n June 28, 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Habsburg crowns of Austria and Hungary, was assassinated by Serb nationalists in Sarajevo, then the capitol of Austrian controlled Bosnia-Herzogovina. The murder of Franz Ferdinand provided an excuse for the Austrian Army's chief of staff, Conrad von Hotzendorff, to "settle accounts" with the upstart Serbs, and on July 23 Austria presented Serbia with an ultimatum with a 48 hour time limit. The Serbs appealed to their traditional protector, Russia, for help. When Russia mobilized, Germany, Austria's ally, declared war on Russia on August 1. Having no plans for a war against Russia alone, Germany soon declared war on Russia's ally, France, and demanded the neutral Belgian government allow German troops passage through Belgium in order to execute the infamous Schlieffen Plan. This demand was refused, and the invasion of Belgium brought Britain into the war against Germany on August 4. In little more than a month the murder at Sarejevo had led to the First World War.

Over four years later the war ended on November 11, 1918. The three great dynasties that had begun the war, Habsburg, Romanov, and Hohenzollern, had been destroyed. Lenin was waging a civil war for control of Russia, while Austria-Hungary had dissolved into its various ethnic components. The victors, France and Britain, were in scarcely better shape than the vanquished. The United States of America, which entered the war in April 1917, was disillusioned by the peace that followed and withdrew into isolationism. The Second World War was the result of the First.

Paths of Glory: The First World War is a game that allows two players to simulate the Great War in a fun and historically accurate game. The Central Powers player is attempting to use his central position and the quality of his German armies to defeat his numerically superior opponents. The Allied player is attempting to bring his larger numbers to bear against his opponent, hoping to avoid a Revolution in Russia at least until the forces of the United States can arrive.

Overview Paths of Glory is a corps/army game covering all of WWI in Europe and the Near East from August 1914

to the winter of 1918-19. Turns cards to his deck. a single army) anywhere within generally represent three months. The friendly territory. SR also allows for game uses a point-to-point style map Each Strategy Card may be used in the movement of corps into and out and card driven play sequence. To one of four ways each Action Round: of a player's Reserve Box, and give some feel for the game's me- Operations, Strategic Redeployment, between ports for sea movement. A chanics, an expanded sequence of Replacements or as an Event. Use of a player may not perform SR two play is presented below. card as an Event will usually cause its Rounds in a row in a single turn. removal from the game. A. Mandated Offensive Phase Replacements are accumulated Both players roll on the Mandated Operations consist of activating 2-to-5 during a turn through card play, and Offensive Table on the appropriate spaces (depending on the card's OPS used to rebuild reduced or eliminated Allied or Central Powers line to rating) for movement or combat. units at the end of the turn. Unused determine which nation they control, Generally combat units cannot both replacements are lost-they may not be if any, must perform a Mandated move and attack in a single Round. saved from one turn to the next. As Offensive. Place the appropriate MO with SR, a player may not perform 2 marker on the Turn Record Track as a Combat in Paths of Glory involves Replacement Actions in a row in the reminder. A player may choose not to the use of fire tables, with armies same Turn. perform a Mandated Offensive at the firing on a better table than corps. cost of a Victory Point. Attacker and defender fire is gener- If a player chooses not to play a card ally simultaneous, though the he can take an automatic 1 OPS. The B. Action Phase attacker may attempt to gain first fire player who is currently ahead can Each Action Phase is divided into six through a Flank Attack under certain also offer Peace Terms, generally in identical Action Rounds. Each conditions. A failed Flank Attack the hope of picking up a cheap Round allows both players to take gives the defender first fire. Trenches propaganda VP. But he must be wary one action. The Central Powers prevent flank attacks and provide - if he is too far ahead the other player takes his action first in each other combat benefits to the defender. player may accept his terms, ending Round. Each player Action consists the game in a draw. of a Card Play, a Peace Offer, or the All corps and armies are two step automatic activation of a single units. You do not build up or C. Attrition Phase friendly stack for movement or breakdown between corps and Eliminate all OOS Corps and Armies. combat. armies in Paths of Glory. However if Eliminated OOS Corps are placed in an army is eliminated it combat it is the deadpile. Eliminated OOS Armies Each player has his own deck of 55 replaced by a corps from that side's are permanently removed from the Strategy Cards. These decks are in Reserve Box, and if no such corps is game. Supply is traced through any turn divided into Mobilization, in Reserve the army is permanently friendly controlled spaces to a supply Limited War, and Total War cards. eliminated. Balancing the need for source. Each player starts with 14 Mobiliza- corps on the map and in Reserve is a tion cards. The play of certain Events key element of the game. D. Siege Phase gradually increases a player's War Forts are printed on the map and may Status, adding first 20 Limited War Strategic Redeployment allows for be besieged when an enemy force and later 21 additional Total War the movement of corps (or sometimes enters that space. During this phase, players roll a die for each besieged fort to determine if it surrenders. Place a DBS Marker on each fort, which surrenders.

