Thanks Guys! Having read the manual I see a lot of these questions are answered there as well.
Regarding a sequel, obviously you know your business best, but some elements of the game as-is are getting a little bit stale and/or could do with a bit of improvement. Examples:
1) Most of the "near-future" campaigns/scenarios are now alternate history and a bit odd seeming. They're obviously still fun but the game is clearly marked as a 2005 one.
2) The graphics are clearly dated. Something as simple as simply replacing them with higher-resolution images would be a very basic improvement.
3) Branching campaigns (e.g., the great and much-missed Bill Wilder's excellent Cuban campaign) are supported through an obvious kludge. Supporting branching campaigns through direct selection through e.g., a check-box dialogue, rather than by having to include null missions just so the player can select the next mission would be an improvement.
4) Possibly there will those who will disagree with this, but air-power has never been very well implemented in the SP system, since artillery always seems like a better way to go. Air power should be more immediate, accurate, and effective compared to artillery. Having airpower available at quickly (at least for CAS) but then having a long re-load time once the weaponry has been used up seems a good way forward.
5) A system of separate repair points and reinforcement points in campaigns would stop the phenomenon of points being limited to prevent excessive expansion of the core force but this having the side-effect of requiring very low losses in every mission.
I see from the TMView database that Ubisoft/Red Storm still own the Steel Panthers trade mark in the EU and UK, but this may be vulnerable to cancellation for non-use given the lack of any sales by Ubisoft of games titled Steel Panthers. They did not file a statement of use in the US so their trade mark lapsed there (see here:
https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=8...e=statusSearch ). It's possible Shrapnel Games could simply register the Steel Panthers trade mark and, given that Ubisoft's trade mark registrations are apparently vulnerable to cancellation as there has been no obvious use in the last 5 years, they would not raise an objection. After that Shrapnel could potentially sell these games under the Steel Panthers name. The cost of finding out could be as low as 1000 EUR (the cost of self-filing UK and EU trade mark registrations).