The Great War: Western Front

[SirAndrewD]

Yeah, I by no means am saying this is bad. 

In fact, to properly implement trench warfare in this style RTS, this might honestly be the only way. 

I am having fun with it so far. 

Also, it's important to note there'll be a day 1 release patch, or so goes the buzz on Steam.   The main complaint is that the AI has too much of a handicap in its supply bonus, so I imagine that'll be the easiest and first thing they'll tweak. 

[Tamas]

I wouldn't mind the AI cheating with fog of war (I don't actually think it does, BTW), but the Supply bonuses it seems to be getting is ridiculous at the moment.

4 of my units attacking 1 of theirs on the campaign map ends up with the defending AI overwhelming me with sheer numbers it throws at me in counterattacks, while also having a large number of machine guns setup.

I am ok with difficulty, and by all means have a numerically inferior defending AI invest heavily in machine gun nests and mow me absolutely down if I am not careful. But then don't keep churning out seemingly more infantry than I could at my supposed 4-to-1 numerical advantage.

[SirAndrewD]

I wouldn't mind the AI cheating with fog of war (I don't actually think it does, BTW),

Oh it does.  I tried a little trick where I deliberately left my right flank well to the rear of the French line open to see if I could goad the AI into an attack that I'd counter with a swift redeployment of infantry. 

The AI instantly knew my flank was open and sent every single unit out of the trenches to the right.  They took my objective while I swept them from the left and finally destroyed them. 

They did have three (!) balloons but their visual range shouldn't have reached the rear right of my line. 

[W8taminute]

Ok so I spent some time with the game.  Played two and a half turns as the Allies.  Overall I like what I see.

During those two turns the AI did not attack any of my hexes although I have noticed he's massing troops in several areas of the front.  Meanwhile I attempted to attack him twice.  One in a hex defended by three corps and the other with four corps.

The first attack was against the hex with 3 corps of defenders.  I brought 4 of my own corps with me.  I attacked the central objective on the map with three waves of 6 companies each.  The enemy had 5 companies defending the objective.  Timed my artillery to hit just as my own companies came into rifle range of the enemy trenches. Just as I was about to enter the enemy trenches I could see two machine gun nests that were initially hidden from me in the enemies second trench line.  I lost two companies and the other 4 made it into the forward trenches.  I won the forward trenches but lost 2 companies in hand to hand.  The other two were so tired and spent that they died when the enemy counterattacked.

The next wave ended up just like the first wave.  At this point though all the enemy had in the objective was 3 beaten up companies.  I did manage to silence his machine guns.

Third wave came in with only 4 companies and I prevailed, capturing the objective.  Then I ceased fired and the result was a stalemate. 

In all three attack waves I timed my suppressing artillery perfectly having seen it done on some videos. 

In the other hex I attacked he had 4 corps.  As a test of how things work in this game I only brought 2 corps with me.  This time I was unable to crack his defenses and suffered a minor defeat.  Lesson learned.  Always bring in at least the same number of corps as the defender has.

I've got a smile on my face right now.  I think I'm going to love this game. 

[devoncop]

Ok so I spent some time with the game.  Played two and a half turns as the Allies.  Overall I like what I see.

During those two turns the AI did not attack any of my hexes although I have noticed he's massing troops in several areas of the front.  Meanwhile I attempted to attack him twice.  One in a hex defended by three corps and the other with four corps.

The first attack was against the hex with 3 corps of defenders.  I brought 4 of my own corps with me.  I attacked the central objective on the map with three waves of 6 companies each.  The enemy had 5 companies defending the objective.  Timed my artillery to hit just as my own companies came into rifle range of the enemy trenches. Just as I was about to enter the enemy trenches I could see two machine gun nests that were initially hidden from me in the enemies second trench line.  I lost two companies and the other 4 made it into the forward trenches.  I won the forward trenches but lost 2 companies in hand to hand.  The other two were so tired and spent that they died when the enemy counterattacked.

The next wave ended up just like the first wave.  At this point though all the enemy had in the objective was 3 beaten up companies.  I did manage to silence his machine guns.

Third wave came in with only 4 companies and I prevailed, capturing the objective.  Then I ceased fired and the result was a stalemate. 

In all three attack waves I timed my suppressing artillery perfectly having seen it done on some videos. 

In the other hex I attacked he had 4 corps.  As a test of how things work in this game I only brought 2 corps with me.  This time I was unable to crack his defenses and suffered a minor defeat.  Lesson learned.  Always bring in at least the same number of corps as the defender has.

I've got a smile on my face right now.  I think I'm going to love this game. 

Great write up.

Possibly the most convincing I have read as to the merits of the game. A lot of negative comments on the Steam page re AI all seeing behaviour but interestingly the Dev has replied indicating a lot of the criticism is due to a misunderstanding of game mechanics.

[demjansk1942]

Hi guys, I watched a video yesterday but wondering if this game is like the Men of War or Steel Division 2 game?  Those games move to fast for me with all the clicking around the screen.

[W8taminute]

Great write up.

Possibly the most convincing I have read as to the merits of the game. A lot of negative comments on the Steam page re AI all seeing behaviour but interestingly the Dev has replied indicating a lot of the criticism is due to a misunderstanding of game mechanics.

Yes I agree with the dev.  I think because the game mechanics are so different from what we're used to that people are confused. 

Hi guys, I watched a video yesterday but wondering if this game is like the Men of War or Steel Division 2 game?  Those games move to fast for me with all the clicking around the screen.

The pace of the battles is definitely not a clickfest.  But if you make a mistake you pay for it very quickly.  Usually though you still have enough resources in the battle to bring up another batch of companies and try the assault again.  Pause and issue orders calmly while observing what is happening in any local sector of the battlefield and you'll do fine.  My old and tired brain is happy this is not a frenetic clickfest. 

[Gusington]

Thanks W8. I am looking for time to actually jump into this. Still hoping it is the WWI game we have been waiting for since...about...1918.

[W8taminute]

You're welcome Gus.  Remember, put your history hat on when playing this game and you'll be fine.   

[Gusington]

I'll try to fit it over my tin foil one.

[Tamas]

Yes I agree with the dev.  I think because the game mechanics are so different from what we're used to that people are confused. 
 

I am sure that's a big part of the overall complaints but there is nothing to confuse about the AI buying more stuff than its supplies would allow - that's fine as a generic difficulty adjustment, but right now it feels out of whack, and I think it needs tweaking.

Especially since I think the auto-battle calculations don't take such AI adjustments into account, so battles where I sweat blood to eke out a regular victory (not enough to move the tile's status) on the attack, would resolve into a great victory if I just clicked auto-battle. So I am actually incentivised to skip the tactical battles.

[W8taminute]

^What difficulty level are you playing Tamas?

[Tamas]

^What difficulty level are you playing Tamas?

The default one (Soldier, I think).

[SirAndrewD]

I will say the more time I spend with it the more I like it. 

I don't think any of the issues it currently has are fundamental to the game's design.  This is a game that can be improved by balance patching and bugfixing and I'm sure we're going to see a lot of that.

It's actually in refreshingly good shape for a day one release.  This isn't a Paradox situation. 

Also, I was reading some thoughts by modders and it seems, according to them, that the architecture of Great War is very similar to the extremely moddable Empire at War.   This means that we may get to see very very detailed mods and a lifespan that's similar to EaW's.  If this is true Petroglyph has done us a huge solid with this game.

[Gusington]

^God I hope you are correct in that last paragraph.