Italy 1915 as starting date for beginners?

[lessavini]

Hi! I'm new to the series, just got the game yesterday and slowly learning the ropes. I come from more "mainstream" strategy games like Civs, Pdox, Total Wars and Nobunagas, etc. and I'm finding SC: WW1 really interesting so far, even if a bit complex and arcane for someone new to "pure" wargames like me. Which brings us to my suggestion:

Why not create a scenario where Italy enters the war (mid 1915) exactly for beginners like me? It seems the perfect tutorial for the game: you start small with a small force to manage, a small pool of MPPS each turn, and a small front with Austria-Hungary. Right now the only way to get there is starting in 1914 as Italy and spend a full year just waiting, which is boring.

Thoughts? If I'm missing something here and such scenario already exists (or others similar in purpose), please lemme know.


P.S: btw, game is a blast. What entry should I look next?

[Platoonist]

While not quite the same as 1915, you could start the 1914 grand campaign scenario as Italy by choosing the Entente side and then setting all the other major powers to be run by the AI by clicking on their flags. You'll have to choose when you enter the war.

Choose Italy.jpg (26.24 KiB) Viewed 241 times

[mdsmall]

Platoonist makes a good suggestion (I had no idea that you could set the AI to play selected majors on your side as well as the enemy side).

Another approach would be to learn the ropes by just playing Serbia instead. They are of course are in the war from start, so you don't have to wait many turns to get into combat. They have a much smaller economy than Italy, but you can bump that up with convoys from France and Russia. You could also try playing as Austria-Hungary only and focus on defeating Serbia and playing defensively against Russia and let the AI handle the rest. Serbia is the smallest major in the game; but the time it takes to defeat them can vary wildly depending on the skill of the both sides and the degree of effort the Central Powers invest in it. Defeating Serbia is essential (in my view) to a successful Central Powers grand strategy. So, it is a great scenario to study in depth. There is a detailed post way back in this forum (I think in 2021) by Dazo on defending Serbia which is well worth reading.

Enjoy the game!

[lessavini]

Thanks for the help. Barring Italy, I agree Serbia and AH seem the next best scenarios for novices indeed. I'll try those.

While not quite the same as 1915, you could start the 1914 grand campaign scenario as Italy by choosing the Entente side and then setting all the other major powers to be run by the AI by clicking on their flags. You'll have to choose when you enter the war.


Choose Italy.jpg

Thanks but that's exactly the scenario I described in the OP: picking Italy in '14, delegating everybody else to AI and waiting all the way up to may '15 to start actually playing (before that date all you can do is move a handful existing counters without attacking anyone, no MPP to research or build either, just pressing "next turn" and seeing the AI play until may '15). I even saved a game at that date and named it "Italy enter the war" so I can use again later in this learning phase of mine.

The ideal would be a scenario starting at that date (may '15) already, so we could play Italy in it's historical entry date. It amuses me that nobody thought about that, since it seems the perfect intro for novices (like me).