Matrix Games Forums

With my experience from this game I can pretty much guaranty that I’ll be buying any future games from Frank Hunter. Naturally Guns of August II would be the ideal but on the other hand I don’t really know how the basic concept can be improved. The simplicity is part of the appeal. Support after 4 years is just outstanding.

I still regularly play GoA by e-mail with a friend so I would love to see an new update fixing some of the known issues.

Just to answer a question that Frank asked earlier: I've been running GoA on Vista for a couple of years now without any problems at all.

GoA is a nice little game that is always a pleasure to play. There are two rebalancing issues that I would like to see. As it is, if the CPs decide to go East they can hardly ever lose because the British don't pull their weight in the West. On the other hand, the U-Boat threat is completely non-existent. It should be possible to threaten Britain with starvation if Germany go all-out on that front.

So:

(1) Get Britain to shoulder more of the load in the West after 1916 and be aggressive

(2) Make U-Boats more effective, so as to really make the ASW advances necessary for Allied survival.

Paulk are you talking about vs the AI??

As a player you can do a lot of damage with Uboats by building several more, and setting them to unrestricted warfare.

I just reloaded this on my PC after not thinking about it for about 3 years. My only question regarding an update is are the Greeks still using Dutch icons?

Although I didn't really like this game (no ability to simulate the Schlieffen plan because of slow CP movement and overpowered Belgian army; way too many Russian corps in the first part of the war, forcing the CP to defend a continuous front when, in fact, the eastern front was confined to a limited area in 1914; and a very hard to understand first turn), I just reinstalled it on my PCs to give it another go since Victoria II isn't all that hoped for and World War One Gold doesn't seem quite the thing.

Is there any chance an update could address the Russian blob issue in 1914?

I have found something interesting...It seems that Calvary can advance into an enemy unit occupied hex if it only has a Calvary unit in it even if you don't scout the hex. Is this a bug? Its an easy way to find that the enemy only has Calvary in a hex making it easy to punch holes in a thin line.

Which version are you playing?  That sounds like an early iteration of what Cavalry could do??

The current system is, or should be, that Cv can only advance into an enemy owned hex if they start in a hex with an infantry corps of their own side and the enemy hex is clear terrain - it doesn't' matter what troops are in it.

I am playing the latest version. I noticed in a pbem game that my Calvary could attack hexes with enemy units in them, after investigating I noticed they were enemy Calvary. Maybe Frank can test this out.

I'm still not sure exactly what the problem is - are you saying you can attack enemy hexes when your cavalry dos not start stacked with your own infantry??

It would be nice if the AI would not punch little salients in my lines, then advance to the next hex, allowing their advancing force to be completely cut off and destroyed (usually with no effort).

The French do this all the time in Alsace-Lorraine and Luxembourg (abandoning Verdun in the process).  In my latest game, 6 "A" French corps were easily destroyed when 3 of them took a hex in Alsace and then advanced the whole force, minus a CAV, one hex further, only to be completely cut off.  Almost immediately after this, three more attacked Luxembourg and then advanced a hex, leaving Verdun completely undefended.  Of course, I took Paris fairly easily at the end of 1915.  There essentially wasn't a French army left.

And the Russian blob, as annoying and silly as it is, does this same thing in Silesia and Posen.  I don't have an exact count, but 17 Russian units were cut off west of Warsaw by a very easy offensive.  The blobbification strategy that the AI loves makes the eastern front ridiculous.

That's why people give up playing the AI in most games - it's never as good as another player!

I would love to see an up-date.

I always thought it odd that England started out with the allies in 1914. If the CP stayed out of Belgium and didn't engaged the French fleet, or conduct unrestricted submarine warfare, then they should be able to go without England in the war for the first year or so. No?

There was a lot of debate about this earlier on the forum - if you search you may find it.

If the CP doesn't invade Belgium then the UK is effectively out of the war in Europe until 1915 - it cannot Amphib on T1, which means it cannot get to Europe until T2, so cannot possibly strat move to the front before T3.

IIRC the consensus way back when was that the UK would not stand aside & let either France or Russia get steamrollered - it would find an excuse to join in somewhere somehow.

My mistake - of course they can get ther on the 2nd pulse of T2 which is about the end of November

Interesting, thanks for the reply. I just thought it might be fun, and historic, to give the CP the option of playing in such a way as to delay England's entry into the war, but that might give the CP too much of an advantage?

I'd like to see the ability to increase the number of corps of a nation added to the editor.

I'm playing it each year ... one or two games against AI or PBEM. So any update is welcome ... it is great game! 

Hi Frank, In alot of other games by Matrix, I do a great deal of editing,I would like if possible please, an improved editor for the game,so that many more option can be tweaked by the gamer.

I agree with Kirk23, I would like to see an improved editor as well. Maybe with the player able to create divisions and brigades....