The Units

Artillery:
By WWI cavalry had become fairly impotent as improvements in weapons held by the average foot soldier made mounted troops far too vulnerable. For most nations cavalry were merged into infantry formations and were used primarily for scouting while artillery surmounted the throne as the main offensive weaponry of the war. Artillery attack well but defend poorly. Trenches can severely hinder artillery's offensive potency.

Armor:
Though in 1914, Germany, Britain, and the USA had tank prototypes, historically they did not see use until 1917 by Britain on the western front. WWI tanks were more like large armored houses with mounted machine guns than the modern mechanized terrors they became in WWII. Slow as they were, WWI tanks proved capable of negating some of the defensive advantages of trenches. If there is one tank unit in an attack force it will negate one negative point applied to infantry for attacking across a trench. If there are two accompanying tanks, then both negative points applied to infantry from a regular trench are nullified.

Trenches: Trenches were fortified tunnels that armies dug all along battle lines that had solidified into bloody killing zones. A trench gave defenders some refuge from artillery shells and made for great locations to mount heavy machine guns to blunt enemy advances. Trenches also served to protect troops from those rare air attacks and disguised the army's size from reconnaissance. They also served as supply depots for ammunition and as battlefield hospitals. Units attacking across a trench receive the following penalties to their attack value. Penalties applied can never reduce a unit's attack value to less than one. Unit / Trench Adjustment Infantry -2 Artillery -3 Tanks -2 Aircraft -3

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Trench units are built to guard a single territory from attack from another single territory. When a player builds a trench unit they declare the territory it will protect and also declare which territory it will be facing. They then position the Trench unit on the borderline between those two territories. If the opposing player later builds a trench of their own along that same border, then switch the single sided trench marker for one which faces both directions.

At least one Infantry unit must be in a territory at the start of any turn that a trench marker is to be built to protect that territory. If an army attacks across a trench and captures the territory it was invading, then the trench and all other trenches that guarded that territory are destroyed. Also, a trench cannot be placed along a coastline to guard against the sea.

Generals:
Generals represent the high-ranking field commanders that led the armies and guided the strategies in WWI. Each general has its own combat rating according to his historical role and abilities. Generals are not units which can be taken as casualties, nor can they attack by themselves. Generals accompany units on attacks or stand with them in defense. They add their combat factors, divided any way the players chose among the troops they are with. Troops receiving the bonus cannot have their combat ability raised above 9. Once assigned for a combat, a general's point cannot be reassigned for each new round within that combat. A general is destroyed when the troops they are with are destroyed. Once destroyed, a particular general is removed permanently from the game. If a nation has no "named" general counters left unbuilt, then they cannot build any more general units for the remainder of the game. When building a new general, all unbuilt generals for that nation should be turned upside down so the general that is built is selected at random. Generals may be transports by any ship and if transported by a transport, they use none of the transports's load capacity.

Anti Air Guns:
Anti Aircraft weaponry was a new element in warfare during WWI and thus fairly unreliable at best. Various attempts were made to guard vital industries, bridges and other important resources against Arial reconnaissance and bombing. Extremely large helium balloons were put into the air, each with durable metal cables thick enough to destroy wooden bi planes that ran into them. For the purpose of this game, Anti Air Gun units represent any and all of the various efforts to damage aircraft.

Each AA unit gets only one die roll against enemy planes entering the given territory; not one die role per plane. Multiple AA units may be placed in one territory. The AA roll against aircraft happens before any other combat. Planes destroyed do not get to attack. AA units may not be used in an attack, nor may they accompany troops moving into an enemy territory

