The War to End All Wars is an easy to play World War I historical strategy game. Starting in 1914 the game sets the Central Powers against the Allies in a deadly conflict of attrition trench warfare. Players assume control of Germany, Austro-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire, Britain, France, Russia, Serbia, Italy, the United States, and even Japan!
Can the Russian fend off a three front war against the Germans, Austrians, and Ottomans and still have strength enough to deal with the rise of the Bolshevik Revolution? Will the western front trench lines become a killing ground of mass proportions? Will the German submarine assault starve the British into submission, or will the British effectively manage the resources from their global empire and champion the Allied war effort.
The Scenarios: The rule booklet includes three different scenarios. The Historical scenario covers the actual events of history will little political deviation,
with set entry times and conditions for the Ottoman Empire, Japan, and the United States. The Semi Historical scenario which can allow for Italian, Japanese, and American players to map their own course, with the potential for full scale war in Asia, or even for the United States to enter on the Central Powers' side. And lastly a Free-For-All
scenario were players may assume any nation in world, large or small, and compete on equal footing for victory via selecting their allies and using diplomacy and warfare to expand their territories.
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The Units: The War to End All Wars provides a wide range of units, including Infantry, Artillery, Tanks, Bi Planes, Bombers, Anti Air Guns, Trenches, Industrial Complexes, Ports, Battleships, Destroyers, Submarines, Transports, and possibly even Aircraft Carriers. Each nations' units gets its own attack and defense rating on a D10, allowing for accurate representation of each nation's military capacities.
Attrition Warfare: A unique Manpower Limit rule provides for each nation to have a maximum number of Infantry units they are allowed to buy through out the entire war. This is representative of their population base and the effectiveness of their soldiers in the field. When a nation has built all of the infantry
allowed by the Manpower Limit, the price for Infantry doubles and building any infantry risks severe mutinies through out the entire army...yet infantry are the only unit which are effective on the defense. Hence the attrition element that so greatly defined World War I
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Technology Developments: The game provides for a wide range of technological development and allows players to select the various technologies they try to improve. Besides simply improving such units as Infantry, Artillery, etc, players may develop near WWII quality fighter planes, Aircraft Carriers, Tanks, Faster Ships, and possibly even Radar and Sonar.
Realistic Representation of Industries: The
War to End All Wars separates production of units into three separate elements: 1) Infantry, 2) Mechanizations, 3) Ships. Various territories on the maps contain Cities, which represent major population and supply centers and are the only places on the board where new Infantry units may be built. Industrial Complexes represent industrial centers ands are where mechanized units such as aircraft and artillery may be build. And lastly Ports represent where new naval units may be placed into water zones.
Simple Rules for Supply Lines and Resources:
A fairly simple set of rules governs if and where nations may collect the resources from the various lands they control. These rules accurately present the British Empire and its need to mobilize forces amongst its many colonies in such places as Canada, South Africa, India, and Australia, and adds a interest game dynamic with regards to the German submarine warfare efforts against the British commerce.
Complete Coverage of the War: Nearly every World War I game ever made focussed nearly all of its attention on the Western Front. The best of the bunch maybe even included the Eastern Front and Italian Front. The War to End All Wars includes all three, plus Serbia, the Ottoman Empire for both the Palestinian and Persian Gulf fronts, A smaller map of Africa to cover the war between the colonies, and even a map of Asia to allow from Japanese and British troop logistics, plus the chance for German submarines to play havoc with Allied shipping.
The short and the simple: You can't get a more
complete game covering the
World War I era. Plus the easy to learn basic game structure of the Axis & Allies
variant Empires of History system can allow for even casual board gamers to enjoy
this game, as well as more die-hard wargamers.