Omegaman1

I agree that tanks -- at least in the campaign game -- seem not worth the effort. Too much money invested for too little gain. Maybe they play a better role in the smaller (operational-level) scenarios. However I do think the zeppelins and bombers are worth some investment. The zepps are fairly cheap, and also inexpensive to research; at higher levels (3 or better) they can do some decent damage MMP-wise (not sure about the morale effects). And the bombers can be useful for recce missions, particularly on the western front. As for artillery, a well-placed arty (or two) can be a real war-winner once you've gained shell production and heavy artillery. And I agree with you 100%, this is an awesome game. Dave

Hi UFC, Since this was only my first game, I can't say for certain if this is a "must-do" event every time. In my game it was a big help for the Austrians, as it let them focus on Russia and Serbia without fearing a third front. However, that was against the AI. A human player might better use the Russians to wear down A-H morale, since it drops by a huge percentage. I am curious to see what others experience with this decision event; it might be one of the more crucial decisions made in the early game. Dave

I am currently playing the Triple Alliance scenario as the Entente. This is a much closer game than my first try as the CP. Definitely feels like the allies are hanging on by their fingernails. It's mid-1915 and both sides are struggling to maintain morale... and the Italian navy is making things very interesting for Britain and France in the Med! Again, thank you Hubert and Bill for such an awesome game. Dave

Just wanted to say I am really enjoying the AAR. Thank you for continuing your reports... it will be interesting to see how this game plays out. Dave

Forgive me if this is in the manual somewhere, but I assume fortress squares have trench lines on all sides? Dave

How about the whole Russian Civil War, 1918-1922? (Of course that would include Finland's fight too, Krista!)

Thank you Tommyguns! It was a pleasure writing this AAR, I had a fantastic time playing my first game. Dave

Thank you, Zukkov. I've always been fascinated by the "what-might-have-beens" of the Great War, and this game definitely allows the player to explore them. I wonder, since I didn't allow Lenin to go to Russia in my game, if the communists would have been able to take power. In any case, the Europe at the end of my game was certainly different from the historical one! Dave

Bill, I have to say that, for my first game, that investment was a sound one.

Now that I've finished my first campaign, I have a few reflections to share. 1. Overall, I really enjoyed this game. The changes to the SC engine to reflect the First World War are well done. The morale rules, the shell shortage issues, the entrenchments -- all add to the historical flavor of the game. The game "acts" historical too (with one possible exception, see below), with the decision events and weapons research adding a good layer to the game. 2. In my game, it "felt" like World War I through the first two and a half years (until Switzerland joined). No blitzkriegs here -- slow, grinding battles over small patches of territory. The scale is great, especially now that the map is bigger and has more details. Also, the territories are well represented -- Germany is a railroad powerhouse, while the Balkans are almost impossible to travel well in; northern Italy is a nightmare to fight/move troops through; the Ottoman territories in Arabia are remote and not easily occupied. 3. I do feel there are some flaws, though. First, it seemed that the Central Powers' success in both research and diplomacy came too easily. The relative costs of research seemed rather low, and thereby allowed Germany to put a lot of money into research AND mobilize most of its forces. Likewise, the amount of diplomatic chits for the Central Powers seemed a bit too powerful: with all three major Central Powers contributing, it was easy to place 50% or more influence on a given country. 4. While I like the idea of a REMOTE possibility of Switzerland coming into play, it seemed to happen too easily in my game. Hence why I said the game really felt like WW1 until Switzerland entered -- after that, the French and British did not seem to know how to respond, allowing the Germans the opportunity to overrun the southern portion of France. 5. The AI seemed to be on par for most of the game, but it did have a few "hiccups." First, as my Germans came closer to Paris, the AI inexplicably moved all of its forces away from Paris, except for a single French detachment. It also did this once I got close to Marseilles. Also, the AI didn't seem to do much about my submarine fleet until the American forces were present; although this appears correct, as America's entry did help cement the convoy routes and end the German sub menace. In summary, I really, really like SCWWI. I am sure the first patch will address most of my concerns. (Plus I can't wait to see the WWII version of this game!) Next I'll probably tackle one of the mini-campaigns (most likely Race to the Sea), then play the Entente in the 1914 Triple Alliance campaign. Once again, thank you Hubert and Bill for a wonderful game, this has been well worth the wait and expense. Dave

The Balkan Wars would be a great scenario addition to SCWW1... I'd love to see it done. Dave

