Commander:The Great War AAR!

[LongBlade]

More Panzer Corps style/feel to it

Agreed.

[Jarhead0331]

Just installed, ready to go. Want to finish Slick's AAR first though.

For the love of God man...Just play!

[tgb]

 Here are some impressions after playing a couple of turns of the 1914 campaign (and not reading the manual).

First of all, I love the look of the game. The map is great and the sepia-toned information cards fit in nicely, as do the faux-newspaper headlines that announce major events. Anyone that has ever played a Panzer General styled game will be able to jump right in, as combat, repairing units, and recruiting new ones is straight out of that playbook, which is fine. The big difference is that each country starts with a finite level of manpower that never replenishes, and as you get closer to the bottom of the well, the quality of your troops diminishes, so you have to be careful not to go repair and recruitment crazy.

One difference between this and PG (or the other Commander games) is that leaders are not purchased like ordinary units. They appear when certain milestones are reached. For instance, Von Hindenberg only becomes available to the Germans when a) they are at war with Russia and b) the German infantry has destroyed 20 enemy strength points (note - not units, so knocking a French unit from a strength of 10 to 6 counts as 4 for this purpose).

Likewise, diplomacy is handled uniquely. The 1914 campaign starts with Austria-Hungary at war with Serbia, and 21 neutral countries in the bleachers. Rather then sending diplomats or spending PP's to influence them, they all react to player actions, and that's what makes them more or less likely to enter the war. For example, if the CP player parks a couple of naval units outside of Constantinople, it increases the likelihood that Turkey will enter the war.

Research is handled a bit differently as well. At the start of 1914, you can only invest in infantry research, with the other schools (naval, aircraft, etc.) only becoming available after a certain number of turns. I'm not sure how I feel about that, since it seems a little gamey. Why CAN'T I build labs to research naval tech in the first turn if I want to?

So, right now I like what I see, but I feel I have to RTFM. The only thing I haven't yet found is a way to see the supply situation, but it may be hidden in there somewhere.

[LongBlade]

So, right now I like what I see, but I feel I have to RTFM.

I think you're spot on.

I, too, need to RTFM. Muddling around for three or four turns has been amusing, but I'm clearly missing something. The Russians have overrun me in the East, the French are clobbering me in the West. The Serbs and I seem to be stalemated in the South.

Also, I'm not seeing any way to try and positively influence diplomacy. I can declare war whenever I like, but how, for instance, might I try to improve relations with Italy? RTFM, I guess... :)

[tgb]

So, right now I like what I see, but I feel I have to RTFM.

I think you're spot on.

I, too, need to RTFM. Muddling around for three or four turns has been amusing, but I'm clearly missing something. The Russians have overrun me in the East, the French are clobbering me in the West. The Serbs and I seem to be stalemated in the South.

Also, I'm not seeing any way to try and positively influence diplomacy. I can declare war whenever I like, but how, for instance, might I try to improve relations with Italy? RTFM, I guess... :)

Go to the diplomacy screen and check the info tab for each country.  It will give hints as to how to make it more or less likely that the country will enter the war (i.e. - The CP player needs to send a German battleship to Constantinople to get Turkey into the war)

[Gusington]

I have been waiting for a 'Panzer General' of WWI for ten years. This a momentous occasion! My brain is just not hard wired to jump right in. I'm afraid if I do, I will miss too much, get frustrated and then postpone really learning the game. Too much to lose!

[son_of_montfort]

So, right now I like what I see, but I feel I have to RTFM.

I think you're spot on.

I, too, need to RTFM. Muddling around for three or four turns has been amusing, but I'm clearly missing something. The Russians have overrun me in the East, the French are clobbering me in the West. The Serbs and I seem to be stalemated in the South.

Also, I'm not seeing any way to try and positively influence diplomacy. I can declare war whenever I like, but how, for instance, might I try to improve relations with Italy? RTFM, I guess... :)

Maybe I am just a better natural commander...  ;) I am able to keep the Russians at bay and the Western Front looks a lot like the western front in real life, even by November, 1914. I'm fairly conservative in my attacking, however, and I won't usually assault unless I know it will lead to something. Letting your units sit seems to increase their entrenchment level, and I absolutely LOVE that entrenchment shows physically on the map as little black trenches (awesome touch, a wargame that deforms the map a little).

I'm not sure I understand the battle predictor dialog thingie, it seems to give numbers like 1:3 that don't actually translate to reality. I need to read up on that.

The problem with WWI games is that, when playing the CP, I feel like I have lost early on by spending so much on infantry and garrisons to protect my cities and push back the Russians. That leaves me behind in the air and sea arenas. Certainly I don't expect the CPs to be a naval giant, but I don't want to get steamrolled later in the war by waves of British boats and planes. PP are few and precious, and I almost always need them for infantry and garrisons (for those having trouble in the East, remember that garrisons are built the next turn and, although weak, provide a way to protect cities from Russian grabs).

[Slick Wilhelm]

I, too, need to RTFM. Muddling around for three or four turns has been amusing, but I'm clearly missing something. The Russians have overrun me in the East, the French are clobbering me in the West. The Serbs and I seem to be stalemated in the South.