E. War Status Phase E.I. Determine if either player has won an Automatic Victory. Only the CP player earns Victory Points. If his total reaches 20 (it starts the game at 10) he wins an Automatic Victory. If it falls to 0 the Allies win an Auto- matic Victory.

E.2. Each player determines if their commitment level to the war has increased, adding Limited or Total War cards to their deck as appropri- ate.

E.3. Determine if an Armistice has and Limited War scenarios). With Kaiser's legions are very capable been declared. When the Combined four potential uses per card each indeed. Six French or Russian armies Total War Status of both sides hits 40, play, and 110 different cards in the attacking a 5-3-3 German army an Armistice will be declared, ending game, Paths of Glory will never play (backed by a corps in the Reserve the game. (If no Armistice is declared the same way twice. Box) sitting in a Level 2 Trench the game ends automatically at the would have only a 33% chance of end of Turn 20.) When an Armistice It should also be noted that the capturing the space. If properly used is declared you check the current multiple uses for each card make the fighting power of the German Central Powers VP level to determine Paths of Glory a better than average soldier will go a long way towards if the game has a winner or ends in a game for the solo gamer. Simply evening the odds. draw. If one side has won the other is examine each side's hand to note for assumed to have asked for the Combat Cards that might be used Historically German tactical skill was Armistice. If it is a draw, general war during battle, and randomly choose ultimately wasted because of strate- weariness has caused both sides to your Strategy Card each round. gic shortsightedness. It is very easy come to terms. Having to choose exactly how to use for the CP player to fall into a similar each randomly selected card will trap and strike out blindly in pursuit F. Replacement Phase leave you with plenty of decisions to of tactical victories without a clear F.I. Allied Powers Segment: The make and add suspense to solo play. strategic goal. The result will most Allied player spends any Replace- likely be an impressive string of ment Points (RPs) accumulated battles won on the way to losing the through play of RP Cards this turn, as Playing the Central Powers war. marked on the General Records The good news for the Central Track. Any RPs not spent are lost. Powers in Paths of Glory is that they In order not to repeat history the CP have the advantage of interior lines. player needs to control the initiative F.2. Central Powers Segment: The The bad news is that means they're as much as possible. This means Central Powers player spends any surrounded. Playing the CP is a playing cards and taking actions on Replacement Points (RPs) accumu- matter of juggling fronts, of maintain- the map that force the Allied player lated through play of RP Cards this ing just enough defensive strength to to react. Getting the first card play previous turn, as marked on the hold off the inevitable Allied each turn can thus be a significant General Records Track. Any RPs not offensives while freeing up enough advantage if used to set up multiple spent are lost. troops to launch their own. Initially threats on the map. While sometimes the CP has three balls in the air - necessary, play of a passive card, such G. Draw Strategy Card Phase France, Russia, and Serbia - but all as a Replacement card, is an invita- During this Phase, each player draws too soon they are going to have to tion to the Allied player to seize cards from his Draw Pile to bring his juggle Italy and the Near East as well. control of the turn. The first CP hand to seven cards. Reshuffle To make things worse, the Central decision of the game is whether to discards as needed after dealing all Powers must essentially perform this open with the Guns of August Event. other available cards to the player. A act with only one good hand - the There are several advantages in doing player may discard any Combat German Army - as the Austrians, so: with a single card play the Liege Cards he wishes before drawing new Turks and Bulgarians are only fort is destroyed, and attacks can be cards. If a player has insufficient marginally effective. Fortunately the made on the BEF at Brussels and/or cards in his deck to fill his hand up to the French 5th Army at Sedan. Plus his seven card limit, he takes CP War Status is increased by 1. All all available cards and begins the next of this makes the Go A card one of the turn with less than a full hand. best in the game, but it is not an automatic choice. Not only does it H. End of Turn come attached with a downside - loss If the war has not ended and the last of two VP from Allied play of the turn of the scenario has not been Rape of Belgium - but not playing it reached, advance the Turn marker to has an upside as well. Without the the next turn on the Turn Record Rape of Belgium, the Allies cannot Track and begin the Sequence of Play reach Limited War status before turn again with the Mandated Offensive four. If the Allies play the Moltke Phase. card, there is a good chance for the CP to reach Limited War a turn ahead of them, a fleeting but powerful If a game does not end in an Armi- advantage. To prevent this the Allies stice or Automatic Victory each may in turn refuse to play Moltke, player will take 120 actions during the course of a full Campaign Game (continued on page 36) (there are also shorter Mobilization