Awesome, glad to hear it! Dave

Sorry it took me a while to post this, but in the last 48 hours I've had to deal with my first root canal and a serious head cold. Here is the conclusion of my game! 1917: The year begins with the Germans having sent all of their victorious forces from the east to the Western Front. With Switzerland’s entrance in the war on the Central Powers’ side, Germany now attempts to outflank the trench lines to the south. The French and British cling stubbornly to the trenches they’ve held for the last two and a half years, sending detachments and newly mobilized corps to plug the opening at the Franco-Swiss border. The Germans launch their first offensives against France from Switzerland, and thanks to relatively mild weather, make significant progress early on. Dijon and Lyons are captured, and the Germans begin to retrace the steps of their forefathers – marching to the northwest toward Paris, much as the Prussians did some 47 years ago. The bulk of the German forces are sent to the west, toward Bourges and Troyes, while a smaller force (mixed with Swiss units) moves south toward Grenoble in hopes of reaching Marseilles. Meanwhile, the Germans continue to keep pressure along the entrenched front, using their heavy artillery to shatter British and French forces holding the lines around Verdun. While Germany attempts to win the war against France, the Austrio-Hungarians are also on the move. In the south, a combined Austrian-Bulgarian-German-Ottoman force moves down into Greece, having successfully occupied Albania by the beginning of spring. The Central Powers’ forces seize Larisa and attempt to push toward Athens and Patrai. But the Greek army has mobilized, and (with French help) the Greek navy makes its presence known in the Aegean by sinking an Ottoman battleship. The Central Powers decide to dig in and keep the Greeks confined to their last remaining strongholds. The war takes another turn when Austria-Hungary decides to regain the territories lost to Italy two years before. While the Germans urge caution, the Austrians – flush with victories over the Russians, Serbians and Greeks – press on and declare war on Italy in April 1917. The move obviously catches the Italians by surprise, as Trieste and Gorz are unoccupied, while the areas around Verona and Udine are lightly held. The Austrians retake their former territories, which lift the spirits of the Dual Monarchy’s many subjects, then smash into the Italians at Udine. In the first weeks of the campaign the Austrians are held up in the mountains along the Austrian-Italian border. But, with the fall of Verona and Udine, the pathway into northern Italy is opened. As spring arrives, Germany continues to see success in France. German forces march ever closer to Paris, taking Troyes, Toul and Chalons. In the south, the combined German-Swiss forces take Grenoble and put Marseilles under siege. Back on the “old” western front, the Germans blast the French out of Verdun and Belfort, both national morale cities. This causes French morale to drop considerably, giving Germany hope that the French might collapse sooner rather than later. Not all goes well for the Germans, however. The Kaiser’s submarine fleet – 9 units strong – has been inflicting serious damage against British convoy lanes near Scotland and Ireland. The situation changes suddenly, however, when the American navy arrives! In a matter of a few turns, the combined Anglo-American fleet sinks 5 subs, while the survivors (all having taken some damage) flee back to port. British convoy lines reopen, bringing some relief to Britain’s populace (and a slight improvement in morale). Unfortunately for the Entente, the situation on the ground continues to worsen. The Germans push into Orleans, and bring up the dreaded “Paris Gun” by rail to begin shelling the City of Light. The French and British have been forced to largely abandon the old trench lines, and are soon fighting in front of Amiens and Reims. In Italy, the Austrians march in Venice, while moving south into the Italian peninsula towards Bologna and Parma. Italian and French morale continues to plummet, as each country loses ever more territory and armies. Finally, in September 1917, the Germans attack Paris. The meager French unit (a detachment) holding the city is shattered, and the Germans (led by Hindenburg) once again march through the French capital. While this reduces French morale to less than 15%, the French continue their fight, moving the government to Bordeaux. The Germans move accordingly, sending troops toward Bordeaux while trying to trap the British forces in the north around Caen. Things go well for the Germans: Bordeaux is captured easily (with the French capital moving again, this time to Algiers), the British are bottled up in the Normandy Peninsula, and the Germans occupy Marseilles and move into Italy. There is one final surprise, however: the American Expeditionary Force arrives! Operating out of St. Nazaire, the AEF attacks a pair of overextended German detachments, destroying one and forcing the other to retreat. The Germans regroup, repairing their forces around Paris, and launch a final drive to defeat the new arrivals. While the American forces are strong, they lack the experience of the battle-hardened Prussians, and soon the U.S. units are pushed back towards Brittany. By fall, the Germans are in control of most of metropolitan France, and with the fall of St. Nazaire, French morale drops below 0%. The French sue for peace, and quit the war in November 1917. Things unwind quickly for the Entente. With France’s surrender, the Italians – by now having lost everything north of Florence – see their morale drop to less than 5%. With the French and Russians gone, Italy on its last leg, and the Ottomans still holding out in Sinai, the British and Americans decide to ask Germany for an armistice. The Germans agree, and the “war to end all wars” comes to an close on December 1, 1917 – a major victory for the Central Powers.

