Sun Nov 23, 2008 2:57 am
Hints on gameplay of Ageod WWI
These hints are taken from the in-game hints and from hints posted on AGEOD and Matrix forums. I apologize for any errors as I am still very much in the process of learning the game myself! These are largely the same hints I posted earlier, except for the in-game hints, now edited and organized.
I. INTERFACE AND MAP
1. Use the arrow keys to scroll the map. Or move the mouse cursor on the edges of the screen. This will trigger a progressive scrolling of the map towards the corresponding direction. The speed of such scrolling can be customized in the Options window.
2. Pressing 'Page Up' or 'Page Down' works as a shortcut to changing the map zoom level.
3. There are many useful shortcut keys in World War One game. Space bar can be used to browse the land or naval forces stacked inside a map area. Otherwise you can right click on the units displayed on the map. The Enter key can be used instead to browse the armies or fleets that belong
to the currently selected nation. Finally, the 'Ins' key can be used to browse the detachments that belong to the currently selected army or fleet.
4. Hitting the 'Tab' key will allow map display changes in all modes. A description of the current map display appears for 10 seconds under the top interface panel.
5. If you hold the mouse still over a button, number or symbol on the screen, more detailed information will usually appear after 2 seconds.
6. Whenever the top bar shows the information of a nation under your control, her flag can be clicked on. Doing so will bring you to the Statistics window, where you will be able to read a lot of information about the scenario in play and the war alliances. Hitting the 'CTRL+P' keys does the same.
7. When the game starts, after the loading procedure, the AI always begins in 'pause' mode. Hit the 'Pause' key to toggle the AI pause mode. Hitting again the 'Pause' key will put the AI in pause mode again, but probably this will take a few seconds, because the game engine will have to wait all AI players being sinchronized. It's highly recommended you perform all your actions and plan your orders while the AI is paused.
8. If you are annoyed by certain game messages, remember you can customize the way they are displayed. To do it, go to the Options window ('Esc' key) and click on the "Messages" customize button. You will see a small window containing the list of all message arguments. For each argument type you will be allowed to choose how to display the related messages: on a popup window or on the game log.
9. If you are annoyed by the "alerts", remember that these window can be disabled in two ways: un-checking the on/off box printed on the bottom-left corned of the alert window, or customizing properly the display mode in the Options window. To do it, go to the Options window ('Esc' key) and click on the "Alerts" customize button. You will see a small window containing the list of all alert types. For eachtype you will be allowed to
enable or disable the alert display. Otherwise, disabling the alert directly from the alert window will deactivate the notification only for the alert type currently displayed.
10. In World War One game, the Fog of War is fully customizable! Both for human players and even for the A.I. Go to the Options window ('Esc' key) and examine all the customization options for FoW.
11. World War One game has some outstanding AI features that can be customized. Go to the Options window ('Esc' key) and locate the AI options box. You can set the level of aggressivess, the level of difficulty (it gives bonuses and tricks to the AI!), as well as you may choose to give AI full time for thinking. In addition, you may allow AI to record every knowledge about successful or failed strategies, enemy forces, spy reports, etc.
etc. These knowledges will be very useful for the AI, so affecting directly the difficulty level of the game, the more you will play, of course.
12. Cities and Towns
Cities are identified on the map with a name, a particular symbol, and 2 numbers :
- production (in red box)
- and military recruitment (in blue box), if the city is isolated.
Each city also has a numerical value for National Will (NW), indicated in the center of a yellow circle.
The names of country capitals are identified by their national flag in that region.
“Objective” cities are identified by a star next to their name, and are highlighted with the Strategic Map Filter [F2].
Towns are urban localities, without a direct effect on the game (movement, combat, etc.), except for several that have National Will (NW) (ex. Verdun). They are used essentially for supply, the placement of units in scenarios, and for movement by rail. They do not show prooduction or recruitment numbers.
13. To to the Ledger (Statistics window) [CTRL+P].
14. There are two game modes: the "strictly turn based" one is the exact mirroring of the phases of the boardgame, ie. you activate army by army etc. Really, it is like a computerized client to play the boardgame.
The other "not so strict turn based" is basically how the other AGEOD games with Pocus' engine works: you give out orders for all armies for the turn, then resolve them. To be honest, despite being a big fan of the boardgame, I prefer the latter for single player - it is faster while not giving up anything on the details. The movement part is actually more realistic due to the AGEODish turn resolve.
15. Is there a way to check what game turn phase you are currently in during a game turn ?
Look at the bottom-right corner. You will find the turn phase, tooltipped.
when playing in WEGO fashion, everything other than diplomacy and events is included in the "military" phase.
16. You can use the Enter key to browse your army HQs. It's very simple: select an army of Austria-Hungary and the Enter key will allow you to browse all the Army HQs of A-H. Do the same with Germany. You can do this also with enemy nations, provided you can browse only the visible HQs, according to Fog of War current settings, of course.
