Strategic Command: World War I - SlithFox
With this entry of the Developer Diary, we highlight some of the key new features of Strategic Command World War I.

Naval Mines - New!

Naval Mines can provide a good way of damaging enemy naval units with little risk to yourself and can be laid 1 per turn by Destroyers and Torpedo Boats belonging to a Major that is fully mobilized and at war.



Strategically minefields can help to protect important passageways, naval bases, or to funnel enemy naval units towards preferred areas of combat.  

Each Major has a starting Build Limit of 1 Naval Mine, and this number can be increased by researching Naval Warfare. The number of minefields on the map can never exceed that Major’s Build Limit, though as minefields are removed from the map when they are struck by vessels, their owning Majors will be able to relay them.



In game, minefields placed in strategic locations can also trigger events, e.g. placing one on or adjacent to the Norwegian convoy line to Germany will annoy the Norwegian government because their merchant shipping will be traveling through the minefield, and potentially suffering losses as a result.

There are also several naval blockade positions that players are likely to fight over in game, and when the Entente enforce a blockade by placing naval units on the Blockade hexes, in the North Atlantic and the North Sea, it represents these merchantmen being stopped and searched, with the ships and cargoes being confiscated if they are considered to be destined for Germany’s use.



Because the blockade is enforced against merchant shipping sailing under neutral flags, it is not only the presence of Entente warships that will impede the flow of goods that will ultimately end up in Germany. For the presence of warships belonging to either side on the Blockade, hexes will interrupt their voyages, making them attempt to sail away, and this will slow down the flow of merchant shipping that indirectly supplies Germany with food and other goods.

Naval mines will have the same effect, so it is strongly recommended not to place them on the Blockade hexes, because sinking the merchant ships that are bringing goods to your country is doing the enemy’s work for them.


Mountain Corps - New!

A new unit to the series, representing two or more infantry divisions with a strength of between 50,000 and 100,000 men, including their supporting arms. 


Italian Alpini Mountain Corps fighting the Austro-Hungarians along the mountainous northern Italian border.

Mountain Corps benefit from bonuses when fighting from or attacking into Mountain hexes that differentiate them from other regular Corps units. This will make them especially useful in the battles in the Caucasus or on the Italian Front.


Land Convoys - New!

Players have always been able to send financial aid to their allies via Sea Convoys, but now they will also be able to send financial aid via Land Convoys.

For example, Germany can send MPPs (Military Production Points) via a Land Convoy to Austria-Hungary.   This can be set within the Convoy Map screen and up to the maximum % of German income permissible.

Additionally, land convoys, such as the one from Russia to Serbia via Romania, can be broken if enemy forces capture any of the hexes that the convoy passes through. This means that as the Central Powers advance into Serbia, the hexes immediately north and north west of Nish are likely to be hotly contested because without them the Serbs will not receive any Russian assistance.

The same applies to the French convoy that delivers supplies and war matériel to the Serbs via the Port of Cetinje in the Adriatic. If Austria-Hungary can capture Cetinje from the Montenegrin army then this will cut off Serbia from French aid, bringing the fall of Serbia closer. 


Additional land convoy option for the Austro-Hungarians to send aid to the Ottomans.



THIS CONCLUDES OUR DEVELOPER DIARIES, WE HOPE YOU ENJOY THE GAME AS MUCH AS WE DID IN DEVELOPING IT!

Strategic Command: World War I will be released on December 5th.
Strategic Command: World War I - SlithFox
Join us tomorrow on our official Twitch Channel as Gamer_1745 will be streaming Strategic Command: World War I.

The show starts at 6 PM GMT / 1 PM EST / 10 AM PST.

Remember to bring some artillery to the party!

Nov 26, 2019
Strategic Command: World War I - SlithFox
Strategic Command: World War I - SlithFox
As the frontlines began to solidify on the Western front, the sheer concentration of men, trenches, and limited maneuverability made significant advances next to impossible for both sides in the years following 1914.

While the battlefield difference-maker that would be the Tank was still a few years away, in the interim both sides invested heavily in artillery, gas and shell production, while circumstances forced them to rethink the art of launching an attack.

Softening up a target, concentrations of force and the bold mission of sending the cavalry through if a gap was made in the enemy’s frontline were all to be tried in the years ahead.

To this end, Strategic Command World War I offers several key game play mechanisms to help model the necessary developments that were eventually needed to help break the deadlock in Belgium and France.

