First World War Campaigns: FRANCE 1914

[bdtj1815]

Just got an e-mail from Duchet games, HPS's UK distributors, about this game which is to be released on 4th June. Looks very interesting. Here is some more information from the e-mail:

"France '14 is the first title in a new series entitled First World War Campaigns.
This series attempts something that has never been attempted before: to cover all the major campaigns of World War One, with units as low as battalion level.
The history of the war itself is often plagued by inaccurate stereotypes and assumptions. This series attempts to dispel them and fill what is otherwise a void in wargaming history.
The First World War Campaigns series aims to show the evolution of warfare between the Napoleonic period and the Second World War by demonstrating the progress of weapons and tactics. It will show the rise of tanks, poison gas, assault infantry and airpower.
If you enjoy the Panzer Campaigns or the Napoleonic Battles series, then First World War Campaigns will help complete your wargaming experience!"

There is also a list of differences from the PzC series, some of which I can already see people wanting to be put into PzC titles. Many of the differences seem to be things discussed in a number of threads on this forum over the past few months, including:

Detached units -1 morale
Attachments at Army level (I presume this means a "Corps Attachment" type function at Army level.)
All indirect fire is plotted on map and resolved at beginning of next turn!!!
Units moving at night not by rail or road movement become Disrupted
All assaults at night result in Disrupted attackers

Hope we might see some, or all, of these in PzC titles.

[Bushido]

Fantastic! This I have been waiting for. I love HPS! :-)

[Dave78]

Very good news !!

[FM WarB]

I considered trying to make a France 1914 scenario out of France '40 but alot of fudging would be required. Also, would have liked Paris to be on the map.

I wonder if division level might not be better for WW1.

Will this be an HPS/Tiller game?

[Nitram Draw]

NWS has a screen shot on their website.

[Mr Grumpy]

Indeed First World War Campaigns is brand new series for us to enjoy which will complement the existing PzC/MC series and using a modified version of the PzC/MC engine, so any player who is familiar with PzC/MC interface will be right at home with the first title of this series France 14.

I was lucky enough to be asked by the designer Ed Williams (aka Volcano Man) to join his testing team and i can tell you that this title is a cracker, we have worked very hard for 18 months on making all the small/medium scenarios PBEM (or H2H) friendly, we have also introduced some brand new features that will give this game a much different "feel" from PzC/MC.

The greatest change that PzC/MC players will have to adapt to is that this title uses a modified version of the Alt fire rules by default and one of the favourite tactics of many PzC/MC players to create huge stacks to disrupt and assault enemy units will now lead to massive (and i am talking in the hundreds) of men lost per defensive shot!
So this will mean that players will have to be more cautious/subtle their attacks and all the testers agreed that we will have to repeat this message over and over until PzC/MC players unlearn the stacking habits of the past! LOL

Anyway check out my article on the new features in my other thread..;)

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Also, would have liked Paris to be on the map.

The map does not include Paris, only the eastern outskirts.

I wonder if division level might not be better for WW1.

No this title works just fine at Battalion level.

Will this be an HPS/Tiller game?

Yup, any PzC/MC player will be right at home with F14.

[Mr Grumpy]

There is also a list of differences from the PzC series, some of which I can already see people wanting to be put into PzC titles. Many of the differences seem to be things discussed in a number of threads on this forum over the past few months, including:

Detached units -1 morale
Attachments at Army level (I presume this means a "Corps Attachment" type function at Army level.)
All indirect fire is plotted on map and resolved at beginning of next turn!!!
Units moving at night not by rail or road movement become Disrupted
All assaults at night result in Disrupted attackers

Hope we might see some, or all, of these in PzC titles.

You missed the ability to move from ZOC to ZOC (without a friendly unit in the hex you move to) when crossing a bridge (only), this is to defeat the tactic of "straddling" bridges and using the existing ZOC rules to prevent units crossing, this is a change i hope to see in PzC titles also!

[bdtj1815]

Yes I had missed that one, and I agree it would be good to have in PzC games. Do you, or anyone else, have any idea which, if any, of these new rules might be transferred to PzC.

I would be particularly keen to see the new night turn rules implemented. I remember a long thread in this forum sometime ago about how night operations are too easy in PzC games. I even seem to recall suggesting units should risk becoming disrupted if they move at night except in T-mode, although I also suggested that it might be a percentage chance depending on their quality rating.

Think I better get my order in with Duchet asap!!

[Mr Grumpy]

Yes I had missed that one, and I agree it would be good to have in PzC games. Do you, or anyone else, have any idea which, if any, of these new rules might be transferred to PzC.

I would be particularly keen to see the new night turn rules implemented. I remember a long thread in this forum sometime ago about how night operations are too easy in PzC games. I even seem to recall suggesting units should risk becoming disrupted if they move at night except in T-mode, although I also suggested that it might be a percentage chance depending on their quality rating.

Think I better get my order in with Duchet asap!!

I agree with you 100%, fighting 24/7 in PzC is just to easy under the present rules and i hope this can be addressed in the future.

Also the new "Forced Bridge" rule would help to prevent the "straddling" tactic of using the ZOC rules to prevent river crossings via bridges.

As for if any F14 features will make it onto PzC titles i will allow Glenn to comment on that (after TC3) as this would have to go through him. ;)

[P.Ako]

Wow! nice news indeed! this opens the gate to some really interesting battles like Meggido, Tannenberg, Amiens, Chateau Therry-Belleau Wood...

One question how are the airplanes represented?