Strategic Command: World War I

[Tanaka]

Figured I would promote my friend Old Crow Balthazor's YouTube channel here and post the digital AAR on our new current series for Strategic Command WW1 since the newest patch updates. As they do for all games in the series it is consistently updated on player feedback by the Devs Bill and Hubert. This is the first YouTube series I have been involved in and it is a lot of fun to see our PBEM play out. OCB does a great job with his narrations and historical tidbits. Come join us for some WW1 action and history and maybe we will peak your interest in picking this one up! It is a great game and in my opinion the best WW1 game ever made!

Latest Patch Notes:

Strategic Command: World War I
v1.06.02

GAME ENGINE Changes
- Fixed an issue where a recently formed neutral minor nation, retained its previous resource strength settings without a proper reset, e.g. reflecting its possibly new and/or different resource organizational supply strength status (Bavre).
- Fixed an issue where active convoy calculations were performed prior to resource strength calculations, which could incorrectly result in some convoys showing as invalid, due to a weakened port, prior to the final resource strength updates (Mithilotter).
- Fixed an issue where renaming your HQ in the PURCHASE screen would not remove the originally named HQ from the list (ArcturusRising).
- Fixed an issue where a SURRENDER_2 event would incorrectly remove a friendly unit relative to the event recipient ID when located in the capital (petedalby).
- Removed the GDI+ installed check at runtime.

EDITOR
- Frozen weather zone data for Sea Effects can now be amended (no longer locked in) for Winter and Late Winter settings.

1914 Call to Arms; 1914 Triple Alliance
- National Morale scripts penalizing Germany and Austria-Hungary are now linked to dummy DE 8 rather than DE 28 (ThisEndUp; Bavre).

1914 Call to Arms; 1914 Triple Alliance; 1917 Fate of Nations
- Corrected the Mobilization_2 script #NAME= Ukraine->Central Powers (to offset the script below), to only require 4 German units, and have added a mention of this to the Strategy Guides (Bavre).
- Pop Up script #NAME= Strategic Advice To The Central Powers (6) - Keeping Four German units near Warsaw amended and duplicated so it provides a message and shows a blue icon when hovering over Warsaw when the condition is met, as well as a message and red icon when it isn't.
- The Strategy Guides have been updated (see DE 625) to correctly reflect the benefits of keeping German units in the east once the Ukraine has been formed, and also of the risk of not having them there.

1918 Ludendorff Offensive
- Fixed the end date of the campaign to be the 31st December (david_k_helm).

v 1.06.01
GAME ENGINE CHANGES

- Fixed a naval retreat error that did not always optimize retreats to nearby friendly ports (havoc1371, kirk23).
- Fixed a rare Carrier retreat from combat error that would sometimes lead to a CTD (arcturusrising).
- Fixed a Strategic Bomber attack error that in some cases did not allow you to scroll after the first strike (Mithrilotter).

1914 Call to Arms; 1914 Triple Alliance; 1917 Fate of Nations
- Fixed a POPUP event script error for keeping 4 German units near Warsaw (CaesarAug).

v 1.06.00:

GAME ENGINE
- Fixed a PURCHASE UNIT screen error that did not sometimes highlight Minor nation unit types with an '*' that could be repurchased at a discount (Earlydoors).
- Fixed a very rare game freeze during AI naval combat calculations (redrum68).
- Fixed a hex control update error around enemy resources that would sometimes revert control to your opponent when your own friendly unit positions should have prevented that from happening (EarlyDoors).
- Fixed a FoW error regarding units within resources of non belligerent but fully mobilized nations when moving adjacent to them, they will now remain hidden (atshii).
- Fixed a FoW error during an air attack that did not reveal units along the flight path when a sub dove (mdsmall).
- Fixed a unit swap error that sometimes led to higher than expected Ground Cover or Entrenchment values for Artillery, HQs and other non trench units (Will952).
- Fixed a naval unit movement error that would cause a CTD when moving to a Land + Sea hex that still had a trench on it (Bavre).
- Fixed a PBEM login issue that did not properly handle some special characters in passwords such as '#' or '!'.
- Fixed a PBEM save error for when a game has been 'resigned'.
- Fixed a disappearing trenches error during PBEM++ replays of previous turns (Will952).
- Last Turn Summary screen now has the option to list items in reverse chronological order (georgiabulldog1).

LAUNCHER
- Launcher now correctly links to the latest Strategy Guides (LoneRunner).

BLUE MAX MOD
- Fixed a missing naval mine graphic for the non NATO counter units (Narisomo).

