Strategic Command: World War I
I’ve spent some time playing this game, and unfortunately, I wouldn’t be recommending this game at current state.
The biggest problem is how SLOW the game is. Reminds me of old SNES games where you made a cup of tea while waiting for enemy AI to finish their turn. In 2020, that’s not acceptable.
The balance of the game is OK but not great. I think they’ve nailed the stagnating warfare in the Western Front, but this meddled with balancing in East and Asia.
And because portrayal of stagnation of Western Front is so good, there are little incentive for Germany to go west. Current meta for multiplayer seems to be, don’t invade Belgium, go East First. We usually see Entente invading Belgium, not other way around. If alt-history is happening most of the time in a historical strategy game, some things needs to be addressed.
– Real player with 614.8 hrs in game
Read More: Best World War I Wargame Games.
Immersive and thoroughly addictive game that more than satisfies the need to scratch a turn based strategic Great War itch. Having played both Guns of August and Commander Great War, SCWW1 is not only a worthy successor but a real gem of a game that needs effort and thought to master.
A good selection of scenarios, including a full campaign, the addition of the ‘Blue Max’ mods and numerous scripts together with an elegant engine and sensible AI makes the game replayable and challenging.
To date, I haven’t played two games the same, as the AI varies decision making events randomly. For instance Italy joins the Entante or bribed with territorial gains by the Hapsburgs to delay entering the war; if Russia is making gains then Lenin remains a bit part orator in Switzerland, if not than the Entante to the West will feel the weight of those transferred Eastern Front battled hardened Corps in 1917/18.
– Real player with 473.7 hrs in game
Commander: The Great War
Ok. I have played this game for a while and got the hang of it.
It is a great game of WW1 with a couple of frustrating imperfections that you only really appreciate when you have played quite a bit. So while i might say negative things at the end of this review this is a recommendation.
For starters it feels like WW1.
The graphics look the part. The map covers everything and there is plenty of open ocean for the naval campaigns to unfold. The opening turns also develop in a very similiar manner to the actual war as long as you play even modestly sensibly as either side.
– Real player with 1715.3 hrs in game
Read More: Best World War I Wargame Games.
The designers did many things right. I really have only two complaints. One of those complaints is pretty serious, but the good points outweigh that big negative.
My background: History is my passion. I’ve had a particular interest in WW1 for thirty years. I’ve been to the best museums, and one of the battlefields. I’ve been playing hex-based wargames for even longer. When I was in college I was frustrated by the lack of WW1 games (apart from air combat). I wrote my own game, loosely based on squad leader and researched it thoroughly.
– Real player with 477.7 hrs in game
World War I
Worked fine on Win 10. Played this a year after another Blitzkrieg variant. I like preserving my units even though there is no in game benefit to do so. It’s a shame you don’t get any core units to play with. I usually used a spotter to find enemy units, mortars to take out said units, armored vehicle to protect them and a lot of time. The AI sucks, they don’t react to anything when you are not in there zone and they have no spotters. So it was easy for me to find them and shell the hell out of them. I got a glitch on one map where an infinite amount of my cavalry would spawn, but sending them against the standard enemy defense got a lot of them slaughtered. So on a non glitched map, cavalry are really useless. I would trade all my infantry, Calvary, and cannons for 1 sniper, because basically those units are useless and the sniper is OP, which seems to be true for all Blitzkrieg type games. Also since this is WW1 you don’t get the fun of playing with tanks. There are 30 missions, plus 4 extra. I got this game for $1, but I don’t see any reason to get this “dlc”, unless you have time to kill. I rate this game 4.99/10.
– Real player with 95.4 hrs in game
Read More: Best World War I RTS Games.
It’s like Blitzkrieg 1 on a smaller scale.
Gameplay
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Infantry, tanks, machine guns, AT-guns etc. pretty much share the same firing range.
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Artillery range has been decreased in order to fit smaller scale battles. ( ex, a 152 mm howitzer has the same range as a mortar).
You cannot use artillery to fire across the entire map like in other enigma engine games ( BK, M.Kursk & Barbarossa, Stalingrad etc.), although the game has some heavy art. pieces (fixed, cannot be moved/towed) that have the biggest firing range, very useful in defending positions.
– Real player with 65.0 hrs in game
Battle of Empires : 1914-1918
-Recommended Title-
I have followed BoE since it first appeared on Greenlight, and have been eager to get my hands on a copy. Well, my eagerness has not been dulled since purchasing and playing this early access ww1 game.
The gameplay is the typical MoW style, with objectives to be completed in order to progress. The models and overall graphics are well suited to the era - and should look quite amazing with the rtm version. No performance issues running on a Windows 8.1 laptop (..mine has 4GBRAM /500GB HDD/Intel HD &Radeon 3670m 2GB (Hybrid) graphics with the settings all maxxed out).
