The Let's Play Archive

Commander: The Great War

by Jakse

Thanks! We like it too.Why not check out some similar LPs from our recommendations?
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Original Thread: Mustaches and Massed Infantry: Let's Play Commander: The Great War

 

Introduction

Welcome to Let's Play Commander: The Great War



Commander: The Great War is a hex based strategy game where you pick an alliance in WWI and control your armies, navies, air forces, as well as research, production and supply management.

The game is turn based where starting turns are 1 week to simulate the alliance system pulling belligerents in and then two weeks after that. It was created by The Lordz Studio, the people who created Panzer Corps (also a great game to start with if you want to ease yourself into wargaming).

It has 5 campaigns: players can start in 1914, 1915, 1916, 1917, or 1918 with turn counts ranging from 121 to 21.
One of the best features too is that the AI is really quite good and punishes you accordingly for mistakes. It also uses the Slitherine PBEM+ system for online play. Instead of emailing files manually, everything is taken care of in client through online servers. It works really well and makes playing online a snap.

What is the scale/how abstract is this game?

The game is pretty abstract when it comes to units and scale.

Each hex is about 20-30km.
Infantry units are generally armies while garrison units are closer to corps or you can think of them as reserve units. Each unit has 10 steps rather than a set number of men. I will go into more detail about features of units as they come up and combat comes up, but needless to say it is abstracted in the name of simplicity. Turns can take just a couple of minutes to 15 or so if you really need to think. You most likely won't see the 30-45 minute turns of more complex games.



Why should I play this?

Commander: The Great War, like Panzer Corps, is a great way to get into wargaming. The smooth graphics, interface, and abstract nature make them "easy to play but hard to master." They can familiarize players with wargames and hexes without bombarding them with too much information. It isn't an easy game; the AI is actually a bitch until you get used to it and crazy stuff can happen with PBEM. Rather it is a simple game where you don't get bogged down in minutia. It is a ton of fun, and you would be surprised at how much replay value you can get from WWI.

LP Format

This will be a screenshot LP with goon choices ranging from production and strategic priorities to maybe even operational priorities. We can do lucky units but I wouldn't get too attached. I am shooting for 2 or 3 updates a week but possibly less if there is a lot of goon decision making. That said let's kick this off with our first decision. Fair warning, the first updates after this will be slightly info heavy as we get into game mechanics.



July 23, 1914. After the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the Austro-Hungarian Empire is itching to teach the Kingdom of Serbia a lesson. Austria has three full strength armies poised for attack, with three lesser armies on the border ready to fight. Serbia has 2 full strength armies but 5 made up from reserves. That said, Serbia is in a good position with rivers and mountains protecting them from Austria. The main drawback for Serbia is her manpower is such that she will have trouble sustaining and replacing losses.

So goons, what is it going to be?

A Clay all day baby! Fight for mighty Srbja and free our Balkan brothers from the yoke of Austria.

B March into the mountains and show those terrorist dogs that they are no match for the Empire.

Keep in mind alliances abound and this conflict could spiral into a World War!



Also how would you like everything to be presented visually?

Counters full war sperg!
Little dudes it is barely a grognard game let's keep this looking nice.

Central Powers

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