean on the Horizon!

New Wargame From Panther Games and Matrix Games

Woodbridge, NJ, June 11th, 2004 - Matrix Games and Panther Games (www.panthergames.com) are pleased to announce the development Airborne Assault: Conquest of the Aegean, a new wargame covering the battles for Greece, Crete and a hypothetical Malta operation during World War II. Designed by the talented historical wargame specialists at Panther Games and planned for release during fall 2004, Conquest of the Aegean will bring to life 20th Century warfare on ancient battlegrounds. A preview of Conquest of the Aegean will be shown in the Matrix Games booth 1106 at Origins 2004, starting June 24th.

Conquest of the Aegean is the third wargame released by Panther Games in their critically acclaimed Airborne Assault series. Reviews of the second game, Highway to the Reich, had this to say: “revolutionary”, “extraordinary”, “the new future of wargaming”. At its heart is “the best AI ever seen in any game”. As one GameSpot reviewer put it “It's hard to convey just how cool this system is, because not only does it eliminate the massive amount of micromanagement inherent in most wargames, but it does so in a way that makes it feel like you're really commanding forces in the field.”

David Heath, Director of Operations at Matrix Games, said “The genre of wargaming is lucky to have designers and developers as talented as the guys at Panther Games. We are proud to be publishing Conquest of the Aegean, which expands and enhances the Airborne Assault series in ways that gamers will love while covering some great battles from an often neglected theater.”

Conquest of the Aegean covers the entire Greek Campaign, where German, Greek, Italian, British and Commonwealth forces fought to halt the oncoming blitzkrieg before the start of Operation Barbarossa. Also included is the follow-on airborne-led assault on Crete, which proved to be a gamble for the Germans, but a very successful one. This tough island campaign pulls no punches as both sides fight tooth and nail to achieve success by holding the critical airfields. Finally, the road not taken… Malta was a thorn in the Axis side in the Mediterranean for the entire war. Planes based on Malta proved crucial to protecting British supplies and hindering German and Italian supply routes. While plans were discussed to attack this bastion, they were never executed. Conquest of the Aegean gives you have the ability to give the green light to the attack on Malta and fight as either side to see how things might have turned out.



In Conquest of the Aegean, players get to take on the role of either the Allied or German commanders and pit their wits against either a computer controlled opponent or a human opponent via LAN or the internet.

List of Planned Features

(Please note that this feature list is not final and may change before release.)

New Campaign Mode: Fight a series of scenarios where the outcome of each scenario affects the subsequent path of the campaign and the forces involved. Choose which forces to use in each engagement, including the ability to place units in reserve for rest and refit or commit them from the reserve for action. Improved Interface, AI, Scenario and Map Maker Enhanced Map Terrain Effects and New Map Graphics More Terrain and Altitude Layers New Weapons and Units New Exit Tasks

For more information, check the main Matrix Games page at http://www.matrixgames.com for future

[Makoto]

sweeeeeet [X(]

[Drex]

Will this wargame also address the naval element?. Seems the land and sea operations went hand-in-hand.

[Fallschirmjager]

Hell ya...this sounds good.

Is this an expansion pack to HTTR or stand alone?

[Grouchy]

COTA will be a stand alone package.

[Les_the_Sarge_9_1]

Conquest of the Aegean sounds like a cool game about an underrepresented portion of the war.

But the name I think might become trouble.

It does NOT sound like a WW2 design at all.

It will be me thinks fighting off hordes of disappointed people thinking it might be an ancients setting.

[*Lava*]

ORIGINAL: Les_the_Sarge_9_1

It will be me thinks fighting off hordes of disappointed people thinking it might be an ancients setting.

You read my mind...

Ray (alias Lava)

[Hertston]

ORIGINAL: Grouchy

COTA will be a stand alone package.

Hmmmm...

I'll always welcome more AA, but wasn't this going to be an add-on at least until fairly recently, with tBoB as the next game proper ?

Is there enough new content to justify the change ?

[Makoto]

Conquest of the Aegean sounds like a cool game about an underrepresented portion of the war.

But the name I think might become trouble.

It does NOT sound like a WW2 design at all.

It will be me thinks fighting off hordes of disappointed people thinking it might be an ancients setting.

and a suitable name would be..?

[Mr.Frag]

Is there enough new content to justify the change ?

Campaign sounds like all I needed to hear! [8D]

[Grouchy]

ORIGINAL: Hertston

Hmmmm...

I'll always welcome more AA, but wasn't this going to be an add-on at least until fairly recently, with tBoB as the next game proper ?

Is there enough new content to justify the change ?

The planned add-on would be featuring Crete. COTA will be contain Greece, Crete and Malta. And the biggie new feature: the campaign mode. My number 1 on the wish list.

[Les_the_Sarge_9_1]

I think a suitable name might have been Merita Merkur (think I spelled that correct).

Sure, equally obscure sounding to a non wargamer though, so I am not sure it is a lot better.

But it was the name of my Europa board game featuring the fighting of that time period and place during WW2. Most any grognard would recognise it I figure.

[David Heath]

I think the name will do fine and the subject matter is so untouch in computer games.

David

[Marc von Martial]

ORIGINAL: Les_the_Sarge_9_1

I think a suitable name might have been Merita Merkur (think I spelled that correct).

Sure, equally obscure sounding to a non wargamer though, so I am not sure it is a lot better.

But it was the name of my Europa board game featuring the fighting of that time period and place during WW2. Most any grognard would recognise it I figure.

If it´s allready the name of a game then it´s most definetly trademarked. In fact it was trademarks that made it so hard for this game, there was quite a discussion going on.

I find the name suitable and on top of that not too "grognard" sounding. Even if it sounds "ancient", I doubt that´s a problem [;)]. You might get some ancient gamer stop by at our place and heck maybe they even "convert" to more modern games.

[Fallschirmjager]

To be honest, when I first read the headline I thought the game would be about ancient warfare as well.

[Les_the_Sarge_9_1]

Marc has a point that I can't contest. I must admit the name sounds good on the tongue.

As historically accurate as my idea might sound, it doesn't really zing either.

[Von Rom]

I also thought it was an ancient war game. . .[&:]

I was picturing ancient triremes bashing it out in the Mediterranean. . .

Arrows flying, shields glinting in the sun, and galley slaves rowing with intensity of purpose. . .

[Marc von Martial]

ORIGINAL: Von Rom

I also thought it was an ancient war game. . .[&:]

I was picturing ancient triremes bashing it out in the Mediterranean. . .

Arrows flying, shields glinting in the sun, and galley slaves rowing with intensity of purpose. . .

Hmmmm, sounds interesting [:D][;)]

[Von Rom]

ORIGINAL: Marc Schwanebeck

ORIGINAL: Von Rom

I also thought it was an ancient war game. . .[&:]

I was picturing ancient triremes bashing it out in the Mediterranean. . .

Arrows flying, shields glinting in the sun, and galley slaves rowing with intensity of purpose. . .

Hmmmm, sounds interesting [:D][;)]

I do tend to be a bit descriptive from time-to-time [:D]

[Liveline99]

I have to agree ...I almost missed this one, good thing I have been checking out the Forums here at Matrix otherwise the announcement by wargamer.com might not have been read at all and a good upcoming game missed...perhaps a different title should be seriously considered.