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* VideoGameLongRunners: As mentioned in the main article, the game has gone through six incarnations, two of which still receive annual updates.
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* VideoGameLongRunners: As mentioned in the main article, the game has gone through six incarnations, incarnations since 1995, two of which still receive annual updates.
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* VideoGameLongRunners: As mentioned in the main article, the game has gone through six incarnations, two of which still receive annual updates.
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Both games are also freeware, available from [[http://www.shrapnelgames.com/Our_Games/Free_Games.html Shrapnel Games's publishing site]].
to:
Both games are also freeware, available from [[http://www.shrapnelgames.com/Our_Games/Free_Games.html Shrapnel Games's publishing site]].
site]], though commercial versions with additional features are also available. Both games receive yearly updates, which add new features and update the forces available to each country.
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** SovietInvasionOfAfghanistan
* ArabIsraeliConflict: Probably the second biggest contributor for straight-up tank battles after World War II.
* ArabIsraeliConflict: Probably the second biggest contributor for straight-up tank battles after World War II.
to:
** SovietInvasionOfAfghanistan
UsefulNotes/SovietInvasionOfAfghanistan
*ArabIsraeliConflict: UsefulNotes/ArabIsraeliConflict: Probably the second biggest contributor for straight-up tank battles after World War II.
*
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* TheWarOnTerror: In the more up-to-date games.
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* TheWarOnTerror: UsefulNotes/TheWarOnTerror: In the more up-to-date games.
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** One fan-made scenario that saw the 1991 Gulf War continue into Iraq instead of stopping have a branching campaign where high success would give you a final mission where ''Saddam Hussein'' was named as the Iraqi forces HQ unit.
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* CripplingOverspecialization: Not as extreme as most video game cases, but still present. Most specialized units have a task they're designed for (antitank, {{anti-air}}, scouting, etc.) and usually don't fare too well when they try to do something else. ATGM[[note]]Antitank Guided Missile[[/note]] teams can kill tanks all day as long as they have the missiles but don't last that long going head-to-head against an infantry squad.
to:
* CripplingOverspecialization: Not as extreme as most video game cases, but still present. Most specialized units have a task they're designed for (antitank, {{anti-air}}, anti-air, scouting, etc.) and usually don't fare too well when they try to do something else. ATGM[[note]]Antitank Guided Missile[[/note]] teams can kill tanks all day as long as they have the missiles but don't last that long going head-to-head against an infantry squad.
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* {{Iran-Iraq War}}
to:
* {{Iran-Iraq War}}UsefulNotes/IranIraqWar
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* WorldWarOne: Pops up enough to be notable.
* SpanishCivilWar: ''[=WinSPWW2=]'' has several scenarios from this period.
* WorldWarTwo: Of course.
* ColdWar
** TheKoreanWar: Both historical and hypothetical "2.0" variants.
** TheVietnamWar
* SpanishCivilWar: ''[=WinSPWW2=]'' has several scenarios from this period.
* WorldWarTwo: Of course.
* ColdWar
** TheKoreanWar: Both historical and hypothetical "2.0" variants.
** TheVietnamWar
to:
* WorldWarOne: UsefulNotes/WorldWarOne: Pops up enough to be notable.
*SpanishCivilWar: UsefulNotes/SpanishCivilWar: ''[=WinSPWW2=]'' has several scenarios from this period.
*WorldWarTwo: UsefulNotes/WorldWarTwo: Of course.
*ColdWar
UsefulNotes/ColdWar
**TheKoreanWar: UsefulNotes/TheKoreanWar: Both historical and hypothetical "2.0" variants.
**TheVietnamWarUsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar
*
*
*
**
**
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* GulfWar
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* GulfWarUsefulNotes/GulfWar
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* SpanishCivilWar: ''[=WinSPWW2=]'' has several scenarios from this period.
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* LaResistance: Some of the playable factions are this. It's not easy to win with them, since you'll probably be badly outgunned.
* LesCollaborateurs: Yep, you can play as or against Vichy France and a few other Nazi puppet regimes.
* LesCollaborateurs: Yep, you can play as or against Vichy France and a few other Nazi puppet regimes.
