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 It's December 1914, and apparently this war is not going to be over my Christmas. With massive casualties and human wave tactics apparently the order of the day, the leaders have turned to the only man they know who is willing to trade huge numbers of men for victory and sleep well at night. Me. Welcome the The Great War – Western Front. This is a new game that fills a niche I've wanted for a long time – first you have a grand strategy map  Look at that hex based lovelessness! On this map, you move units, recruit air and tank units, sort out the logistical mess to make sure everyone has the shells they need to pound the enemy into dust, then order attacks. The stars on the map represent entrenchment levels. Score a good enough victory and they are reduced, fail to shatter the enemy and they come back at a rate of one a turn.  When you order an attack, you switch to a RTS where you throw wave after wave of your own men at the enemy, backed up with artillery (If you membered to order any, and if you have the supplies) – To victory or death! Casualties taken reduce your national will and cost money to replace, so attempts to bleed your enemy dry are a viable (and historical accurate) option – and best of all, the trench systems and some of the damage done to the map are carried over from battle to battle, so you see them build up, or get shattered as you fight over the same few maps for the next four years.  Sound good? Well, lets pick a side! The Triple Entente of France, Britain and Belgium is ready to try and kick the Central powers off their soil, and advance on Berlin, one blood soaked meter of mud at a time! When a choice has been made, I'll do another post outlineing our choices, and then let you pick research and targets – after that, I'll record the first Video! Your LP'er needs You!  (I have had this on my hard drive for years, and it keeps becoming relevant!)
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Apr 5, 2023 11:30
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| # ? May 3, 2024 17:09 |
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Central powers Underdog is always good and Grey needs to try to sink the british navy LEGITIMATELY
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Apr 5, 2023 19:50
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Central Powers for some fun.
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Apr 5, 2023 19:57
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Central Powers Conrad. It. Up.
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Apr 5, 2023 19:59
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I'm phone posting and can't find a good quality gif of Field Marshal Haig from Blackadder so here's something almost as good and inarguably happier:
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Apr 5, 2023 20:02
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[b]Entente[\b] for that chance to finish the job history couldn’t and off Hitler.
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Apr 5, 2023 21:32
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Central powers
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Apr 5, 2023 21:48
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Central Powers For the glory of the Kaiser! The men will be home for Christmas! ... What do you mean the game starts after Christmas!? ... Okay I didn't specify what YEAR Christmas.
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Apr 5, 2023 23:07
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Central Powers Too bad you can't just play Italy and split the difference.
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Apr 6, 2023 03:12
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Central Powers Play a harder difficulty. My first game I ran the Germans out of national will in January 1916 in default normal difficulty. That said, the AI is really good at finding the weakest spot in your defenses and making their attack focus on that point. Layered defense is the key to success, and while machine guns and trench mortars are excellent at suppressing attacks, the AI laser focuses them for destruction to the point where you can be really gamey with it. Historically speaking, everyone figured out that the Western Front was an unwinnable problem with the technologies of the time but it took another two years for the politicians to realize that the only way forward was to kill more of them than you lost. This game is ok at simulating that problem but it's not great at fully replicating it.
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Apr 6, 2023 03:37
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OK well, everyone except Luigi Cadoranna and Conrad von Hotzendörf.
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Apr 6, 2023 03:41
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 The Schlieffen Plan has failed, and it's time for me to clean up the mess. As suggested, I'll up this to veteran, this will be my first proper game – I got a few hours in the demo and a few hours as an Allied campaign – and I agree, the difficulty needs to be upped a bit to make this a true WWI experience.  Christmas has been cancelled!  This is the front line. The race for the sea is over, and we have a solid line of trenches from the channel to the alps. In this game you don't recruit infantry corps, this is all we have, we just get to move them around, weakening and strengthening the front as we need to.  Vouziers has our largest concentration of troops – four corps – a few others have three, but most have only two. We do not have the advantage in manpower.  We have a nice easy mission. Killing ten companies is all quiet on the western front!  Funding stands at 8,000...... money. This is used to build things we've not unlocked, and replaing the inevitable heavy losses. We get 1,000 a turn.  Here is the research tree, split into six areas, as Germany, we already have heavy artillery unlocked, and we have three points to spend, and will get one a turn.  Do we want fighters? To take down enemy observation balloons?  Maybe we think helmets are a good shout.  Military intelligence may be an oxymoron, but it's useful!  Supply depots may not be sexy, but having another 40 companies or more artillery support on the battlefield can be key.  Some techs are more expensive than others – maybe we want to go for gas shells, and choke the enemy out!  Or timed shells to increase the killing power of our artillery.  Maybe We want to play it safe, and learn the art of digging in! We only get three points, so give me an idea of what you want me to grab – we want everything of course, but we will have to prioritise to start.  The last major choice is what to do with the extra troops – the can move or attack in a single turn, but not both – so do we pick a target to begin our assault, or split the forces across the line to strengthen our defences? Does anywhere (on either side) look weak? The next! update will be the first video and murder death kill.
