Offical release date for F14.

[Mr Grumpy]

I know we are aware of the existence of France 14 because of TC3, today is actually the official release date and i can post the infomation released by HPS. :)

The Great War exploded in the summer of 1914 as Germany marched into Belgium, sweeping aside Allied forces in pursuit of the crushing victory they expected with their finely tuned, but heavily modified, Schlieffen Plan. The German army then pushed on into France and as its columns closed in on Paris, victory seemed a foregone conclusion. However, defying all odds, the weary French and British made an about face and counterattacked along the Marne, defeating the Schlieffen Plan and halting the German advance.

The 1914 campaign in France would be the opening act of a gruesome war that would not end until 1918, a war which would end with the overthrow of many of the monarchs in Europe, and consume the lives of over eighteen million people. The First World War would mark the end of the Napoleonic old European order, and would be the catalyst for an even greater struggle known as World War II.

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 going down to battalion level. The history of the war itself is often plagued by inaccurate stereotypes and assumptions, and this series attempts to dispel them and bridge what is otherwise a relatively empty wargaming void in history. The First World War Campaigns series also seeks to demonstrate the evolution of warfare between the Napoleonic period and the Second World War by demonstrating the evolution of weapons and tactics: it will show the rise of tanks, poison gas, assault infantry, and airpower. If you like Panzer Campaigns or the Napoleonic Battles series, then First World War Campaigns will help complete your wargaming experience!

France '14
• 33 stand alone scenarios and 6 campaigns to choose from
• Battles include:
1. The Ardennes,
2. Mons,
3. Le Cateau,
4. Guise,
5. 1st Marne (the entire battle from Paris to Nancy, not just the BEF area),
6. 1st Aisne,
7. 1st Arras,
8. 1st Ypres
9. Sorties out of Antwerp
10. Assaults on Liege and Namur, and more
• Campaign scenarios consist of:
1. the early German invasion of France up to the reversal at the Marne (158 turns),
2. the exciting "Race to the Sea" where both sides attempted to outflank each other in a great meeting engagement from the Aisne to the English Channel (246 turns),
3. the entire Flanders campaign (190 turns),
4. the gut wrenching campaign covering the entire 1st Battle of Ypres in all three of its phases (190 turns), and more
• Utilizes an easy to use and intuitive interface similar to the Panzer Campaigns and Modern Campaigns game series
• Represents all major aspects of warfare during this period, including deadly machine guns, the evolution of cavalry, the birth of aviation, the awesome power of siege artillery, the devastating firepower of massed artillery and field guns, and more.
Some differences between First World War Campaigns and Panzer Campaigns:

• Setting up prevents all firing including direct fire
• Costs MG and Field Guns (non-IF artillery) full allowance to setup
• A Towed Gun Limitation value limits the number of deployed towed guns in any one hex
• Cavalry charge (man unit on horse)
- 4x assault
- Assault cost 1/3
• Mounted cavalry takes assault losses when defending at 1/12 normal value but must retreat if the defending hex consists entirely of mounted cavalry and the attackers do not consist entirely of mounted cavalry
• Costs Cavalry 2/3 allowance to change to Travel Mode
• Cavalry costs 2X Victory Points
• Mounted cavalry cannot recover fatigue
• New Fort hex (1.5x pillbox effects)
• Detached units -1 morale
• Attachments at Army level
• MG units can retreat with no additional losses (goes to travel mode)
• MG units must be in Travel Mode to move
• Siege Guns - must be in travel or rail mode to move
- Costs full movement allowance to go into travel mode
- Requires setup
- Cannot fire Op Fire or Defensive Fire or Fire Direct
- Setting up probability is half normal
- One fire per turn
- Fire against Forts and Redoubts *= 50
• All air strikes are subject to scatter up to 2 hexes away
• Air recon scatters but provides the same information
• All indirect fire is plotted on map and resolved at beginning of next turn
• Field Guns (non-Indirect Fire artillery) can retreat from assault with 1/2 losses and do not exert a ZOC
• Only engineers can damage rail
• Units moving at night not by rail or road movement become Disrupted
• All assaults at night result in Disrupted attackers
• All HQ units in Travel or Rail Mode are Out of Command
• and more!