(Paths of Glory continued from page German army can help the Austrians offensive in turn. 27) and later the Bulgarians dig in.) Once giving the Germans more operational Limited War arrives, the CP's options Total War will probably arrive freedom in the west. (and problems) expand. Mobilize the sometime in 1916. The CP player CP armies as rapidly as possible- must decide whether he is going to Regardless of the Guns of August, the they'll be needed. Get ready for the try and drive Russia from the war CP's goals in 1914 remain the same: entrance of Italy into the war; the (through the play of the Bolshevik time to prepare is before the IT Entry Revolution and Brest-Litovsk cards) 1. Achieve Limited War Status ahead card is played. Decide on a major or save those cards to provide the of, or at least not behind, the Allies. offensive target for the year and don'i OPS and replacements to power his try and do everything at once. If the final offensives elsewhere. An eye 2. Remove the restrictions on opera- CP attacks the Serbs, aim to capture must be kept on the Combined War tions along the English Channel and not just Belgrade, but Salonika and Status-it is difficult to know in against Russian forts; either by play Valona as well. If the Russians are the advance who will be ahead when and of the relevant Events, or by either target break the Russian fort line if an Armistice is declared. Don't side reaching a War Status of 4. opposite East Prussia before the underestimate the Americans. Tsar's troops can dig in. At the same Though two armies might seem 3. Mobilizing CP forces by the play of time the CP player can't afford to insignificant, they are tied into the Reinforcement cards. develop tunnel vision. Inevitably the play of a number of event cards luck of the draw means that some- which can seriously increase their times the CP is going to have to 4. Prevent the Russians from cutting effectiveness. As was the case in 1918, dance to the Allied tune. Ride it out, the Americans could just prove the off the German 8th Army or breach- and look for opportunities to regain straw that breaks the CP 's back. ing the Carpathians - preferably the initiative. while making some limited offensive moves (such as the capture of Lodz). Chances are the CP will still need to Once Turkey enters the war the Near pick up VPs in the endgame to win- East is going to be a constant head- especially since the arrival of Allenby 5. Establish a solid defensive position ache. The CP can't win the game in may finally turn the tide against the in the west when the German initial the Near East, but they can certainly Turks. There are a lot of VPs in Italy, offensive falters. The historic German lose it there. The best way to defend but the narrow front can make it hard Fall 1914 line in the west (Ostend/ Turkey is to put so much pressure on to concentrate enough force to break Brussels / Cambrai /Sedan / Metz / the Allies in Europe that they can't out of northern Italy, and any major Strasbourg/Mulhouse) is a good base spare the troops or OPS for major shift of German forces south increases line against which to measure the offensives there. But sooner or later the chance of an Allied breakthrough success of the CP's 1914 offensive. It the Allies will strike. The Turks must on the western front. Ultimately the is also a reasonable defensive use every advantage of terrain, CP will have to judge his chances and position, though the salient at combat cards, and their own interior roll the dice. Cambrai will require two full lines to hold out. It will always be a strength armies and entrenchments to near run thing, but properly played A last word - don't give up. The hold with any degree of security. they will be able to blunt each Allied game will see many changes of Both players will want the other to fortune before the end, and a single spend a card play on the Entrench- good hand can turn a critical situa- ment event, but unless the Germans tion around. The final winner often have been unusually successful in the won't be known until the last card west, it will probably be the CP that play. has to bite the bullet and play the card. Clear spaces should have first priority on trenches, along with any Playing the Allied Powers space that can be attacked from more Playing the Allies in Paths of Glory is than two adjacent spaces. By mid- rather like holding a wolf by the ears; 1915 every CP space on the front line the Central Powers are encircled and in France and Belgium should have outnumbered, but their teeth, in the at least a Level 1 trench. If the CP shape of those 5-3-3 German armies, holds Cambrai, Brussels should be are razor sharp. The Allies will not entrenched as well in case the win the war with a single decisive Germans are later forced to abandon thrust - if there is an early victory in the salient. Paths of Glory it will most likely be a Central Powers triumph. The Allied In the east the Germans will generally player must take the long view; be too busy attacking to do much ultimately the only battle that matters digging, but the Austrians should try is the last. and entrench where possible. (A