Recon, Artillery and Breakthroughs

In Strategic Command World War I, Artillery represents concentrations of heavy artillery, and it will be important to conduct research not only to improve your Artillery, but also in Gas/Shell Production.

While Artillery research will improve the effectiveness of your Artillery attacks, Gas/Shell Production will speed up the delivery of shells to your Artillery units. This will enable them to stockpile shells more quickly, and this will be critical for launching concentrated attacks leading to breakthroughs into and beyond the enemy frontline.

Reconnaissance bombers will also be important as their main role will be in spotting for the Artillery. The information they feed back to the higher command is then used to help direct the fire of the guns.

Therefore when launching an offensive against entrenched enemy units it is best to:

• Target the enemy unit with a Recon Bomber (ideally with a Fighter unit nearby ready to act as escort). Once targeted, it will appear with a red hex outline on the game map.

• Then bombard the enemy unit with your Artillery, as your prior reconnaissance will make your Artillery fire 50% more effective.

• Attack with your ground units.

• If the enemy unit is destroyed or retreats then consider sending a Cavalry unit through the gap that has been created in the enemy lines.

Recon

German infantry, artillery and cavalry are all in position for a concentrated attack on the fortress of Verdun.

Artillery

Recon target established, artillery begins shelling.

Breakthrough!

Infantry on the brink of a breakthrough at Verdun.

Further developmental achievements will help too, such as equipping your troops with better Infantry Weapons and doctrinal improvements in Infantry Warfare and the Command and Control of units. Not forgetting of course research into Armored Warfare and the introduction of Tanks.

But even with these improvements, the effective tactical use of your Infantry, Artillery, Recon Bombers and Cavalry will make all the difference between victory, defeat, or continued stalemate on the Western Front.



NEXT: NAVAL MINES, MOUNTAIN CORPS, LAND CONVOYS


Strategic Command: World War I - SlithFox
Strategic Command: World War I is ready to break through your lines.

Mark the day on your calendar, as General Mobilization will begin on December 5th.

Be ready to relive the Great War from the opening shots of 1914 to the final offensives, in a massive 20 mile per hex map covering Europe, North Africa, the Middle East and the Atlantic.



Get more information about Strategic Command: World War I from its official product page


Key Features


  • 3 campaigns (1914 Call to Arms, 1914 Triple Alliance (where Italy joins the Central Powers) and 1917 Fate of Nations
  • New unit types added including ANZACs, Colonial Corps and Mountain Corps
  • Enhanced Fog of War clearly shows the limits of your units’ spotting range
  • Recon Bombers providing information on enemy positions will improve the effect of your Artillery
  • Naval Mines can be laid to damage enemy shipping
  • Units are able to move and entrench, and trenches can be improved through researching Trench Warfare

Nov 18, 2019
Strategic Command: World War I - SlithFox
Strategic Command: WWI Beta is proceeding very rapidly and we will be able to reveal the Release Date soon .

In the meantime, if you are eager to discover what bold decisions will await you, you might want to take a look at these great Multiplayer Beta AARs currently updated on the forum

Strategic Command WWI Beta Multiplayer AAR

Strategic Command WWI Beta AAR

They are full of insights, strategy explanations, game mechanics highlights and more. The ideal place to start to satisfy your appetite for Strategic Command: World War I!

Strategic Command: World War I - SlithFox
Cavalry and Rapid Advances

At the outset of war, Cavalry units were instrumental in driving rapid advances through enemy territory and front lines.  During the September to October 1914 Race to the Sea, both the British, French and German armies attempted to outflank and envelop each other from the French border up to the channel coast of Belgium, ending the race along the north sea coast around October 19.  

Cavalry units were of crucial importance during this race as neither side was decidedly able to gain the advantage, eventually settling into a stalemate on the Western Front after the Germans tried but failed to take Ypres as the year drew to a close.

Cavalry - Race to the Sea



While Cavalry shock tactics quickly fell out of favour on the Western Front, trench lines soon began to form resulting in an overall lack of maneuverability relative to the early months of the war, all major combatants employed their use, and significantly so on the more open Eastern and Middle Eastern fronts.

