The Great War: Western Front™

This game is a unique and troubling reflection on WW1. Before playing this game, I often wondered how WW1 generals could commit so many millions to slaughter. After my second play through, I realized I was doing the same thing. We need to capture this new objective dictated by the government? Send in 8 divisions. We only lost 2 on trainee mode, so victory. It was not until that fateful second play through that I understood. This game is not a game as you would traditionally understand it. It's a perfectly fun strategy game in its own right. There are countless gripes I could bring up. But every time I begin to complain, the nagging specter of history stops me. The AI is easily thrown off, commits forces in suicidal actions, and is easily bogged down. Similar to countless WW1 generals. The supply system is frustrating and exorbitantly difficult to triage; as was the sustainment of the great war. The maps get samey and you often find yourself fighting on the same maps; similar to how there were over 3 battles at Arras. This game is the most brutal examination of the hardest part of the first world war: the vicious reality of commanding thousands to their deaths, with no good solutions and no good plan. Even with the hindsight of history, this game will have you committing to the same insanity of Hague, Ludendorf, and von Moltke before you realize it. I recommend this game to any history buff and strategy game fan. Paired with a listen through of Blueprint to Armageddon, you will find yourself learning and experiencing at a level previously unachievable.

A bait-and-drop scheme for those of us who were starving for a Total War WW1. I even waited til a few days after launch to be sure, but the creampuff reviews and softball interviews with the creative team won me over. I wanted this game to be something, and it was so close to that thing, but was immediately abandoned. The AI is a problem, and in fact was so overpowered at launch that the game was essentially unplayable. Complaints to this effect were met with the usual snark of "git gud" from the sweats, and ultimately what should have been a decent correction to the difficulty curve resulted in either braindead or godlike AI with little ground in between. Get it on sale, the regular price for this is absolutely too high after its abandonment by the devs. 10-20 hours of pummeling the same points on the same maps over and over and you'll be ready to move on.