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* NoKillLikeOverkill: In any way you can imagine, there is justs something theraputic about using a AH64 to scout for enemy positions then bring down MLRS, 155mm howitzers, 120mm mortars, and paladin self propelled artillary down on one poor guy with an anti-tank rocket, or just levelling entire cities with artillary before rolling in and clearing out the few remaining units with tanks, ATGM, attack helicopters and airstrikes just because you can.
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That\'s not really what that trope means.
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* NATO: In the post-WW2 games, obviously.
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* NATO: {{NATO}}: In the post-WW2 games, obviously.
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* SomeDexterityRequired: Oh man, be careful when moving vehicles/troops around mines, terrain that'll immobilize them, or when trying to avoid being sighted. One finger slip could shorten your rosters.
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* TheEngineer: Combat engineers are better at clearing minefields and other obstructions than standard infantry. They also tend to have absolutely brutal short-range weapons like submachine guns, sabot rounds, and flamethrowers, making them useful in assaults on entrenched positions.
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Hottip cleanup
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* CripplingOverspecialization: Not as extreme as most video game cases, but still present. Most specialized units have a task they're designed for (antitank, {{anti-air}}, scouting, etc.) and usually don't fare too well when they try to do something else. ATGM[[hottip:* :Antitank Guided Missile]] teams can kill tanks all day as long as they have the missiles but don't last that long going head-to-head against an infantry squad.
to:
* CripplingOverspecialization: Not as extreme as most video game cases, but still present. Most specialized units have a task they're designed for (antitank, {{anti-air}}, scouting, etc.) and usually don't fare too well when they try to do something else. ATGM[[hottip:* :Antitank ATGM[[note]]Antitank Guided Missile]] Missile[[/note]] teams can kill tanks all day as long as they have the missiles but don't last that long going head-to-head against an infantry squad.
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* MolotovCocktail: A surprisingly effective weapon - no WW2 era tank is safe from them. Used mostly by partisan and militia-type units.
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* MoraleMechanic: The game has a Suppression mechanic, which indicates how rattled a unit is after coming under fire. Units under high suppression can be pinned down and refuse to move, or even forced to retreat, until they can be rallied.
** The morale rules have the side effect of making the German Mk I tank much more useful against the Russians than it should be. Early on, the Soviet KV heavy tanks are just about immune to the guns of the available German panzers. That goes double for the Mk I as it only has machine guns. However the Mk Is are cheap to buy and fire six times a turn so the inexperienced Soviet crews can be panicked by a storm of machine gun fire even though it can't actually hurt them.
** The morale rules have the side effect of making the German Mk I tank much more useful against the Russians than it should be. Early on, the Soviet KV heavy tanks are just about immune to the guns of the available German panzers. That goes double for the Mk I as it only has machine guns. However the Mk Is are cheap to buy and fire six times a turn so the inexperienced Soviet crews can be panicked by a storm of machine gun fire even though it can't actually hurt them.
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[[quoteright:300:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/steel_panthers_box_7893.jpg]]
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* ArbitraryHeadcountLimit
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* ArbitraryHeadcountLimitArbitraryHeadcountLimit: Only 200 units are allowed as your "core" units during a campaign, i.e. they last for the duration of the campaign and can gain experience.
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Because this is one of those aversions that kind of goes without saying.
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* NonLethalWarfare: Averted, all weapons used are lethal weapons that cause casualties.
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Added Authority Equals Asskicking, Friend Or Foe, Non-Lethal Warfare, and Vehicular Assault.
* AuthorityEqualsAsskicking: More "experienced" units like Navy SEALs will be far more effective than inexperienced guerrillas.
* FriendOrFoe: It's impossible to directly fire on friendly forces. Artillery and airstrikes, however...
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** And let's not forget fighters dropping fuel-air explosives or delivered via MLRS>
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** And let's not forget fighters dropping fuel-air explosives or delivered via MLRS>MLRS fuel-air rockets.
* NonLethalWarfare: Averted, all weapons used are lethal weapons that cause casualties.
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* SomeDexterityRequired: OH man, be careful when moving vehicles/troops around mines, terrain that'll immobilize them, or when trying to avoid being sighted. One finger slip could shorten your rosters.
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* SomeDexterityRequired: OH Oh man, be careful when moving vehicles/troops around mines, terrain that'll immobilize them, or when trying to avoid being sighted. One finger slip could shorten your rosters.