II. EVENTS
1. At the bottom left part of the screen, below the info window, you may see these small white-grey cards peeking from below the screen. Those are your events. Each card has an icon in the middle of it representing the nature of the even (espionage, political, battle, etc.), and this icon is greyed out if you cant play it in the current phase, and black if you can. Play the battle event at the start of the battle.
2. Each side is dealt a number of events. The ones that you receive will be different than the ones received by the other side. You each choose which events to keep and the remainder are shuffled together in preparation for the next event phase.
3. When can you use the Lenin event ?
Russia needs to be in the lowest values of its National Will, thus having to perform revolution checks.
II. TECHNOLOGY
1. Each Interphase, use your budget to invest in technological research! You receive a benefit for each of the three subsequent turns. If you invest continually and at long term, you'll keep up at the lead of research!
2. You can have more than one technological project under reasearch at the same time, but it is better to concentrate on the one(s) with the highest chance of success.
IV. DIPLOMACY
1. Place your Ambassadors (value 0 to 3, a 0 is a decoy) in neutral countries to incite them to join your side. You are however limited to a maximum of 2 Amb per country. You then has 1 Diplomatic Action allowed each turn in one neutral country of your choice, where you have a non-decoy Amb. Once the action implemented, Amb from both sides will be removed and the minor nation's attitude will be affected.
2. To succeed in a Diplomatic Action, try to place enough 'good' Amb, hoping that the opposite side has less than you. Don't forget also the geopolitical bonus and penalty that may exist for the neutral nation in favor of one side or the other.
3. You may receive new extra Amb each Interphase. The number may depend on the country you play, but also on your "reputation", based on the military situation (for instance more Amb if you won in a Grand Offensive, less if you lost, etc…).
4. Think to buy new Ambassadors each Interphase ! Each great power may buy extra Amb to gain more diplomatic efficiency.
5. Some neutral countries may enter the war via diplomatic action, such as Great Britain, Italy, Ottoman Empires or United States for the major nations, or Belgium, Bulgaria, Greece, Rumania for the minor nations. Some far away nations may also join (e.g. Japn, Brazil, etc...). A neutral joins the war when its diplomatic level reaches a critical level. In such a case, it enters the war on your side versus the opponents (or vice versa). Diplomacy is no longer possible in such a case (you may just attempt to negotiate peace).
6. Think to concentrate your Amb in minor nations of the greatest interest or use for your side, in order to get the maximum diplomatic impact (or reduce that of the enemy). Remember, nothing is ever to be taken for granted.
7. Great Britain is Pro-Entente, so even if she does not join the war from the oustet, she will do so rather quickly in the early months of the conflict. Italy and Rumania are also very "receptive" to promises on their war goals, which you can decide to enact as a Political Action during the Interphases.
8. There are lots of modifiers for diplomatic checks with any given country. Obviously the decisive thing is which side has more points worth of diplomats there, but there are also others. Speaking in boardgame terms (and I think CSS, you know this), number of diplomats determine the column used on the resolution table, while other modifiers modify the dice roll. Most of those roll modifiers, you can't influence. You either have them or not. Like, capture of enemy cities, Belgrade for example. There are a few which can be given attention to, and these are the national one. For example, no Austrian diplomat to Romania or Italy, if possible, and let the Russians handle Entente diplomacy in Bulgaria, if possible.
So, the unlikely results: I would not waste resources on Japan as Central Powers. It is an extremely hard task to get them off their British friends, and there is an event which simply makes them declare war on Germany regardless of diplomacy levels. So altough it would be extremely cool to have them, I would rather see them in a mod for the game, than to waste my way too precious diplomats on them.
Italy: your best bet as Centrals for them, is to get them in the beginning. Choose the Option "Diplomatic Poker" by Germany, during the Warplans phase, and you will have a dice roll determining if Italy will fulfill what is their legal binding by treaty to join Germany (since with the Poker option, Germany waits for declarations of war on her). Throw in the handing over of Trentin by Austria-Hungary, which is also an Option, and you have a very likely result of Italy joining you immediately. But, assuming historical or near-historical warplans, the Italians will, by all likeliness, stay neutral initially, and be drifting toward the Allies, with unpredictable speed. Italy will be a favourite target for AI diplomats, and as a matter of fact, should be a favourite target for any human player, Allieds or Centrals. As Entente, you just can't have them soon enough, and as Centrals, you need to delay them.
9. GB has joined the Allies, but also has no diplomats. Really? GB will get diplomats in later turns, then you can "produce" more during the Interphase.