Also, I'm not seeing any way to try and positively influence diplomacy. I can declare war whenever I like, but how, for instance, might I try to improve relations with Italy? RTFM, I guess... :)

In my AAR, while instructing how to play the game, I'm also giving strategies for not getting rolled by the AI. Notice in East Prussia that I'm not attacking, and instead I'm building a defensive line around Koenigsberg/Danizig?

You must establish and keep a cohesive line in order not to let the AI flank and/or surround your units. It's a very delicate balancing act and you'll never have enough PP or MP. War is hell, after all.  ;)

Don't be afraid to counter-attack, though. Many times, the best defense is a good offense. You can stop an attack by the AI by counter-attacking its advanced units, knocking them down to 8 or less strength. If you can do that, the AI will stop to repair(so would a human player).

IMO, Diplomacy is the achilles heel of CGTW. You'll notice in my AAR I have so far ignored the Diplomacy tab. The reason is because there's not much to do in there but look at how mad or happy the other nations are with you. They will still enter the war on whichever side they are slated to, but your actions can delay or speed up when they enter. But that's about it.

In short, I wouldn't worry about the Diplomacy tab, and just focus on winning on the battlefield. Hope that helps. :)

[Gusington]

Slick your AAR is going to make this game for me. Thanks for putting the time into it. You should look into writing official manuals.

[Slick Wilhelm]

I'm not sure I understand the battle predictor dialog thingie, it seems to give numbers like 1:3 that don't actually translate to reality. I need to read up on that.

SoM, is my AAR not clear on the combat prognosis box? I really tried to make that clear.


In a nutshell, the game compares many values between both units involved in the potential combat(like hex entrenchment, unit attributes, unit entrenchment, terrain, etc) then it gives you an estimate of what will likely happen if you proceed with the attack.

If you selected "Show casualties in the combat prognosis" in the display settings: The numbers inside the combat prognosis will show how many strength points and efficiency points will be lost by each side. The red number is how many YOUR unit will potentially lose, while the green number shows how many points the AI will lose.

If you selected "Show kills in the combat prognosis" in the display settings: The numbers inside the combat prognosis will show how many strength points will be destroyed by each side.

It's just a matter of personal taste. I prefer to see how much I stand to lose when attacking, so I use "Show casualties". Someone else may prefer to see how much potential damage they inflict on their enemy during the attack, so they would choose "Show kills".

[Slick Wilhelm]

Slick your AAR is going to make this game for me. Thanks for putting the time into it. You should look into writing official manuals.

Thanks, Gus. Very kind of you to say. I'm writing the AAR/tutorial in a way that I hope will allow people to more or less jump right into the game and play while consulting my AAR as they go along.

The learning curve is really not steep. But there are some things that are not so obvious unless you take a close look, and I've tried to highlight those things in the AAR by using highlights, arrow, etc.

[Slick Wilhelm]

The only thing I felt was disappointing, was that you start off with very little in the way of artillery, love the trenches developing on the landscape as units are stationed, but to really give out the WWI buzz, I wanted more arty popping away from the off. Seems to take an eternity to get arty out.

Now that my NDA has been lifted, I can talk about the Arty unit. :)

This was one of the most debated issues by myself and a couple of other testers. I had difficulty accepting that a game based on what was essentially a war between artillery and machine gun, would not have many artillery units!

But, the Lordz explained that the Infantry and Garrison units that make up the ground game already have artillery built into them. So arty is in there, albeit abstractly. The Artillery unit in CTGW should be thought of more as an "Artillery barrage", something akin to the preliminary bombardment along the Somme the week before July 1, 1916.

I lobbied hard to have the unit name changed from Artillery to Artillery Barrage, but it was decided to leave it as Artillery. Oh well, c'est la Guerre!

In the game itself, you should definitely save up to purchase Arty units and to increase your Arty production, because the Arty unit is the only real effective way of punching through a stalemated front, like the Serbian front. Once you punch a hole through, it's possible to maneuver and then pick apart the Serbs, but you have to punch through their line somewhere, first.

Don't forget about amphibious invasions, either. You can use it against Serbia, and I have the feeling that sneaky players will use it against their opponent in multi-player games.

[LongBlade]

Thanks for the insight Wilhelm.

[Slick Wilhelm]

Thanks for the insight Wilhelm.

Please, LB, call me Slick. We're all friends here!  ;D


One thing I haven't mentioned yet, and I feel strongly about, is how much CTGW feels like playing chess.

When I play, I often spend many minutes agonizing over one move, trying to figure out what could happen in the next few turns if I move a unit to a certain hex. The AI is very brutal when played on privileged mode, and it will make you pay for any opening that you give it.

But, that's a good thing!  :)

[Sir Slash]

Hey Slick. If you have time please go over again for me what does the privlidged AI get as opposed to regular or not-privlidged? Can the AI be a challenging opponent without being given a big edge or cheats? Your AAR and opinions are the reason I come to Grogheads. I almost don't trust industry reviews anymore. Thank you, Sir William.