Commander:The Great War AAR!

[Grim.Reaper]

I really love the art in this one.  I was ignoring this game for so long.   Now I think I will purchase this after some time.

Me too....now will I have self-control tomorrow and not pull the trigger...that is the question:)

[Gusington]

I am DEFINITELY buying the collectors edition tomorrow. Not even a question :)

[Grim.Reaper]

I am DEFINITELY buying the collectors edition tomorrow. Not even a question :)

Make sure to post early impressions so you can force me to buy it by the end of the day:)

[Steelgrave]

I am DEFINITELY buying the collectors edition tomorrow. Not even a question :)

Ditto! Hell, if it goes on sale at midnight, I'll be downloading it tonight :)

[Sir Slash]

Hey Gus. You going to start as Central Powers or Allied?

[Slick Wilhelm]

I have to admit, finishing up the AAR, I'm a bit more excited about this.  Now all I need is $.  One thing, though - I don't remember seeing any reference to supply.  How is it modeled, and does it affect efficiency?

Yes, supply is actually quite a concern during movement and must be taken into account, whether you're trying to decide how to cut off enemy units from their supply, or trying to decide how to move without exposing your units from being cut off from their supply.

Basically, capital cities and regular cities provide all the supply for units. Fortresses provide supply to its garrison, and if the fortress also has a production value(of Production Points) then that fortress also can provide supply to other units as if it were a regular city.

Surface naval units can also provide supply to adjacent land units.

Units that get cutoff from supply are very prone to destruction, hence the need to seriously consider moves, especially risky longish moves behind enemy lines.  The AI is very good at cutting your units off from supply if you get greedy. At least on privileged mode, it is.

Units can be on full supply, half supply or no supply.

Units on half supply lose 30% of their movement points. If idle, they can recover 3 efficiency per turn(as opposed to 5 per turn for units on full supply).
Units on no supply can move only 1 hex per turn, and lose 1 strength point per turn. They also don't recover any efficiency and cannot be repaired.

So, the penalties for being out of supply are pretty steep. I don't recommend it.  ;)

[tgb]

It's now available for sale and I will try to make it through the day without caving.

[Jarhead0331]

I don't want to be accused of blasphemy or anything, but I'm trying to figure out what all the excitement is about.  My prior two experiences with the Commander series have been decidedly underwhelming, and that is putting it nicely.  I'm aware that this one has been designed by Lordz from the ground up, whereas the other two in the series were not.  I'm actually more interested in knowing how is this different from the other WWI games we have to chose from, ie. Ageod's WWI Gold,  SC WWI, etc.

I'll probably get this eventually (like tonight) anyway, but I'm just curious why this game is so eagerly anticipated.

[Grim.Reaper]

I don't want to be accused of blasphemy or anything, but I'm trying to figure out what all the excitement is about.  My prior two experiences with the Commander series have been decidedly underwhelming, and that is putting it nicely.  I'm aware that this one has been designed by Lordz from the ground up, whereas the other two in the series were not.  I'm actually more interested in knowing how is this different from the other WWI games we have to chose from, ie. Ageod's WWI Gold,  SC WWI, etc.

I'll probably get this eventually (like tonight) anyway, but I'm just curious why this game is so eagerly anticipated.

I am guessing it is because WWI continues to get some love compared to the past where it didn't.  Even with the other couple of games out, not many out there compared to WWII and other time periods.  The other thing that is attractive to me (maybe not others) is that it seems it might be a nice blend of not too simplistic but not too complex type of game.

[Zulu1966]

I don't want to be accused of blasphemy or anything, but I'm trying to figure out what all the excitement is about.  My prior two experiences with the Commander series have been decidedly underwhelming, and that is putting it nicely.  I'm aware that this one has been designed by Lordz from the ground up, whereas the other two in the series were not.  I'm actually more interested in knowing how is this different from the other WWI games we have to chose from, ie. Ageod's WWI Gold,  SC WWI, etc.

I'll probably get this eventually (like tonight) anyway, but I'm just curious why this game is so eagerly anticipated.

I tend to agree. The thing that worries me most is that the theatre that was 80% of the war is only eleven  hexes long. I am not sure how that is going to play out in simulating what happened there - most especially given the series' most obvious handicap - ie a lack of stacking.

[Gusington]

What Grim said. This game also appears to be more accessible than the other ones.

Slash I think I am going to start out as the Central Powers once I get it.

I checked the site earlier and it still said unavailable...have to go check again.

[Grim.Reaper]

I asked over at the official forums about AI turn times and initial response I received was 2+ minutes in the 1917 scenario at turn 11.  hhhmmm....not sure what to think.  Typically I am not a patient person, so I am concerned this might frustrate me, even if it helps make the AI better.  And this was only turn 11, wonder what it will be in the end game?

Does turn processing time concern anybody else?

[LongBlade]

I'm installing it now. Can't wait to see how it looks.

Will post some impressions when I have some time.

[spelk]

So far, I've only played about an hour or so, but I'm getting a strong "Guns of August done properly" vibe. The UI seems to have been tonked and tweaked up from the previous Commander series. More Panzer Corps style/feel to it, than the previous "made in Macromedia" efforts.

I usually struggle with these sort of Grand Strategic games, preferring my Operational chit shufflers, but this one is stroking an urge, that I only ever got from Guns of August. Only now it feels modern and up to date. I think I would have been still wading through the manual, if it were not for Slick's AAR. A quick read through, and I've more or less waded into this, and have felt at home with it.

Quick to play - turn processing doesn't seem that bad - Strategic Command does it a lot worse going on turn times. Always struggling for resources and units, when the Russian Bear wakes up! Production and Research seem fairly straight forward, although I'm always pining after more PP/MP to get more units out on the field.

AI does seem to know when and where to exploit your weaknesses. Leave a gap in your front line for a moment, and you'll have french pouring through it! Stray too deep, to attempt a supply line cut-off, and you'll be over-enveloped yourself, and quickly despatched from the unseen advancing Russian horde! :)

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, whilst you're bean counting your way to another infantry unit, and a much needed, somewhat affordable, but very weak militia.

Good stuff though. Especially if Guns of August was your thing, when that was released, quirky as it was.

[Gusington]

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