why isn't there a proper world war 1 game?

[SAS]

Also, there is Darkest Hour which has a WW1 part.

Indeed it looks great and should be a joy to play.

 

[gigau]

Also, there is Darkest Hour which has a WW1 part.

I didn't stéate that one as it has already been in the first replies... one of them from one of the DH masterminds

 

[naggy]

One problem with an accurate global WWI game is trying to balance it just right so that if left alone, the Western Front usually turns into a bloodbath, and the Eastern Front and other theatres do not. To me, that sounds like a gamebalancing nightmare.

 

[JASGripen]

If you can deal with proper board-gaming then you got GMT's 1914 Twilight in the East

It got good reviews and is considered a "monster game" by many.

http://www.gmtgames.com/p-35-1914-twilight-in-the-east.aspx

The Great War in Europe - also GMT - is another monster game which deals with all of the European theatre. Not as good combat system as the previous game but still, it deals with most of the WWI.

http://www.gmtgames.com/p-113-the-great-war-in-europe-deluxe-edition.aspx

 

[Affenklaus]

I like the WW1 scenarios in the game The Operational Art Of War.
There are several smaller scenarios of single battles (On Western, Eastern and Italian Front and some in the Middle East) and there are full campaigns covering the whole war (user-made but one of them is already included in the game the others can be found on the internet).
The full campaigns work surprisingly well and make a lot of fun - even more so when playing against a human - you usually get trench warfare in the West if the Central Powers don't win the race to the sea and mobile warfare in the East.
Because of the high detail (small hex-'provinces'. One of the scenarios even uses a regimental-level) the West isn't completely static, you still fight offensives there but usually won't get far.

 

[Dewirix]

Exactly. I totally agree with you. The problem is how to get this across to all gamers who has the perception that a WWI game would be a snoozefest. Hand out free copies of the BBC documentary The Great War?

It's not that World War I didn't have a lot of theatres - that sort of goes with the name really. It's just that it's hard to see more than five of these being important. Yes the allies captured Tsingdao, but was there really much doubt about the outcome? Had Germany managed to overcome the Entente's naval superiority the non-European/non-Ottoman theatres might have meant something, but they didn't and therefore that puts the focus back on Europe.

Here we have:

• Western Front - characterised by long periods of inaction punctuated by very bloody offensives. Between the lines stabilising in 1914 and the Hindenburg offensive you'd be lucky to see the front shift forward or back by more than a single HoI3 province.
• Italian Front - Here's the wiki picture of the front from 1915-1917, or half the entire war. Again, it's single province advances at best.
• Balkans - Serbia and Romania both get knocked out of the war, so that's something. However, the Entente spend most of the war meddling in Greek politics rather than mounting large-scale offensives
• Eastern Front - Here at least we do have changes to the front which, while modest by the standards of World War 2 were much greater than anything seen for the majority of the time on the Western Front.
• Sinai and Palestine - Significant gains were made, but the fact that the 1918 offensive was delayed because Allenby's troops were redeployed to bolster the lines in France should give you an indication of the relative priorities of the fronts

For the British and French the Western Front was always going to take priority, especially in the latter case as they were fighting on their home turf in many areas. I acknowledge it's different for the Central Powers, but two-thirds of the Triple Entente are always going to focus on trench warfare.

 

[Chromos]

Hi!
I think a player should be able to go for a more mobile war, even in the west.
The german advance was hold of trough many circumstances.
And the later developed tactics showed that is shouldn't have had a stalemate forever..
(Actually it was not 4 years long a stalemate..)

Guerilla warfare in Afrika anyone? What did the Brits had to put up against that small numbers of german forces?
And of course the other already mentioned places..

The diplomatic evolvement could differ. Germany was not "evil" like in ww2..
Sea Warfare, many different outcome possible.
What if another Jüland happend with bigger losses to the Home Fleet?
A possible German breaktrough in the Atlantik with more cruisers..

Also, don't forget, the french were also at the breaking point. High desertions resultet in drumhead court-martials to keep dicipline..

It is often forgotten what the impact of the US support was... Not only in troops..

So many many space for interesting "what if's"...

Oh, and for HOI3 there are also WW1 sceanrios in development...somekind..

Kind regards,
Chromos