The great war

[ABWorsham4]

@Frontovik:

bulgaria, ottoman empire and austria-hungary were already out of the war at start 1918 i thought
or atleast played no more vital role.
i always wondered why the germans didn’t launch the biggest navy assault at the same moment. if either of them was to fail, they’d have lost the war anyway.
of course, it’s good that such butchering has been prevented, but it would have given the british quite headaches, as the supplies to france was already hard to maintain.

The Kaiser’s love for his navy hurt Germany in WWI. Germany had the best armor-cruisers at the time: great for commerce raiding. Germany should have tried to break out more warships into the Atlantic.

[CWO Marc]

@Frontovik:

bulgaria, ottoman empire and austria-hungary were already out of the war at start 1918 i thought
or atleast played no more vital role.
i always wondered why the germans didn’t launch the biggest navy assault at the same moment. if either of them was to fail, they’d have lost the war anyway.
of course, it’s good that such butchering has been prevented, but it would have given the british quite headaches, as the supplies to france was already hard to maintain.

The best shot that Germany got at fighting a decisive naval action against Britain was at the Battle of Jutland in 1916.  The battle was a tactical victory for Germany in terms of tonnage sunk, but it was a strategic defeat: the High Seas Fleet had to withdraw twice in the face of Britain’s greater numbers.  Germany never again tried to challenge the British Grand Fleet.  By 1918, the High Seas Fleet was in a sorry state compared to 1916, due to the losses suffered at Jutland combined with two years of inactivity.  In late 1918, the German naval command planned to send out the High Seas Fleet on what its sailors correctly interpreted to be a futile, suicidal gesture meant to salvage the Fleet’s honour.  The sailors promptly mutinied and the last sortie never took place.

[Bigtiti]

@CWO:

@Frontovik:

bulgaria, ottoman empire and austria-hungary were already out of the war at start 1918 i thought
or atleast played no more vital role.
i always wondered why the germans didn’t launch the biggest navy assault at the same moment. if either of them was to fail, they’d have lost the war anyway.
of course, it’s good that such butchering has been prevented, but it would have given the british quite headaches, as the supplies to france was already hard to maintain.

The best shot that Germany got at fighting a decisive naval action against Britain was at the Battle of Jutland in 1916.  The battle was a tactical victory for Germany in terms of tonnage sunk, but it was a strategic defeat: the High Seas Fleet had to withdraw twice in the face of Britain’s greater numbers.  Germany never again tried to challenge the British Grand Fleet.  By 1918, the High Seas Fleet was in a sorry state compared to 1916, due to the losses suffered at Jutland combined with two years of inactivity.  In late 1918, the German naval command planned to send out the High Seas Fleet on what its sailors correctly interpreted to be a futile, suicidal gesture meant to salvage the Fleet’s honour.  The sailors promptly mutinied and the last sortie never took place.

that was after the ludendorff offensive.
but point taken ^^

[ABWorsham4]

Favorite WWI commander?
Favorite WWI weapon?
Favorite WWI battle?

[i rock]

My favorite ww1 commander is: hmmm I’d say aurthur currie.
My favorite ww1 weapon is: lee enfield smle
My favorite ww1 battle is: I’m hopping you mean most interesting, for me that would be first battle of Ypres (this was the one with first every gas attack right?)

[Bigtiti]

@i:

My favorite ww1 commander is: hmmm I’d say aurthur currie.
My favorite ww1 weapon is: lee enfield smle
My favorite ww1 battle is: I’m hopping you mean most interesting, for me that would be first battle of Ypres (this was the one with first every gas attack right?)

Ieper is indeed the place where germans used it the first time (on the western front)
also the start of a bombartment that would last for 4 years and bombs are still found by the thousands
gotta love our clay :P

[Clyde85]

Favorite commander: Paul Emil Von Lettow-Vorbeck, only German commander never to be defeated in battle.

Favorite weapon: the French Canon de 75 modele 1897, by far the best artillery in the war, hands down. It has been said that World War 1 was an artillery mans war fought by the infantry, hence the choice. In terms of small arms, I think the British lewis gun was the best, being able to lay down heavy fire while still light enough to move quickly and fire from the hip.

