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25-442: Players control individual tanks and vehicles from a top-down perspective, on a map with a hexagonal overlay. Infantry are mostly in squad/section (8-12 men) sized units, but some units, like snipers, can be controlled individually. The whole force under a players control would typically be Battalion sized, but may be as small as a Platoon or Company, or as large as a Regiment/Brigade. The games are turn-based and are played against

50-469: A champion rune is played, it appears on the game map and can be moved around, just like any other tactical roleplaying game . Champion movement is limited by their Action Points (AP), which they regenerate at the start of the player's turn. Champions gain Champion Points (CP) as they participate in battles. Players can spend CP to improve or add to their champion's abilities. Tokens can be used to increase

75-480: A few "Limited Edition" runes that would otherwise not appear with the individually purchased packs. Players trade runes to obtain better runes or to make a better deck. There are several "rune shops" in the Trader forum that can give players a good idea of what their runes are worth. Two versus two was recently added to PoxNora . In this mode each person uses a whole 30 rune Battlegroup, uses their own nora, and generates

100-533: A period of converting board and historic TBS games to computer games, companies began basing computer turn-based strategy games on completely original properties or concepts. The presence of a computer to calculate and arbitrate allows game complexity which is not feasible in a traditional board game. Some well known turn-based strategy games are Sid Meier 's Civilization series, Heroes of Might and Magic series, Panzer General series, Warlords series, and Age of Wonders series. A further market trend

125-454: Is a good example of browser-based games in this genre. Poxnora PoxNora: Battlefield of the Immortals is a multiplayer online game that combines a digital collectible card game with a turn-based strategy game in a fantasy setting. PoxNora was originally launched via Java Web Start through a browser and can be played on Microsoft Windows , Mac OS X , and Linux . The game

150-585: Is characterized by the expectation of players to complete their tasks by using the combat forces provided to them, and usually by the provision of a realistic (or at least believable) representation of military tactics and operations. Tactical role-playing games are a part of this genre. Examples include Fire Emblem , The Battle for Wesnoth , Poxnora , Silent Storm , Steel Panthers: World at War! , King's Bounty , Great Big War Game , Nintendo Wars , UniWar , XCOM 2 , The Battle of Polytopia and Chessaria: The Tactical Adventure . After

175-418: Is divided among eight factions. Each rune belongs to a particular faction. Players receive bonuses if their Battlegroups have at least 15 runes of a given faction and a greater bonus if all 30 runes are from the same faction. An additional Shrine Bonus is activated by having 15 runes of a faction. Factions can be split into 15 runes from two factions called "split factions", creating a multitude of options within

200-443: Is free to play with "Sample Battlegroups", and players can purchase additional game pieces, called "runes", and build their own strategies. The game currently includes more than 1600 runes. The game was originally designed and developed by Octopi Media Design Lab, which as of January 2009 became owned by and operated by Sony Online Entertainment . This division of SOE was formerly referred to as SOETucson (because Octopi's headquarters

225-484: Is launched via Java Web Start and players enter one of four game lobbies where they can chat or enter games. A fifth game lobby is reserved solely for trading discussion. Games consist of two players, though matches against AI "bots" are possible now with the release of single-player campaigns, first introduced in the "Path to Conquest" expansion. Each player's Battlegroup is shuffled (like a deck of cards) and (in standard settings) players reveal two runes per turn (except

250-656: Is the rise of "Indie" TBS games (games produced by small groups, independent or only somewhat affiliated with the major elements in the computer games industry). These games often extend or refine already existing TBS games. Examples include Freeciv or Golden Age of Civilizations . Since turn-based strategy games do not typically require vast amounts of art or modeling, developers willing to volunteer their time can focus on gameplay. Directories like Freecode provide large lists of open-source , turn-based strategy projects. Online browser-based games do not require users to install files and are often free. The Hex Empire set of games

275-605: The AI or other humans via email or hotseat. As with other tactical turn-based wargames, the game features realistic military control, with the smallest common units being squads, up to a brigade sized force. The player takes control of nearly every aspects of warfare around his soldiers, from simple ammunition usage, to the morale, disposition, and command-chain of his troops. The game features: packed single-battle scenarios and campaigns (either branched or linear), single battle generator, campaign generator, and long campaign generator. All of

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300-522: The CP of a champion by 25, 50, 100, or 200, depending on which token is used. Tokens are obtained through purchasing traditional booster packs or separate token packs. Tokens can be traded with other players for alternative tokens or runes. The game can be played free. Originally, to be able to upgrade runes, or to trade for other runes, it was necessary to purchase runes. A player reward system with "gold" that can be earned in-game now allows access to all aspects of