* VehicularAssault: There is an option in the settings for "AI Tank Heavy." [[CaptainObvious It explains itself.]]
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** VideoGameCrueltyPunishment: Just don't whine when you get wiped out one one of the late levels of a campaign because you needed elite troops that you used as expendible bullet sponges back when they were green.
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** VideoGameCrueltyPunishment: Just don't whine when you get wiped out one one of the late levels of a campaign because you needed elite troops that you used as expendible expendable bullet sponges back when they were green.
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** A few countries (e.g. Yugoslavia, Iraq) use a mix of American and Soviet equipment.
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* WarsawPact: A rare example each of the Warsaw Pact countries has its own, distinctive set of units (though a lot equipment is shared between the countries).
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* WarsawPact: A rare example Unlike in many other games, each of the Warsaw Pact countries has its own, distinctive set of units (though a lot equipment is shared between the countries).
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** TheKoreanWar: Both historical and hypothetical variants.
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** TheKoreanWar: Both historical and hypothetical "2.0" variants.
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** Of course, that is assuming you have the points. Higher-quality units tend to be much more expensive. Want to simulate strategic bombing effects or logistical strangulation? Lower the points available for your side. Watch as your elite infantry company or your MBT platoon becomes too expensive to buy, and you're forced to fall back on second-rank vehicles and troops.
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added to \"All there in the manual\"
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** GuideDangIt/inversion: the manual that came with the purchase edition of Steel Panthers 2 only gave instructions on the most basic control features. Otherwise, it did not explain what the different stats were or more detailed instructions on many of the controls (ie, artillery, air strikes, loading/unloading troops on vehicles, water operations, etc.).
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humiliation conga
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* HumiliationConga: Happens when an infantry squad gets attacked, takes casualties, retreats, then gets spotted by another enemy unit, who attacks, causing the squad to retreat, spotted, attack, retreats again, etc.
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* UltimateShowdownOfUltimateDestiny: The random battle and campaign features allow you to pit ''any'' two nations against one another, even if they're members of the same alliance (the United States vs. Japan / any NATO nation), unable to interact in a meaningful way (Afghan ''mujahadeen'' vs. Cuba), or even haven't fought a war in the 20th century ''at all'' (the fact the Switzerland is playable, full stop).
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* UltimateShowdownOfUltimateDestiny: The random battle and campaign features allow you to pit ''any'' two nations against one another, even if they're members of the same alliance (the United States vs. Japan / any NATO nation), unable to interact in a meaningful way (Afghan ''mujahadeen'' vs. Cuba), or even haven't fought a war in the 20th century ''at all'' (the fact the that Switzerland is playable, full stop).
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* UltimateShowdownOfUltimateDestiny: The random battle and campaign features allow you to pit ''any'' two nations against one another, even if they're members of the same alliance (the United States vs. Japan / any NATO nation), unable to interact in a meaningful way (Afghan ''mujahadeen'' vs. Cuba), or even haven't fought a war in the 20th century ''at all'' (the fact the Switzerland is playable, full stop).
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* VideoGameCrueltyPotential: Asides from what you do to the enemy, friendly fire is VERY much in play, and you are free to treat your men as you wish, even using them as CannonFodder.
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* VideoGameCrueltyPotential: Asides from what you do to the enemy, friendly fire is VERY much in play, and you are free to treat your men as you wish, even using them as CannonFodder. There's also nothing preventing you from doing things like calling in an airstrike to drop napalm in an urban area, despite the fact that this would be [[UsefulNotes/TheLawsAndCustomsOfWar generally inadvisable]] in real life.
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* GameplayGrading: Uses a variation of this. The exact measure of victory or defeat in a given scenario is measured by the ratio of victory points between the two players.
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''Steel Panthers'' is a series of TurnBasedTactics games designed by Gary Grigsby and Keith Brors and developed by Strategic Simulations, Inc., the same people responsible for ''VideoGame/PanzerGeneral''. The first game focused exclusively on World War II (hence the name of the game), but the later games expanded its focus all the way to the Modern Era and [[TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture beyond]].
