Matrix Games Forums

Hi all!

I think WW1 Gold is a masterpiece, and unfortunately not really many (or any) people play it. I want to start an AAR to show some of the basic mechanics of the game both to introduce the game and help any new players. I will be controlling Central Powers in the Grand Campaign. AI difficulty and aggressiveness levels are both 4. I'm using Ageod member Random's Naval mod, I'd like to thank him again for it.

Immediately I'm faced with a decision, rather an easy one. The game has many such events, and some of them allows players to make choices. Here I send some gold to Turkey to increase the rolls in my diplomatic missions with them.
Initially I need to pick warplans. I go with what is historical for Germany. I need to advance as much as possible in France before trenches set in, hence not preferring the Russia first (Moltke) strategy. There are also some options I can adopt, I'm allowed to pick two. Diplomatic poker is an interesting one. Instead of acting immediately, Germany waits for Russia to declare war, hence forcing Italians to honor their defensive treaty with Central Powers - historically they claimed that Germany is being the attacker thus they are not bound by the treaty -. Yet I do not pick this option, because it will still not be certain that they will join, it will just increase the odds. And in the meantime Russia will have more time to mobilize. As Russians will already be a problem, I do not want to let them be stronger.
For Austria-Hungary, I pick an alternative to historical one. Kaiser Plan means ignoring Serbia for the time being, and instead focusing on Russia to relieve the pressure on Germans.
The next is the events phase. Turns are divided to numerous phases, I will talk about them as we move on. In the events phase, well, events happen. Players also draw some events cards to play later on. You can see the ones I picked.
The events phase will be followed by diplomacy.

The Diplomatic Poker option is a must for the Central Powers in any 1914 Grand Campaign.

By way of shameless plug, have you tried my fixes and edits to WW1G?

http://www.ageod-forum.com/viewtopic.php?f=241&t=51491

-C

Randomizer wrote: Fri Oct 03, 2025 7:54 pm

Metalist wrote: Fri Oct 03, 2025 5:34 pm I'm using Ageod member Random's Naval mod, I'd like to thank him again for it.

I really appreciate your work! In my previous game Russians were really a trouble so did not want to boost them but maybe you are right about diplomatic poker, perhaps especially in a pbem setting.

I'm glad to see that you are still around as I want to ask your something. In my previous game, Entente AI was just obsessed with Sweden, never really went for Italy or USA, and at some point it stopped performing diplomatic actions all together. I won the game around 1917. It was in an easier difficulty, though. Have you ever experienced such poor diplomatic play by AI? This is CE, by the way.

Also, would you consider a PBEM at some point? Admittedly some of the interesting tactical aspects of the game will be gone but it might still be fun, especially if it is 4 players I think.