AAR - Kaiser Mike

[SMK-at-work]

Finally got around to doing the next move - been playing too much ToaW lately...

Germans take Warsaw and sucessfully defend Strasbourg and Stuttgart from the evil French. More advances in Russia - the Russian army is in tatters, but it will receive a huge number of new units next strat phase so it's a bit deceiving just at the moment....

It will only let me upload 200kb to this message, so that's only a static shot of the situation after the last combat round...

[sol_invictus]

Good to see the Germans putting up a hard fight in the west.

[Rob Brennan UK]

good to see progress on this , its shaping up nicely imo. not too detailed and coveys ww1's slowness .. [&o]

[33Vyper]

Thank you for the update
I continue to watch this one with optimism.

Would it be possible to show battle resolution screens or naval resolution?

[SMK-at-work]

The situation at the start of the strategic phase got Nov-Dec 1914 - Germany and Austria have crushed the Russian border armies, but we know that the 2nd wave of mobilisations arrive this turn - they're lower quality, but there's lots of them!

France has captured Strasbourg and Stuttgart - will probably have to send soem troops to hold hte line there now, but our 2nd wave of mobilisation is arriving too, so it will not require withdrawing anythign from the East Front!

33vyper there are some naval battle resolutions on page 1 of this thread. There's a couple of minor problems with hte battle resolution screens jsut now - we've had a new beta that may have solved them but we're not using it for this game.

[SMK-at-work]

November move - the Russians attack in the Caucassus and their reinforcements arrive in Lithuania, the French in the west capture Cologne...but Central Powers reinforcements are arriving....

[SMK-at-work]

December move - isolated German corps in Lithuania are wiped out, but other Germn troops continue to push towards Riga. The Turks launch a surprise counter-attack in the Caucassus and isolate a Russian army. Germans and Austrians counterattack in the west, recapturing Cologne and reopening supply lines to troops hear the border - French attacks are repulsed with massive losses.

The Austrians also capture Skopje in Serbia, and launch some small attacks against the Serbs around Belgrade.

Only 2 moves this strategic phase, due winter - same with hte next one IIRC.

[ojnab_bob]

Any additional update on when this game is looking at a release date?  I've been waiting patiently for 7-8 years now, since Trench... I hope that someday my son or daughter will be lucky enough to succeed me, and take my place in the waiting queue.

[ess1]

ORIGINAL: ojnab_bob

Any additional update on when this game is looking at a release date?  I've been waiting patiently for 7-8 years now, since Trench... I hope that someday my son or daughter will be lucky enough to succeed me, and take my place in the waiting queue.

I've made a will[:'(]

[Murat]

ORIGINAL: ess1

I've made a will[:'(]

Where there's a will, there's a way [:D]

[cdbeck]

SMK, you mentioned you play ToAW. How does Guns of August compare with the battle complexity of ToAW? Is the equipment, manpower, etc, all laid out, or is it more abstracted? Are battles done similarly, with different hexes supporting an assault on one hex? I actually prefer abstraction, as I am not a detail oriented enough person to keep track of all the different equipment. Broad stroke kinda guy I guess.

SoM 

[SMK-at-work]

The units in GOA are corps, so combat is nothing at all like ToaW - there are no "rounds", all combat his only with adjacent units, ther is no combat support from artillery or air - it's a different system entirely.  Higher level, yes probably more abstract.

Haven't been progressing the game much lately as we ran into a problem & I'm having trouble getting motivated...

[stevel40831]

ORIGINAL: SMK-at-work
Haven't been progressing the game much lately as we ran into a problem & I'm having trouble getting motivated...

It's quite amazing really that this "Guns of August" area has been open for postings since the beginning of 2004 and that we still waste our time coming here for no apparent reason. I'm sure we all appreciate SMKs efforts to entertain us, but, if the person who is actually playing this "game" is "having trouble getting motivated", what does that say for the future of this project? Speaks volumes I'd say.

Where's the "Road to Moscow" forum? I hear that's due out soon too!

Steve

[Rainbow7]

I think SMK's choice of wording was unfortunate -- the game is quite close to being ready to go.

[SMK-at-work]

Yes indeed - I'd also point out that playtesting is nothing like "real life" - yuo get to repeat the same situation over and over ad nauseum, only to start again when a new version comes out, and rarely if ever complete a game - the only games I've completed were months ago vss teh AI.

It can get boring after a while which is why you need a team of playtesters rather than just letting a handful of people do it!! [:'(]

Edit to add: I think this is going to be THE definitive game of WW1 for many years to come.

[iamspamus]

My first response was to say, "So stop coming here". But I decided not to say that. [:)]

I guess the option is to go and buy a different WWI game ... oh, yeah there's not another good one out there (to the best of my knowledge. So...I guess we'll wait.

Jason

ORIGINAL: stevel40831

ORIGINAL: SMK-at-work
Haven't been progressing the game much lately as we ran into a problem & I'm having trouble getting motivated...

It's quite amazing really that this "Guns of August" area has been open for postings since the beginning of 2004 and that we still waste our time coming here for no apparent reason. I'm sure we all appreciate SMKs efforts to entertain us, but, if the person who is actually playing this "game" is "having trouble getting motivated", what does that say for the future of this project? Speaks volumes I'd say.

Where's the "Road to Moscow" forum? I hear that's due out soon too!

Steve

[sol_invictus]

I can certainly imagine the frustration with having to play a game and knowing that you will only progress so far before having to restart and do it all over again. I wouldn't draw to many conclusions from a playtester's warranted fatigue.

[SMK-at-work]

I can tell you Frank has decided to end playtesting.  The bug in this AAR has been identified and corrected, and is being checked to see if the feature causes any other problems.

[7th Somersets]

I would like to add that I have been play-testing this game too. While there is an element of frustration and 'beta-fatigue' in the testing process - in my opinion this is a first rate strategy game that I enjoyed repeatedly coming back to.
 
You have all of the grand-strategy decisions faced by the Triple Entente and Central Powers - as well as enough detail in the corps sized battles to keep the feel of the large scale offensives - and their horrendous consequences as your units are bled white - draining away your country's manpower and shells.
 
Do you want to mount another Gallipoli or Salonica campaign? Is it worth fighting your way up the Tigris - or are the significant fronts the Western and Eastern Fronts?
 
Do you want to put your resources into developing poison gas or tanks?
 
Can you keep control of the high seas to keep those vital supply lines open/closed?
 
Are diplomatic efforts the key to winning the war decisively?
 
Even though I have been playtesting it for a long time - I am still looking forward to seeing and playing the final 'boxed' product that will hopefully not be much longer.
 
A proper historical WW1 game is long overdue. In my opinion this will stand as 'the' classic WW1 game for a long time.
 
Regards.
 
 

[cdbeck]

ORIGINAL: SMK-at-work

I can tell you Frank has decided to end playtesting. The bug in this AAR has been identified and corrected, and is being checked to see if the feature causes any other problems.

End playtesting? Does that mean release is close at hand? I'm rather excited because this looks a bit like a turn-based "Hearts of Iron" look at WWI, which has been woefully ignored for that OTHER war that the Germans were in and fought against France... you guessed it, the Franco-Prussian War. [:D]

SoM