The games take place on the tactical level on a classic hex-based grid, with players directing individual vehicles and squads. Unit choices are broken down into four broad types (Infantry, Armor, Artillery, and Miscellaneous), with a wide range of diversity within these categories (for instance, Armor includes tanks, armored cars, and mechanized cavalry scouts; Infantry includes riflemen, engineers, snipers, etc.). In battle, in addition to killing the enemy, all weapons can also Suppress enemy units, which reduces accuracy and at high enough levels can pin units in place or even cause them to break and run. The principles of combined arms (using a properly balanced force) and overwatch (one unit moves while another covers them) are very important to remember, as is paying attention to terrain; those who don't tend to watch in horror as the enemy demolishes their forces in detail.
To date, four "official" games have been made:
* ''Steel Panthers'' (1995)
* ''Steel Panthers II: Modern Battles'' (1996)
* ''Steel Panthers III Brigade Command: 1939-1999'' (1997): Increased the scope and scale of battles, with individual units representing platoons / squadrons rather than squads / individual vehicles.
* ''Steel Panthers: World At War!'' (2000): A further refinement of the ''III'' code made by Matrix Games after they acquired the rights and the source code. It once again limits combat to the World War II era. Available as [[FreewareGames freeware]] from the game's [[http://www.steelpanthersonline.com/main.asp official site]].
Additionally, The Camo Workshop has released two {{Fan Remake}}s of ''Steel Panthers II'' for Windows:
* ''[=WinSPWW2=]'': Covers the era of 1931-1946, allowing for some hypothetical battles (Allies vs. Soviets in Germany, U.S. invasion of the Japanese Home Islands).
* ''[=WinSPMBT=]'': Covers 1946-2020, with the option to use some currently in-development technologies TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture.
Both games are also freeware, available from [[http://www.shrapnelgames.com/Our_Games/Free_Games.html Shrapnel Games's publishing site]].
All games come with premade scenarios and campaigns, both historical and hypothetical, allowing players to test their skills by trying to do better than what really happened. There are also both battle and campaign generators, which allow for more balanced battles (points-wise, at least) and map and scenario editors so that players can design and distribute their own content.
The series as a whole continues to enjoy an active multiplayer community, with its central hub being [[http://www.theblitz.org/ TheBlitz]]. They're also popular subjects of {{After Action Report}}s.
----
!!Some of the more prominent conflicts featured in scenarios include:
* WorldWarOne: Pops up enough to be notable.
* WorldWarTwo: Of course.
* ColdWar
** TheKoreanWar: Both historical and hypothetical variants.
** TheVietnamWar
** SovietInvasionOfAfghanistan
* ArabIsraeliConflict: Probably the second biggest contributor for straight-up tank battles after World War II.
* {{Iran-Iraq War}}
* GulfWar
* TheWarOnTerror: In the more up-to-date games.
* WorldWarThree: Pretty common for hypothetical scenarios.
----
!!''Steel Panthers'' contains examples of the following tropes:
* AllThereInTheManual: Most manuals for these games include some details about what goes on "under the hood," mainly so that players can tweak the preferences to suit their idea of how the game should play.
* AmericaWinsTheWar: Averted. While the majority of scenarios and campaigns do feature the "major players" of most conflicts, there are some for the other contributing combatants of World War II (China, Poland, Australia, etc.) as well as some for small African and Asian "brush wars" (Chinese invasion of Vietnam, Rhodesian Civil War, etc.).
* ArbitraryHeadcountLimit
* ArtificialStupidity: Until recent updates, players had to put tight fire control on units that have low ammo counts. Otherwise, ATGM crews (usually carrying only 4-6 missiles) will waste their ammo on jeeps during opportunity fire and have nothing left for tanks and other heavy armor.
* CripplingOverspecialization: Not as extreme as most video game cases, but still present. Most specialized units have a task they're designed for (antitank, {{anti-air}}, scouting, etc.) and usually don't fare too well when they try to do something else. ATGM[[hottip:* :Antitank Guided Missile]] teams can kill tanks all day as long as they have the missiles but don't last that long going head-to-head against an infantry squad.
* DelayingAction: One potential mission type.
* DoNotRunWithAGun: If a unit is moving, its accuracy drops. The faster it moves, the worse its accuracy gets.