V. ECONOMICS AND PRODUCTION
1. You can increase your budget by undertaking 1 or 2 Political Actions (PA) "War Economy" each Interphase. The level of 'civilian' economy (in peacetime) starts at 9, but can go as low as 0 (total war!). Each level reached increases the budget, but each AP you succeed also make you lose National Will (as the population does not like restrictions).
2. To increase war economy has advantages and liabilities: a/ increase the buget, open new production sites for more ammunitions, etc…, buts b/ the more the 'civilian' part of the economy is reduced by warfare, the less the nation receives as National Will bonus each subsequent Interphase (value of civilian economy being directly added to NW).
3. Support units (artillery, tanks, Stosstruppen…) have a production lead time of 4 turns, + 1 extra turn for each other support unit produced. Their production is this spread over time, one on 4th turn, one of 5th turn, etc.
4. Ammunitions purchased during the Interphase are distributed in a 3-turns flux over the following turns: if you producei vous 10 Mun, you shall receive 10 Mun each Reinforcement phases, in each of the 3 subsequent turns.
5. Units do not improve in quality, but during the war, in the building options, you may improve the firepower value of some corps (i.e. the figure in the red circle on the top-left side of the counter). If you are willing to expend the cost, all your units of the same type will have extra firepower (representing guns and machine-guns in supplement, and granting a +1 to +3 die-roll bonus in battle).
6. Do not engage in deficit spending! Not being able to produce ammunition is a horrible scourge! Allocate money for MUN production early on, and if you are not sure you will make it with your money, take up a loan with the political option.
7. The Production sites are activated only when the Civil Production (wartime economy) entry threshold is reached. Look at the IncomeTable.xls
DB ([game dir]\Modding\DB folder) for details.
When the city is activated, all sites inside the city are activated too.
Munitions factories increment the max amount of ammo you can produce
Ship factories increment the number of shipbuilding steps you can do per interphase on the same naval squadron.
Airplane factories increment the number of air squadrons you can repair/produce.
Zeppeln factories work like airplane factories but only for zeppelins
Gas factories are checked during land battles when adopting the Combat Gas doctrine (GasTableModifiers.xls DB, [game dir]\Modding\DBs folder) as it gives a combat factor bonus if at least one gas factory is available.
8. Civilian production is an index ranging from 9 (highest, initial 1914 level) to 0, lowest. It can only go down, by political decision of player. Every level 'lost' entails the availability of a special extra production site... on the other hand, civilian production level is added to your NW, so the more it goes down, the less your NW will come back to the (required) high levels...double-edge sword.
Civil Production and War-Time Economy are synonyms. The lower this value is set (max 9, min 0), the more War-Time economy works, but the lesser its expeditures are redirected to the Civilian Production, so generating social problems.
9. Ammunition is for artillery units. Normal units are either supplied or not, ammunition spending of them is not tracked. Each round of combat where you use an artillery unit as support costs one MUN.
You get MUN by producing it, setting a turnly flow of it during the quarterly Interphases. Obviously, more munition costs more, plus, the max you can get is limited by your level of war industry. (by political decisions, you can gradually switch your economy for war production. But beware: the more you concentrate on war, the less consumer products you will have, lowering your national will).
VI. GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS
1. National Will (NW): if your NW is low, in the instability zone (level 1 to 20), don't hesitate to appoint a "New Government" as it will boost the NW back up to level 27 at once. This may however affect your Parliament's mood, but it is still much better than a low level NW.
2. National Will (NW): the more the war lasts (1915, 1916…), the more your NW will tend to plunge down towards the Instability zone (level 1 to 20), where the socials risks will increase dramatically (the 'Home Front').
3. Political phase occurs every Interphase, i.e. every 3 months (end of a season). But you issue orders every turn, and they will take effect during the Interphase.
4. How is it Serbia doesn't get to choose a warplan in the Aug. 1914 preturn? Only the 4 majors starting the war choose warplans. Serbia is only a minor country.
5. Warplans determine the starting setup of your armies (where they are, with which units), your National Will, number of events drawn, whether some of your armies get to move in Early August (pre-turn) and can also possibly set mandated offensives for certain armies. Your selection can also influence the NW and event draws of other major powers.
You also get to choose up to two Options like Good Morale, extra ammo, or giving Tirol to Italy in exchange of cooperation.
But the game is not forcing on you anything else, like long term objectives. The public's evaluation of your performance will be handled through National Will.
VII. REDEPLOYMENTS
1. Redeployment:
It's simple: you click a detachment/HQ and all areas where you can redeploy the stack becomes highlighted (yellow) and blinking, so you can drag & drop it over a new area.
Redeployment of Generals works by left-click+hold+ move the portrait to a new army HQ without leader.
2. The redeployment of generals.
It seems they can't be moved out of a army/detachment like a corps. Do I have to dismiss them (some option under their portait), to use them again?
