"Who's actually played The Great War?" Topic

The game came out, I saw one review, but otherwise I haven't really heard any feedback from someone who's played the game. I have to confess that I am not a huge fan of the Warhammer 40K system. Is there anyone out there who feels the same way but who's been won over after actually playing the game?

Thanks

AX

Raises hand.

I likes it. Could take or leave 40K, but this is nice.

I've not played it. I've looked at trying it – but determined that I just don't have the time or energy to get into yet another period.

I've played or run 5 games so far.

The first game we played was probably the best. It was a meeting engagement between British and German forces in a ruined village near the end of the war. Both sides were moving out under cover of darkness and ran into each other in the village. The Germans had a smaller force of more elite troops but were bested by the British who were able to hold onto terrain and brought their numbers to bear.

The second game was a trench raid and was pretty boring. Positional warfare games need something to make them interesting and we didn't do that, we just wanted to see how it played. It played the same as any castle/d-day/trench attack will play if you don't do anything to spice the scenario up. One side didn't move and only shot, the other side only moved and didn't shoot. We have thought up a bunch of scenarios to make trench warfare more interesting though and when we build a whole trench table we will do them.

Right now we only have about 7 feet.

The last three games were played in a village with a river and a bridge.

The first game was to seize the bridge, once again the smaller more elite german force took on the larger british. This time the brits had a machine gun. The Germans held the bridge through the end.

Then the brits came up in more force and the Germans were forced to retreat. The successfully did so delaying the brits long enough to have a flanking force come in and catch the brits with their pants down which led to the third game. The Germans tried to flank around the British left, the Brits stopped them but it drew off enough of the Brits to allow the German forces in the front to decimate the British there and win the game.

A bad day for the brits all around. There were three of us each changing sides. All three of us won a game, no one won with the brits.

We have only really played about 5-600 pt games so far and haven't used cavalry or tanks, although we have used artillery.

It is fun as long as you set up scenarios where both sides will be able to maneuver. I think the best part is how much you stick in terrain/cover when you get to it. There aren't crazy assaults across open ground very often. Assaults only take place in built up areas where neither side can see the other usually or with really good soldiers like the German stormtroopers.

I've played one game so far – a seize the objectives scenario. Brits had small units of high quality troops and the Germans had large units of average quality. Brits also had a squadron of cavalry.

The game played quickly and we had fun. We didn't worry too much about tactics as we were more interested in seeing how the mechanics would work. That is, we tried a few silly things like charging over open ground to see what would happen. Usually not a good idea, but if you have cavalry you can sometimes pull it off (9" move, plus 1d6" elan, plus 9" assault move can cover a lot of table!).

I have no experience with 40k, but the two guys I played with are both experienced 40kers, so that certainly helped move things along. The game is definitely a game and not a historical simulation.

A couple of quirky things (which we might look at reviewing at house rules after a few more games):

1. No defensive fire. While it seems to work for game balance, it is odd that you can do a frontal charge against a dug-in opponent and he can't shoot you as you come in.
2. While the game has pinning, only certain weapons have that ability. Considering that one of the uses for the Lewis gun was to pin the enemy while the assault group moves into position, it is odd that LMG cannot pin.

Despite these, we did really enjoy the game and are looking forward to more games. Photos of our playtest can be found here:
link
(you may note that we used Indian soldiers for the British army. On this basis, the Gurkhas were rated as "highlanders", since there aren't any lands higher than Nepal!)

I played one game so far. We actually used WW2 figures since we have only few WW1 minis painted. We played meeting engagement or first scenario in the book with about 500 points. Each side had 3 companies, command and 1 HMG. We had some hills, woods and buildings. 1st turn was painfull as none of us were familiar with 40K rules, but other turns were easy after that. We played 7 turns and able to assault at the end.

One thing we didn't like in the game is 1" and 2" rule that was hard to deal with. Other than that the game was fun, but tactics are too simple. Coming from Ancient wargaming point of view, where simple set battle can be fun, this rules need a lot of imaginative scenarios to keep it fun. On the other hand, 500 points is enough to have a good battle with about 40 models per side.

"1. No defensive fire. While it seems to work for game balance, it is odd that you can do a frontal charge against a dug-in opponent and he can't shoot you as you come in."

While there isn't a mechanism for firing against chargers, it's a very odd defensive position that doesn't allow the defender to shoot at least once or twice in their own previous turns. Did they dig a trench facing a wood a couple of feet away?!

I've played three games now, all based on historical scenarios and I have liked the way it plays and the results. Time has to be spent on balancing scenarios to make it interesting for both parties. I treat the rules as a starting point anyway. If you don't like one rule ignore it or change it to suit.

Anyone yet tried it with 15mm figures? e've been toying with the idea of using 2-3 on a 1" round.

Thanks.

Tom Dye
GFI
(Who has a new 15mm 8in British Howitzer that wants to see some action!)

Capt Haddock –

Cavalry can cover 18+1d6" in a single move, infantry 12" (+1d6" if French) – that amounts to a big chunk of a 4'x6' table. I didn't mention that a dug in defender goes first unless pinned, which would count as defensive fire. I definitely need to try a few more games before being too judgemental.