* EasyLogistics: The game ignores the effects of strategic bombing, supply interdiction, industrial capacity, etc. at the strategic level, meaning that, for instance, you can buy more Tiger tanks than Germany ever actually built as long as you have the points. Within battles your troops do have limited amounts of ammo, but they can be resupplied almost infinitely from ammo trucks and supply depots (and there's an "Unlimited Ammo" option in the game preferences if you find even this to be too pesky).
* EveryBulletIsATracer: Whenever a unit fires a weapon, its path is always visible. This (and the range report) can help you return fire even when the firing enemy unit still isn't visible to your soldiers.
* FogOfWar: Simulated fairly realistically. Simply because a unit can see a hex doesn't mean that it automatically spots any units in its field of vision. Units can lower their chances of being spotted by either staying still or "sneaking" (moving slowly, about one hex at a time). On the other hand, stationary observers and / or specialized recon units have better chances of spotting enemies within their field of vision.
* ForcesWithFirepower: Pretty much the point of the game(s). Nearly all forces listed on the trope page are present and accounted for.
* FromNobodyToNightmare: Chew through some of the longer campaigns and see what kind of core you get by the end.
** Start a randomly generated campaign in 3 with three companies of ATGM vehicles or light tanks, light self-propelled artillery, and a few forward observers. End it with a fully-tooled up elite tank battalion backed by heavy guns or multiple rocket launchers.
* GarrisonableStructures: Buildings do provide some cover to infantry (as does rubble). Also, some player-placed structures such as bunkers can be actively garrisoned by "loading" infantry into them.
* GeoEffects: Terrain is a major factor of every battle, especially in terms of cover and visibility.
* HeroMustSurvive: No matter how well the rest of your units do during a campaign mission, your HQ (where you are) must survive.
* HoldTheLine: Any mission where you're defending against another advancing force.
* HouseRules: Some scenarios (particularly the fan-made ones) have "victory conditions" written into the description for objectives that the game engine itself isn't coded to handle, such as the survival of a particular unit.
** Also, players in head-to-head games will have agreed rules, such as purchasing points, number of air strikes, artillery purchase limits, etc.
* KillItWithFire: Napalm bombs, flamethrowers, {{Molotov cocktail}}s...
** In the modern iterations, RPO-A Shmels and M202 FLASH rockets are on the table. That's right, ''rocket flamethrowers''.
** And let's not forget fighters dropping fuel-air explosives or delivered via MLRS>
* MacrossMissileMassacre: The German Nebelwerfer and most Russian rocket artillery, starting with the BM-14 "Katyusha."
* MisguidedMissile: Less due to clever maneuvering on your foe's part, and more to your aircraft acquiring the wrong target in the first place.
* NATO: In the post-WW2 games, obviously.
* NoCampaignForTheWicked: Averted. The random campaign generator lets you play a campaign as any faction, and there are a number of preset campaigns, both shipped with the games and made by fans, that let you play as Nazi Germany, the Soviet Union, and others.
* NoKoreansInJapan: Averted, particularly in WAW. In many scenarios that see you up against the Japanese in battles that do not involve military-only islands, you are probably going to run into some Korean laborers, [[ShootTheDog all of whom you are going to have to kill as they almost always have been handed a weapon and are shooting in your direction at gunpoint.]]
* NoRangeLikePointBlankRange: Tanks, Artillery and all the other stuff you have at your disposal is pretty awesome, but if you want to take an enemy position, your infantry will have to get up close and personal...
* NoSwastikas: The German flags in World War II use the ''balkenkreuz'' instead.
** Subverted: Most games had the historical flag as backup and let you edit it back in instead (or vice versa).
* PossibleWar: Other than the aforementioned WorldWarThree scenarios, there are also some for other potential conflicts-that-weren't (or that may be in the future).
* SeparateButIdentical: In the post-WW2 settings, most factions essentially use either an American or a Soviet equipment roster, although some factions (NATO nations, China, and Israel among others) do have their own designs. [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] in that this is what happened in real history; both sides of the Cold War sold surplus weapons and vehicles to their allies and affiliated resistance groups.
* SomeDexterityRequired: OH man, be careful when moving vehicles/troops around mines, terrain that'll immobilize them, or when trying to avoid being sighted. One finger slip could shorten your rosters.
* RareVehicles: Goes as far as to include some vehicles which never actually saw service, such as the Nazi German Maus and Sturmtiger. Even for those that weren't quite as rare, you can again have more of a particularly rare vehicle in your core force than would ever have been available throughout the course of all of World War II thanks to the points-based purchasing system.
