WWI Game Strategy Game

[JasonPratt]

Worth noting: Cent allows you to peek under her hood during and after battles, to see how the... uh...

But looking at the screens it definitely is not as good looking.

YOU LIIIEEEE! {/KingArthurvsBlackKnightwithfleshwoundvoice}

(Actually, the maps are pretty close, for what are probably obvious reasons, and also probably connected to the copyright dispute. But TEAW's map isn't florid insane made of non-Euclidean hexes a thing of the warp as interesting to stare at. In some ways.)

[Gusington]

I don't know...I get the feeling I would get frustrated very quickly with WWI Gold. That's what it really boils down to. I've given AGEOD games the old college try and with eras I have always been very interested in...they rarely cover an era I am not interested in. But I have held off on Espana 1936 and Revolution Under Siege also for the same reason...great era, byzantine looking gameplay :/

[mikeck]

I don't know...I get the feeling I would get frustrated very quickly with WWI Gold. That's what it really boils down to. I've given AGEOD games the old college try and with eras I have always been very interested in...they rarely cover an era I am not interested in. But I have held off on Espana 1936 and Revolution Under Siege also for the same reason...great era, byzantine looking gameplay :/

How dare you: 

Respectfully.
AGEOD fanboy

[JasonPratt]

I don't know...I get the feeling I would get frustrated very quickly with WWI Gold. That's what it really boils down to.

I cannot lie about your chances there. ;) I only just tonight figured out what the bleeding hell the event draw means -- and for Russia it's terrible. 

TEAW does have the advantage of being based on a previous system. WW1G is based on a boardgame converted over to a faintly similar alien doppelganger version of a system.

[jomni]

I don't know...I get the feeling I would get frustrated very quickly with WWI Gold. That's what it really boils down to. I've given AGEOD games the old college try and with eras I have always been very interested in...they rarely cover an era I am not interested in. But I have held off on Espana 1936 and Revolution Under Siege also for the same reason...great era, byzantine looking gameplay :/

WWI Gold rules are different and boardgame-ish.  Easier to get into.

[Gusington]

For 20.00 maybe the risk s worth it. Maybe I can use WWI Gold as an entry point to master To End All Wars...

[JasonPratt]

I am almost certain there is no way on God's green earth that playing WW1G will help you deal with TEAW. Granted I haven't played TEAW, but from what I've seen and read the play mechanics are as different as Cthulhu from the Kraken: they both resemble giant cephalopods, but one will kick your ass far more mundanely.

Listen, Cent is never going to be more than $20, so you don't have to be in a hurry there. I'll try to post a new AAR entry a day; you can follow along on that and get a better idea what it's like to play Gold/Cent. You've read my Absolute Newbie tutorial on Gold, right?

[bbmike]

I don't know...I get the feeling I would get frustrated very quickly with WWI Gold. That's what it really boils down to. I've given AGEOD games the old college try and with eras I have always been very interested in...they rarely cover an era I am not interested in. But I have held off on Espana 1936 and Revolution Under Siege also for the same reason...great era, byzantine looking gameplay :/

How dare you: 

Respectfully.
AGEOD fanboy

Yeah!
[national population Militancy increases]

[bboyer66]

Ageod games are not all that difficult  Once you have the basics down, its more or less just picking up the pieces and putting them where you want them to go. That being said, Ageods To End all Wars really shows the limitations of their gaming engine. It does not do a very good job of actually simulating WWI and trench warfare. The Athena engine is at its best simulating conflicts of the early 19 century and before ( Wars in America/Rise of Prussia).

WWI Gold, or Centennial, or whatever the fuck they are calling it these days, is a much more difficult game to learn. The UI is really a mess to begin with, just trying to figure out what you are supposed to be doing at any given time is a chore. There are so many damn AI options and ways to play(turn based/ simultaneous etc) that it is confusing as to which is the best way to actually play the game. Hell, just read the rules for WWI GOLD and you will see how frickin complex the game is.

  Big thanks goes to Jason Pratt for his tutorial which makes the game much more accessible to new players.  http://grogheads.com/forums/index.php?topic=6547.msg285784#msg285784    His tutorial was a huge help in my learning the basics of the game.

So what I am trying to say is if you cant get your head around the AGEOD engine, you sure as hell aint gonna get it around WWI Gold.  Give Guns of August a try. UI is primitive, but the game itself is not overly complex. The AI is also a pretty decent opponent.

[Rayfer]

You can always go back and reconsider Commander: The Great War or Strategic Command: WWI, both are good WWI games, very playable and without the head-scratching complexity and steep learning curves of the others.

[JasonPratt]

That's good advice, BB. The manual for GAugust is this little pamphlet, like maybe 40 pages? 30? Some of which is legal and other non-game material as usual.

Also, incidentally, GAugust was written by the same guy who made Campaigns on the Danube. Not that the systems are the same at all, just that I learned this the other day (while prepping for a CotD match with Sid which hasn't started yet.) 

I'll be integrating a lot of my original AbNewb tutorial into the new AAR as I go, but I think it's still a good place to start: I really felt like I needed to get a handle on basic chit operation in the game if I ever was going to have any hope of playing it, so that's what I focused on, and related user interface matters, and slowly expanded out from there as applicable. Note that first post in that thread provides a link down to the collected consolidated attachments of the latest version of the AbNewb (from a year or two ago).

You can always go back and reconsider Commander: The Great War or Strategic Command: WWI, both are good WWI games, very playable and without the head-scratching complexity and steep learning curves of the others.

Also true.

[OJsDad]

Gus, per Matrix web site, TEAW is PBEM and WWI Gold is not.  GoA is also PBEM.  If I'm going to get one, I want PBEM.

I'm planning on getting Darkest Hour, but I'll wait and see if it goes on sale next week.

[Gusington]

I played GoA years ago and did a review for it...didn't like it very much and one forumer in particular back then called me out for not liking it.

Commander: The Great War I did like...I should reinstall it. Maybe playing against the AI and not Shelldrake will be better for my ego.

[SirAndrewD]

I haven't been able to get into any WWI strategy game, which is extremely frustrating to me considering this is the period I did my concentration on for my degree. 

Couldn't stand the Strategic Command squares system or WWI Centennial's board game feel. 

To End All Wars didn't have the proper feel for me.  I only really enjoyed the Eastern Front portions. 

Commander the Great war seems a bit too Beer and Pretzels, but it's the one I have the less effort to try.  I need to reinstall since it seems to get some praise here. 

There needs to be a good, deep Hearts of Iron style purpose built WW1 game from Paradox (not Victoria). 

There also desperately needs to be more operational level WW1, but that's for another discussion.

[Gusington]

^That's pretty much how I feel - I love the era but the gaming offerings for it (besides flight sims) just don't grab me, for the most part.