What I'm enjoying - what ifs?

[axeman109]

I have the West Point book & maps for The Great War and I always wondered what if Moltke had stuck to the plan? Even Schlieffen kept coming back to the limitations of the transportation system (according to this book) as an issue that he could not solve. As far as this game goes I have my answer - "that depends" and mostly on the French it seems. http://net.lib.byu.edu/~rdh7/wwi/1914m/schlieffen.html gives the counts of troops as planned in case you haven't seen this. It's in an appendix in the West Point books, too. It's fun to try the 1905 #'s I think.

My point here is to thank the developers for taking a chance on a topic that's been much too ignored. I'm enoying the game quite a bit and have found it to be just plain fun to play. I've read the criticisms and in my case I've had no problems figuring out the game. I spent consierable more time getting into WITP and FOF before I got the "hang" of them (and I enjoy them as well).

[sol_invictus]

Agree, the initial decisions are real nail biters. The game models the problems of the war about as good as a game can I believe. Plenty of decisions to make every turn that require some forethought and planning. I think the interface is not only fine but actually quite good, after you spend about an hour with it. I think the initial gripes were greatly overblown by people who wanted to just dive right in. With a little effort, the game quickly starts to click. Only one minor bug after several hours of playing. My only complaint is that the manual could have been a bit more informative. Best wargame I have bought in over ten years.[&o]

[Sytass]

What I especially like is the ability to deploy your troops at Mobilization as you see fit, allowing for many "what if's", or, if you want to roleplay the bit, "How would things have gone if Germans hadn't used Schlieffenplan and the French not Plan 17? Imagine the French securing the Belgian border and the Germans massing on their own left instead? Or a total reversal of German planning, going after Russia first and block the French in Alsace-Lorraine?
 
I think this is likely to keep especially PBEM fresh - "The French expect me to come through Flanders, so I won't. Because they know that I won't come through Flanders, because that's what they would be expecting, they will fortify their right wing. And because I know that, I will go through Flanders, after all. Which the French expect." Etc. Loads of gambling involved there.

[sol_invictus]

Yeah, that first turn in PBEM games will be stressful until everyones cards are on the table. I see much anguish and scrambling for the side that guesses wrong.

[CSO_Sbufkle]

Im getting this soon and extremely anxious...

Im a huge GW fan and constantly am reading a book on it but with the lack of PC gfames for it have been waiting for something like this!!


If you can acutally make scenarios in this game, then you could even retry the Brusilov offensive, Verdun ect ect I woudl think??

[sol_invictus]

The scale is a bit large to make scenarios about single battles. Tannenberg would simply be one or two German stacks against one or two Russian stacks and the battle would last one turn. Verdun would be a bit longer with about three turns, but still limited to a stack or two against a similar enemy force. I don't think that would be all that fun. As Grand Strategy, this game shines.

[CSO_Sbufkle]

ORIGINAL: Arinvald

The scale is a bit large to make scenarios about single battles. Tannenberg would simply be one or two German stacks against one or two Russian stacks and the battle would last one turn. Verdun would be a bit longer with about three turns, but still limited to a stack or two against a similar enemy force. I don't think that would be all that fun. As Grand Strategy, this game shines.

Im not dissapoionted... the scope seems so big, your last sentence says it all!

[SlickWilhelm]

Ok guys, you've got me drooling already. My mind races with the possibilities....

1) What if the Germans had kept the status quo in the West and went for the kill in Russia, instead.
2) What if the British had not tried Neuve Chappelle and Loos, but instead focused on the Gallipoli expedition....or Salonika.
3) What if the battle of Jutland had happened in 1914 not 1916. And what if Scheer had command from the beginning.

Questions:

A) Can you decide who commands your forces? (i.e. dump French for Byng, Promote Hoffman sooner and replace Ludendorff with him)
B) Do commanders display their historical strengths & weaknesses?

[sol_invictus]

HQs are listed by name, but they are really only tools to Activate Corps for offensives. So the Hindenburg HQ is exactly the same as the Prittwitz HQ. It is very abstracted, but works well at this scale.

[axeman109]

ORIGINAL: Slick Wilhelm

3) What if the battle of Jutland had happened in 1914 not 1916. And what if Scheer had command from the beginning.

I sent the entire German fleet into the North Sea on the first turn once. I ran the Royal Navy off for a time, but they came back with a vengance later. It's still fun to try a "all out - go for it" strategy like that. It hasn't paid off for me yet. Anybody else?

[sol_invictus]

I tried to transfer the German fleet to the Baltic, in hopes of sweeping the Russian fleet back into port for the rest of the war. Of course, I ran into the RN in the North Sea and we both beat each other up pretty good. When I finally made it to the Baltic, I was greeted by the Russian fleet and by the time that little encounter was over, my once proud fleet was quite battered. Unless it is possible to go through the Kiel Canal and avoid the RN, I think I will keep the fleet in port from now on, simply as a threat to the RN. I will rely on the Submarine to tweak the British.

[axeman109]

ORIGINAL: Arinvald

I tried to transfer the German fleet to the Baltic, in hopes of sweeping the Russian fleet back into port for the rest of the war. Of course, I ran into the RN in the North Sea and we both beat each other up pretty good. When I finally made it to the Baltic, I was greeted by the Russian fleet and by the time that little encounter was over, my once proud fleet was quite battered. Unless it is possible to go through the Kiel Canal and avoid the RN, I think I will keep the fleet in port from now on, simply as a threat to the RN. I will rely on the Submarine to tweak the British.

They thought of that actually. You just need to rebase your ships before you send them out. See page 26 in the manual. I haven't tried it myself. I tried to beat the RN again tonight and I just couldn't hold them off for more then 1 turn. Then I got the access error at the beginning of 1915 and called it a night.

[sol_invictus]

Rebasing sends my fleet right into the arms of the RN. I can't get my fleet into the Baltic intact.

[flintlock]

I haven't faired any better getting my fleet into the Baltic without being badly mauled by the British Grand Fleet. Buggers.