非常好，很有战略战术深度，也很复合一战的特点。实际上我感觉稍微改一改可以加上中日模组，毕竟中日的武器装备其实就和一战很像。我简单分享一下这个游戏刚玩九个小时的战术心得，想必可以说明游戏的特征。 如果把攻击战术分级，那么最入门的战术就是步炮协同的常规攻击。是不是有人以为我要说人海冲锋，不不不，人海冲锋是相当高级的战术，毕竟能成功才叫战术，直接无脑乱冲只是送人头而已，我们读过历史可不要重蹈覆辙。炮兵最核心的作用就是压制，阻止对手射击，从而让步兵得以冲锋。让步兵运动到敌人视野边界，呼叫炮击，然后发起冲击。冲击队形可以是密集纵队也可以是散兵横队，这取决于你对火力压制有多自信。实际上在快速突击中，密集纵队往往更有用，横队速度比较慢有时候跟不上炮击节奏。一般来说要保证压制敌人起码要有3-5个炮连，小规模作战也可以只用两个轻炮连往返压制敌人并进行人海冲锋。炮兵最好有轻有重，轻炮主要是保证始终有火力投送，重炮作用更大，可以进行火力准备和杀伤，通常上一组轻炮剩下都上重炮即可。选择突破方向时，中心往往是优先选择的，一旦突破就可以分割敌人并可左右出击。常规的步炮进攻通常是在全面火力压制后，送两个尖刀连拿下第一道堑壕，随后逐个堑壕重复操作直至肃清敌人。这通常是伤亡最小的进攻方式。 稍进阶的攻击战术就是人浪冲击，或说人海战术。主要有两种应用场景，一是己方火炮不足以完全压制敌人，这种情况尤其多见于敌人有多个机枪碉堡组成交叉火力。这时使用所有炮火尽可能压制敌人，并以绝对优势兵力、通常是十个连左右，发起一次团级冲击，冲击时注意不要因小失大——一次团级冲击可不是只为了抢前面的一两个战壕。冲击要凶狠，让所有有敌人的战壕都有自己人冲进去拼刺刀从而哑火敌人，同时准备好预备队准备扩大战果。一般这样的团级冲击能够夺下部分阵地，足以拔掉几个机枪碉堡，使己方火力这时能够做到完全覆盖，于是进行完全覆盖并投送预备队，完全夺取阵地。注意，发起团级冲击之前必须用重炮起码做一两轮火力准备，打残敌人，才方便拼刺刀。 另一种人海冲击的场景是尽管火力能够完全覆盖敌人、但是敌方重火力非常强悍。但在敌方重火力强悍时，常规攻击的尖刀连拿下战壕就会立刻遭受报复性炮击，使其丧失继续冲击的能力并可能被敌人夺回战壕，重复操作只会互刷人头。要夺下被敌人重炮覆盖的阵地也可以使用人海战术，在全面火力覆盖后发起团级冲击，夺取大量堑壕，使得敌人的报复性炮击无法夺回阵地，而后再进行炮火准备并投送预备队即可。注意，进行人海冲击时，哪怕肉搏战打不过，也要进行肉搏战以哑火敌人，以保护尚未进入战壕的友军。 使用上述的常规步炮协同和人海战术已经足以应对前期多数情况。实际上，在大会战中，常规攻击一定会被重炮炸烂，一次成功的攻击往往必须是人海战术。一旦撕开任何突破口，那么第一要务就是寻找缝隙去摸敌人的炮。只要摸掉敌人的炮，就可以用常规攻击以最小的代价进行攻击。这里值得再次表述的是，冲击队形通常还是会选择纵队，只有排头连需要展开横队多抗一会。其他部队如果选择横队冲击，宽度太大，还是会密集到一起。以及大规模冲击时炮击的时间和规模往往不够用，横队冲击看起来安全一些，实际上拖延时间只会造成更大伤亡，以纵队最快速度冲入堑壕才是舍小保大。还需要补充的点是，进行大规模冲击前的集结时，建议把部队拉出堑壕集结，这样能精确计算炮击时间——毕竟走出战壕也需要时间的。以及集结队形最好还是是密集队形，这个队形方便运动，就是得多看着点炮火。应该说，除了战斗，密集纵队做别的任何事情都更方便。散兵横队唯一有点就是少挨打。 更进阶的攻击战术是渗透、伏击和打援等运动战战术，或者说这些内容其实是进攻战术的细节补充。战线上总是有一些敌人防守薄弱的地方，哪怕一开始没有，完成一些成功的突破后便可能有。只要能渗透几个连冲到敌人底线，那么能做的文章就太多了。有时候渗透也需要炮击掩护一下，毕竟安全的突破口不常存在。注意到，堑壕虽然很安全，但不要思维定式觉得士兵就一定要在战壕里，尤其是有些战壕的位置不好、有些不是战壕的位置却绝佳。有些敌人进行支援或运输的路线，一旦让精兵切入并找到射击位置，尤其是如果有树林躲着，将极大阻碍敌人的战场活动。尤其是开始突破一片区域以后，敌人很可能试图夺回该区域，这时候在敌人意想不到的没有战壕的小树林等地藏一支伏兵、将打出绝佳的伏击效果。 进攻中还需要注意的一点是，要注意敌我预备队情况，当敌人还有大量预备队时，不要因为敌人看起来在一味防守就压上自己最后的部队去进攻。通常来说，在己方物资用尽后而敌人仍有大量物资和预备队时，应就地转入防守，不要轻敌冒进结果被一波反攻打的满盘皆输。 说完进攻再简要说说防守。其实攻守本质是一回事，正反罢了。学会常规进攻后很容易发现，最好打的就是那种孤零零的一道堑壕，塞多少人也发挥不出作用，直接炮兵压制就可以拼刺刀了。多道近距离堑壕复合会麻烦一些，主要是考验炮兵的数量，如果炮兵不够那就打不了常规进攻，只能打人海战术了。最凶险的东西还是机枪，这玩意不容易被炮完全压制，稍微开一梭子就打死好多人，面对碉堡尤其是交叉火力碉堡群时常规进攻也不奏效，而只能打人海了。实际上这进攻的情况就已经表达了防守的思路，那就是搞多道堑壕互相掩护并设置机枪。那么刚刚已经说过这样的防御还是可以用人海战术击破的，这时候作为防守方可以有三种方式应对。一是脱离战壕，即设置少数在战壕外的部队，它们便可以避开炮击并射击敌人侧翼；二是最简单粗暴的以炮击回应；三是不做应对或者说提前应对，即只要设置一个足够合理的防御阵型，敌人的人浪冲击是会付出巨大代价的，这就可以再反推夺回阵地。具体来说，机枪碉堡和后方堑壕的作用不是去压制敌人让它们不能进入第一道堑壕，而是限制进入第一道堑壕的敌人数量。大规模冲击要成功就必须有足够多的部队进入堑壕，而复合防线的作用就是让敌人除了前两个连能冲进战壕，剩下的挤不进去全都枪毙，于是便只需要刺刀解决冲进来的少数几个连即可。因此机枪的位置不要太靠前，应保证敌人在第一道堑壕里无法用手榴弹清机枪，它是要持续杀伤后续的敌人来最大程度减员敌人的进攻。同样地，当敌人还大量地没挤进战壕时，有射击位置的连队先射击，不用急着拼刺刀。毕竟敌人的总数这么多，都要杀，那肯定先高效地多杀几个再去拼刺刀。这也要求一线战壕肯定是得有人的，不然敌人一下战壕就可以运动，便大量下了战壕，那火力就发挥不出来了。 我目前的游戏理解就是这么浅了。总的来说，这游戏关键就是不要搞丢西瓜捡芝麻的事。打仗总要牺牲，尤其是一战。看似凶险而草菅人命的大规模冲击，其实玩得好能少死很多人。也不要担心让自己的士兵冲进进攻的炮火里，被进攻炮火炸死几个人比被机枪全突突成筛子要好多了。面对敌人的密集冲锋也请放心的“向我开炮”，虽然不得不说第一次对自己的部队开炮时我做了很多心理建设。