If the Germans open the ball with the Serb force outside Serbia, and an are a lot of potential CP Victory Point Guns of August, respond with Moltke army dying out of supply is gone for spaces to pick up in the Near East, as soon as possible. If he doesn't yet good. The Serbs real aim is to and at least until Bulgaria enters the have Falkenhayn in his hand his preserve a front in the Balkans until war, only the Turks stand in the way. offensive in the west will quickly Allied and Italian units can arrive at Unfortunately it will take time to grind to a halt. If he does, well you've Salonika and Valona. Hold Salonika build up a decent offensive force in removed a 4/4 OPS/SR card from his until Total War and the Army of the the Near East. Don't forget to use deck. Play the Rape of Belgium and Orient can provide a potent punch for those British replacements that would Blockade as events. Allied Limited an offensive into Turkey or Bulgaria. otherwise be wasted in the summer War on turn 3 is the goal. You also of 1914 to build up those reduced want every Blockade VP you can get. The Russian front offers offensive corps in Egypt and Basra. opportunities against the hapless If the CP doesn't play the Go A, give Austrians, but keep a careful eye on If possible try and coordinate serious thought to not playing Moltke the build-up of German forces. The offensives between the British forces - certainly not before turn 2. One turn Germans can easily inflict two and in Iraq and Palestine, the MEF, and of facing the CP Limited War cards three times the losses on the Russians the Russian forces in the Caucasus. with only Mobilization cards that they take, and the Russian Remember though that the Near East is painful; two turns could be advantage in numbers can quickly armies can't be rebuilt. Once reduced disastrous. melt away. Hold the fort line from - and without the ability to advance Kovono to Brest as long as possible, after combat - much of their offensive From the beginning you should try to but don't be afraid to give ground potential is lost. Even the British present the CP with simultaneous (perhaps through play of the Great Near East Army, which can poten- threats on multiple fronts. If you play Retreat card) to save the army. tially deliver the coup de grace to the a 3 or 4 OPS card, it is generally Ottoman Empire, is vulnerable to a better to divide your actions between As the Germans advance the front lucky Turkish combat roll. different theaters. If moving in the grows longer, and the CP will have to west, attack in the east and vice versa. call corps out of Reserve to help hold Italy is to the Allies what Turkey is to Combat in Paths of Glory, in the the flanks of his advance. With the Central Powers; a place where the words of playtester Steve pressure from Allied attacks in the war cannot be won but may be lost. Kosakowski, is a game of chicken, west, the number of German corps in While the Italians will serve to tie as telegraphed punches pile up Reserve will dwindle, and the threat down Austrian resources badly before being released in a flurry of of a permanently lost army grow. If at needed elsewhere, against fortified blows. By moving adjacent on one the right moment the Russians are and entrenched mountains the front while attacking on another the able to unleash the Brusilov Offensive Italians aren't likely to break into the CP is placed on the proverbial horns against the Austrians, the CP may be CP heartland. Keep a very wary eye of a dilemma. Does he respond to the stretched to the breaking point. on any Germans forces moving in attack made this round, or the attack range of the Italian front. Entrench that's been set up for the next round? While the Allies have to deal with the the Italians to the maximum - it may Whichever he chooses, if he is German wolf in Europe, they face no be a good idea to send a French army responding to Allied moves, the CP such animal in the Near East. There or two to help with the digging. On a player is giving up the initiative. positive note, a serious German offensive in Italy may mean a Try not to play the Entrench card. dangerously weakened western front, Though this may seem strange in the especially if Russia is still in the war. face of the initial German onslaught, the mobilization of new Allied armies Come 1918 the war's outcome should will soon force the CP to go over to still be in the balance, but the arrival the defensive somewhere - most of the Americans (and the use of likely on the western front. At that cards like Yanks and Tanks) can help point he'll need to play the Trench turn the tide. The German Kaiser's card to protect what he has already Battles cards (Michel, Blucher, the won, and you can dig in without Peace Offensive) are powerful, but if giving up a card or a card play. the Allies have played their own cards right until now, four years of In the southeast the Serbs should be unrelenting pressure should ensure able to hold out in 1914, and perhaps they are a last desperate gamble even take out an Austrian corps. But rather than a winning hand. Remem- beware of advancing into Hungary - ber, it's the last battle - and card play however tempting the occupation of - that counts. And the last card play Budapest may appear, it is a trap. It is is Allied. too easy for the Austrians to cut off a

