Domination 1914 No Man's Land


  • Domination 1914 No Man’s Land is a WWI-themed custom map. It uses the same rules as Anniversary Edition. It’s an immensely fun map to play, and gives you the feel of WWI.

    The Big Picture

    The Centrals begin the game with significantly weaker income, and significantly weaker Total Unit Value (TUV), than the Entente. To correct this problem, the Centrals should seek to conquer minor Entente powers, such as Serbia and Arabia. In addition, the Centrals should launch a massive land grab against some major Entente power, such as Russia.

    Central powers consist of Germany, Austria, Turkey, and the communists. Germany is the strongest Central, has fleets all over the map, and starts with a factory in east Africa and another in the Pacific. The remaining three Centrals are local powers. Austria is almost as strong as Germany. The communists are initially the weakest of the Central powers. The communist capital is in eastern Russia–a red territory amidst a sea of white. Russian nationalists and communists are at war against each other from the very beginning.

    Entente powers consist of France, Serbia, Italy, Arabia, Britain, Russia (nationalists), and the United States. The minor Entente powers–Serbia, Italy, and Arabia–should seek to hold out as long as possible. France’s main responsibility is to wage land war against Germany. It can also help wage land war in north Africa, or send units to help bail out Arabia or Serbia. Britain’s three main responsibilities are naval war against Germany, land war in western Europe, and anti-Turkish spending. In addition, Britain has primary responsibility for countering Germany’s moves in Africa and the Pacific. Russia is often faced with a three or even four front land war. Communists in the east, Turks in the south, Germans and Austrians in the west, and Germans in the north (Scandinavia). The U.S. begins the game as a somewhat smaller, weaker power than France or Russia. But it can grow in strength over time due to neutral farming. It isn’t a particularly useful nation early game. Late game it can be a good counter to the Austrians or the communists.

    Land Units

    Land units consist of infantry, field guns, heavy guns, trenches, cavalry, poison gas, and aa guns. Infantry cost 3, attack on a 1, defend on a 2. Whereas cavalry cost 4, attack and defend on a 1, and move 2. Both infantry and cavalry can receive support from artillery. Field guns are the artillery you know and love. They cost 4, attack and defend on a 2. If you’re attacking field guns provide artillery support. Heavy guns are also artillery. They cost 5, attack on a 2, defend on a 4. If you’re attacking they provide artillery support. Heavy guns provide more defensive firepower for the money than infantry! Heavy guns should absolutely be part of your unit mix if you’re on defense. They’re also not a bad unit for offense, though of course field guns are better for offense than heavy guns. Trenches cost 3, defend on a 0, and take 2 hits to kill. They provide twice as much cannon fodder for the money as infantry! You can place up to three trenches per territory per turn. You don’t need a factory to place trenches. If you happen to have a factory there anyway, trench placement doesn’t count against the factory’s overall unit placement capacity. Trenches cannot be used as casualties in poison gas attacks.

    Poison gas costs 4, attacks on a 4, and moves 3. It is a suicide unit. It can be used on offense only. Poison gas attacks happen at the very beginning of combat, before anything else fires. Units killed by poison gas don’t get casualty shots. The only land units with a movement of 2 or better are cavalry and poison gas. Poison gas is useful as the “finishing touch” of your effort to overwhelm someone else’s defenses. Also, poison gas can be useful if you notice an enemy has a lot of trenches and not many units providing firepower to those trenches. If you could use poison gas to get rid of, say, half his defensive firepower, then getting rid of the trenches + the other half of the defensive firepower will be much less painful for your infantry/cavalry/artillery force.

    AA guns cost 6. One aa gun can fire at an unlimited number of air units. Aa guns are captured, not destroyed.

    In addition to the units I’ve mentioned, there are also some nation-specific units. Britain and France can build Colonials, and Germany can build Stormtruppen. Colonials and Stormtruppen are like infantry: they cost 3 and defend on a 2. However these units also attack on a 2. With a unit this good, what’s the catch? The catch is unit placement restrictions. French Colonials can only be placed in its starting factories in North Africa. British Colonials can only be placed in its starting factories in Canada or Australia. And German Stormtruppen can only be placed in its starting factory in Berlin. Germany’s main land front is against France, and Berlin is well to the east of that land front. So the reward of a better unit for the money is balanced by the punishment of inconvenient unit placement.