– Real player with 146.5 hrs in game
Update: the British Empire so far is the best campaign, until the other DLC get reworked try the British Empire
This game is very interesting but, there is a lot wrong with it and it needs some of these issues fixed before it becomes fair and fun. I will say right now that you should not buy this game until it gets fixed. And I also want to add, I don’t want to get a refund for this game, I want it to be improved in the areas that it needs it; I want it to work in order to be fun and fair when you play. In this list of complaints I will not list the DLC as I personally don’t have a problem with it, and in my personal experience with the DLC it enriches and extends the single player which is something that I like, I didn’t buy this game for multiplayer … but I would like to see something for American campaign in the future …
– Real player with 121.7 hrs in game
The Entente Gold
This is a quite challenging but still fun game in the old “Command and Conquer” RTS vein, but with the level of historic detail it should be compared to the “Cossacks 2” series. The interface is fairly simple as are the graphics, but the visuals maintain the game’s historic accuracy (the differences between national uniform). It can’t be compared to the “Blitzkrieg” series for graphics, and it’s somewhat behind the “Battle of Empires” mod for “Company of Heroes”, but for the price there’s quite literally hours (if not weeks or even months in the campaigns) of game play with thankfully little frustration for the junior leader or even the veteran RTS player. A well-trained AI is built into the game to manage your civil or military war effort for you so you need do very little, unless you really want a challenge. Then you should fully expect General War in all his aspects! Finally and thankfully the game doesn’t just park itself in trench warfare-you should expect what really happened in 1914; the dawn of twentieth-century warfare with all the associated horrors. Good luck, everyone.
– Real player with 16.7 hrs in game
The Entente is a old-styled RTS based on rarely-used WW1 setting. It was released in 2003-2004 and was made by same people who made Cossacks, on same engine as well, unless I am mistaken. And now it was rereleased on Steam.
You will notice that while in Steam it’s called Entente Gold, in the game itself it shows “v2.0” and intro was edited to say “Entente II”. It’s not clear what was changed. I remember somebody on Steam noticing it and saying that some sprites were changed. Like they were working to remake it, but then gave up.
– Real player with 7.5 hrs in game
Aggression: Europe Under Fire
Das ist gut.
The Peaceful Roman Catholic Territory of 20th century Europa was thrown into disorder, mayhem, chaos and Anarchy when their elected Government, The Imperial Royalty, was Assassinated by a Yugoslavian Revolutionary; the assassination started ww1 and ww2 and the financial stability collapse of monetary currency along with the fall of the heavens. the US Government is a smol Terrorist Faction and is not important compared to the Reds that control the East… Fascism is taking root above Royalty and anything else, So it is left to the Fates to decide the Future of the Chosen People and God’s Kingdom. Will they all become Capitalists or Fascists, or will the Royalists Rise Again… you decide here in the war to end all wars spanning ww1 and world war 2. u will need to hire ur Generals, and raise armies but first u must upgrade ur technology and factories in each territory. u r the decider u decide. send ur men forward to die or send an armoured coloumn to pave the way to victory over europa fore whichever faction it doesnt matter their all unique. u can has bombers and armoured cars, tenks artillery horses and balloons and men and u will need all sorts of units to stop rebellions which ruin the game and conquer each point and level on the map. its a nice strategy map but its live real time paced not turn based so watch out the computer might overwhelm u. the computer can be set to different difficulties but usually they will attack u, but r easy to beat, the harder it is the moar technology they will develop and the moar armies u will encounter… over all its kinda a good fun game, some suprises but mostly its slow house to house fighting with mass enemy charges
– Real player with 82.4 hrs in game
I had to fight this game for more than a week before I could start effectively playing it. In the beginning I suffered crashes on every battle which made the game virtually unplayable.
Despite that, with a lot of patience, trial and error and tweaking I finally made it work and I have to recognize it is a great game. It has that mix of grand strategy with tactical battles that is tipical of the Total War series, but spans from before WW1 to after WW2, which is a period that very few games explore.
– Real player with 78.9 hrs in game
Spirit of War
It’s quite entertaining, but the gameplay isn’t quite as good as the Battle Isle original, and the AI needs a real boost to make it more of a challenge.
However the game is seriously let down by a serious bug in the DE campaign that means it cannot be finished after October 1917, the next campaign refuses to complete loading, and there ia a bizarre graphical problem with the October 1917 campaign which copies some of your units into the bottom left had hex, and knocks all your units promotions back to one chevron! There’s no way to get rid of all the units stuffed in the corner hex, believe me, I’ve tried!
– Real player with 135.2 hrs in game
Pros:
Easy to pick up and play. If you’ve played a hex turn-based strategy game before, you’ll be right at home. The history texts are interesting to read. 48 scenarios to beat, which kept me busy for many hours.
Cons:
Game is buggy as hell. Sometimes your production list won’t work (scrolling). Sometimes levels don’t load. You’ll have enemy units try to capture a building using their cavalry but it’ll get stuck in a walking animation and you’ll have to reload your game to continue and hope it doesn’t make the same move again. The game can freeze when you capture enemy HQ so save before you do so, just in case. The game also seems unfinished. There should be titles on the buildings when you click on them. If you click on a factory it should say “Factory” and on a “Barn” well…you get the point. There is no text on there, it’s strange. The A.I. is very, very weak. Most of the time you can make a straight beeline to their HQ and win. The A.I. doesn’t leave a few units back home to defend so it’s too easy to use this strategy.