I just finished my first campaign as the Central Powers, and the U.S. joined the Entente in Sept. 1916 in my game as well. I did choose to go with unrestricted sub warfare, but it seemed that U.S. reaction to that event was uneven. It went up to about 50% in 1915, then stayed there for several months. Then, in the summer of 1916, it started growing again in leaps and bounds -- even though I had the same number of German subs in UK NM spaces (three) the whole time. As for U.S. forces, the first American aircraft arrived in December 1916, while a decent force of American units (one HQ, three corps, 1 detachment, 1 SF) appeared in France by fall 1917. The delay "felt" right, as it took about a year for the U.S. to make a real presence on the battlefield. Hope this helps! Dave

The war continues... 1916: Germany once again focuses on the Eastern Front, launching offensives in both the north towards Kovno and in the center towards Brest-Litovsk. As the Germans continue to destroy Russian units, a vicious cycle emerges for the Tsarist Empire: as Russian morale plunges, their armies drop in effectiveness; this allows the Russian units to be destroyed that much easier, therefore dropping Russian morale further. By late spring, the Germans are practically taking a city (or two) per turn: Kovno, Vilna, Grodno, Dvinsk, Minsk. As a result of these losses, the Russians force Tsar Nicholas II to abdicate, and a provisional government under Kerensky is formed. This raises Russian morale, but not enough to halt its military reversals. Thanks to a continuous stream of diplomatic pressure, Romania joins the war on the Central Powers’ side. This helps the Austrians to regain their lost cities in the eastern regions, and soon they and their new Romanian allies are pushing into the Ukraine. The Austrians take Lutsk and Rovno, while the Romanians take Vinnitsia and Kishinev. To make matters worse for the Russians, Finland declares its independence and, with the help of the Germans, defeats the Bolshevik forces in their country. This opens a new source of trade for Germany, no to mention a potential future ally. The Germans push through Riga and march onwards to Petrograd. The German high command is offered a chance to send the communist revolutionary Lenin to Russia, with the goal of helping push the country into further chaos. However, the Germans fear that Lenin’s fiery oratory might not affect just his own countrymen, but the Central Powers’ populations as well. As such they decline the offer, and keep him in Switzerland, in obscurity. While this delays the final fall of Russian morale below 0%, it does not stop it. Finally, after the fall of Pskov, Polotsk, and Vitebsk, Russian morale drops below zero and, on September 7, 1916, Russian signs an armistice with the Central Powers. The old Tsarist Empire breaks apart, and several new nations – Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Ukraine, Crimea, and Trans-Caucasia – are formed. Germany annexes Poland, while the Romanians gain Bessarabia and the Turks seize land in Armenia and Georgia. The loss of Russia has a profound impact on the other fronts of the war. With the loss of Russian support, Serbia is unable to hold out and is overrun by the Austrians and Bulgarians. Montenegro falls quickly afterward, and the Austrians push into Albania. The Entente receives some good news when Greece declares war on the Central Powers, but the Bulgarians and Turks push over the Grecian frontier and take Salonika before the Greeks can fortify it. In the far south, Turkish troops take El Arish on the Sinai Peninsula, and dig in on the east bank of the Suez Canal, facing off against the British. The Turks also are forced to send troops to Medina, as Arab tribes begin a series of revolts against Ottoman rule. In the west, all has been quiet again for most of the year – except for one major development. German unrestricted submarine warfare has been very effective in shutting down the British sea trade routes, crippling shipping and national morale. However, this has also caused the United States to grow angrier with the Germans, and by late summer the U.S. commitment to the Entente has soared to 90%. The Germans back off on their submarine use, but the fall of Russia appears to be the final push for the Americans, and in September 1916 the U.S. joins the Entente. Now the Germans are faced with a race – to shift all of their victorious forces from the east to a showdown in the west before the U.S. can make its full presence felt. As the Germans begin the massive move of their forces from one end of Germany to the other, a truly amazing event takes place. After much diplomatic pressure and support of pro-German elements within the country, Switzerland joins the Central Powers in November! Taking advantage of this opportunity to outflank the French front line, the Germans race to get troops into the Swiss nation before the Entente can do the same. At first, it seems the Entente gains the upper hand: French forces take Basel and destroy a Swiss detachment. The Germans manage to regain the initiative, forcing the French out of Basel and then pushing them back into France proper, managing to take Besancon before the year ends. As the calendar turns to the new year, the question remains, can the Germans and British halt the German advance in the south, or will this be the beginning of the end of the war in the west? More tomorrow. Dave

