by Mike Colello, 30 November 2023
Back in 1982, Task Force Games released the very first issue of their very own magazine called NEXUS. NEXUS magazine included articles, reviews, variants, and scenarios for the games that Task Force Games published. As I was heavily into Star Fleet Battles at the time, I immediately ordered a subscription and soon received the premier issue. It was a special Star Fleet Battles issue which delighted me to no end.
My subscription to NEXUS magazine was for six issues and, still being in high school and having no real income, issue number six was to be my last. I still have all six of those magazines in my possession and decided to dig them out to see what Throwback Thursday treasures I could find. I chose to start with issue #6 which, on the back cover, had an advertisement for The Last Panzer Victory from West End Games.
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I have heard of West End Games but I am not familiar with The Last Panzer Victory. I thought it would be interesting to find out a little more about this game and see what, if anything, became of it.
The Last Panzer Victory: The Battle of Debrecen was released in 1983 and was designed by Perry Moore. The game covered the last battle that four full strength German Panzer divisions would fight (and win) in World War II. According to the back of the box, the game included a full color map, 600 counters, two scenarios, and a full campaign. The game even included a storage tray.
{soapbox} It also notes that the ‘Solitaire Suitability’ rating is ‘High’. Yes, the myth that solitaire wargaming is a recent development is just that – a myth. In fact, the next issue of NEXUS magazine featured solitaire gaming. {/soapbox}
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So, what became of The Last Panzer Victory? According to BoardGameGeek, it looks like the designer started publishing his own games for a time. In 2005, Perry Moore Games released a second edition of this game called Panzerschlacht: Blood and Armor in Hungary October 1944. There was a follow up to that game released in 2014 called Panzerschlacht 2: The Battle for Torda.
As for Perry Moore, his most recent game, Hitler’s Stalingrad: Breslau 1945, appeared in Against the Odds #56 last year.1
So, have you played The Last Panzer Victory or any of Perry Moore’s other games? Did you also subscribe to NEXUS magazine? Let us know in the Armchair Dragoons forums!
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There once were Dragoons in their chairs,
Digging up old tales, unawares.
On Thursdays they’d find,
Content of a past kind,
Relics revived in digital layers.
With keyboards and mice they’d explore,
Gaming history, rich to the core.
In armchairs they’d sit,
Discussing each bit,
Thursdays alive with tales galore!