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Apr 6, 2023 06:09
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A Central Powers campaign?? This is an insult to the memory of the brave defenders of Mangepomme and Chemin des Putains!   (can't believe it's been eight years since that game, jesus christ)
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Apr 6, 2023 07:16
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Now Grey, I'm excited for this but are you sure that unlike many other World War I games, including a naval one you played a decade or so ago, this one isn't broken and mathmatically incapable of resulting in a Central Powers victory?
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Apr 6, 2023 07:35
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Helmets, Trenches, Supplies Gotta start with the basics.
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Apr 6, 2023 08:56
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A very coffee-stained letter lands on a desk. To Feldmarschall Grauer Jäger, I hope you and yours enjoyed Weihnachten, old friend - certainly needed the break, considering what a manic mess the last few months have been. All our usual bluster aside, I saw a lot of concerned faces back home over the last few days. I think people have finally cottoned on that this will not be the flash in the pan that von Schlieffen promised. God knows what we'll do about the Russians, but I suppose that's not our immediate problem, eh? I saw your memo about requests for channeling the military research directorate. I concede that I have a vested interest in a few areas you've highlighted, but still, allow a friend to throw my hat in on a few points. I understand from the memo that the directorate might be able to make some immediate improvements from the last few months of preparation - if so, I would favour Improved Helmets, Fighter Planes and Trench Engineering for what we should requisition post-haste. We need better trenches because if the last few months have taught us anything, they are how the man on the ground fights now - don't tell the kavallerie! - and we're due a counter-blow from the shopkeepers or winedrinkers soon, I dare say. Better to be ready first. After all, as much as this dug-out is "good enough" for now, when you hear the French 75s flying about, you do start wishing for a concrete roof... And look old boy, while I'm sure we all have one or two people we have handy who will fly for the Kaiser gratis (I have a cousin in Mockern who has a private joyrider I'm sure I can wangle onto flying over the French lines for the thrill of it - did you ever meet him at the big house?), I think an actual military fighter arm might be a wise investment so I can And jokes aside, we need the grenadiers alive to win this war - I don't think the helmet's the main problem quite frankly, but if the troops want an improved helmet and it keeps them fighting and winning, then all the better. We know that we're pinched for manpower as it is, let's not make it worse, eh? Once those are all squared away, I would suggest we next focus on this "Region Intel" concept - I quite understand your skepticism towards the intelligence service, believe you me (they still haven't found that cognac I lost on the Marne!) but better we sow the seeds of good eyes and ears early and reap the rewards later down the line. Hard to tell what's in an enemy trench from your own, so the men say. I'll stop here - my adjutant has something new to complain about, and I suppose I ought to listen to him once or twice a day, just so I can throw questions back at him to keep him on his toes if nothing else!! See you in Paris soon old friend, General Serpentis About 5 minutes later, another letter shows up with a slapdash sketch map doodled on the envelope. P.S. Sorry, missed second page - see map. French seem weak at Chatillon-sur-Marne and Chalons-sur-Marne - but so do we at Rethel and Vouziers!! How many divisions do we have in reserve to bolster our line at R/V and prepare for 1915 attacks? Break open Chatillon and we can push towards Provins as long term goal??
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Apr 6, 2023 08:58
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We need helmets just to stop the bleeding of manpower that will be inevitable.
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Apr 6, 2023 10:44
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Grey Hunter posted:With massive casualties and human wave tactics apparently the order of the day, the leaders have turned to the only man they know who is willing to trade huge numbers of men for victory and sleep well at night. Hey, don't sell yourself short. You could trade huge numbers of your men for nothing and sleep well at night  I think Mil Int, Depots and Trenches is the way to go. Studies show helmets increase injuries anyway*, no point to them. *actually true statistics from the times. That's because helmets convert what would be fatalities into injuries. A Festivus Miracle posted:OK well, everyone except Luigi Cadoranna and Conrad von Hotzendörf. You know, as an Italian I'm weirdly proud* a too online historian is spreading the word on how Cadorna is amongst the most incompetent assholes of military history. No wonder he jumped on the fascism train early on. *There's gotta be an exact German word for this. E: hold on, let me report on a description from the local history on the Tonale Pass (rondabout here) and the nearby Presena Glacier. That pass was (part of) the frontier between Italy and Austria during WW1 and nowadays there are some memorials and remembrances about the Great War, both in town and near the glacier. One plaque sums up the history as such (from memory, paraphrased): "Italy abandoned the glacier at the start of the war thinking it not particularly defensible. They spent the rest of the war trying to recapture it" Omobono fucked around with this message at 13:57 on Apr 6, 2023 |
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Apr 6, 2023 13:49
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Someone I know played this game and told me about it, so: Aircraft provide you with 100 free supplies for each aircraft chit in each fight they're deployed, even if you don't actually use them in the fight. Buying them is a far more efficient way of converting money into supplies than the default, since it's a continuous self-replenishing supply for the entire duration of the war, while also being quite potent in disrupting the enemy when actually deployed on the field. Helmets are a very large, noticeable boost to effectiveness of your units in all aspects of the fight, and also conserve a lot of resources in the long run due to reduced casualties (assuming you retreat your damaged units when it's safe to do so instead of just sending them to die) Supply depots are a powerful force multiplier in difficult fights, but can also enable being reckless with supply use, to the detriment of other fights. However, they unlock important stuff in the tech tree. Information gathering is important, but not before you have the tools to actually act on it, so I'd advise delaying that for a few months. Fancy artillery tricks are only good for bankrupting you early on without achieving much. Better trenches are nice to have, and something you should certainly consider at some point, but until big artillery and aircraft enter play, generally trenches are kind of a binary thing. Either you have them and they're good enough, or you don't and that's it. my dad fucked around with this message at 14:54 on Apr 6, 2023 |
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Apr 6, 2023 14:49
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Speaking of better trenches there's (what I believe to be) a bug in the current version of the game. If you play several battles in the same location (the same two tiles fighting each other), the trenches will persist, as you'd expect in a real-life conflict. But you still have to pay supplies for the construction of all of those trenches in future battles, which isn't how it's supposed to work as far as I understand it. Given how expensive upgraded trenches are compared to the basic ones (basic trenches cost 2 points each, level 2 costs 30 supply), investing in upgrades will irreversibly cut down on your in-battle budget for every consecutive battle there.