I believe you must ''sack'' the first general.There should be a button around his portrait in the stack.
3. Reassign units to different commands: left click the unit, then right click it, you should see a list of all the commands the unit can then potentially join.
VIII. REINFORCEMENTS
1. Whenever you receive new replacements and reinforcements, place them! Deploy all your reinforcements in the key areas and armies, spend the RPs to replenish the wounded units, but keep a reserve for the battles.
2. You shall receive a continuous flux of RP each turn (variable according to nation). You can get more RP when you take a Political Action "Call a new class under arms" (there are five of them available for the whole war). Remember that creating new corps will decrease your RP flux for
the next 3 turns.
3. Regarding Corps purchase, you have 2 main purchase options: a fast and expensive one, or a slow but cheaper one. Anyway, purchasing a new corps reduces your RP flux by 1 for the next 3 turns. Example: if Germany purchases her full XIV Army (3 corps), she will receive only 13 RP
(instead of 16) on the next 3 turns.
4. Support units (artillery, tanks, Stosstruppen…) have a production lead time of 4 turns, + 1 extra turn for each other support unit produced. Their production is this spread over time, one on 4th turn, one of 5th turn, etc.
5. RPs can be spent for refilling units only during the Reinforcements Phase. Consider that in WEGO mode, Reinforcements phase is inside the Main Military phase (simplification).
6. Why are wounded (that's what the horizontal white stripes mean, right?) troops showing up as reinforcements?
These are historical reinforcements, mostly in 1914. It means the unit was mobilized quickly but was not yet to full strenght (e.g. a corps with only 2 of its 5 divisions)... the recruits will help beef it up later on, but it's alway better to have a unit than no unit at all.
7. When you gain a new general via a political event/action where/when does it show up.?
It will show up on a HQ currently with no historical general. If ALL your HQs are with a named general, it will either show when you sack one, or on the next HQ you receive.
8. .Reinforcements:
If you are in the phase and the box has units to deploy, click on the unit and drag it to a HQ. Or you can drag it to the map. IF the HQ in question isnt full, allied 7 corp/ger 8 corp, I believe, the unit will be absorbed, if full you cant do it.
9. How do wounded units get to heal?
Below each unit there are two little white buttons. The one to the left sends it to the HQ reserves, the one to the right "heals" it. But beware, because if it is not damaged, it reduces (damages) it, to gain a replacement point!
RPs can be spent for refilling units only during the Reinforcements Phase. Consider that in WEGO mode, Reinforcements phase is inside the Main Military phase (simplification).
IX. MILITARY PHASE-MOVEMENT
1. Choose wisely the best movement type when planning the moves of your troops. For example, use the "Administrative" movement when you want to redeploy quickly you forces inside a Front. Administrative movements can be performed only in friendly territory.
2. Use the "Rail" movement when you want to redeploy quickly you forces from one Front to another, or when you have to cover long ranges. Rail movements cannot be intercepted by the enemy.
3. Remember always to convert the railtracks, if present, every time you conquer enemy territory. The best way to do so, is to create a small infantry detachment, and to order it moves by clicking on the appropriate "convert railway" button.
4. Fill the reserves of your HQs. The units in reserve will be of fundamental importance during battles and breakthroughs!
5. Schedule army interceptions whenever you fear an enemy attack in an ungarrisoned area, provided that area is bordering the army HQ or detachments, of course!
6. Interceptions are also very useful to slow down the line of advancement of your enemy!
7. "Numbered" artilleries cannot be moved out of the intrinsic army. Not-numbered ones yes... the normal detachment-move-attachment procedure (but artilleries are slower).
8. How do you convert a railway owned by the enemy?
Click the convert railway button for a nearby stack, and move through the rail areas with them. You need to click on the 'convert rails' first and then drag and drop.
Rail conversion in a conquered region:
These signpost appear where the railline for a given power ends, usually because of being cut by advancing enemy. You need to turn on the "convert railroad" option for a stack moving through the area to have it connected to your rail network. Obviously it costs movement points so you dont want an entire army doing this. But it is crucial for your supply lines.
X. MILITARY PHASE-COMBAT
1. Fighting a battle in an area with a friendly fortress grants you the support of its artillery (3 free fires) and a defense bonus for your units.
2. In August 1914, the National Will (NW) are all very high, conferring an excellent moral bonus to all units, which creates long and bloody battles where breaking morale is not so frequent. But NW will be readjusted end of September, and also in October, and then battles will look quite different, with units not always withstanding the heat of battle as they used to do that same summer.
3. In case of a large battle, you shall fight simultaneously 2 sub-battles, which technically divides your forces by two. As you can bring only one unit from the reserve each round, choices may sometimes be tough. On the other hand, winning a sub-battle gives you a bonus (flank attack) on the other ongoing battle.