325-408: The beginning of a scenario and have the option to buy reinforcements with points earned in different ways. The units are then moved on a hexagon grid map similar to a large number of board and computerized wargames. In addition to ready-made battles and campaigns, players can customize single scenarios or create their own campaigns. The Steel Panthers series includes the following titles: Rights to

350-702: The best tactical simulations ever developed for the PC." Steel Panthers and Steel Panthers II were named, collectively, the 62nd best computer game ever by PC Gamer UK in 1997. Turn-based strategy A turn-based strategy ( TBS ) game is a strategy game (usually some type of wargame , especially a strategic-level wargame) where players take turns when playing. This is distinguished from real-time strategy (RTS) , in which all players play simultaneously. Many board games are turn based, such as chess , Reversi , checkers , Hare games , and Go , as well as many modern board games . Turn-based tactical game-play

375-431: The first turn, when four are revealed and the second player's first turn, in which five runes are revealed). The game is played on one of 8 different square, "tiled" maps with various obstacles, fonts, and a Shrine representing each player. The first to destroy their opponent's Shrine wins. Players accumulate Nora (magical energy) each turn and can use it to cast spells, deploy champions, place relics, or use equipment. When

400-555: The first week or so of each expansion release due to balance issues but such hotfixes and patches occur frequently as the game develops. PoxNora was made available to Steam in December 2011. This has caused the game to have a surge of growth. Previously, PoxNora operated as a potential free to play online game through the use of a Fragment system. With this system, a player could obtain Fragments from Campaigns (single-player mode) with

425-581: The game and source code were acquired by both Matrix Games and the Camo Workshop. Matrix Games developed and released as a freeware a remake based on the Steel Panthers III engine (but limited to the timespan of World War II), Steel Panthers: World at War! In 1998, Jim Cobb of Computer Gaming World referred to the Steel Panthers series as a "cash cow". Author Rusel DeMaria later summarized

450-405: The game with no cash transactions, though some runes are unavailable for gold and must be traded for. Every booster pack has a set number of rarity slots. The premium subscription gives access to Premium Campaigns, store discounts, the possibility of being allowed the privilege of beta testing upcoming expansion runes, the ability to convert runes from "crafting recipes", and an added option to obtain

475-405: The game. PoxNora expansions are released in regular intervals, usually a few months, with a Midterm Legendary (limited time availability) in between. The expansions usually contain at least 5 Runes (cards) of each faction, often either expanding a theme within the faction or creating a new theme. Each faction receive champions, relics, spells and equipment runes. Runes are generally tweaked during

500-435: The games in the series are quite similar in features and appearance. However, the third part in the original series is clearly distinct in that it offers platoon -size formations instead of the scale of individual tanks and squads of the other installments. The games offer various modes of play: human vs. human ( hotseat or online), human vs. AI and PBEM (play by email ). The players receive historical military units at

525-432: The marketplace users can access packs, theme decks, avatars, campaigns and more. Since the change in ownership of the game, this system has been supplanted by the use of an in-house currency system. In April 2014, Sony Online Entertainment sold PoxNora to Desert Owl Games, a company that includes some of the original game developers from Octopi. PoxNora was a runner-up for Computer Games Magazine ' s list of

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550-518: The rarity of the Fragment depending upon the difficulty of the Campaign as well as the selection of the Campaign. These Fragments could be used to craft runes. This system has been replaced with a broader Gold system that accumulates in both single and multiplayer play. The PoxNora Marketplace supported premium game purchases through Station Cash (used in all games published by Sony Online Entertainment). In

575-425: The same nora as their teammate (ability and spell based nora gains are not added to both players banks, only the owner). In casual play player battlegroups must be either Full-Faction (30 runes of the same faction) or Split-Faction. Likewise, Theme Decks were also implemented recently. Players can purchase a pre-made deck from each faction and choose to only battle opponents using Theme Decks. PoxNora ' s world

600-461: The situation: "about 18 months in marketing time after Panzer General ' s phenomenal success, another series did extremely well for SSI." The original Steel Panthers proved highly popular, and Steel Panthers II became a "major" hit, according to DeMaria. Steel Panthers was named the best wargame of 1995 by Computer Gaming World , PC Gamer US and Computer Games Strategy Plus . The editors of PC Gamer US called it "easily one of

625-694: Was located in Tucson, Arizona ). SOE closed down the Tucson studio in April 2011 along with its Seattle and Denver studios, laying off over 200 employees in the process. Some members of the PoxNora team were moved to the San Diego HQ to continue development. Players build decks, called "Battle-groups", on PoxNora' s website. A Battlegroup consists of thirty runes in any combination of spells, relics, equipment and champions. The game

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