NeverHelm fucked around with this message at 15:29 on Apr 6, 2023 |
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Apr 6, 2023 14:59
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Research? Who needs research, when you can just send attack after attack? Attack for the Kaiser!
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Apr 6, 2023 15:51
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habituallyred posted:Helmets, Trenches, Supplies Gotta start with the basics. Are you nuts? Elan and offense is the key to victory. Helmets will sap the fighting spirits of our men, trenches will only encourage them to get comfortable and defend, and we'll seize the supplies we need from the french. Let's go for gas shells, we can use them to breach the enemy lines and then drive our attack through the gap, I'm sure it will go fine.
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Apr 6, 2023 15:52
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Helmets, Trenches, and Supplies Gotta have a good foundation before we do anything else.
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Apr 6, 2023 15:55
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Not voting in this thread. I joined too late to pick the side I wanted. I will read it, though. I also would like to share something I wrote about World War 1 in high school- "It was All Quiet on the Western Front until Paul turned on his rock music." 
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Apr 6, 2023 16:38
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Helmets, Supply Depots, Fighter Planes.. Let's kick this war into gear.
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Apr 6, 2023 17:38
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Why it is always Western Front? WW1 is already underrepresented in media, but Eastern Front is basically nonexistent.
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Apr 6, 2023 17:54
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Szarrukin posted:Why it is always Western Front? WW1 is already underrepresented in media, but Eastern Front is basically nonexistent. I think they wanted to make the game in a particular way (heavy emphasis on static defenses, "persistent" terrain that is modified over successive battles, relative balance of forces between the opposing sides, no huge exogenous shock events) that doesn't really make sense in the Eastern Front context.
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Apr 6, 2023 18:40
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Fighters, Helmets, Supply depots Aircraft are the maximum Elan way to fight, jousting in the skies. Supply depots so we can keep our lads in Sauerkraut and bratwurst once they break through the French lines. helmets because we want to look cool while doing that.
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Apr 6, 2023 19:10
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Fighters, Helmets, Supply depots As mentioned upthread, Trenches are broken, and the basic ones are good enough until heavy air presence or really big guns join the fight.
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Apr 6, 2023 20:02
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Fighters, Helmets, and Supplies for the reasons others have already laid out.
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Apr 7, 2023 09:07
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 OVER THE TOP LADS! Here we go with moving some troops around and then two tentative assaults - we don’t have the supply or forces for anything major, but this at least gets us the morale high ground!  This is not a map I expect to move much! With a new turn, we get another research point!       
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Apr 7, 2023 15:34
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Region intel We need to know the enemy's weak points now that we have a handle on how our armies fight.
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Apr 7, 2023 16:54
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First Aid Tent. That looks vital.
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Apr 7, 2023 17:01
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First Aid Tent for some healing power.
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Apr 7, 2023 17:04
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Our troops won’t fight if they’re dead, the cowards. So First Aid Tent.
megane fucked around with this message at 02:30 on Apr 8, 2023 |
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Apr 7, 2023 17:12
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Assaults go a lot better when you can instantly call artillery strikes onto a precise location.
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Apr 7, 2023 17:33
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I don't think we have enough or effective enough artillery to manage a proper assault. That slaughter near the Marne...  But it's 3 research points to get airburst shells, Intel and First Aid are only 1.
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Apr 7, 2023 22:23
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Hospital Dead Troops can't sink the royal navy for us
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Apr 8, 2023 00:07
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I continue to probe and fend off probes from the Allies - and it's becoming clear that I just don’t have the tech to make a deceive breakthrough at this difficulty level. So, here is the choice - Do I continue to probe the lines, sapping the will of the Allies, or do I go on the defensive until spring and build up more tech and supply lines - I need to buy some more supply tents and get some field hospitals down, as well as replenish my supply.        Tech wise, I’m thinking the increased funds would be useful - its 20% more a turn,but do I save for something more powerful? What do you think?
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Apr 9, 2023 10:31
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Build strength and increase income
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Apr 9, 2023 11:34
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