Coming Soon – Kaiser!

[fairline]

Originally posted by Case
Especially the Newfoundland regiment's involvement in it. Almost every young man in the colony was killed or wounded in a matter of minutes when the regiment went 'over the top' against intact German defences.

While the Australians missed the worst of the Somme, it's closing stages still managed to squeze in the worst days in Australian history: over 10,000 casualties in two and a half days fighting.

Much the same thing applied to whole communites in Britain. The British regimental system was such that battalions were recruited regionally, and this was amplified by the 'Pal's' battalions which were recruited from a single town. Heavy losses for a given battalion meant that a single community suffered badly.

My Dad has a photo of his father and uncle taken in 1916, both recuperating from serious wounds in England. My Grandfather (who was in the Navy) had been wounded in the Dardanelles, but his 2 brothers and brother-in law had joined the same battalion of the Worcestershire Regiment. The oldest brother and their brother-in-law were killed on the Somme, while the youngest brother was seriously wounded. This sort of experience in a single family was not a-typical.

[Arthedain]

@ Curt: Sorry for the threadjacking but I just wanted to make sure you haven't forgot about the graphics I needed Curt. Of course it's not urgent, take your time.

[rmsharpe]

Curt, maybe you'd want to move the French Cavalry. The slot where it is has the effect of as if you produced nuclear weapons (giving you diplomatic advantages over everyone else.)

Maybe consider switching it with the gas weapon (to simulate people's fears of chemical warfare) or a barbarian unit so the effect never even exists.

Thought I'd throw that in there before the playtest is released.

[Arthedain]

rmshape: that won't happen if it's a hero unit that doesn't have a tech, right?

[curtsibling]

@rmsharpe:

Well spotted!
The units have been switched.
Gas now has the nuke slot.

[curtsibling]

Here are the current units and the unit names too!

Engineers
Fokker Eindecker
French Infantry (1914)
French Infantry (1915)
BEF Trooper
British Infantry
Avro 504
Fokker DVII
Wild Raiders
Bolsheviks
Italian Infantry
Austrian Infantry
German Infantry (1914)
German Infantry (1915)
Armoured Car (Central)
British Cavalry
Russian Cavalry
German Cavalry
Nieuport 17
Spad 7/13
Gotha G5
DeHavilland DH-4
MKIV Tank
Field Gun (Entente)
Howitzer (Entente)
Field Gun (Central)
Howitzer (Central)
Monoplane Fighter
Biplane Fighter
Zepplin
Sopwith Camel
Handley Page Bomber
FE2B Fighter
Albatros DII/III/IV
Red Baron (Albatros)
Red Baron (Fokker DRI)
Ocean Liner
Destroyer
Cruiser
Dreadnought
Battleship
Submarine
U-Boot
Freighter
French Cavalry
Poison Gas
Colonial Troops
Defended Trench
Armoured Car (Entente)
Supply Truck
Moroccan troops
Vickers Machine Gun
MG-8 Machine Gun
Krupps Mortar
Japanese Infantry
Russian Infantry
Stormtroopers
American Infantry
ANZAC Infantry
Canadian Infantry
FT17 Tank
Turkish Infantry
Warlord Infantry

[Case]

Originally posted by fairline
Much the same thing applied to whole communites in Britain. The British regimental system was such that battalions were recruited regionally, and this was amplified by the 'Pal's' battalions which were recruited from a single town. Heavy losses for a given battalion meant that a single community suffered badly.

It seems that that was a common experiance, and the only way the world's militaries learnt to move away from geographically recruited units was when a major disarster hit such a unit.

For example, while the Australian battalions in WW1 were recruited across entire states, many of the States had small populations, and units such as cavalry and engineers actually recruited their members from a small population. The slaughter of the 10th Light Horse Regiment at the Nek in Galipoli (as dramatised by the movie Galipoli) cost the state of Western Australia the sons of most of its' major land owners. After that experiance the Australian Army moved away from keeping battalions strictly state based.

[curtsibling]

About Von Richthofen:

The Baron is first created when you discover the German Fighters II advance - that gives the Albatros DII.

If he is taken out, he returns in his Fokker DRI. This is only way that variety of fighter appears.
The DRI was not a widely used plane, so I think this justifies keeping the Baron special.

I have two choices for the events-created Red Baron units.

1 - A no-attack air unit, used to hold the line against enemy fliers -
the lack of attack is to prevent the AI throwing him away needlessly...

2 - Or giving the Baron a hefty attack and defence bonus and making him the terror of the skies...
He still returns in the DRI if he is shot down.

In any case, if the DRI is destroyed, the Baron is kaput!

Gentlemen:
What option (or better idea) do you prefer for these units?

Suggestions are welcomed!

[Boco]

The Centrals will have use of the Stormtrooper, but the Prussians/Germans will have exclusive use of the deadly Krupps super mortar!

Um, the AH fielded a number of (Skoda?) 30.5cm batteries. They were the pride of the army. In fact the Germans requested some for the Western Front. I may be mistaken, but from what I've read, 42cm Krupps were not significantly better against forts than Krupp or Skoda 30.5cms.

[POTUS]

Originally posted by Case


It seems that that was a common experiance, and the only way the world's militaries learnt to move away from geographically recruited units was when a major disarster hit such a unit.

Think so. My Great-Grandpa served in the Tzarist Army, then, and almost all the men in his village were killed at Tannenberg. Out of an entire company (all the fit men in his village), five, including himself, returned.

[rmsharpe]

No tanks for the Central Powers, Curt?

Aren't we forgetting a little something called the A7V?

[Palaiologos]

Dude at the greatest German ofensive of the war an AMAZING GRAND TOTAL of 18 A7Vs were fielded.Do 18 machines really worth a unit slot?

My great grandpases fought in the Macedonian struggle, the Balkan wars and in the 1919-22 war.And my granfather fought the comies during the Civil War. Completely irrelevant but couldn't resist adding my bit.

[rmsharpe]

Ahem, twenty were produced

I'm talking about for a sense of game balance.

Besides, some of you are forgetting that this isn't just WWI, but the 1920's as well. If Germany was successful, wouldn't they have produced many more than just 20? I would certainly assume so.

[curtsibling]

You have a point, rmsharpe...
The unit question is crucial.

I will ponder this at University today...
(it's better than pondering IK dynamics, I can tell you!)

If anyone else can affect a solution - let me know...

I'll be back tonight!

[fairline]

Originally posted by rmsharpe
Ahem, twenty were produced

I'm talking about for a sense of game balance.

Besides, some of you are forgetting that this isn't just WWI, but the 1920's as well. If Germany was successful, wouldn't they have produced many more than just 20? I would certainly assume so.

RM: The Germans only built 20 or so A7Vs because they were useless, not because they lost the war. A civ unit of a completely crap AFV of which only 20 were made seems pointless. Only the UK and France fielded tanks in any great numbers, and then at most 400-500 for any one offensive of which virtually none were operational after 3 or 4 days. WW1 was not about armoured warfare, by and large, and it would be anachronistic for this scenario to highlight the use of tanks.

The Germans have the Stormtroops and super-heavy arty to balance things anyway.