Perhaps placing the same cap on heavy artillery as there is on the rail guns -- namely, a max of 5 rounds a turn instead of 10? That way the reseach for ammo production (levels 1-4) would match the capacity of the artillery itself. (And also cut the power of the artillery in half, but not reduce its effectiveness.)

Hubert/Bill, As I've been playing SCWW1, I've noticed that several areas suffer from not having railroads present -- particularly the Balkans, Turkey (out to the Caucasus and Syria) and Mesopotamia (Mosul down to Baghdad). This is historically accurate, so no problem there. However, while I am not completely certain, I think some railway work was improved/completed during the war (particularly in Turkey). My thought was, how about a railroad engineer unit? It could act much like the engineer unit in the WW2 games, except instead of fortifying it would lay down new rail lines. It could lay down rail between 45 and 120 days for each tile, depending on the terrain therein (with rougher terrain taking longer to develop). I don't know how this would affect the game engine (scripts), but it would be useful in representing each nation's attempts to improve their railroads. Or, perhaps to make it simpler, make a few decision events where the player can pay a set amount of MPPs to have rail lines developed or added (i.e., completion of the Berlin-Baghad railroad). Any opinions? Dave

Here is the continuation of my AAR... 1915: The Western Front remains stationary for the entire year, although both sides manage to launch damaging attacks – the French and British near Calais, the Germans near the Chemin des Dames. The Allies seem content not to launch any major offensives, which suites the Germans just fine, as shall be seen on the Eastern Front. The year sees Germany undertake two strategic warfare initiatives. The first is the decision to implement unrestricted submarine warfare. While this freezes Britain’s convoy routes to America and Russia (and subsequently drops British morale), it also angers the American public. This shifts American opinion to the Entente’s side, and by the end of the year American commitment has risen to 50%. The second initiative sees Germany launch its first Zeppelin raids against London. While these raids fail to cause much damage, the Germans hope it will further erode Britain’s will to fight. It’s a different story in the east, as Germany launches a series of attacks against the Polish salient. The Russian defenses are scattered here, and after destroying a host of Russian units (with the help of the heavy artillery, shipped in from the west), the Germans easily take Kutno, Lodz and Warsaw – the last a national morale center for Russia. In the north, the Germans and Russians dig in along the Prussian border, although the Russians continue launching assaults against Memel. In the south, Austria-Hungary is faced with the possibility of a third front opening as the Italians demand the cities of Gorz and Trieste. After much debate, the Emperor decides the Austrio-Hungarian army simply cannot handle any more strain. As such, the Austrians do the unthinkable and hand over the disputed territories to Italy. On the positive side, this quiets Italy’s nationalist fervor and her commitment to the Entente drops to zero. Unfortunately, the downside is that morale in Austria-Hungary plummets nearly 30 points (below 70%) and mass mutinies and riots drop the army’s effectiveness and most cities’ production values. Despite this, the Austrians do see a few bright spots. On the Russian front, the Austrians assist Germany by destroying several Tsarist units along the frontier, while taking Radom and Lublin. Combined with Germany’s success, this leaves most of Russian Poland in Central Powers hands (and Russian morale dropping almost to the same level as Austria-Hungary). In Serbia, the Austrians see even great success – not having to worry about Italy, the Austrians send all their reinforcements into that theater. The Serbs put up a stiff resistance, but the Austrians grind the Serbian units down, eventually reaching Pristina and Uzice. This success lures Bulgaria into the war, and soon Uskub and Nish are under siege. The Ottoman Empire sees little activity, with small skirmishes along the empire’s periphery. In the Caucasus, the Turks launch an attack against Batum, which the Russians easily repulse. In Mesopotamia, the British seize Basra, but do not advance much further beyond the port. And along the Suez Canal, the Turks send forces into the Sinai Peninsula, laying siege to El Arish and occupying Nekhl in the south. In terms of diplomacy, the Central Powers focus on increasing Holland and Norway’s support. Also, the Germans use their influence on Bulgaria and Romania, which results in the former joining the war and the latter moving closer to the Central Powers camp. In research, the Germans see gains in trench warfare (to level 3), ammunition production (level 2), and – in a huge breakthrough – gain a level 1 in infantry warfare. All three Central Powers also work on improving infrastructure and production. More soon. Dave

Hi Amadeus, thank you! As for my goals, in the early campaign I decided to follow a pretty historical path -- for Germany, try to gain as much ground in the west before turning to face Russia. For the Austrians, I decided to give Serbia top priority, which meant some bad losses on the Russian front. However, as you will see, I think my choice worked out for the best.