4. In case of a large battle, if you lose one the 2 sub-battles, you can bring only one unit from the reserve every other round.
5. During Trench Warfare, the main defensive bonus is "morale" (+2 levels) for all the defending units. They can thus last quite long in combat. The Attacker does not have the same advantage, and his units will quikly become out of combat via morale tests. However, this is compensated by the ability of the attacker to concentrate many more units before the actual start of the battle.
6. During Trench Warfare, first place your best "free" units (i.e. those not assigned to a specific army) in the reserves of the HQ and GHQ. These units are the only one that can be commanded by any army.
7. During Trench Warfare, make sure to have at least 2 corps per area on the Eastern front, and 3 corps on the Western front. If need be, more units can be taken from reserves in case of enemy bombardment.
8. During Trench Warfare, on the Western front, your reserves and artillery can be taken from HQ and GHQ without checking any distance condition. But on the Eastern front, distance is important: with 3 areas, all is fine. Between 4 to 6 areas, half a chance the reserve can arrive in time, and no chance at all if 6 areas or more.
9. During Trench Warfare, Grand Offensives on the Western front have almost no chance to succeed, but it can inflict serious losses to the enemy. If you can afford it, you may pursue the Grand Offensive effort over many turns, before ending it. The enemy may well break before you have finished, bled white and lacking means of resistance.
10. During Trench Warfare, Grand Offensives on the Eastern front have good chances to become a success as the frontlines are much less static than in the West. The Russians benefit from a good capacity of resistance and large tracks of territory, while the Austrians may receive help from their German ally.
11. Combat Gas has a rather random and short-lived effect. There are 3 different gas (Chlorine, Phosgene, Mustard), so each time there is a new gas used, there is a new effect.
12. During Trench Warfare, Grand Offensives are mandatory, at least once per year (and per front). Whether in attack or defense (in the latter case you shall not be forced to 'start' it!). From 1916 onwards, defeat in a Grand Offensive mais have strong aftershock effects on your National Will (usually low in 16). In 1918, sanction for defeat is even more dramatic, as Parliament's mood automatically moves to Defeatism.
13. Army detachments are destroyed, if forced to retreat and are encircled by enemy units. HQs and GHQs that retreat and are encirled are routed through the enemy areas, and suffer major losses.
14. When you first look at the siege battle screen you find three small icons under the binocular: Besiege, Bombard and Assault
Can you reduce fortress with any type of artillery?
Yes but Heavy Artillery is only half so effective as coastal or siege artillery.
What exactly does delay siege do?
You stop the siege during this turn and can try it next turn again. It´s handy to send more artillery to the province for example.
Normal procedure... You have to drag and drop units only when you launch an Assault. In such a case, you can indeed select an infantry unit (never cavalries) and one artillery for support.
In fact, when you perform a Bombardment, you use instead all your artilleries!
15. Mandatory attacks:
Check for flags on top of certain stacks. If they are red, you still have to move them for mandatory offensive. If green, you have already done so. You get the target as tooltips, and usually its pretty straightforward. These mandatory attacks are generated by the War-Plan you have selected.
16. Battle procedures;
There is always only a single unit committed in any given round of a minor battle, or a sub-battle of a major battle. This comitted unit can have two kinds of support unit: an artillery, and/or one of the other kind of support: aircraft or tanks.
None of the support units have a combat value on their own. They only give bonuses to the regular unit comitted to this round of battle.
There is no practical difference between the "Rear" and the "Deployments" zones in a minor battle. In these, after a round is over, you can send a unit to Commitment from both.
The difference comes into play in case of a major battle, when both sub-battles (the second one being crossed by those red X-es on the screenshot) are active. Here, once you have sent a unit to the Deployments or Commitment zone of one particular sub-battle, it stays with that sub-battle for the remaining battle rounds. So, if you manage it badly, you may end up 3 or 4 damaged, but usable corps sitting in Deployment for the left-side battle, while you lose the right-side battle because you dont have any units left to send to it. Needless to say, if the enemy wins one of the sub-battles
(meaning he has a unit comitted to it, but you dont), you receive a penalty for the other sub-battle, for being flanked.
As a sidenote, losing or winning a major battle comes with a National Will penalty/bonus.
As for the usage of Reserves: in my opinion, their primary function is the simple fact that in most cases, you can not be sure in advance, where to concentrate the full force of a given army. But, you can send in the Reserves to any battle which happens in the command radius of the HQ. This is true tenfold in Trench Warfare, where you simply have to form your frontline throughout the map, because there is no Interception any more. But you
will hardly have enough units to build a strong defense everywhere. Reserves save the day in these cases as well.
You also want Reserves for Breakthroughs: only units which stayed in Reserves can perform a Breaktrhough.
17. The assault troops are also support units, not regular combat ones.
18. Grand Offensives use a difference combat resolution table, and you get to try nifty tactics with artillery or shock troops.