Favorite Battle: Verdun. It is the battle which gave us the immortal words Ils ne passeront pas, or in english, They Shall Not Pass! Truely amazing what men endured there, and it really was a titanic sturggle, of two nations, two peoples, fight to the death.

[CWO Marc]

Favourite Weapon: the Renault FT-17, the first tank in the world to use the modern conventional tank configuration (an armoured hull with a caterpillar track on each side, a driving compartment in the front, an engine compartment in the rear, and a central fighting compartment topped with a rotating turret in which the tank’s main armament was mounted).

[Bigtiti]

reviving the topic, as i’m working on my own great war map :P

[i rock]

I hope your map isnt copied from mine!

[Clyde85]

@ABWorsham:

Let’s keep this World War One topics alive, World War One is my favorite war.

I agree, mine too!  :-D

If anyone out there plays table top games I strongly reccomend you check out warhammer historicals “The Great War” game series. It is a great game that represents trench warfare for the individual soliders at the battalion level.
@Frontovik:

reviving the topic, as i’m working on my own great war map :P

what an intresting coincidence, so am I

[Bigtiti]

@i:

I hope your map isnt copied from mine!

it’s not even on cardboard. so show me yours and i’ll show you mine? :P

[Bigtiti]

btw, how do you guys use cavalry in your games?
is western front a seperate map?

[Clyde85]

@Frontovik:

btw, how do you guys use cavalry in your games?

I think my partner said it best “Their just F*****'s on horses right?”  :lol: so we went from, they have the same combat roll as starting infantry but can move 2 spaces an if they attack and survive to the end, they have an option to push threw into a bordering terittory if it is unoccupied by enemy troops. Also they have no artillery support options.
@Frontovik:

is western front a seperate map?

No, the map I use is of Europe and the middle east (including all of saudi arabia and a few sea zones around it). I was thinking fornt specific maps might be a good idea but only after the “world” map and game are done.

[Bigtiti]

@Clyde85:

@Frontovik:

btw, how do you guys use cavalry in your games?

I think my partner said it best “Their just F*****'s on horses right?”  :lol: so we went from, they have the same combat roll as starting infantry but can move 2 spaces an if they attack and survive to the end, they have an option to push threw into a bordering terittory if it is unoccupied by enemy troops. Also they have no artillery support options.
@Frontovik:

is western front a seperate map?

No, the map I use is of Europe and the middle east (including all of saudi arabia and a few sea zones around it). I was thinking fornt specific maps might be a good idea but only after the “world” map and game are done.

then i might give some ideas ^^
my game map goes from portugal to ± moscow and kazachstan (very small and non-important)
, and south norway to north africa.there are cavalry units (the mechs)
also researchable(?) tank unit, with just 2 defence and 1 move (so a bull-dozer)
there are many convoys along the coast (notoriously around ottoman middle-east territories, around north africa, and france; with 1 near Bremen. I also included the russian revolution; the russians have 5-6 victory cities. if 3 have fallen, the chinese inf join the axis; they can be placed everywhere: 1 inf every 2/3 territories.
no railways, bombers are zeppelins, and transports cost 10.

[Clyde85]

All intresting stuff Frontovik, our maps sound similar, focusing on the important stuff. Our map dosnt really allow for convoy raiding A&A style per-say, though losing certian sea zones will hurt certian countries economically. Also our combat system focuses more on the artillery bombardment and that sort of stuff.

We dont include the Russian revolution directly, again this is something we chose to handle in-directly. The goal of the game isnt so much to conquer your opponents and to win, but to make your opponents lose.

[Bigtiti]

@Clyde85:

All intresting stuff Frontovik, our maps sound similar, focusing on the important stuff. Our map dosnt really allow for convoy raiding A&A style per-say, though losing certian sea zones will hurt certian countries economically. Also our combat system focuses more on the artillery bombardment and that sort of stuff.

We dont include the Russian revolution directly, again this is something we chose to handle in-directly. The goal of the game isnt so much to conquer your opponents and to win, but to make your opponents lose.

many territories?