he path leading to the arrival of Paths of Glory: The First World War on and decisive battles, wouldn't work GMT's publication schedule when confronted by the continuous has been a long and winding one. fronts and attritional nature of Originally contracted for The Avalon modern Total War. Quickly though, Hill Game Company, Paths of Glory my doubts turned to growing had been slowly moving its way enthusiasm. The cards provided through that company's development an amazingly flexible mechanism, process and was actually scheduled for which with a few twists could drive release in March 1999. Then last a WWI tank as easily as an 18th September, Hasbro bought the Hill, and century carriage. Paths of Glory vanished into corporate limbo. It was with relief that in One of the first decisions I made was February I got the rights back, and to use a point-to-point map, of the within days settled on GMT as the sort that was used in WtP and its game's new home. It has turned out to sequels. This might seem a strange be one of my better decisions, as I think choice for the Great War, with its you'll agree when you see the superb images of trench lines on the western job done by Andy Lewis (the game's front stretching from Switzerland to developer) and the rest of the GMT the sea. Though there is no inherent production team. reason a card-based system couldn't work on a hex map, I was attracted Paths of Glory is my second design by the freedom a point-to-point map covering all of World War I in Europe gives to introduce realistic geographi- and the Near East. The first, The cal effects without additional rules. Great War in Europe (XTR Inc,1995 ) - with its add-on for the Near East - As an example, in most games special won a Charles S. Roberts Award, and So the second thing that led me down restrictions are needed to keep the quickly sold out. It was in short a this path was the arrival of Mark Belgian Army in Antwerp from success, and on the theory that you Herman's groundbreaking design We attacking to cut off the German Right should quit while you're ahead, I had the People (TAHGC, 1993 ). Covering Wing as it scythes towards Paris in - no expectation of ever doing another the American Revolution on a grand August 1914. But in PoG the same game covering the same ground. strategic level, WtP used card play as effect is achieved by simply not the engine that powered the game. Of Two things changed my mind. The course cards had been used in ; first was that while Great War was wargames before, but the use of cards connecting the Antwerp and Liege = designed very much to be a playable to control all movement and combat spaces. Assuming the Germans monster, it was still a monster; with its on the map was unlike any previous occupy Sedan (as they should) and Near East companion it had three design. (Or at least any I'd been leave a corps in Liege, a Belgian sortie full-sized maps and 1500 (mostly aware of.) Mark's card system also to Brussels will have no affect on the divisional) counters. Though two neatly allowed for the effects of German advance west, and will even experienced players could manage random events - those political, open up the possibility of the the entire campaign in a three-day diplomatic, and tactical occurrences Belgians being cut off and eliminated weekend, Great War still required a ignored in most strategic games. out of supply if the German army serious commitment of time, and lots WtP rapidly became one of my all reverses direction. King Albert's of table space. Clearly there was a time favorites, and my mind began army is thus bottled up in historic need for a more compact strategic to turn to the idea of adapting it to fashion with no explicit rules limiting WWI game. other topics. its use.