Until I paint up more late war miniatures, all our actions will be 1914-1915, so things like Lewis guns won't count for much. I can see it will be important for the attacker to set up opportunities to pin the defender before sending in the assault.

Looking forward to our next kick at the game, hopefully on Friday!

W

I was thinking about 15mm. I have the old glory trench, though. That is perfect for 28mm although we don't really want to use it much. So I'm torn. I would look really cool in 15mm with 3 figs to a base.

I think it would work great, be even more visually stunning and the ranges would make a lot more sense. The only down side would be the tanks wouldn't be as impressive. The terrain would be a lot easier to build though.

I'm wanting to do my ww-I in 15mm. But waiting to get the rules before I make the leap into buying the lead. my copy of the rules is on order through my local hobby shop.

ndcblog.wordpress.com

This bloke has posted an AAR of his first game on his blog. Second report down the list.

willthepiper

where are you getting those movement rates from?

looking at the core rules:-
Normal infantry movement is 6", with a 6" assault move to charge an enemy unit if in range.

French in 1914 can move an extra 6" if they don't shoot and German Stromtroopers in 1918 can move 6" in the assault phase even if they don't assault

Cavalry move 9" with an extra 9" move if they don't fire

cheers

mike

Bought the rules on Saturday (ostensibly for my brother as he's the WW1 fan in the family) and reading them a chunk at a time since.
Look like they'll work out well, but it's interesting to read other people's caveats before giving them a go.

Mike – my understaning was that cavalry can move 9" in the move phase. If they don't shoot, they can move 1d6" in the shoot phase. they can then take an assault move of 9". This results in a total move of 18" + 1d6" in a single turn (assuming open ground – difficult terrain is a different story). I don't have the book in front of me but I'll re-read the relevant sections when I get home – I could quite easily have mis-read those sections.

W

Any thoughts on whether the rules would work with Irregular Miniatures 6mm strips in place of larger individual figures? Possibly changing from inches to centimetres? I have hordes of IM's 6mm stuff and was wondering whether the rules were worth hunting down for use with them.

I think that the figure ratio is something like 1 to 3, so a strip of 6mm figs might actually be too many. Chop them up and arrange them differently and 6mm might work.

Oh yeah, you'll obviously have to change the blast template or you could destroy half the German army with one shot!

Willthepiper, I think over the course of a few more games you might iron out the problems. As I've said before, try a historical scenario rather than a set piece battle, it all adds to the game. I'd be interested to hear how you get on.

willthepiper

you are correct for Cavalry moves

the elan rule (French 1914) allows an extra d6" move in the shooting phase if they don't shoot

cavalry can use this rule on top of their normal 9" move and then they can charge home 9" in the assault as long as the enemy unit is in range otherwise they don't move in the assault phase (mind you thats the same for all units)

it's all on page 64

I doff my cap to you sir

We played our first game last Saturday. It went fairly well. There is a big emphasis on close assaults and troop densities are fairly low. We had sides composed of only four platoons and a heavy machine gun each which was enough for a reasonable game. I am thinking of adding a few tactical nuances such as flanking fire and area cover to make things more interesting. Unlike other Warhammer games, I believe that scenareos with specific mission objectives are key to making these games interesting rather than matching up armies with comparative points as in Warhammer Ancients.

Thanks, Mike – good to know we had it right. We have a re-match planned for Friday night. Now that we have the basic mechanics down, the gloves are off and it will be for the glory of the Empire! (whether British or German is yet to be determined…)

Played my first game of this today and really enjoyed it. I'm not from a 40K background but picked it up more quickly than any set of rules I can remember. I found that the simplicity of the mechanics helped me to focus on my actual tactics. We fought with 2 companies (each of 3 platoons) plus supports (HMG's and field guns/mortar) per side and, despite it being my first game, we had no problem achieving a clear result.

During the game I felt a mixture of:

frustration – my right flank field gun failed to hit the enemy for the first 3 turns, by which time they had moved out of sight(!) and I set-up 2 of my machine guns with beautiful fields of fire for the first 2 turns and then nothing to shoot at for the rest of the battle!

anxiety – when the Brits got a platoon into the central (Objective) village before me and promptly stomped on my platoon attempting to contest ownership.

desperation – when I had two scores of 9 wounds against Brit platoons in the same turn and my opponent saved EVERY ONE!

elation – when a carefully planned and heavily supported counter-attack against the central village decimated the Brit defenders and brought victory to the Fatherland.

I think the rules encourage a friendly spirit and we both thoroughly enjoyed it and plans are afoot for a British counter-attack.

I must agree, even with my VERY limited experience of the rules, with the earlier poster who stated that well planned scenarios are the key to enjoyment with these rules.

For those keeping track, here's the battle report from Friday's game:
link

Hi Willthepiper

Nice pics. What manufacturer are your figures?

Thanks, Shootmenow. There's bit of a mix in there. Germans include Renegade, Great War Miniatures and Brigade Games. Indian infantry are mostly Copplestone, and the cavalry are Renegade and Brigade Games.