Global Wars Mega Game.

[Broken Mortar]

So let me first say that yes I am aware that GW14 and GW85 (I think it was 85) aren’t out yet…but has anyone been thinking about or does the developers have plans for an expansion or something that could connect all the global war games? Or how that would work?

[insaneHoshi]

I think it would be a difficult if not impossible task to directly link the results of one game to another and still make the following game enjoyable.

However I would see the potential for alternate setups for GW36 based on an alternate history where the Central Powers were victorious akin to Kaiserreich. I think such an expansion would be very marketable and something HBG should do.

[Chris_Henry]

I could be wrong on this, but I believe that’s exactly their intention with having all these different game “start times”. I think they’re developing ways for them to be standalone games, like the Global War 1936 that we currently enjoy by itself. But I thought the plan was to design a way to interconnect depending on how the first game ended. So if you started a game in 1885, the 1914 game would someone be started in direct correlation to how that one ended.

Again, don’t quote me on that. I thought that was the plan, though that could have changed over the years. Would be a very monumental task anyways, but would be a fun idea!

[Broken Mortar]

@insaneHoshi Yeah it would have to be more a scenario based rather than an exact end result of the previous game. So if the central powers won ww1 even though they completely dominated France and Great Britain in game, the 36 setup would be set up differently than how the previous game ended. There would need to be changes in diplomacy, starting incomes, etc. Also would need overlays like the one that comes with the Croatia expansion for the ottoman and A-H empires.

[Broken Mortar]

@Chris_Henry definitely a monumental task.

[Chris_Henry]

@Broken-Mortar Absolutely. I mean, think about it. You’d have to have contingencies for any situation. What if the USA is conquered in an 1885 game? How do you set up and play the 1914 game? Does that affect the balance?

Likewise, what if, say, Germany and France were both defeated in a 1885 game? Do the alliances get shifted based on who survived?

Another big one would be a 1914 scenario where there’s no Russian Revolution, or at least not a successful one. That rewrites a 1936 game entirely. There wouldn’t be a Comintern power at all, and presumably no CCP or Republican Spanish either.

You’d have to have predetermined setups for the next game, based on how the last one ended. If Germany loses this is their set up; if Germany wins this is their set up; if the USA loses this is their set up; if the USA wins this is their set up, etc. etc.

It would be impressive, though I’m not sure how feasible the work actually is!

[GeneralHandGrenade]

The goal from the original concept of the Global War series was that they could be linked. They only have one game out so far so the immediate goal is to put out all of the stand alone games.
HBG is working on an interwar game for the period between WW1 and WW2. I don’t think each war would be directly set up to be a continuation of the previous war, but rather that they would effect each one subtly. You might see a few setup changes rather than wholesale changes to alliances, etc. The interwar game would really be a bridge between the 2 wars based on how the first one ended.
That’s what the idea is, who knows how that will evolve going forward. I’m looking forward to seeing what they come up with.

[Chris_Henry]

Thanks GHG. Yeah, that makes sense. You couldn’t really make wholesale changes for each scenario based on the last. Game balance would be severely hindered.

All has to be realized in the sense of gaming, not historical accuracy! I still think the only way this would turn out extremely odd is if a Russian Revolution fails in a 1914 game. You couldn’t very well alter a 1936 game because of it. So it would end up being funny from a historical perspective to all of a sudden of a USSR that isn’t as friendly to the Allies as the Russian Empire was in just the game before. But all in good fun.

[Noneshallpass]

Straight from the HBG website " The Great War has a number of planned expansions that will connect it to our Global War 1936-1945 and will be ultimately playable as one complete game."

https://www.historicalboardgaming.com/Global-War-1914_p_4028.html

[Chris_Henry]

@Noneshallpass Yeah, it says that, but I don’t think that description has ever been updated haha. Kind of what I was saying above, I think what you’re seeing there was the initial hoped for gaming experience, but I think as development as gone on, it’s not going to be quite as intertwined as implied. I think more what GHG said is probably accurate (plus I know he talks with Doug at HBG quite a bit). But I don’t think you’re going to see sweeping changes for each game based on the one you just completed before it!