19. How combat works:
Since the game's documentation is not as clear (yet, I hope) as it could be about the mechanics and results of combat in this game, I wanted to provide a little insight based on how combat works in the boardgame version of LGG, which appears to have been 95% copied for the computer
version.
(1) Key to success is combining units with high attack factors + units with high firepower ratings + units with high morale + artillery + generals with attack starts. Put those together over several combat rounds, and you should see good results. However, the LGG combat chart is not easy for the attacker, even in 1914. For example, a good attack round in the boardgame version (say on the +4 column) still sets up the following possible results:
6 results (out of 14 possible) = attacker takes a "1" result and flips
5 results (out of 14 possible) = attacker takes a "2" or "M" result and flips + uses an RP
4 results (out of 14 possible) = attacker takes no losses
So, even with a great attack (on the +4 column) the attacker has a very high chance of taking losses. Assume every attack will result in a "1" or worse for the attacker. That adds one loss to that nation, and flips a full-strength unit. If a reduced-strength unit takes a "1" loss, it costs the nation an RP and the unit has to morale test.
(2) The key to minimizing losses on the attack is twofold:
A. Ensuring that you attack with a +2 net die roll modifier. Since 2 x 6-sided dice are rolled, it pushes the most likely result up to a 9 (instead of a 7).
Here is how you achieve a +2 mod (assuming the game works like the boardgame, which appears to be the case):
Modifier = Total Attacker Bonus - Total Defender Bonus
Bonuses:
Attacking General Star (+1 or +2, the left-hand figure on the General marker)
Defending General Star (+1 or +2, the right-hand figure on the General marker)
Firepower Value (+0 to +3)
Event (+?, some events provide a bonus)
English BEF 894 Corps (+1, not sure if this is in the computer game version)
Numerical Superiority (+1, requires having >=3 more corps than other side)
Weather Snow (-1, only applies to attacker)
Doctrine: Movement vs. Firepower (-1, applies only to attacker)
Max Net bonus for attacker is +2, Max net bonus for defender is -2
In snow weather or if defender has numerical superiority, max for attacker is +1
B. Attacking with Corps with good morale. If a full-strength corps takes and "M" or "2" result, it has to do a morale check. A reduced-strength corps takes a check even if it only takes a "1" result.
Again, assuming computer LGG works like the boardgame, here is the chart and mods for morale checks:
Final Result (1d6)
-1 or less = Corps Panic (requires immediate retreat of all attacking forces)
0-1 = Corps Eliminated (corps is eliminated and must be rebuilt with EP during interphase)
2-3 = Out of Combat (corps is out of game and comes back during next turn replacements)
4-5 = Disorganized (corps cannot participate in this battle, still "on the board")
6-8 = Shaken (corps must skip one round of combat, then can be used again, same as "repulsed" in computer version, it seems)
9+ = Exploit (reduces 2 losses to 1, avoids having to flip the unit)
Mods
+/- ? National Will (most nations start at +2 or +1 in August 1914, doesn't last)
+2 Elite Corps (Orange flag)
+1 Veteran (Purple flag)
+0 Active (Yellow flag)
-1 Reservist (Gray flag)
-2 Mobilized (White flag)
+1 Shock Doctrine (France only, usually only for August and Sept 1914)
-2 Reduced unit that takes a "2" result
-1 Per consecutive combat round engaged
-2 Unsupplied
Max Modifier is +4, no limit on negative modifier!
C) Some common early-game morale check situations:
German veteran corps, full strength, takes a "2" loss result:
+2 NW, +1 Veteran = +3 Mod (no chance of panic, elim, or OOC / 33% chance for Disorg result / 50% chance for Shaken result / 16% chance for exploit)
Russian mobilized corps, full strength, takes a "2" loss result:
+2 NW, -2 Mobilized = 0 Mod (no chance of panic, 16% chance of elim, 33% chance OOC, Disorg, or Shaken)
And here is where you get in trouble:
French Mobilized Corps, reduced strength, takes a "2" loss result:
+2 NW, +1 shock doctrine, -2 Mobilized, -2 reduced took 2 result = -1 Mod
(no chance for panic, 33% chance for elim, 33% chance OOC, 33% chance Disorg, no chance for Shaken or Exploit)
(3) So, some general rules:
a. Don't attack with a reduced strength unit unless it is veteran or better. Rarely worth it! An eliminated corps is not available for months AND costs EP
to rebuild.
b. Avoid using a unit in consecutive rounds, even if at full strength
c. Once NW mod drops to +1 or +0, attacks with anything other than veteran units are somewhat risky. Be prepared for OOC results by having maximum reserves.
