Panther Games is a small Australian company that has been developing innovative military simulations for the commercial wargames market since 1985 and providing quality professional services to the Australian Defence Department since 1991.nitially it developed three board games - Trial of Strength, Shanghai Trader and Warlords - but its focus has been on developing software since the late 1980s. Its first computer wargame Fire Brigade won many awards including the Charles S Roberts award for Best 20th Century Computer Game in 1988 and the Apple Developer Award for Best Entertainment Package in 1989.
In 1996 it commenced development of a new wargame engine that was to sporn the current Airborne Assault ( AA ) series. The first title in the series, Red Devils Over Arnhem ( RDOA ) was released in June 2002. Set in Holland 1944, it covered the desperate attempt by the British airborne to secure the gateway to Germany and end the second world war by Xmas. With it's pausable continuous time game play, intuitive user interface and the strongest wargame artificial intelligence ( AI ) ever released, RDOA kicked off a revolution in operational warfare simulation.
In November 2003 the second title in the AA series, Highway to the Reich® ( HTTR ), was published. This title covered battles from the entire "Operation Market Garden". The AA engine was extensively enhanced. HTTR was well received by customers and won many awards, including the Wargamer's Best Wargame ( Bronze ), Game of the Year ( Silver ) and Best Developer ( Gold ) awards.
In June 2006, the third AA title was released, Conquest of the Aegean ( COTA ). This covered the dramatic fight for Greece and Crete in 1941, as well as hypothetical battles for Malta. COTA included a swag of enhanced user interface and AI features, including a realistic resupply model, mixed mode movement and order of battle display, thus delivering on the company's policy of continual engine development. COTA swept the awards within the industry in 2006/7, including the Wargamer's Best Wargame ( Gold), Game of the Year ( Silver ) and Best Developer ( Silver) awards, CyberStratege's' Laurier D'Or ( Game of the Year ) and War-Historical's Game of the Year ( Gold ).
In June 2010, the fourth title of the rebranded Command Ops series ( formally AA ) was released, Battles from the Bulge ( BFTB ). This exciting new title covers the climactic battles in the Belgium Ardennes region from Dec 1944 to Jan 1945, often referred to as Hitler's last gamble. BFTB will be based on the continued AA engine, which will again be enhanced. This time the focus has been based on providing the player with more command options and improving the AI even further.
Parallel to its software development for the commercial wargames market, Panther Games also provides professional services to the military. Most recently it was a team partner ( along with Booz Allen Hamilton, Ball Solutions, CAE and Calytrix in the successful Joint Decision Support and Simulations Centre ( JDSSC ) project for the Australian Defence Department. The company's contribution was in analysis, scenario development and technical procedures and documentation.
The company continues to explore options for developing a modern version of its wargame engine for use by the military in training, capability analysis and concepts of operation development. It actively participates in the Milgames group and has a wide network of military contacts in the simulations area, both in Australia and overseas.