Slitherine

Note: This AAR is based on a Beta version of Commander: The Great War

Greetings,
This AAR will covers the Campaign 1917 The Nivelle Offensive in the Lordz Game Studio fantastic game Commander the Great War. I won’t go into the mechanics of the game. SlickWilhelms outstanding AAR already covers that, no sense in reinventing the wheel. I also won’t cover every single turn in detail as sometimes even the AI has to rest his men.
I will be playing as the Central Powers on Balanced AI strength. Below is the historical briefing that sets the theme and the strategic map of Europe.



AI Turn 1, 9 Apr 1917, unrestricted warfare has brought the United State into the war. The U-boats must do all they can to stop the flow of men and equipment that will enviably be shipped to the Western Front.


British forces with the help of Arab rebels are mounting pressure on the Turks. The Turks had better get some reinforcement down there before it’s too late.


General Cadorna’s offensive has begun against the Austrians all along the Italian Front. It’s hard to say how long the Austrians can hold them off.


Russia has undergone dramatic change. Revolution has overthrown the government. The Tsar has abdicated. The new government intends to continue the war; fighting has been sporadic on the front. Germany’s goal here is to dig in and hold on to their territorial gains.


Serbian forces have been all but defeated. Fortunately for them Italian, French, and British troops are holding the Austrian and Bulgarian army at the Greek border.


Little has changed on the Western Front. It is clear that the Allies are preparing for an offensive. German High Command is confident that any attack will be defeated as other attacks have been in the previous years. Germany is planning her own offensive. Unfortunately this may have to wait until summer.


Turn 1, 9 Apr 1917, The Central Powers repair a few damaged units, focus research, and bide their time. Research will take some time before completed.



Edited the text size. I don't want to shrink the screenshots down. Just zoom out to see the whole pic.

Excellent start, hadberz. This shows everyone how busy things get in the later war years. Can't wait to see how it plays out for you!

The right side of the big pictures is cut off for me, unless I go to a really low zoom (and then the text is too small to read).

Otherwise, yeah, looks like fun.

Thanks guys, Yeah not sure what happened with the pics, but zooming out does show the whole thing.

Turn 2, 23 Apr 1917, wolf pack on the prowl. U-boats have attacked British shipping. When British convoys are damaged Britain loses valuable production points (PP). Each strength point lost equals to 10 PP lost. The convoy below started out at 10 and is now sitting at 2. This is a loss of 80 PP for Britain. Lucky for them they have more convoys out there, so the plan here is to hunt them.


Von Hindenburg personally takes command. The good General becomes available after 20 kills have been inflicted on the enemy and being at war with Russia. Below you can see the commanders command range. All units within receive a combat bonus. Depending on the commander some bonuses will hurt your troops. This reflects a commanders’ poor leadership.



The Allies fleet made the mistake of attacking the Austrian Navy in home waters. This resulted in defeat for them and the Battle for the Adriatic Sea is over.



Since the Central Powers saved production points last turn it’s now time to build some units. Bulgaria will field two infantry and Turkey one infantry. It takes 3 turns to construct infantry, so plan ahead. Germany and Austria will again save their PP for unit repairs. There nothing worse than watching your army be destroyed because you couldn’t afford to repair them the previous turn.

AI Turn 3, 7 May 1917, the Italians have achieved a breakthrough in the Alps. The Austrian line begins to crumble. This could be a danger to Germany if they don’t send reinforcements. Germany decides to build 2 infantry; with enough PP left over for necessary unit repairs.


The Western Front has seen intense fighting as the Nivelle Offensive takes shape. German defenses hold thanks in part to the strong entrenchment network and the offensive fails.


The Russians are content to launch a few attacks along the front. It remains to be seen what they are holding back for; although, High Command suspects they are preparing for a new offensive.


Turn 3, 7 May 1917, the hunt in the Atlantic continues. No prey has been sighted this turn. The Central Powers recover from the Allies attacks as best they can. High Command plans to wait for construction of infantry and research to complete. Of course this could change as you never know what the enemy will do.

AI Turn 4, 21 May 1917, The Italians press their attack and attempt to siege Trento.


Russia launches frontal attacks along the Eastern Front. German troops are dug in, but they face superior numbers.


British and French forces renew their attack on the Western Front. The line holds.

Turn 5, 4 June 1917, this turn is spent repairing units and waiting for construction to complete. Germany is focusing on Infiltration Tactics, Creeping Barrage, Additional Torpedo Tubes, and In-Line water cooled Engine. The pic below shows what they bring to the table.

Love the action shots of the attacks, looks like you're under a lot of pressure...

Thanks, I decided to record each turn to video. It makes getting those action shots so much easier.

AI Turn 5, 4 June 1917, Russia launches an attack on the German garrison. They have suffered heavy damage. If they are destroyed this will leave the trenches flank open to attack or worse encirclement.