1914 Call to Arms; 1914 Triple Alliance; 1917 Fate of Nations
- Changed the terrain to numbers 147 and 498 in hexes 190,13 and 191,12 respectively, as well as changing 191,13 to be a fully land hex, to enable rail traffic to pass to and from Alta in Norway (Scottydawg).
- Deleted the forest in hex 198,89 to avoid confusion as it couldn't be easily seen (mdsmall).
- Changed the weather for Late Spring (1st May to 20th June) in Russia (weather zone 5) to have a zero chance of mud (Trooper_One).
- Research progress for all Majors now averages at 5% for achieving levels 1-3, and 4% for achieving 4-5.
- Partisans no longer have Bomber Defence 1 (Bavre).
- Sweden's King's Gustav's rating corrected (ulver).
- Changed the Mobilization_3 scripts for the new countries when Austria-Hungary collapses so they join the Entente from Type= 1 to Type= 2 so that these countries will join the Entente after a few turns (huckster).
- Russia withdrawing from the war will now reduce Serbian National Morale by 2,500 points (mdsmall).
- The surrender of France will now reduce British National Morale by 7,500 points (mdsmall).
- Changed the Alignment_Position requirement for DE 36 Germany surrenders so it now checks for Ottawa being in Entente hands (Fafnir; Niedowidek_slith).
- The ability of Aerial Warfare to increase the Build Limits of Minors for Fighters, Recon Bombers, Ground Attack Bombers and Heavy Bombers has been removed (mdsmall).
- Minor Victory conditions corrected so they will now fire, Verdun replaces Warsaw as an objective in the Minor Victory Conditions, and these have been added to the 1917 campaign too (PSA; mdsmall).
- Dummy Decision DE 173 added to allow historical Pop Up messages of events during the war to be easily turned OFF by going to Options -> Advanced -> Scripts -> Decision. It is the first one in the list, and unticking the box on the right will mean that 95% of the messages that are only there for historical flavor, won't appear. A small number are tied into other Decision Events to ensure they only appear at the correct time, so they will still appear (Garrison Moratto).
- The text of the Pop Ups relating to Ukrainian Grain Supplies to Germany have been corrected and there have been very significant changes to DE 625 for Germany to receive Grain Supplies from the Ukraine. The benefits are now more nuanced, including there now being some benefit from them if the Ukraine joins the Central Powers. Please check the Strategy Guide under DE 625 for a full explanation.
- Improved the text relating to DE 625 in the Strategy Guides to explain how Germany can benefit the most from Ukrainian Grain (EQFL_Sapare).
- Improved the text relating to Unrestricted Naval Warfare in the Strategy Guides (mdsmall).

1914 Call to Arms; 1914 Triple Alliance
- Russia's Guard Cavalry in Shavli (192,65) now start with Ground Cover 1.
- Russian Garrison unit deployed at Riga with Ground Cover 2.
- Changed the triggers for dummy Decision 252 #NAME= France: Dummy - Supply Shipments To Serbia via Salonika so that Salonika transfers to Serbia if the Central Powers have a unit in any hex between Cetinje and Pristina (KorutZelva).
- The Resource scripts increasing French production are no longer tied to German advances into France.

1914 Call to Arms; 1917 Fate of Nations
- Fixed the label for the Italian National Morale script for the Fall of Verona as it had been mislabeled as the Fall of Udine - which exists separately too (mdsmall).

1914 Call to Arms
- The chance of the Austro-Hungarian AI transferring Trento and Trieste to Italy via DE 704 has been reduced from 25 to 15% (redrum68).

1914 Triple Alliance
- Two AI only National Morale scripts amended to fire to take into account that Italy is Central Powers rather than Entente (KorutZelva).

1914 March on Paris
- Disabled Operational Movement by all land units.

1917 Fate of Nations
- Fixed DE - 250 so it requires Corfu to be in Entente hands, rather than Cetinje, Pec or Pristina (mdsmall).

All Campaigns
- Cavalry Corps no longer have Bomber Defence 1 (Bavre).
- Changed the setting from -0.5 to 0.0 for Defender HQ losses greater than Attacker losses (ThisEndUp). 

[Gusington]

Great game - looks like tons of changes above! Thanks for posting.

[ArizonaTank]

I am in the middle of a PBEM game with an old friend of mine...having a great time. We even both read "Guns of August" to get in the mood.

It is not the most "accurate" WWI game out there, but it is much deeper than it looks, and at a high level fits well with the history of the war. In the end, IMHO the game is highly playable and addictive.

[Tanaka]

I am in the middle of a PBEM game with an old friend of mine...having a great time. We even both read "Guns of August" to get in the mood.