– Real player with 50.6 hrs in game
Tactics of World War I
Tactics of World War I puts you in the role of a military leader on the Western Front. Lead your men through some of the fiercest battles in history. But only if you plan your attacks thoroughly, and react smartly and quickly to your enemies actions you will succeed.
Two Single-Player Campaigns
The game features two single-player campaigns set on the Western Front. A German campaign about the invention of the famous “Sturmtruppen”, an elite infantry unit founded to overcome the stalemate of trench warfare. And a British campaign dealing with the deployment of the very first tanks to the battlefield.
The campaigns extent over the entire conflict from 1914 to 1918, including decisive battles such as the Battle of Flirey or the Battle of Passchendaele.
Realistic Small Unit Tactics
Tactics of World War I focuses on the tactical aspects of the battle like cover, suppressive fire, and flanking maneuvers. Resulting in a fast-paced gameplay loop accompanied by truly innovative, streamlined controls.
With more than half a dozen individual units per faction, from light infantry to heavy weapons, such as mortars or tanks, Tactics of World War One provides you with a variety of tactics.
Commands & Colors: The Great War
Will you prove to be a lion or a donkey? COMMANDS AND COLORS: GREAT WAR puts you in the driver’s seat for tactical level combat in the trenches of the Western Front during World War I, playing as either British/Commonwealth or Germans, from the Battle of Loos in Autumn 1915 through the Somme in Summer 1916 and Vimy Ridge in April 1917. The turn-based action takes place on a hex-grid map with unique terrain for each scenario, using an unspecified game scale – probably platoon/section – in which both ranged and close combat occurs, including off-map artillery and four unit types: infantry, bombers, machine guns and mortars. Navigate barbed wire, occupy craters blown by your artillery and miners, and claw at enemy trenches as you “bite and hold.” Win by acquiring Objective Medals for occupying enemy terrain, destroying enemy units, exiting units off the enemy’s edge of the map, or using the right cards. Play by utilizing HQ Tokens, Command Cards and Combat Cards, which limit your choices while providing unique capabilities to your units. Success depends on the luck of the draw and combat dice throws, but more importantly, your ability to construct a winning strategy for the battle at hand using your available resources. Mindlessly charging the enemy quickly results in defeat. Victory requires identifying your strengths and executing your battle plan step-by-step in response to your enemy’s maneuvers and the HQ tokens and cards you acquire. The result is a game in which you must think and re-think your plan as the battle develops, often frustrated by your inability to use all the resources theoretically at your disposal.
– Real player with 57.0 hrs in game
An innovative approach to bringing a boardgame to the screen. The concept divides the battlefield into three sectors, Left flank, Centre and Right Flank. The game is played using a combination of cards (command and combat) and dice rolls.
I have enjoyed playing this game but it is not without the occassional bug. This is most annoying especially when you have instigated an Infantry assault and then find that “bugs” prevent you from playing your combat cards. Some of the dice rolls seem a little dubious as well with certain symbols eliminating a unit one minute and leaving it alone the next. Nevertheless, it is potentially a very good game, but all of this “bug nonsense” should have been sorted before it was rolled out (let’s put it down to “fog” of war.)
– Real player with 54.5 hrs in game
Making History: The Great War
The big problem with this game is the AI.
It´s much, much to aggressive and unhistorical.
The first world war and the time proceeding it was marked by decidedly conservative regimes and military high commands doing everything decidedly conservatively and cautiously.
But so far I’ve seen Germany completely loose the war on Russian within a few turns while I as France was awaiting to get my face bashed in by them in the autumn of 1914. The Germans that did attack on the western front stuck to the Schleiffen-plan religiously and kept on punching their way thru Belgium to the channel coast even as they where cut of behind them by my counter attack.
– Real player with 488.3 hrs in game
Muzzylane’s Making History:The Great War is a very good game for two rather different reasons.I was having trouble with the production code (0 and o,B and 8 you know the sort of thing and most likely my mistake )but Chris Parson at support was right there and assistance to a rather grumpy gamer was just an email away . Not hours or days later but help right now.That was a pretty good intro to M.H:T.G.W.Thanks Chris.
The game itself after a modest 14 hours is proving to be excellent.The map ,oddly is much better than it appears in Steams add, the choices of countries you can play as is amazing,the detail quite stunning.Ok if you just want to roll the armour ,the good old Command and Conquer tank rush this isn’t your kind of game. I’m still trying to get my rail system up and running correctly, learning how one problem effects so widely and how to solve it is the brilliant part of this game.Micro management,sure, but great fun. You want to do something ,but can not ,if you delight in finding why not and how to rectify it you are going to just love this game. Its a clever, functional game.No crashes,no long load up times,all good.
– Real player with 243.1 hrs in game