    Both the (white) Russian nationalists and the (red) Soviet communists can build every land unit on the normal tech tree, including normal infantry. In addition to that stuff, they also have the option of building the conscript. Conscripts are an infantry-type unit, and can receive support from artillery. However, they are cheaper and weaker than infantry. They cost 2, attack on a 0, and defend on a 1. They provide less firepower for the money than infantry, whether you’re on offense or defense. But they make up for that by providing better cannon fodder value for the money than infantry. Because conscripts aren’t a great source of firepower, you should always resist the temptation to buy straight-up conscripts. You should add plenty of field guns to your unit mix if you’re on offense, and plenty of heavy guns if you’re on defense. And of course plenty of air for back-and-forth battles.

    Air units consist of the fighter and the Zeppelin. Fighters attack on 2, defend on 3, and provide artillery support. They cost 9, and can move 3. As the game progresses you will unlock the ability to build the “late fighter” unit. Late fighters cost 10, attack on a 3, defend on a 4, and provide artillery support. They have a range of 4. You have to love that increased range for late fighters!

    You don’t need any special technology for Zeppelins. These units attack on a 1, defend on a 2, have a range of 5, and can strategically bomb. They cost 16. No one starts with any aa guns on the map, so building a Zeppelin or two can be a good way to force your enemies to spend a lot of cash on aa guns.

    Naval Units

    Naval units consist of subs, transports, destroyers, cruisers, battlecruisers, and battleships. A sub costs 7, attacks on a 2, defends on a 1. It can submerge before the battle begins unless there is an enemy destroyer present. Only destroyers can block the movement of subs. Destroyers cost 9, are anti-sub, attack and defend on a 2. Cruisers cost 10, attack and defend on a 3. Battlecruisers cost 16, and attack and defend on a 4. Battlecruisers can bombard. Battleships cost 22, attack and defend on a 4, can bombard, and take 2 hits to kill. Injured battleships heal immediately after the battle. Offshore bombardment is limited to the number of units you drop off. Let’s say that you have 10 battleships but only 2 units attacking amphibiously. You’ll get 2 bombardment shots, not 10.

    Technology

    Technology is an absolutely essential part of this map. This map is normally played low luck, and low luck for tech. To research technology, purchase tech tokens. Tokens only disappear once you research a new tech. Whatever tech tokens you happen to have, you keep rolling them over and over until you eventually discover something new. If you buy one tech token a turn, you are guaranteed (at worst) one tech advance every six turns. Buying two tokens a turn guarantees you one tech advance every three turns (worst case). You don’t get to choose which particular technologies you get. But you do get to pick the category of tech you’re researching. There are three categories of tech research: industrial, land, and naval. There are six techs within each category, for a total of eighteen technologies. Normally I like to research industrial tech first, regardless of nation. Once I have all the key industrial techs, I’ll move to land or naval.

    Industrial tech consists of the following advances:

    Working women: reduces the cost of field guns and heavy guns by 0.5, the cost of poison gas by 1, the cost of fighters by 2.

    Industry: adds +3 to the unit placement capacity of all your factories. Only works if the territory is worth at least 2. If for example you could place 2 units on a factory before this tech, you can now place 5.

    Late fighter: unlocks the late fighter unit.

    Propaganda: each turn you get 3 free infantry, placed on your capital.

    Victory bonds: each turn roll 2 d6 dice. Add the rolls together. Whatever number that comes out to, add it to your income.

    Science: one free tech token a turn.

    Land techs

    Creeping barrage. Your field guns now attack on a 3. Very, very good for offense!
    Rail guns. Your heavy guns now defend on a 5. A solid tech for improved defense.
    Bunkers. Your trenches now defend on a 1. Another solid defensive tech.
    Mobile warfare. Your cavalry move at 3. Useful for offense–especially for getting cavalry to distant targets you want to take.
    Mustard gas. Poison gas attacks on a 5. A good offense tech.
    Tank. Unlocks the tank unit. Tanks cost 6, attack on a 4, defend on a 1, move 2, provide artillery support. The tank is a pure offense unit, obviously. But once you have working women and creeping barrage, field guns will provide you with even more offensive firepower for the money than tanks! So buy tanks only when you need more mobility than field guns provide.

