Brief AAR of Great War in Europe Deluxe (GMT)

[Delirium]

Okay, we're trying out this one and I've taken a few pictures of it. None of us have played it and I'm the only one who read the rules. There's a lot of errata which I know has been a deterrant for a lot of folks including me. But I figured what the hell.

I'm the Allies and have one and a half guys against me as the Central Powers. Since it's all new to us we decided to not think too much beforehand and just jump straight into the action. Interestingly it proved a recipe for pretty historical play. We are half way through the first September turn, I have moved and attacked on the Eastern front and they have moved and attacked on the Western front (this is a brilliant design choice, simultaneous movement on the respective fronts which means there is no downtime at all).

On the Eastern front I took some really bad attack decisions with the Russians and bled a lot; on the other hand the Austrians were a bit too aggressive on their countercharge and the Germans realized how big that pile of reinforcing divisions really was.

In Serbia things looked good early and I got away with a clean counterattack but then failed miserably with the next and am now on the defensive until the next replacement phase.

On the Western front I messed up the setup and got punished for it. I hadn't realized the implications of the supply rules and had failed to garrison Brussels (you can move into empty unfortified cities and immediately use them as supply sources which meant those German cavalry divisions surged forward really fast). I have been conservative in the South and aggressive in the North with the French and things look bad but not completely dark I think. I have a few counterattacks up my sleeve.

[The Larch]

Cool, have you played more than that session so far? I've been semi-eager to find a good WWI game, in a WiF vein. How would you compare the two?

[Delirium]

Nope, just the one session (which means two and half operational turn and one strategic turn).

If you are used to WiF you'll find this one ridiculously simple. There has been talk of it sacrificing history for playability but since it plays so fast and is fun it gets away with it. Great War in Europe to me is a deliberately simple war game which is marred by some pretty sloppy development work. A sheet of corrected counters, then another, partly to correct the corrected counters; map patches, including one to change an R to an F in a huge holding box, and a rulebook with bad proofreading. Some of the rules are just poorly written and make it seem like they are more complicated than they really are, but as a whole it is a fun game that is easy to learn.

[The Larch]

Operational and strategic turns? How are those structured? What has to be done in the strategic ones? I assume that the operational ones are movements and attacks, and the strategic reinforcement, production, etc.

[Delirium]

Note that movement is doubled on the western front and that the Belgians cannot move until October. Also, those fortress garrisons are stuck due to poor understanding of supply rules so the Gerries were able to just bypass them. Okay, perhaps I'll get screwed in the West before I can collapse Austria.

[Delirium]

Operational and strategic turns? How are those structured? What has to be done in the strategic ones? I assume that the operational ones are movements and attacks, and the strategic reinforcement, production, etc.

Reinforcements are fixed to certain strategic turns and enter play in the ensuing op turn. Production is limited to rebuilding dead units, using resource points, the amounts of which vary from country to country and over time. Very simple. The chrome is limited to randomly drawn events which cover everything from Lawrence of Arabia to aircraft and tanks.

[The Larch]

How do units stack? IIRC, there was one game in which you could stak up to 3 corps in a hex, although only 2 could be used for attacking at a time. Is it this one?

[Delirium]

Nope, almost all units are divisions and stack six in a hex. Two different combat tables, one if the defender has three or less units, another if he has more. Basic all-or-nothing odds calculation, 19 vs 10 factors is 1-1 odds, 20 vs 10 is 2-1.

[Habbaku]

Great War in Europe to me is a deliberately simple war game which is marred by some pretty sloppy development work. A sheet of corrected counters, then another, partly to correct the corrected counters; map patches, including one to change an R to an F in a huge holding box, and a rulebook with bad proofreading. Some of the rules are just poorly written and make it seem like they are more complicated than they really are, but as a whole it is a fun game that is easy to learn.

I think it'd be harder to come up with another one-paragraph review of the game that didn't express the same sentiments.  The only thing I'd change is that, from the looks of things, more than a little history has been sacrificed.  A lot of campaign game players have noted that the CP either wins somewhat early or starts to just utterly collapse around 1916 under the tidal wave of Allied RPs.

[Delirium]

Interesting, I'll keep my eyes open for it. At this point it feels the game plays so smoothly you're ready to forgive quite a lot, but not everything.

[Delirium]

Okay, fun developments. We realized I could cut off almost half of the German army due to n00b mistakes from the other CP player and decided to restart the campaign anyway since we had only played three turns.

In this start I was once again scrambling to defend Belgium and the Channel Coast in late August (it's really a pain) when my opponent declared his intention to switch the initiative come September and showed me what he would he do, encircle the entire Russian SW army. Ouch. I was pretty depressed about that n00b mistake until I realized that the Russians get a gazillion reinforcements and there really aren't that many vp hexes in Russia anyway.

Instead I focused on the West fron and with some creative play managed to punish him and encircle the entire forward element of the army group heading for the Coast. That's 8 German divisions plus 4 in attacks in the West versus 22 Russian in the East. Together with the 25 reinforcing French divisions, an intact BEF and the Belgians being released come October that tipped the balance in my favour and after cutting off another element in Belgium next turn he promptly ran like hell to the other side of the Meuse. This is while the Russians have consolidated their lines around Warsaw and the Ukraine with their heavy rain of reinforcements.

I think the point is that a flip flop can be potentially disastrous but it's not always clear to whom.