It is not the most "accurate" WWI game out there, but it is much deeper than it looks, and at a high level fits well with the history of the war. In the end, IMHO the game is highly playable and addictive.

Curious which game do you feel is the most accurate game out there?

[W8taminute]

Awesome stuff Tanaka and thanks for sharing!  This is a great game and I like it much better than Commander: The Great War.

Arizona I agree with your assessment of Strategic Command: World War I. 

[ArizonaTank]

I am in the middle of a PBEM game with an old friend of mine...having a great time. We even both read "Guns of August" to get in the mood.

It is not the most "accurate" WWI game out there, but it is much deeper than it looks, and at a high level fits well with the history of the war. In the end, IMHO the game is highly playable and addictive.

Curious which game do you feel is the most accurate game out there?

I think "To End All Wars" or its older sibling "World War I Centennial Edition" are much less "beer and pretzels" than Strat Com WWI

[WallysWorld]

Love this game and the whole series.

[-budd-]

It's a close call for me between SCWW1 and Commander the Great War. CTGW is pretty good with the Potzblitz mod which just got a new release. It's been worked on for years. https://www.slitherine.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=218&t=77884   

I just picked up To End All Wars during the current sale, man it looks complicated. I've always struggled with AGEOD games. I've read the manual and opened the game up to look around, but that's it so far. The game map is real nice, so hopefully it will click with me better then the other AGEOD games i've tried. Also picked up Revolution under Siege, as the Russian civil war has always interested me. Need to hunt up some good books on the subject.

Right now i'm pretty well locked into Decisive Campaigns Ardennes.

[WallysWorld]

To learn TEAW definitely start with the Tannenberg scenario as either side as that scenario is quite easy to play and introduces you to a lot of the game's concepts. I replay that scenario over and over.

[Tanaka]

I am in the middle of a PBEM game with an old friend of mine...having a great time. We even both read "Guns of August" to get in the mood.

It is not the most "accurate" WWI game out there, but it is much deeper than it looks, and at a high level fits well with the history of the war. In the end, IMHO the game is highly playable and addictive.

Curious which game do you feel is the most accurate game out there?

I think "To End All Wars" or its older sibling "World War I Centennial Edition" are much less "beer and pretzels" than Strat Com WWI

I agree TEAW and WW1 Gold have a lot of detail. I've tried to get into them but they become such a slog. Those Ageod games are great but can really be frustrating too with the wack a mole thing. The SC series seems to hit the right spot for me. I've always wanted Panzer General Extra on a grand scale and these games give me that. The PBEM system is great fun!

[Tanaka]

It's a close call for me between SCWW1 and Commander the Great War. CTGW is pretty good with the Potzblitz mod which just got a new release. It's been worked on for years. https://www.slitherine.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=218&t=77884   

I just picked up To End All Wars during the current sale, man it looks complicated. I've always struggled with AGEOD games. I've read the manual and opened the game up to look around, but that's it so far. The game map is real nice, so hopefully it will click with me better then the other AGEOD games i've tried. Also picked up Revolution under Siege, as the Russian civil war has always interested me. Need to hunt up some good books on the subject.

Right now i'm pretty well locked into Decisive Campaigns Ardennes.

Yeah Commander the Great War is a good one and even better with the Potzblitz mod but I do feel SCWW1 is a more modern better game and still being updated. There are a lot of things about CTGW I don't like especially all of the randoms at start.

TEAW is very complicated and can be a real slog but it is a good game if you want a lot of detail. Ageod games are a finicky beast. I've always strugged with them as well. And I hate chasing down all of the wack a mole units.

[W8taminute]

My biggest problem with AGEOD games is understanding all of the obscure details under the hood.  A lot of times I organize my forces per the suggestions of both veteran players as well as what the manual says and I still lose battles that I thought for sure I would win. 

Too much frustration trying to understand a game that is not well documented made me give up on AGEOD last year. 

[Gusington]

AGEOD games always hurt my brain and as I age it doesn't get any better. They take on the historical conflicts I have total interest in like the Russian Civil War, First World War, etc., but learning their games and systems takes a lot of mental energy. I'm still trying to wrap my brain around Revolution Under Siege.

[Rayfer]

AGEOD games always hurt my brain and as I age it doesn't get any better. They take on the historical conflicts I have total interest in like the Russian Civil War, First World War, etc., but learning their games and systems takes a lot of mental energy. I'm still trying to wrap my brain around Revolution Under Siege.

Same with me until I got Civil War 2, then it clicked, I got it and have enjoyed it ever since.

[Gusington]

Still waiting  :-[