* SupportPower: Airstrikes and off-map artillery. Usually negotiated between players due to their effectiveness.
* TankGoodness: The games feature hundreds of different armored fighting vehicles and their variations. For example, in MBT there are ''thirteen'' different models of the T-64 main battle tank.
* TimedMission: Turn-based.
* UnitsNotToScale: At least in the first two games, each hex is 50 meters to a side. Two units that appear to be "right next to each other" on the map are about half a football field away from each other, hardly point-blank range.
* VeteranUnit: The incentive for not treating your troops as cannon fodder during campaigns is for them to achieve this status. Unit experience rankings are green, regular, experienced and elite. Also, higher experienced troops can be bought, such as airborne and special forces.
* VideoGameCaringPotential: Every officer in your extremely extensive command has his (or even her) own stats, as do their units. If they survive, they evolve and become more effective. They don't, and you have to start back from scratch IF you are lucky. Let's just say that SaveScumming is very popular, particularly for campaigns.
* VideoGameCrueltyPotential: Asides from what you do to the enemy, friendly fire is VERY much in play, and you are free to treat your men as you wish, even using them as CannonFodder.
** Steel Panthers 3 in the WW3/Israeli future conflict scenarios. Turn on fast artillery. Turn up your number of allotted points to the max. Buy half of it in BM-22 Uragans and the other half in BM-21 Grads. Annihilate the ''entire enemy side of the map'' on the first turn.
** VideoGameCrueltyPunishment: Just don't whine when you get wiped out one one of the late levels of a campaign because you needed elite troops that you used as expendible bullet sponges back when they were green.
* WarsawPact: A rare example each of the Warsaw Pact countries has its own, distinctive set of units (though a lot equipment is shared between the countries).
* ZergRush: A common (though not always viable) strategy for factions with cheaper units.
** Typically the setup in any scenario involving Tiger tanks. You can kill some of the T-34s, but not all...
The games take place on the tactical level on a classic hex-based grid, with players directing individual vehicles and squads. Unit choices are broken down into four broad types (Infantry, Armor, Artillery, and Miscellaneous), with a wide range of diversity within these categories (for instance, Armor includes tanks, armored cars, and mechanized cavalry scouts; Infantry includes riflemen, engineers, snipers, etc.). In battle, in addition to killing the enemy, all weapons can also Suppress enemy units, which reduces accuracy and at high enough levels can pin units in place or even cause them to break and run. The principles of combined arms (using a properly balanced force) and overwatch (one unit moves while another covers them) are very important to remember, as is paying attention to terrain; those who don't tend to watch in horror as the enemy demolishes their forces in detail.
To date, four "official" games have been made:
* ''Steel Panthers'' (1995)
* ''Steel Panthers II: Modern Battles'' (1996)
* ''Steel Panthers III Brigade Command: 1939-1999'' (1997): Increased the scope and scale of battles, with individual units representing platoons / squadrons rather than squads / individual vehicles.
* ''Steel Panthers: World At War!'' (2000): A further refinement of the ''III'' code made by Matrix Games after they acquired the rights and the source code. It once again limits combat to the World War II era. Available as [[FreewareGames freeware]] from the game's [[http://www.steelpanthersonline.com/main.asp official site]].
Additionally, The Camo Workshop has released two {{Fan Remake}}s of ''Steel Panthers II'' for Windows:
* ''[=WinSPWW2=]'': Covers the era of 1931-1946, allowing for some hypothetical battles (Allies vs. Soviets in Germany, U.S. invasion of the Japanese Home Islands).
* ''[=WinSPMBT=]'': Covers 1946-2020, with the option to use some currently in-development technologies TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture.
Both games are also freeware, available from [[http://www.shrapnelgames.com/Our_Games/Free_Games.html Shrapnel Games's publishing site]].
All games come with premade scenarios and campaigns, both historical and hypothetical, allowing players to test their skills by trying to do better than what really happened. There are also both battle and campaign generators, which allow for more balanced battles (points-wise, at least) and map and scenario editors so that players can design and distribute their own content.