    Naval techs
    Sub warfare: subs attack at 3, defend at 2.
    Convoys: destroyers defend at 3, cruisers at 4.
    Dockyards: reduces cost of battlecruisers and battleships by 2, all other ships by 1.
    Fleet action: battlecruisers and battleships attack at 5.
    Merchant marine: transports, destroyers and cruisers move at 4. A very useful tech!
    Aircraft carrier. Unlocks the aircraft carrier unit. Attacks on a 2, defends on a 3, cost 13. Can land 2 air units. Fighters and late fighters can land on carriers.

    Neutral farming.

    Neutrals can be attacked without declaring war, and without any diplomatic consequences whatever. Most neutral territories are potentially income-producing. The Entente is better-positioned to farm most neutrals than the Centrals. However, Germany can grab Scandinavia. Also, it can use its Pacific fleet to grab a territory adjacent to Mexico City. Next turn, it can march into Mexico City. You’d think that this would be a relatively easy problem for the United States to solve. But no. Mexico City can produce 4 units a turn, plus three trenches. If Germany max builds there, the U.S. will have to spend a number of turns throwing its full weight against the problem before Mexico City ultimately falls to the Americans. Granted, this will also suck up a noticeable portion of Germany’s income.

    Japan is a very tempting place to neutral farm, because it’s less well-defended for the income than most other neutrals. Normally the Entente gets to neutral farm Japan. Other places the Entente can neutral farm include Spain, South America, and China. (Though if the communists are strong enough, they might do some Chinese neutral farming themselves.)


  • I like these kind of rules, but would like to see some picture of the map?


  • I’ve attached a picture of part of the map. France is very difficult, but not impossible, for Germany to conquer. Austria has a three front war on its hands, against Italy (green), Serbia (orange) and Russia (white). Normally Austria will try to wipe Serbia out quickly, so that it can focus more attention on its two remaining fronts.

    Moscow starts the game dull red, because it is owned by the communists. However, the Russian nationalists conquer Moscow before the communists’ first turn. That doesn’t matter as much as you might think, because Moscow is no one’s capital in this map. The nationalists’ capital is St. Petersburg, and the Communists’ capital is surrounded by the territory of eastern Russia.

    The initial target of Turkish aggression is typically Arabia. Arabia’s capital is Mecca. Arabia cannot build any of the units on the normal tech tree, except for factories and trenches. In addition to those, the one unit Arabia can build is the Bedouin. Bedouin cost 2, attack on 1, defend on 2, and move 2. They’re half the cost of cavalry, for a better unit than a cavalry. Arabia cannot research technology. Arabia can place up to four Bedouin a turn, because Mecca is worth four. Once Turkey conquers Arabia, it will then be in a better position to adopt an offensive posture against Britain and Russia.

    Domination 1914 map.jpg


  • Kurt i like what i see in terms of how the territories are carved up. Is this your invention or some game you found on Triple A?

    If it’s yours, i think you have a great skill in game design.

    One thing however, i would l prefer a bit more out of the box thinking in terms of the unit values ( they are too similar to WW2 AA).

    Perhaps conversion to a D10 or D12 system, or having the units rolling D6-D12 depending on type ( like in fortress America)

    Also, consider some units rolling before others to model entrenched infantry, or Artillery before other units.

    These are part of what will become my own game coming out soon, which have all the pieces you brought up and more.

    Check out the Great War thread in Variants. Good to finally have something to agree on with you… anything… and something i never thought you had a proclivity for.


  • @Imperious:

    Kurt i like what i see in terms of how the territories are carved up. Is this your invention or some game you found on Triple A?

    If it’s yours, i think you have a great skill in game design.

    One thing however, i would l prefer a bit more out of the box thinking in terms of the unit values ( they are too similar to WW2 AA).

    Perhaps conversion to a D10 or D12 system, or having the units rolling D6-D12 depending on type ( like in fortress America)

    Also, consider some units rolling before others to model entrenched infantry, or Artillery before other units.