20. Taking a town with a fortress is indeed almost impossible...a big slaughter...especially if the fortress is a large one. The best thing to do is to besiege it, bring in Heavy Artillery (or better, Siege Artillery), and then spend Ammo to bombard it every turn you can, until the fortress is reduced or destroyed.
In addition, while sieging, a test is made every turn (this even if you bombard or not the frotress)...over time, the chance of surrender increases (but it may be very LONG for large fortresses).
For breakthrough, during the battle, you can click on the 'Breakthrouh' button..it will show you the areas nearby the battle location where such a breakthrough is possible... of course, no breakthrough will be offered if you do not have the basic elements for it; i.e. be victorious; i.e have a pursuitvalue of your general/HQ not nil; and, most important, have eligible units in the HQ reserve... if none of the above, just forget it .
What I do is really simple: when the siege window comes up, I first attempt to fire the artillery on it, then "besiege operations" (having the game check
for its fall), then delay siege. I do not assault unless speed is absolutely essential, and it rarely is. Assaulting is VERY bloody, especially if you have no artillery support.
I think at start, there are two forts to consider assaulting: Belgrade, and Liege. I think it does not worth it for Liege (and you have a good chance to have it go in August, due to your Austrian siege arty), and Belgrade, well, it depends on my mood. The Serbs can get quite an annoyance if not contained early on, but because of the assault you may end up not having enough units at hand to contain them with.
21. When you succesfully intercept the enemy (during the enemy's move), you move into position...but when the battle takes place, you're still the defender.
22. In the first "Military" phase of the 1914 campaign, various armies have "mandatory" attack location in accordance with the chosen grand plan. Each involved HQ must be given an appropriate order to comply with the plan. The target provinces cannot be those along the way to the objective, the target province/area must be the the required one. Each HQ will have the required attack area listed in the drop down menu, written in red. If the appropriate orders are not given, the game will not advance. Those armies needing to make mandatory attacks will have a red arrow (I
think it's an arrow; but I know it's red.) above the stack graphic. Once the mandatory attack is plotted correctly, the arrow will turn to green. Zooming out, you'll be able to see at a glance which armies, if any, need to make these mandatory attacks.
XII. WAR AT SEA
1. To set up a naval blockade of Germany do I only need to select the option "Naval Blockade" from the UK political options menu or do I need to also physically move Task Forces into sea zones?
Blockade is handled automatically, once you have selected the proper option (you may even receive it by historical event if you are lucky ). No need to move fleets.
2. BEWARE! Do not assume naval operations are free to run, they apparently cost EP. I was shocked to see I was in deficit spending for GB after running a slew of operations with the english fleet.
Each fleet has a standard EP cost by itself (listed in the Fleet.xls file of each scenario), then the cost depends on the mission undertaken (see in
NavalMissions.xls).
Check the DB for these.
On average:
Scouting fleets usually cost 2 EP to active
Main battle fleet: 3 EP
... smaller fleets cost 0 EP
Transport & Raid: 1 EP / mission
Control: 3 EP per mission
So sending the German High Seas Fleet + Scouting squadron on a North Sea control operation will cost 2 + 3 for fleets + 2*3 (2 fleets on mission) =
11 EP.
3. Is it possible in the game to execute strategic operations like Gallipoli? Is it possible to program large sea invasion operation in Dardanelli, in Turkey Coast, in Dalmazia, in Crimea, in palestina, etc ?
The procedure is quite simple: create an expeditionary force and move it with the "Naval transport" movement mode. Send also some fleets as "convoy" to support the landing, mainly because of naval minefields and coastal shells... Then combat! Consider also that such landings can be performed on seashore beach-heads.
XIII. WAR IN THE AIR
1. To set an air mission you have simply to click on the recon button, nothing more. You are not required to select the target. The air squadron(s) will perform the recon in all areas within the reconnaissance range (use the Tab key to display the map filter for reconnaissance missions).
2. How does air interception works in the wego mode?
Same principle like turn-based and/or army-by-army. You plan missions, and air interceptions are checked in recon range.
3. Can one Fighter only intercept in one battle?
Mmm... not! Interceptions take place before battles and generate battles if successful.
4. And how can i transfer airplanes from one front to another? Via rail or administration movement?
Both are good, rail is faster of course.
5. As for aircraft, you really need to research advanced tools for them (light machine guns etc.) to make them effective support units. By default, they are very lackluster.
XIV. SUPPLY
1. In a nutshell, your supply moves along railroads, and your unit needs to be at max 2 areas away from such a supplied railroad, or from a supplied HQ.
Supply sources are your friendly cities, or ports (unless the port's sea is enemy controlled).
As for stockpiling prior to an offensive, that is represented for trench warfare, where to launch a major offensive (and thus use a somewhat better CRT for your attack), you need to pre-schedule it, by its start turn and target area.