The series as a whole continues to enjoy an active multiplayer community, with its central hub being [[http://www.theblitz.org/ TheBlitz]]. They're also popular subjects of {{After Action Report}}s.
----
!!Some of the more prominent conflicts featured in scenarios include:
* WorldWarOne: Pops up enough to be notable.
* WorldWarTwo: Of course.
* ColdWar
** TheKoreanWar: Both historical and hypothetical variants.
** TheVietnamWar
** SovietInvasionOfAfghanistan
* ArabIsraeliConflict: Probably the second biggest contributor for straight-up tank battles after World War II.
* {{Iran-Iraq War}}
* GulfWar
* TheWarOnTerror: In the more up-to-date games.
* WorldWarThree: Pretty common for hypothetical scenarios.
----
!!''Steel Panthers'' contains examples of the following tropes:
* AllThereInTheManual: Most manuals for these games include some details about what goes on "under the hood," mainly so that players can tweak the preferences to suit their idea of how the game should play.
* AmericaWinsTheWar: Averted. While the majority of scenarios and campaigns do feature the "major players" of most conflicts, there are some for the other contributing combatants of World War II (China, Poland, Australia, etc.) as well as some for small African and Asian "brush wars" (Chinese invasion of Vietnam, Rhodesian Civil War, etc.).
* ArbitraryHeadcountLimit
* ArtificialStupidity: Until recent updates, players had to put tight fire control on units that have low ammo counts. Otherwise, ATGM crews (usually carrying only 4-6 missiles) will waste their ammo on jeeps during opportunity fire and have nothing left for tanks and other heavy armor.
* CripplingOverspecialization: Not as extreme as most video game cases, but still present. Most specialized units have a task they're designed for (antitank, {{anti-air}}, scouting, etc.) and usually don't fare too well when they try to do something else. ATGM[[hottip:* :Antitank Guided Missile]] teams can kill tanks all day as long as they have the missiles but don't last that long going head-to-head against an infantry squad.
* DelayingAction: One potential mission type.
* DoNotRunWithAGun: If a unit is moving, its accuracy drops. The faster it moves, the worse its accuracy gets.
* EasyLogistics: The game ignores the effects of strategic bombing, supply interdiction, industrial capacity, etc. at the strategic level, meaning that, for instance, you can buy more Tiger tanks than Germany ever actually built as long as you have the points. Within battles your troops do have limited amounts of ammo, but they can be resupplied almost infinitely from ammo trucks and supply depots (and there's an "Unlimited Ammo" option in the game preferences if you find even this to be too pesky).
* EveryBulletIsATracer: Whenever a unit fires a weapon, its path is always visible. This (and the range report) can help you return fire even when the firing enemy unit still isn't visible to your soldiers.
* FogOfWar: Simulated fairly realistically. Simply because a unit can see a hex doesn't mean that it automatically spots any units in its field of vision. Units can lower their chances of being spotted by either staying still or "sneaking" (moving slowly, about one hex at a time). On the other hand, stationary observers and / or specialized recon units have better chances of spotting enemies within their field of vision.
* ForcesWithFirepower: Pretty much the point of the game(s). Nearly all forces listed on the trope page are present and accounted for.
* FromNobodyToNightmare: Chew through some of the longer campaigns and see what kind of core you get by the end.
** Start a randomly generated campaign in 3 with three companies of ATGM vehicles or light tanks, light self-propelled artillery, and a few forward observers. End it with a fully-tooled up elite tank battalion backed by heavy guns or multiple rocket launchers.
* GarrisonableStructures: Buildings do provide some cover to infantry (as does rubble). Also, some player-placed structures such as bunkers can be actively garrisoned by "loading" infantry into them.
* GeoEffects: Terrain is a major factor of every battle, especially in terms of cover and visibility.
* HeroMustSurvive: No matter how well the rest of your units do during a campaign mission, your HQ (where you are) must survive.
* HoldTheLine: Any mission where you're defending against another advancing force.
* HouseRules: Some scenarios (particularly the fan-made ones) have "victory conditions" written into the description for objectives that the game engine itself isn't coded to handle, such as the survival of a particular unit.
** Also, players in head-to-head games will have agreed rules, such as purchasing points, number of air strikes, artillery purchase limits, etc.
* KillItWithFire: Napalm bombs, flamethrowers, {{Molotov cocktail}}s...