New changes to both engines:

• Added new Forced Bridge Crossing Rule which allows units to force a bridge crossing against enemy ZOC (see Users Manual under Movement)
• Increased engineer digging in bonus from 2x to 3x
• Changed hot key "R" to Toggle Rail Mode

The game also has a scenario and sub-map editor included with the game. Play modes include A/I, Hot Seat, PBEM, LAN & Internet play.
France '14 is scheduled for release on June 4th, 2010.

France ’14 Scenario list

00_Started: Getting Started
1914_0804_01s_Liege: The Assault on Liege
1914_0812_01s_Haelen: The Battle of the Silver Helmets
1914_0815_01s_Dinant: A Crossing at Dinant
1914_0818_01s_Gette: Driving the Wedge
1914_0820_01s_Nancy: Von Moltke's Indecisiveness
1914_0822_01s_Campaign_Early: Home Before the Leaves Fall
1914_0822_02s_Charleroi: Lanrezac, the Defiant
1914_0822_03s_Ardennes: Offensive Г Outrance!
1914_0823_01s_Mons: The Contemptibles Make Their Stand
1914_0823_02s_Mons: First Clash at Mons
1914_0824_01s_Elouges: Flank Guard at Elouges
1914_0825_01s_Antwerp: The Rage of Dreaming Sheep (1st Sortie)
1914_0826_01s_Le_Cateau: Taking One for the Team
1914_0826_02s_Cambrai: Unwritten Valor
1914_0829_01s_Guise: French Morale Restored
1914_0901_01s_Villers-Cotterets: A Desperate Rear Guard
1914_0905_01s_Iverny: Uncovering the Enemy's Hand
1914_0906_01s_Marne: Miracle at the Marne
1914_0906_02s_Ourcq-Morins: The Juggernaut Exposed
1914_0906_03s_St_Gond: Foch Stands Firm
1914_0906_04s_Vitry: Opportunity Lost
1914_0906_05s_Revigny: Flirting With Disaster
1914_0909_01s_Antwerp: The Belgian Diversion (2nd Sortie)
1914_0913_01s_Aisne: Everything at Stake!
1914_0917_01s_Campaign_Race: The Race to the Sea
1914_0919_01s_St_Mihiel: A Dagger to the Heart
1914_1001_01s_Antwerp: Never Give Up!
1914_1001_02s_Arras: Turning the Flank
1914_1018_01s_Campaign_Flanders: Where Valor Sleeps
1914_1018_02s_Campaign_Yser: The Belgian Bulwark
1914_1018_03s_Campaign_Ypres: The Graveyard of the Contemptibles
1914_1018_04s_Ypres: The Salient is Formed
1914_1020_01s_Campaign_La_Bassee: The Unglamorous Struggle
1914_1020_02s_La_Bassee: A Taste of Hell
1914_1025_01s_Ypres: The Salient Pushes Back
1914_1029_01s_Ypres: Enter the Conqueror

[Hog of War]

My copy shipped today. :cool2: Really looking forward to it.

[Sch]

is the game also digitally distributed?

[Mr Grumpy]

My copy shipped today. :cool2: Really looking forward to it.

I hope we will see you back active on the ladder soon, its been a while! ;)

---

is the game also digitally distributed?

Sorry, no.

[Panzer VI]

There's a error on the page:
http://www.hpssims.com/Pages/products/WW...nce14.html

It shows a picture of Greek Wars.

[Volcano Man]

Hmm, that must be a close up 3D view of one of the fortresses of Liege before the large Volkswagon sized Big Bertha shells start coming in. ;)

[Tide1]

My copy shipped today. This is going to be alot of fun me thinks

[Panzer VI]

looking at the screenshots, did John Tiller adopt the map mod for all his future games?

The map graphics appear map mod(well, sort of), though the unit cards are still normal looking.

[Dog Soldier]

Looking forward to the new PzC patches to include that new "R" hot key for changing to Railroad status.

Dog Soldier

[U124IXB]

Is there a verdun scenario in the game? Does any one remember the old board game called verdun that game was a blast a true beer and pretzel's fun fest :)