Rockets: Historically, rockets were not a viable option until WWII with Germany's V-l. However, the potential was there for crude very short-ranged rockets to have been developed at an earlier time. No nations begin with rockets, but all have the capacity to research and develop the technology. Rockets may be used in one of two ways. The first type of rocket attack is strategic bombing. If the rocket is within range of a city it may shoot at the city and reduce that nation's infantry maximum by 1. If within range of an industrial complex, the rocket may reduce the enemy's saved resources by 2. At the highest technological stage a rocket may reduce the enemy's saved resources by 1D10.The rocket's second form of attack targets units. A rocket may fire into an enemy held territory within its range and try to destroy any enemy units there. Each rocket gets one shot per turn. If you roll equal to or less than the rocket's attack value on a DIO, then the rocket has destroyed a unit. The choice of which unit to lose is always the defender's (see phase 10: Land Combat). No defense roll is possible against rocket attacks. A rocket cannot fire on any turn that it moves. Units protected by a Super Trench are invulnerable to rockets.

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Battleships:
The Ironclads of WWI were the king of the seas. In addition to naval combat, battleships way also shore-bombard to assist beach landing units The shore-bombardment attack value of a battleship is different than its normal attack value. Under the attack value listing, a second number is listed which represents its shore bombardment rating. The battleship may shore bombard each and every round of a naval invasion (beach landing) combat. The first time a battleship is hit, it is considered only damaged and must be hit another time in order to be destroyed. Damaged battleships may not attack or shore bombard, but may move and defend. A damaged battleship may be repaired for 20 resources if it has started the turn in a port controlled by that nation or an allied nation.

Destroyers/Cruisers:
These are the support ships of the navy. Destroyers only have about half the firepower of a battleship and can be destroyed with a single hit, but are also the fastest ships around. Destroyers cannot shore bombard.

Transports:
These are military and merchant ships designed to carry any needed material across sea zones. A transport may carry either resource points or troop points, but not both at the same time. Resource points represent a nations' production capacity. These are shown on the maps as numbers, with each territory having one resource value. (See Phase 12: Collect Resources).

During the Naval Movement phase a transport unit may pick up saved resources placed within a territory with a port. Any number of resources may be transported. Resource points may be kept on transports for any length of time. Once naval movement is complete, those resources may be unloaded into any port in a territory adjacent to the sea zone the transport is in. If that ports belongs to the same nation the resources belonged to, then the full amount arrives safely. If the resources are being given to another nation see Phase 13: Collect Resources for information on resource lending.

All transports begin play with a maximum load capacity of two troop points. An infantry unit uses one troop point to transport and all other land and air units require two troop points each. A transport cannot carry more troop points than its maximum capacity, though its maximum capacity can be increased by weapons research. A transport that is picking up more than one unit may pick up those units from more than one territory as long as all of the territories are adjacent to the sea zone the transport is in. Likewise, the transport may unload units into different territories so long as all territories are adjacent to the sea zone the transport is in. A transport may move before picking up units, but may not move after dropping them off. If at any time a transport is sunk while carrying troops or resource points, then whatever was being transported is also sunk.

Aircraft Carriers:
Historically aircraft carriers didn't first see use until the early 1920's, but aviation could have progressed to that point via technological advances. No nations start with aircraft carrier technology, but it may be developed. In addition to needing at least one breakthrough in aircraft carrier technology a nation needs to have fighters with a fuel capacity of 5 or higher (explained later) to launch form an Aircraft carrier. Aircraft carriers grant a nation two great advantages in naval conflicts. First, an aircraft carrier allows extended ariel operations for a limited number of fighters. This can become especially handy when hunting down submarines. More important is that with fighters onboard, an aircraft carrier supplements those other naval units when attacked by land-based aircraft (See phase 8: Air Combat).

Aircraft carriers at the lowest technology level can carry 2 fighter units, and, like battleships, require 2 hits to be destroyed. Damaged carriers require 25 resources per hit to repair. A damaged carrier cannot launch fighters, though fighters may still land on it.