Romanian troops have attacked the Bulgarian infantry and taken advantage of situation. The Bulgarians should be able to repair next turn, but may have to retreat to prevent from being destroyed.


The stalemate continues on the Western Front. The British probe German defense and do not find any weakness.


Some action takes place on the Greek border. Both sides are content to hold back at this time.


The British continue to pester the Turks. They’re not strong enough to be a serious threat, but that could change in time.


The Italians complete their encirclement of Trento and begin to pick apart the garrison defending the city.


The wolves smell blood. American ships have been spotted.

Very good AAR hadberz, this makes me want to try out the post-1914 scenarios! Thanks for sharing.

Turn 6, 18 Jun 1917, the U-boats turn their sighting of enemy ships into a daring attack. Attacking transports in port is not recommended as ports give a defense bonus. The transport is down 8 strength and will survive to the next turn.


Austrian troops attempt to relieve the pressure on Trento. The attack does little good. The troops inside are at half supply. While they are able to still receive repairs it wont be long before they are overwhelmed by the Italians.



Austrian forces began a limited offensive designed to weaken Russian positions. The goal is to wear them down so that a breakthrough would be possible. Unfortunately it will take time before Bulgarian reinforcements are in position to help.





Germany launches a limited attack on the Western Front. This is more a harassment attack then anything else. Now that the artillery is in place form the Eastern front more pressure can be put on the French and British.


No major action takes place on the other fronts, just few minor skirmishes.

The italian infantry adjacent to Trieste sits in a quite vulnerable position. If you capture the abandoned entrenched hex with the infantry sitting 2 hexes higher, you can hit it with 1 artillery + 1 battleship + 3 infantry in a single turn. Pushing it back would shorter your frontline by 1 hex.

Your right he is in a bad position, but I couldn't resist that bomber. Glad I didn't hit the end turn yet.

AI Turn 6, 18 Jun 1917, the Russians open up a barrage of artillery and coordinated attack with infantry on my right flank destroying the garrison. The entire northern front is now in danger of being encircled. An orderly shuffling of the line is required.



The Italians with French Air Force and British Artillery help to attack the encircled Austrians in Trento. The onslaught of Italian troops breaks the Austrians and Trento falls. Germany must sent reinforcements to protect her belly.




The British feeling Baghdad is threatened counterattack against the Turks incursion.


All quiet on the Western Front. Allies forces have been seen positioning themselves, but no significant action has taken place.

Turn 7, 2 Jul 1917, the Austrians counterattack Italian positions. Their front line infantry efficiency is worn down. It shouldn't take much to force a retreat.


The Austrians go on the attack in the east. The Russian garrison could not stand the attack and must retreat. Artillery positions have been spotted. This will allow Austrian infantry to attack with the added benefit of encircling the Russian infantry.





German forces position themselves to prevent an encirclement. The front is weaker now, so a withdraw to the river may be needed.


Bulgarian infantry is transported by train up north. The plan is to reinforce the middle and drive straight into Russia in the coming months.



Turkey continues to launch attacks against the British and Arab rebels.



Germany begins the summer offensive on the West Front. The Air Force weakens positions before artillery pounds the trenches. The British tank is force to retreat opening a hole. The Germans will need to open the hole wider for a proper breakthrough to take place. There is still the unknown of what the allies will do, but the Portuguese infantry look worn out from their sea voyage. Hopefully the attack does not stall.








Reinforcements are deployed to protect Germany's southern frontier. Additionally the army is expanding again.

AI Turn 7, 2 July 1917, Allies fleet searching for the German U-boats. The U-boat in the English Channel is making it's way back to Germany for much needed repairs.


The Italians commence bombing runs against Austrian troops and against industry targets.


The Northern Russian front has fallen apart. Germany must begin an orderly retreat and try to reestablish the front line. The main infantry force has been cut off. This is not looking good.




Minor action takes place on the Greek front.


The Allies have failed to repel the German advance. Germany intends to widen the hole for a proper breakthrough.

Pretty exciting stuff. I can see that you're dedicating a fair amount of effort to breaking through on the western front, perhaps at the expense of your defences in the northern part of the eastern front. Sounds like a risky strategy... it'll be fun to see how you get on with it

I will probably have to divert some infantry up there to stabilize things. Germany may not be doing so well in the north, but Austria has done very well in the center. Well see how Russian reacts to that. I'll have that turn posted after work.

Very cool AAR. But I got a question about the following:

The Allies fleet made the mistake of attacking the Austrian Navy in home waters. This resulted in defeat for them and the Battle for the Adriatic Sea is over.

Is there any gameplay impact for a fleet being in "home waters", like some specific advantage against an attacking fleet? Or is the wording here (Allies "made the mistake") more a rhetoric thing, because the battle happened just there?

Ships get a combat bonus near their original (not camputed) ports called the "home bonus". This represents support from small coastal vessels, torpedo boats, defensive mine fields etc.