Идея более-менее хорошая, но это очередная стратегия, где можно взять мясо, атаковать и победить, где можно победить числом. Самый большой минус в том, что игра ужасно плохо оптимизирована 2/10

Pros: Tech tree is a nice reason to play the full time out. Graphics are above average. Sound is good. Campaign map is very good and detailed. Customization in your game play. Cons: Actual limitations of 30 units on the battlefield is not so bad, but combine this with the actual game's winning or losing scenario and it limits your play time. No managing in depth detail for the armies. (Example: I moved one army from Ypres to Verdun, never losing a battle, never losing more than 1,000 casualties in a battle the entire time. The game didn't seem to notice that I was fighting the AI advances off, and advancing myself, nearly every turn. Morale was always 100% and supplies really didn't stop me.) Can not change historical occurrences from happening. Can play the entire war and not lose a battle. Artillery is overpowered. Trench systems seem authentic until you are limited to 30 units. Tech tree would be better if it was more detailed. Verdict: This is not a simulator, though it is a nice representation of the challenges of moving out across No Man's Land with infantry. The artillery is over powered, morale is not logical, but it at least seems fair. The Great War is not a "Great" game in my opinion. Yet, one should never say it is a bad game either. I feel it is like far too many games created today, a lot of good things left stranded for various reasons and what we are left with is a game you can play and enjoy, but never love.

Game had some decent potential, but with it the dev team no longer providing updates, I wouldn't recommend wasting your money here.

Well i can confirm that the AI cheats heavily. even on medium difficulty. one of my Trenches sustained over 10 minutes of literally constant uptime of artillery barrages - which is mathematically impossible for the early game setting. they we're obviously glitched because they also got their infantry caught up running back and forth, but that shouldn't allow them unlimited supply.