The Great War: Western Front™

I was a bit unsure of this game at first but I've decided I really really love it (though I have criticisms). I felt like I really was reliving the experience of a WW1 commander as I steadily unlocked more technologies and learnt how the game worked. First I tried mass infantry assaults (everyone died), then I tried small scale infantry assaults with artillery support (we took a single command point at the cost of 2,000 men and then lost it immediately to a counter-attack) and then I used tanks to support my elite infantry while shelling the ♥♥♥♥ out of everything even remotely near the point I was trying to capture and that worked and I even managed to hold against the counter-attack this time. Criticisms: There's some bugs that can get particularly annoying when I'm trying to launch carefully timed assaults. For example my men keep climbing out of the trenches when I tell them to move to another trench connected by a trench in between (this gets them all shot) and sometimes the unit markers aren't even close to where the majority of the unit is. Encirclments feel way too unrewarding. Sure it reduces the enemy willpower but all the Corps I destroy in the encirclment immediatley respawn at the enemy HQ which feels like ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥. Sometimes an artillery bombardment that was no where near my men still somehow suppresses them? Despite the fact that the enemy can walk through the same bombardment just fine. Get past the minor jank though and it's a really addicting game

Played just over 25 hours. Fantastic game and well worth the money.

This game really is a standout in terms of WW1 RTS titles—there just aren't many others like it. The core gameplay is essentially a massive, gritty game of leapfrog: trench to trench, always hoping a machine gun isn’t tucked away in a corner waiting to erase your platoon.That said, the campaign design feels a bit off. Each sector requires a specific number of victories to capture, which can make progress feel stale and repetitive. It discourages historically significant offensives like the Somme, simply because they aren't manpower-efficient—you’re better off taking 2–3 weaker sectors in the same timeframe. Still, it’s genuinely fun for at least 2–3 campaign playthroughs. After that, the appeal starts to wear thin. Pick it up on sale, and you’ll get your money’s worth.

Within the genre of Total War type games (e.g. you command companies of soldiers in real time), it is the best one I have played out of about 30. The tech tree in particular is a triumph and makes almost every other strategy game's tech tree feel like trash: there's a real sense of pressure and concern when researching techs to research techs that 1) make a difference that you can take advantage of ASAP and 2) get that use out of them before counter-techs come online, as those counter techs (e.g. gas attacks -> gas masks) are not as far away as you hope. My biggest complaint is that artillery is too fast and responsive - this means that there's not a lot of reward or purpose to carefully planning and timing your attacks with pre planned artillery in a way that I'd find expressive, interesting, and challenging. Still, as RTS gameplay loops go, the balance & expressiveness of coordinating recon, bombardment, marches, assaults, and consolidations is far better executed here than in any other I've yet witnessed.

Thousands are dead, but I have more victory points than the Jerry's so I'm declaring victory! 8/10, perfect WW1 simulator.

Nice strategy

以为是RTS，结果是傻逼回合制，据说还是命令与征服的制作组