Submarines:
Submarines are submersible torpedo boats designed to sneak up on merchant convoys and sink important weapons and supplies. Submarines are able to avoid standard detection through its ability to dive beneath the surface of the water. During game play a submarine is able to share the same sea zone as enemy ships. Historically submarines were responsible for sinking thousands of tons of supplies and the German submarine fleet nearly drove the British population into starvation in 1915.

During play there are two phases where submarines may take actions. They may move during the Naval Movement Phase like any other ships. Submarines may move through any sea zone, regardless of the existance of enemy ships. Though a submarine trying to cross a straits that has been mined will still have to make the mine field die roll as other ships to see if they survive. The first phase involving submarines is the Submarine Interception segment of naval movement. During this phase submarines will have the option to attack any ships that are passing through or end the turn in the sea zone the submarines are in. The second phase relating to submarines is the Collect Resources phase. That is a time when submarines may attempt to attack merchant shipping and eleminate some to all of the Naval Trade a nation has within the sea zone a submarine is in.

Fighters:
The typical fighter plane in 1914 was a single propeller bi-plane. The biplane was very limited in range and couldn't carry much in the way of ammunition. With technology advances, these planes become much better, but in the early stages aircraft were used primarily for scouting and tactical strikes, not as a major offensive force.

Movement for aircraft works differently than for any other units. Movement is measured in fuel expended not distance covered. All fighters begin with fuel points. It takes 1 fuel point to enter any land territory and I fuel point for each round of combat the fighter participates in (Anti-Air shots' do not count as a round).

For example: A fighter attacks the territory adjacent to it. It used 1 fuel point to move to that territory. The fighter participates in the first round of combat, which uses another fuel point. With only one fuel point remaining the fighter must now leave the combat and Land in a friendly controlled territory adjacent to the territory the combat round was fought in.

Movement into a sea zone requires 3 fuel points This represents the fact that most sea zones are at least twice the size as any land territory. This means that fighters must have a minimum of 5 fuel points before they can enter into a sea zone for combat purposes In the same manner a fighter needs 5 fuel points before it can be used on an Aircraft carrier. Lastly, fighters have a distinct advantage against infantry, as infantry are not equipped with the long range heavy weaponry needed to be effective against aircraft. If an attacking force is all air (no land units), all defending infantry get -3 to their normal defensive value. This penalty is negated if the troops are in a territory with a trench in it. This makes the role of a Trench even more important in limiting the attack capabilities of an attacking air force.

Bombers:
With the exception of Italy, in 19l4 no nation had truly developed bombers for use in the military. Bombers were basically larger bi-planes designed to travel longer distances and carry more bombs. This was accomplished by sacrificing the bi-plane's maneuverability giving all bombers a combat value of 1 in air combats.

Bombers may be used in one of several ways Bombers may attack units just as fighters can. Bombers may also do industrial bombing and tactical bombing (see Phase 4: Industrial & tactical Bombing). Bombers expend fuel for movement and combat in the same way as fighters. Bombers may not be stationed on aircraft carriers.

Industrial complexes:
These represent major industrialized regions within a certain territory. All newly purchased Artillery, Tanks, Anti-Air Guns, Rockets, Fighters and Bombers must be placed on the maps within territories where the producing nation has Industrial complexes. The Industrial Complex must be in a territory under the producing nation's control at the beginning of that nation's turn in order for any newly built units to be placed there during the unit placement phase. Newly built Industrial Complexes may only be placed:

--1) In a territory originally held by the nation.
--2) Territory under the nation's current control.

Industrial Complexes have a defense rating of 1. If a player chooses, the Industrial Complex may participate in the defense of the territory it is in, but if it does it is subject to possible destruction like any other unit. If the Industrial Complex does not participate in the battle it cannot be destroyed.

Industrial complexes have no limit to the number of units that may be built in them within a single turn. Though units bought and placed through an Industrial Complex built within a colonial territory will count against the total build limit of the colonial city that is a part of that colony. If a series of colonial terriories has no colonial city, then an Industrial Complex may not even be built and placed in those territories.

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