    These are part of what will become my own game coming out soon, which have all the pieces you brought up and more.

    Check out the Great War thread in Variants. Good to finally have something to agree on with you… anything… and something i never thought you had a proclivity for.

    Thanks for the kind words. However, I can’t take credit for this map. TripleK and Surtur created the original Domination, and Imbaked converted it to Domination 1914 No Man’s Land. This map can be played on TripleA, which I strongly recommend!

    Rand loves playing this map, is very good at it, and is working on his own version of it.

    If the attacker is using poison gas, that gets to fire before any other units.

    The benefit to being an entrenched infantry isn’t captured by allowing entrenched infantry to fire first. It’s captured via the trench unit.

    To give a specific example: suppose the German player uses his Pacific fleet to take Guadalahara on G2. Almost all neutral territories are defended, but Mexico City isn’t. Guadalahara is adjacent to Mexico City. So all you need is one German infantry in Guadalahara to take Mexico City on G3.

    Mexico City is worth 4, and has a factory. If Germany is going to defend Mexico City, it should use those four points of unit placement for a combination of infantry and heavy artillery. In addition to those 4 infantry/heavy artillery, Germany can also place 3 trenches in Mexico City each turn. It takes two hits to kill a trench, so Mexico City’s hitpoints are growing by 10 a turn! (3 trenches = 6 hitpoints, + four hitpoints from infantry or heavy guns.)

    The U.S. player decides to do something about this. So he spends 20 to build a factory in Texas, and another 20 to build a factory in New Mexico. Texas and New Mexico are each worth 2, so he can now place a total of 4 units right at the Mexican border. That’s good, but not by itself enough to let the U.S. take Mexico City against a determined German opponent. So he spends another 20 on a factory for San Francisco. San Francisco is worth 4, but it’s rather far from the Mexican border. So he uses the San Francisco factory to produce 4 cavalry a turn. (They give you mobility, and are artillery-supportable.) The Texas and New Mexican factories each produce 2 field guns a turn. At this point, the American player is now throwing 8 hitpoints worth of units at the problem, compared to 10 for Germany. The American player’s effort is good, but not quite good enough. He needs a bit of an extra push. So he builds poison gas in his starting factories in New York and Charleston. (Those are the only 2 starting American factories, by the way.) Those factories are very far from the Mexican border. But poison gas can move 3, so it won’t take all that long for the poison gas from there to threaten Mexico City. If the U.S. builds 6 poison gas a turn (in addition to the 4 field guns and 4 cavalry I mentioned), then eventually Mexico City will fall.

    This effort will consume all or nearly all of the United States’ income for a number of consecutive turns. The German player knows he can’t hold Mexico City forever against an all-out American offensive. His goal is to delay the American offensive into Spain, or the Pacific, or wherever else the American player had planned on going. The early game U.S. is a little weak. Its income is in the 60 - 70 range, compared to 120 for Germany, about 80 for Austria and Britain, and about 70 for France. Later in the game the U.S. income can be 150 or more, due to neutral farming. The U.S. can do very little neutral farming if it’s going all out against Mexico City. Edit: Britain’s income also tends to increase as the game progresses, with an income of 120 or 130 being fairly normal. Austria’s income should also increase due to conquests at its neighbors’ expense.

    In the battle for Mexico City itself, the American player will typically be dealing with a lot of German trenches! The U.S. player will spend most of the battle working his way through German trenches. Recall that of the 10 hitpoints of units a turn the German player had been building on Mexico City, 6 hitpoints came from trenches. The American player will get to kill some non-trench German units at the very beginning of the battle, with poison gas. After that, it will take several combat rounds before the German trenches are killed. Several rounds of the American force’s firepower decreasing, while the German force’s firepower stays the same. (Trenches don’t provide defensive firepower.)

    Maybe I’ve sold you on the map’s existing mechanics, and maybe I haven’t. If I haven’t, then I’d encourage you to learn how to create player mods to maps. Imbaked created a player mod to the original Domination map, and Rand is working on a player mod to Imbaked’s map. No one is stopping you from creating your own mod to this map. (Though there is a bit of a learning curve.) I’m over 90% sure that the TripleA engine would support all the changes you mentioned.


