Fields of History: The Great War

[Jarhead0331]

This just got picked up by Microprose. It has a distinctly similar vibe to the old game Making History: The Great War, by Muzzy Lane in both title and look. There must be some connection there. I mention the similarities because Making History is a game I always struggled to get into.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1286230/Fields_of_History_The_Great_War/

[al_infierno]

Making History is big nostalgia for me. "The Calm and the Storm" was the first grand strategy game I ever got into. Pretty fun and straightforward, a bit of depth but nowhere near something like Hearts of Iron. I still remember the hijinks of the system where you could liberate "Communist China" as a democratic republic, but they'd still be called "Communist China." 

[Destraex]

I have always wanted to play a ww1 game which offered the opportunity to play the war in such a way that trench warfare did not become dominant and the war was over quickly. Do strategic games like this offer those options in a realistic way? Or do trenches always appear and stagnate things?

[bobarossa]

That's like asking to play ww2 without tanks.  Trench warfare had arrived by late in the US Civil War (look up Cold Harbor and the Siege of Petersburg).  As soon as troops in ww1 had time to pause, they dug trenches.  I guess you would have to have a WW1 game that introduced tanks at the beginning of the war to avoid trench warfare.

[Father Ted]

I think Des has a point.  There must have been a time in 1914 when the Entente could have headed off the Central Powers before the trenches were dug.  Or the Central Powers could have more quickly defeated the Entente in France.  Or the front could have stabilised in a different place.  It would be good to have a game that catered for those eventualities.

[Tanaka]

I have always wanted to play a ww1 game which offered the opportunity to play the war in such a way that trench warfare did not become dominant and the war was over quickly. Do strategic games like this offer those options in a realistic way? Or do trenches always appear and stagnate things?

Have you tried SCWW1? Lots of possibilities here not all trench warfare...

[W8taminute]

I did buy the physical copy of Making History way back in the day.  I have only vague memories of that game but I don't recall disliking it.  I do believe I shelved the game when the original HOI came out.

In any case this looks good.

[Destraex]

That's like asking to play ww2 without tanks.  Trench warfare had arrived by late in the US Civil War (look up Cold Harbor and the Siege of Petersburg).  As soon as troops in ww1 had time to pause, they dug trenches.  I guess you would have to have a WW1 game that introduced tanks at the beginning of the war to avoid trench warfare.

You're right. It kinda is. But at the same time a lot of ww1 games don't have the early mobile warfare of ww1 well portrayed, not well enough that it might have prevailed. As Ted said, I think their would have been a point where a breakthrough might have stopped trenches being built. It would perhaps have been co-incidence or good planning and more flexability by the generals adapting formations to be smaller and more mobile etc. In the end though it is probably a small chance with machine guns and arty reigning supreme.