I had no desire, however, simply to My first thought was that WtP would A lot of thought (and trial and error) shrink Great War down to a corps / work very well for the American went into the creation of the PoG army level design, as some players Civil War. Unfortunately for me - if map. The result, I believe, is a game urged. I've always preferred to not happily for the rest of you - Mark map that by itself presents consider- explore different game mechanics had already determined to do a WtP- able insight into the course of WWI. in my designs because I've never style game on that subject (For the From the importance of Sedan in believed there is only one "right People (TAHGC, 1998 ). And so, still supplying a German occupation of way" to do a topic. So Great War somewhat reluctantly, I turned my northern France, to the ability of T.E. Lite had no appeal. If I was going mind back to WWI, and began work Lawrence's Arab Northern Army back into the trenches, I needed a on Paths of Glory. to capture Aqaba and cut off the new design concept to go with the Turkish garrison of Medina, simply new scale. My reluctance was based on my studying the game geography will tell concern that the WtP system, with its you a great deal about the strategic emphasis on non-linear campaigns options of 1914-18.

With the map question settled, the breadth. Too many corps in the design engine - the cards. In WtP a next major issue was unit scale. My Reserve Box and you are not making card had been either an Event or an intention, from the first, had been to effective use of your manpower. Operations (OPS) card (used to use a mix of corps and armies. But Too few corps and you are stretching activate units for movement/ how? Would the basic unit be corps, your nation's resources dangerously combat). Since most events were with a few armies adding additional thin. A balance must be kept between only playable by one side or the punch? Or vice versa? And how the needs of the fighting front now, other, this meant it was possible to would corps and armies relate? and the needs of the future. Stripping get a completely useless hand. Would you build armies out of your corps from the Reserve Box may Hannibal (TAHGC), the next game corps and break down corps from help you weather a current crisis or in the series, solved this problem by armies? The answers I chose were indulge a fleeting opportunity, but making all cards both OPS and somewhat radical, and tied directly at the risk of eating your military events, so you could always use the into the development of the game's seed corn. card as an OPS even if the event combat system. didn't apply to you. But it was still As an example of how the corps and possible to see all the Roman events In PoG, armies are the basic unit for army units combine with the Reserve going to the Carthaginians and vice most nations. The exceptions are Box to recreate history, consider the versa. those nations which lacked the Austrian Army in the summer of 1916 weapons, training and equipment to as simulated by PoG. In order to My solution was to split the cards field effective modern armed forces: launch an offensive in Italy (with its between the two sides. Now the Bulgaria, Romania, Greece, many tempting Victory Point spaces) Central Powers and the Allies would Montenegro, and to a large extent the Austrian commander Conrad each have their own deck, and every Turkey. (The sole exception to this is pulls corps from the Reserve Box to card would present a choice of Serbia, whose armies made up in reinforce and add punch to his Operations or Events. Having given ferocity and generalship what they army at Trent. But with many corps the player two choices per card, I lacked in arms and organization.) currently in the deadpile or tied up quickly doubled that number to four Corps would thus represent not just on garrison duty in the Balkans, by adding in Strategic Redeployment a smaller but a different kind of Conrad has only two corps left in (SR) and Replacements (RPS). SR military organization - one lacking Reserve to back up his armies in the solved the problem of how to portray the artillery and logistical support of east. When the Brusilov Offensive rail and sea movement, while an army. The Combat system would strikes, three Austrian armies are providing a simple method to move reflect this by using separate Fire eliminated. With only two corps corps into and out of the Reserve Box. Tables for combats involving armies available, one army is lost for good, By tying Replacements to the cards I or only corps. inflicting permanent damage on gave the players some control over Austria's war effort. their war economy. To emphasize the difference I decided not to use a build up/break Only after the map, Orders of Battle, Then to twist the knife, I made the down system; you could not simply and combat system were worked out best cards for OPS, SR and RPS the create an army by exchanging a did I turn my attention back to the best for Events as well - and then certain number of corps, turning made it so playing them as events oranges into apples. Corps would be would remove the card from the used to represent small armies game. Which is worth more to you - fighting in secondary theaters, that 5 OPS card with its hefty garrisons holding quiet sectors of the replacements or the Bolshevik front, or act as reinforcements for Revolution? Let Lenin loose in armies engaged in major offensive or Petrograd and pay the price of defensive campaigns. increased Communist agitation at home in the shape of the loss of that When an army is eliminated with a card? Or refuse Lenin passage in that corps available in the reserve box, it famous sealed train, keep the card - has suffered losses in men, but its and keep fighting in Russia as well? organizational and logistical structure There are six potential card plays a has survived - it can be rebuilt. But turn, 24 agonizing choices, in which when no such corps exists the army the best choice is often just the lesser has been used up. Even if its designa- of four evils. tion may linger on, a hole has been torn in the military fabric that cannot With the OB, map, combat system be entirely repaired; in game terms and cards set, one last major issue the army has been permanently remained: victory conditions. Now eliminated. Players are thus con- that the players could move and fight fronted with issues of depth as well as across the battlefields of WWI