** In the modern iterations, RPO-A Shmels and M202 FLASH rockets are on the table. That's right, ''rocket flamethrowers''.
** And let's not forget fighters dropping fuel-air explosives or delivered via MLRS>
* MacrossMissileMassacre: The German Nebelwerfer and most Russian rocket artillery, starting with the BM-14 "Katyusha."
* MisguidedMissile: Less due to clever maneuvering on your foe's part, and more to your aircraft acquiring the wrong target in the first place.
* NATO: In the post-WW2 games, obviously.
* NoCampaignForTheWicked: Averted. The random campaign generator lets you play a campaign as any faction, and there are a number of preset campaigns, both shipped with the games and made by fans, that let you play as Nazi Germany, the Soviet Union, and others.
* NoKoreansInJapan: Averted, particularly in WAW. In many scenarios that see you up against the Japanese in battles that do not involve military-only islands, you are probably going to run into some Korean laborers, [[ShootTheDog all of whom you are going to have to kill as they almost always have been handed a weapon and are shooting in your direction at gunpoint.]]
* NoRangeLikePointBlankRange: Tanks, Artillery and all the other stuff you have at your disposal is pretty awesome, but if you want to take an enemy position, your infantry will have to get up close and personal...
* NoSwastikas: The German flags in World War II use the ''balkenkreuz'' instead.
** Subverted: Most games had the historical flag as backup and let you edit it back in instead (or vice versa).
* PossibleWar: Other than the aforementioned WorldWarThree scenarios, there are also some for other potential conflicts-that-weren't (or that may be in the future).
* SeparateButIdentical: In the post-WW2 settings, most factions essentially use either an American or a Soviet equipment roster, although some factions (NATO nations, China, and Israel among others) do have their own designs. [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] in that this is what happened in real history; both sides of the Cold War sold surplus weapons and vehicles to their allies and affiliated resistance groups.
* SomeDexterityRequired: OH man, be careful when moving vehicles/troops around mines, terrain that'll immobilize them, or when trying to avoid being sighted. One finger slip could shorten your rosters.
* RareVehicles: Goes as far as to include some vehicles which never actually saw service, such as the Nazi German Maus and Sturmtiger. Even for those that weren't quite as rare, you can again have more of a particularly rare vehicle in your core force than would ever have been available throughout the course of all of World War II thanks to the points-based purchasing system.
* SupportPower: Airstrikes and off-map artillery. Usually negotiated between players due to their effectiveness.
* TankGoodness: The games feature hundreds of different armored fighting vehicles and their variations. For example, in MBT there are ''thirteen'' different models of the T-64 main battle tank.
* TimedMission: Turn-based.
* UnitsNotToScale: At least in the first two games, each hex is 50 meters to a side. Two units that appear to be "right next to each other" on the map are about half a football field away from each other, hardly point-blank range.
* VeteranUnit: The incentive for not treating your troops as cannon fodder during campaigns is for them to achieve this status. Unit experience rankings are green, regular, experienced and elite. Also, higher experienced troops can be bought, such as airborne and special forces.
* VideoGameCaringPotential: Every officer in your extremely extensive command has his (or even her) own stats, as do their units. If they survive, they evolve and become more effective. They don't, and you have to start back from scratch IF you are lucky. Let's just say that SaveScumming is very popular, particularly for campaigns.
* VideoGameCrueltyPotential: Asides from what you do to the enemy, friendly fire is VERY much in play, and you are free to treat your men as you wish, even using them as CannonFodder.
** Steel Panthers 3 in the WW3/Israeli future conflict scenarios. Turn on fast artillery. Turn up your number of allotted points to the max. Buy half of it in BM-22 Uragans and the other half in BM-21 Grads. Annihilate the ''entire enemy side of the map'' on the first turn.
** VideoGameCrueltyPunishment: Just don't whine when you get wiped out one one of the late levels of a campaign because you needed elite troops that you used as expendible bullet sponges back when they were green.
* WarsawPact: A rare example each of the Warsaw Pact countries has its own, distinctive set of units (though a lot equipment is shared between the countries).
* ZergRush: A common (though not always viable) strategy for factions with cheaper units.
** Typically the setup in any scenario involving Tiger tanks. You can kill some of the T-34s, but not all...
