Lots of WWII era tanks had problems with unreliable gear boxes and transmissions. Same with Panzer Corps.
Yes, Panzer Corps is a modernized copy of the Panzer General series including all major gameplay elements like say automatic artillery support.
And no, i cannot recommend it, at least not in its present state.
That's because of two shortcomings:
1) We got exactly the same user interface that we had back in time when PG was new and fascinating. So we need to click to change between ground and airborne units, and we have to click to go from tactical to strategical map view and so on.
Not a biggie but quite annoying in the long run.
2) Game engine is broken.
Let me tell you. I started an attack on a city defended by a single infantry unit. I sent 2 infantry and a tank into attack range to gain a "mass attack" bonus.
Then i sent in my first infantry. Some losses on both sides, not too bad.
Now my second infantry attacked. I got a "rugged defense" event, taking horrible losses.
Oh well, things like that happen...
I restored my savegame and tried again. Same result, first attack goes well, second one gets butchered.
OK, back to the savegame, now send in a strategic bomber at first to supress the defending infantry. Worked, 50% suppression.
First infantry attacks - same results as before.
Second infantry attacks - same results as before.
This can only mean three things. First of all game mechanics are broken because they do not measure in the bomber, secondly there is no random number generator allowing at least a little difference in the outcome of battles, and lastly the chances of a "rugged defense" which i checked and noted to be in the 3% range are not computed but predetermined.
In simple words: Panzer Corps is so goddarn boring that i'll anticipate the next Excel sheet to hit my screen with a neat shiver of uncertainity in direct comparison.
As for the future, i expect necessary patching to the game mechanics to be done imagining some matrixgames stuff personnel threatening the developers with rolling pins or whatever, so over time my score for this game might rise to 7.0.
But most likely the UI will never get a rehaul, so i would not mind anyone grabbing an old emulator like DOSbox, some old software from a (legal!) abandonware site, and... try the real thing.