Russian Cavalry - Eastern Front





Ottoman Cavalry



In order to model the effective military use of Cavalry, as represented in WWI, Cavalry units have been given a greater spotting range than Infantry, so moving a Cavalry unit first may disclose some enemy units, and during their use in mobile warfare, Cavalry units can spot up to 3 hexes whereas other units can only spot 2.  This makes them especially useful in either the initial phases of the war, or later on when a breakthrough has been achieved!

Generally, it is recommended to:

- Use your Cavalry to reconnoitre before advancing deep into enemy territory.

- Maintain Cavalry units near the front line when launching offensives so that they can exploit any successes and convert them into a breakthrough.



Fortified Lines and Trenches

To help stem the tide of rapid infantry and cavalry advances, all infantry and cavalry units that have neither attacked nor used up all their Action Points can Entrench.

Doing so completes their turn. The Trench can have up to 3 sides, and it is generally best to choose 3 as if the unit is attacked from those sides then it will receive defensive bonuses, whereas if it is attacked from another direction then the only potential benefit of being entrenched will be the defending unit’s Entrenchment Value.

Researching Trench Warfare will also improve your trench’s maximum entrenchment value by 1, which over the course of the war will also be reflected by an improved trench graphic. From single line trenches to double lines, followed by double lines with barbed wire and fortified bunker emplacements. 


Western Front - Mid/Late War Trench Lines and Shell Craters






New! - When selecting a unit to entrench, the game engine will take into account any known enemy units within range and pre-select the most optimal facing and number of sides for your trench.  This saves a lot of time once the fortified lines start to take shape along the Western Front as seen above.



NEXT: RECON, ARTILLERY AND BREAKTHROUGHS!
Strategic Command: World War I - SlithFox


Developer Diary - Deployment Phase

Welcome to this first Strategic Command WWI Dev Diary, covering the Deployment Phase, its basics and dynamics.

Stay tuned and check out SC WWI Product page for further information!

Introduction

In August 1914, the first of the 20th century’s great conflicts began, with Germany and Austria-Hungary on one side against Serbia, France and Russia on the other. Soon more countries would enter the war including Belgium, the UK and the Ottoman Empire before the end of 1914, the Italians in 1915, followed by Bulgarians, Romanians and even the USA all before the end of 1917.

With so many active fronts all at once, including 3 main fronts at the start of hostilities, an optimal balance and deployment of troops was essential towards victory for either of the Entente or Central Powers sides.

Eastern Front


Southern Front


Western Front


Strategic Deployments

While the main German strategy was to deliver a quick and decisive blow to the French in the first six weeks of the war, followed by a quick transfer east to do the same on the Russian front, players will have the option to alter some initial and critical deployments via the Deployment Phase in order to possibly re-write history for the Central Powers side.

The Deployment Phase feature will prompt players to place these units at their preferred map locations, prior to game start, and these units will then immediately be ready and active for combat on the very first turn of the game.

Deployment Phase




Crucial First Moves

The fluidity of territorial exchange on the Eastern Front, versus the eventual static nature of the war on the Western Front has highlighted, with hindsight, that the decisions made in the first few months of the war by the Central Powers, were absolutely critical to the eventual outcome of the war.

Had the German General Staff maintained ideal ratios for a decisively successful Schlieffen Plan through Belgium and into France, or had the Austro-Hungarians not been forced to split their forces between Serbia and Russia, the outcome may indeed have been different.

The use of the Deployment Phase, as well as several in game DECISIONS on various troop deployments, will give players the chance to test the different strategic military decisions that the commanders of the day similarly faced in the early days of the war.

Strategic Command World War I, through a combination of tactical and strategic gameplay, presents players, all within the first few turns of the game, the opportunity and excitement to fully understand the crucial early decisions necessary to win World War I.


NEXT: CAVALRY, RAPID ADVANCES, FORTIFIED LINES AND TRENCHES
Strategic Command: World War I - SlithFox


Strategic Command WWI opens its gate to beta testers!

Relive this momentous conflict from the opening shots of 1914 to the final offensives. From the bloody fields of Flanders to the sweeping advances in the east, the fighting in Italy, the Balkans and Middle East, Strategic Command: World War I covers all the main aspects and theaters of the war.

Join the beta now and help us in finishing to polish the game!

https://www.matrixgames.com/beta

Strategic Command: World War I - SlithFox
Hi everybody!

There is a lot of excitement about the upcoming Strategic Command game we announced recently, and we got something for you!

Have a look at the screenshots below showing the Western Front late in the war, with a transition between NATO counters and 3d models!



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