[Clyde85]

Yes, the land map has many territories, but we chose to simplify the sea zones and naval battles mechanics as much as possible.

[Bigtiti]

ah, with me it’s bit other way. the first round there are many small naval battles, especially in med. ottoman, austrian and german fleet(subs) chosing to kill which navies; warships or convoys(transports), and where and from which country etc.

[i rock]

my WW1 game doesnt have 2 many territories, but combat is limited to 2 rounds per turn. If you want I could post the map and or rules, just dont copy them :) .

here are my units + there stats. (warning theres alot)

Unit stats

Land
                Atk  Def  move    cost
Conscript infantry   1 1        1          2
Conscript infantry get -1 attack or defence when fighting tanks on a 3:1 ratio of conscripts to tanks depending on the combat. IE if there attacking they lose 1 attack and when defending they lose 1 defence. You may only buy 8 conscripts per turn.

Infantry      1        2        1        3
Are supported by artillery on a 1:1 ratio

Assault infantry    2      3         1         5
Assault infantry get +1 Attack in the first cycle of combat
Are supported by artillery on a 1:1 ratio

Calvary 2      1           2          4
Can blitz territories

Artillery    3        3          1          5
Can support all infantry units on a 1:1ratio,
Supported units get +1 attack.

Tank 4 2        2          6
Tanks take to hits to kill. Requires tank tech.
Tanks take away the attack/defence power of conscripts on a 3:1 ratio of conscripts to tanks.

Air
Atk  Def  move    cost                   
Fighter      2        2          3          7
Can provide artillery an opening fire bombardment of 1 on a 1:1 ratio of artillery to fighters

Scout plane 1      2          4            8
Can provide artillery opening fire at a 1 on a 2:1 ratio of artillery to scout planes

Bombers 3 1 5 11
Can do strategic bombing raids on industry or naval ports. Can provide artillery opening fire at a 1 on a 3:1 ratio of artillery to bombers

Infrastructure Atk Def Move Cost
Defensive forts  0      1or2*      0          8
Defensive forts roll 1 die per ship passing through the sea zone hitting at a 1. During an amphibious assault they hit land units on a 2 and get an opening fire at landing craft landing troops. These are not killed only captured. They take 2 hits to become none operational.
They cost 3 to get repaired.

AA guns            0        1        1          N/A
AA guns roll 1 die per attacking air plane hitting at a 1.

Naval Ports 0 0 0 N/A
Naval ports let you protect your ships from harm by letting you garrison your ships in them making them immune to naval attack, but it takes 1 move to go in and out of naval ports. You may build ships at naval ports, limited to 1 per turn.

Industry 0 0   0 N/A
Industry is where you deploy your men, you can deploy double the amount of infantry  of the territories income value but all other unit can only be deployed up to the territories income value I.E. South France is worth 2 so you can place 4 infantry and 2 other units there(Not infantry or conscripts).

Sea
Atk  Def  move    cost                   
Transport  0        0          2          8
Can carry 1 infantry and 1 other land unit or air unit. Air units do not participate in amphibious assaults or naval battles well on a transport must be the last casualty in combat.

Destroyer  2        2          2          8
Stops subs from submerging and negates there opening fire. Can bombard at a 1 on a 1:1 ratio of Land units to ships

Carriers 0   1     2         17
Carriers can Carrie 2 scout plane or 2 fighter plane or 1 of each. Carrier’s gets to roll 1 die hitting at a 1 per attacking aircraft prior to combat. Requires carrier tech to buy.

Cruisers 3 3 2 12
Can bombard on a 2 on a ratio of 1:1 of ships to land units

Battleship 4        4          2          20
Takes two hits to sink they cost 3 to repair and they have to be in a naval port.  Can bombard on a 3 on a 1:1 ratio of land units to ships

Subs          2        2          2            8
Subs get a opening fire before combat. If your defensive force is only subs and your opponent has a destroyer present you can elect 1 sub to stay and fight while the rest submerge prior to combat. Subs resurface next turn. Subs can move through hostile sea zones and stay in them as long as no destroyers are present.

*note I had naval ports and cruisers before AA50 & AA global came out.