For the big offensives Tamas mentioned, it also helps to have good stockpiles of MUN (to fire your artillery) and RP (to help replace the casualties).
XV. GAMEPLAY HINTS
1. Be careful with your supply lines! Protect your supply sources (cities, HQs, fortresses, ports) and your supply relays (railtracks, rivers, …). Try always to cut the enemy supply lines.
2. Place your best generals on your main armies. This will have anyway a political cost for sacking the bad generals in command, but the benefits will pay for it!
3. Place or move your GHQ just behind the Front line, so that all your armies will be able to benefit from its reserves.
4. Don't hesitate to move your GHQ closer towards the Army you want to see " React" during the enemi turn. Being the closest possible to the GHQ greatly increases the chances of a successful reaction.
5. In 1914, keep in mind that a defeated force, if it retreats into an area with a friendly fortress, major city or behind a major river can stay there and fight again versus an enemy breakthrough.
6. In 1914, it's Movement Warfare. Do not hesitate to retreat, move forward again, maneuver, as the military situation is rapidly changing.
7. Transition to Trench Warfare:
From november 1914, tests are conducted every turn and nations will start to "learn" that entrenching is helping defense...it will take 2 turns before the 'change' from movement warfare to fire doctrine ( = trench warfare) is implemented... later on, technologies and weapons will make the trench
level grow ( from a start of 0 to a max of 3), rendering defense stronger and attack almost suicidal.
8. During Trench Warfare, Grand Offensives on the Western front have almost no chance to succeed, but it can inflict serious losses to the enemy. If you can afford it, you may pursue the Grand Offensive effort over many turns, before ending it. The enemy may well break before you
have finished, bled white and lacking means of resistance.
9. During Trench Warfare, Grand Offensives on the Eastern front have good chances to become a success as the frontlines are much less static than in the West. The Russians benefit from a good capacity of resistance and large tracks of territory, while the Austrians may receive help
from their German ally.
10. During Trench Warfare, if you lose a major city (or fortress), you may benefit from an unforeseen Patriotic Reaction! If this happens, your National Will, instead of receding, will jump upwards rather strongly and your Parliament's mood will move up also a few levels.
11. Minor countries may be defeated on the field (conquest of their major cities), and may then surrender. A surrender test is made, and in some case the minor may pursue the war. This is sometimes the case of Belgium if the Allies help in her defense. Also the same may apply to Serbia, and
its units may even be evacuated and reintegrated in any allied army in the Balkans.
12. It's strongly recommended you play the tutorials before any try on campaign or scenarios! World War One is a game easy to play, but hard to learn. It's of fundamental importance you know all main aspects of the game before attempting a campaign.
13. Once you have played all the tutorials, it's better you start a small scenario before the campaign! Tannenberg is the best introductory scenario. It has the same strategic background of the tutorial, so it would be the perfect beginning for you. In addition, it allows you easily access and put in action the main mechanics that you have learned during the tutorials.
14. As soon you have mastered the Tannenberg scenario, a good step inside WW1 game would be Serbia! This scenario is a bit longer, and it allows you to go deeply inside the management of a small campaign on a whole Front sector.
15. Start the Grand Campaign when you master the most mechanics of Movement Warfare. The primary objective of 1914 campaign is to inflict a major defeat to the enemy withing the end of the year: conquer Paris if you play on the side of Central Powers, or Berlin if you play on the side of Entente!
16. If the primary goals of Grand Campaign are not met within the end of 1914, remember the Fire-Power warfare doctrine will bring a new strategic objective: a political victory.
17. In 1915+, the only way to win is to gain a "political" victory. It works so: war weariness and human losses will bear a heavier and heavier toll on National Will (NW) of each country, until they reach a critical threshold. Serious social troubles will erupt, and the more the NW will drop, the
more they will become dangerous (Strikes, then … Mutinies, … Revolution… Capitulation?).
18. To avoid a "political" defeat, or at least to limit the risks, each country may react and try to improve its NW, through Political Actions and military victory on the battlefield (including conquest of enemy capital, important but no longer decisive). But all the above, and the length of the war, will weaken the national Parliament, which in turns affects NW on the long run. Therefore the goal is to force the opponent to become politically fragile in order to decrease its NW and send him beyond the critical thresholds.
19. Caporetto and Palestine scenarios are a good example of Trench warfare. Try them… you will so experience the complexity of the management of a Grand Offensive benefiting at the same time of the simplicity of a small scenario.
20. The scenarios of 1916 and 1918 are very complex. Do not try them if you are still at the beginning of the game "learning curve"… You could be overwhelmed by the complexity of managing the trench warfare.
21. You can see sandbags around the unit 3D sprite base... in all cases, the number is the entrenchment level (i.e. the strength of the trenches)... this number directly adds to the defense value of each unit, making them even more difficult to crack in battle.