As I write this, the Wikipedia article “List of World War II video games” contains more than 1000 entries. But the prequel that ends all prequels, World War I, doesn’t have 200 games to speak of. The Great War: Western Front may actually be the first World War I RTS worth mentioning in modern times. While not particularly beautiful, neither was the Battle of the Somme.
When we think of World War I, especially the Western Front, we immediately think of trench warfare. And, indeed, it is a key factor in how the battle of the Great War unfolds. It starts with a setup phase where you can place your army using This is drawn from a common pool of supplies that will be used as the clock begins to order artillery fire and call in reinforcements.
An interesting trade-off here is that it’s cheaper to deploy troops during the setup phase, but deploying them early means they can take damage from enemy strategic-level siege artillery before they even engage in combat. It means that there is It’s also important to consider how many supplies you’ll spend setting up and how many spares you’ll have throughout the battle. Attempting to go all out from the outset, the artillery shells often ran out long before a convincing breakthrough was achieved, forcing a truce.
Fittingly, many engagements end this way. The attacker decides that they cannot make any further progress with the resources they have, and a stalemate occurs. Each territory on The Great War’s strategy map has a certain number of stars that must be removed in order to capture it, and removing stars requires a decisive “Big Victory” from either side. ‘ is required. Therefore, you will be fighting many battles with inconclusive results. But every small victory can change the course of your campaign.
Play the Fife Lonely
Territory is important, and capturing the enemy’s capital is one way to win as either an ally or a central power. However, each faction also has a resource called National Will that indicates if the home country is willing to continue fighting. If you continue to take horrendous casualties in every battle, even if you are growing in power, you may lose the will of your people faster than your enemies. If either runs out, they lose the campaign. Therefore, in most cases it may be wiser to wait for the enemy to come to you.
And make no mistake, a frontal attack with infantry is generally a bad idea. I saw entire regiments collapse in seconds. Even against the entrenched conscripts when they were far outnumbered. Therefore, most battles (at least until you unlock tanks far down the tech tree) revolve around judicious use of artillery. Smoke grenades and rolling barrages can cover advancing troops. Targeted artillery fire and airburst shells can soften trenches before attacking. Light artillery can also provide suppressing fire to prevent nearby trenches from effectively counterattacking.
Gaining a foothold in your opponent’s trench network makes it a much easier fight. Conclude the final stage of the battle by earning victory points through it. Lucky, enemy commander. However, even partial victories and stalemate can serve a larger strategic purpose. For example, attacking from multiple flanks leaves the enemy exhausted. So a small reconnaissance attack followed by a larger attack from the next province can be very effective.
French green space
I hadn’t gotten far enough into the campaign to really get a feel for how it all fit together in the long run. The supply system seems to be key, though, as it was often a critical factor. And technological advances make a big difference.
Fully upgraded trenches unlocked later in the war can no longer be simply wiped out using standard artillery. It now relies on more expensive airburst shells and gas attacks to deal significant damage at long range. Observation balloons can provide visibility over vast swaths of the battlefield, but are vulnerable to aircraft attack, so you’ll need to protect them with your own flying ace. will change. They can’t get above ground on their own and just park in front of the trenches, making them very vulnerable to grenades. It makes attacks very viable.
From what I’ve seen so far, The Great War: Western Front is a very capable first-person shooter that looks to a campaign that revolves around authenticity and making the most of even the smallest victories. It’s becoming the RTS of World War I. You can check out the demo I played as part of the Steam Next Fest starting next week.