I hope everyone won't mind, but I'd like to share my experiences during my first game of SCWW1. I'm almost finished the 1914 Call to Arms campaign (playing Central Powers), so I thought I'd post a year-by-year account of how things went. Hope you guys enjoy it. 1914: Germany invades Belgium and pushes quickly to the Franco-Belgian border. The Germans swing toward Arras, but are stopped by the French. Germany then switches its efforts to the Channel ports, and captures Calais (and in doing so destroys the last Belgian unit on the map, the King Albert HQ, effectively ending Belgian resistance). With more French and British units showing up, the Germans dig in along a front running roughly from Calais to Lille/Maubeuge, then down the Franco-Prussian border to Switzerland. Other than a few one-off attacks launched by both sides, the Western Front seems stabilized. In the east, the Russians make some probing attacks against Prussia, weakening the Memel garrison and occupying Thorn. In reply, the Germans bring Hindenburg out of retirement and begin moving troops from Posen and Breslau toward the Russian border. As the Western Front settles down, more and more German reinforcements are sent to the east, particularly to the Memel area. Down in the Mediterranean, the Germans allow the Ottoman Empire to "take over" the Goeben. This, along with some financial aid sent by Germany, encourages the Turks to enter the war on the Central Powers' side. Not much happens, as the Turks move troops to the Russian frontier and occupy Oltu, while gathering forces in the Syria-Palestine area for a strike towards Egypt and the Suez Canal. Austria-Hungary decides to send its reserve units to Serbia instead of Russia. As a result this enables the Austrians to aggressively move against the Serbs, taking Belgrade and Valjevo while destroying a Serbian corps. Unfortunately this leaves the Austrians fewer units to defend the Russian frontier, where the Russian steamroller goes into high gear. The Russians proceed to hammer the Austrians, occupying Tarnopol, Czernowitz and the Galician oil fields. This, coupled with the loss of several Austrian units, causes Austria-Hungary’s morale to plummet. Alas, it will drop a lot further in the next year… More tomorrow. Dave

Worg, I was enjoying the battle report as well -- thanks for getting to the bottom of its "disappearance." Hope to see it return soon! Dave

Just wanted to add my voice to the chorus... the printed manual is fantastic, job well done! Thanks for listening. Dave

Thanks Hubert! And while I have your attention, I've also noticed another (again, very minor) visual issue. When I use an artillery unit (either heavy or rail gun), after each firing the screen has a white "flash." The flash lasts only a fraction of a second, but it only seems to happen when firing the guns. Just thought you might like to know. Dave

Hi Hubert/Bill, While playing the 1914 CtA scenario, I seem to have encountered a possible graphics glich. After playing through 3 or 4 turns in a row, I notice that the display on both the war map and the furthest zoomed-out view both have an issue -- namely, all of the unit sprites appear to move about an inch to the right. When this first happened, I thought I had lost all of my naval units in the North Atlantic and suddenly had a bunch of units in Scandinavia! The fix I have found for this is relatively simple -- I save the game, quit out to the main menu, then reload. After this the unit sprites all go back to their correct places. This is hardly a game-breaker, more of a minor nuisance. Just wanted to bring this to your attention and see if anyone else had encountered this. Dave

I have just reached Feb. 1915 in my 1914 CtA scenario as the Central Powers. The decision event regarding Austria-Hungary giving land to Italy as a way to keep the Italians out of the war popped up. Since my Austrians were heavily tied down in Serbia and Russia, I decided to give into Italy's demands and hand over the territory... WOW. Austria's morale dropped to 58% and several units took damage to reflect the morale drop. However, Italy's war status dropped to 0, down from around 80% before the event occurred. I would like to know if Italy's commitment level will stay at 0, or can the Entente work to bring it back up again? Also, what are some suggestions for getting Austria-Hungary's morale back up... taking cities from Russia and Serbia, I assume? Any help would be appreciated! Dave