Europe, what were they fighting for? he may just accept your terms, But even on the western front the I also needed to consider the question winning you less than your people possibility of breakthrough beckons. of play balance; getting a 50/50 split expect, causing unrest at home, and Perhaps the use of this event card in Allied and CP wins might not be most importantly ending the game in will provide the key to unlocking the possible, or even desirable, but both a draw. western front. Perhaps sheer attrition sides had to feel that had a reasonable will wear him down until the front chance of victory. Better still if the At this point the basic design work cracks. You can wreck your army winner couldn't be determined until was complete, but the next two years trying to shatter the deadlock in the very end. would be spent rounding off the France - only to give up just as your edges (with Andy Lewis giving a opponent was certain he could hold Fortunately my experience with final vital polish at GMT Games). no longer. Or you can win the war on Great War in Europe helped me OPS were used to activate command- the more mobile battlefields of Russia come up with victory conditions ers in We the People, but WWI was and the Near East. pretty quickly. Using the historical not noted for great captains, so OPS Allied victory in 1918 as my baseline, would activate individual spaces With every card play decisions must I decided how much better the instead. How to keep the attacker be made, the chance of triumph in Central Powers would have to do to from massing his forces and blitzing one theater must be balanced against claim victory, and how much worse sections of the enemy front in WWII the possibility of tragedy in another. the Allies would have to do to accept style? Separate movement from Unlike World War II, which for all its a draw. combat. What to do to when a player operational dynamism was for much lacked the cards to fill his hand, or of its length essentially a one-front During the war a separate propa- wished to save a vital Event card for war (west in 1940, east in 1941-43), ganda war was waged both to the following turn? Give him the World War I is a multi-front struggle influence neutrals and justify to the option of taking an automatic 1 OPS. from the start. Arguably then the home front the war's ever-increasing Great War is a greater test of a cost. From this was born the game's How to keep players from instantly gamer's strategic ability. rules for offering Peace Terms. Only filling every space with 1918 style the side that feels it is in a position of entrenchments? Tie the ability to advantage (ahead in victory points) build trenches to an army's Loss can offer terms, not to end the war Factor (a sort of general measure of but to score a propaganda victory quality) and the results of a die roll. (gain a VP) with a show of reason. But Effective trench systems will show up Note: See Ted's insights and hints for propaganda can backfire (lose a VP) in the west by mid-1915, but else- the Central Powers player (p.27) and and as the war becomes Total, where - as historically - trench lines positions harden and the Peace Table will be hard to establish and always Allied Powers player (p.36) on the best becomes less effective. Finally, if you be incomplete. course of action to take in GMT's Paths offer peace to an enemy on the ropes, of Glory - Ed.