  • So this is a world map? The picture just shows Europe, so Japan is a minor player, etc?


  • I just found it listed as a TripleA map IL - so you can take a look there.


  • @Imperious:

    So this is a world map? The picture just shows Europe, so Japan is a minor player, etc?

    It is a world map. Japan starts off as neutral. There are no diplomatic or other penalties for invading a neutral nation. You just have to fight the neutrals physically present in whatever territory you’re invading. Japan is lightly defended in relation to its income, making it an excellent candidate for neutral farming. Typically, the Entente is more likely than the Centrals to be able to neutral farm Japan.

    The attached map shows eastern Russia and most of Japan. As you can see, there are several Japanese territories worth 6. Tokyo is worth 12.

    You can see that eastern Russia starts off under (white) Russian czarist control, except for the (red) communist capital. Russia has some unit placement capacity in eastern Russia, but not a whole lot. It is often possible for communists to expand at Russian expense. That is especially true if Russia is forced to spend the bulk of its resources on its western front, against the non-communist Central powers.

    It is also possible for Russia to wipe out the communists. Suppose for example that Germany and Austria launch a major offensive in the west. An expensive enough offensive that they have no choice but to adopt a defensive posture in the east, against Russia. If that happens, Russia will be able to go on the offensive against the communists, and eventually eliminate them.

    Domination 1914 map2.jpg


  • Attached is a map of most of Africa. Note the French factories in north Africa, the British factory in Cairo, and the German factory in eastern Africa. You can’t see it on the map, but there is also a British factory in Cape Town (worth 2). Normally, it is possible for a nation to control the territory physically near his African factories. Taking an African factory is a big deal. After Turkey conquers Arabia, it will often target the British factory in Cairo. The British player will often respond by making a strong effort to defend that Cairo factory.

    The German player would love to conquer as much of Africa as possible. But too much German spending in Africa could distract it from vital tasks in Europe. That’s why it’s rare to see the German player buy a second factory for Africa. If the German player does decide to buy a second factory, it would normally be placed in German East Africa or Ethiopia. Ethiopia is worth 3. Because it doesn’t border the coast of the Indian Ocean, you don’t have to be overly worried about Britain’s Indian Ocean transport fleet.

    Domination 1914 map3.jpg


  • Interesting starting positions…


  • Good article Kurt…this is a very interesting game.


  • I think the German colonies in China have about zero chance of survival…


  • Agreed. but Germany does have a chance in New Guinea. At least they can disrupt the allies from there.
    I don’t believe a lot would go on in the Pacific in this game. The allies could mount offensives against China or Japan, but the logistics of attacking those neutrals wouldn’t make it worth the gains.

  • Customizer

    Pretty accurate. Moldavia/Bessarabia are the same thing, border is post 1945. Volgograd was not so named until after Stalin’d death (Tzaritsyn).

    Rio de Oro is just desert, not worth 1 IPC.


  • With respect to Germany’s forces in China: typically it will consolidate its two Shanghai infantry into one territory, then build trenches in that territory. (You can place trenches in any territory you owned at the beginning of the turn, even if there’s no factory.) The trenches are normally enough to allow Germany to hold onto one Shanghai territory, with the Entente possessing the other three. If however the United States begins building Pacific transports, there isn’t a whole lot Germany can do to defend that last Shanghai territory. Unless of course it builds a factory there. A German factory for Shanghai is a rare, but not an unheard-of strategy.

    But mostly I’d like to address the subject of an anti-Russian offensive. There are multiple ways one can go about doing this, but I’ll focus on one approach in particular. The idea here is to have all four Central powers go after Russia. Under this plan, Germany is responsible for building a strong fleet in the Baltic / North Atlantic, to counter British naval spending in the area. In addition it should build several transports, and ship 8 - 10 Stormtruppen to Scandinavia each turn. Initially, Germany’s objective is to add to its income by conquering neutral Scandinavian territory. Having achieved this, it will move its Scandinavian force to Finnland, next to the Russian capital of St. Petersburg. If the Russian player is reasonably competent and careful he won’t allow that force to capture St. Petersburg. But that’s not the objective. The objective is to force Russia to spend money there, leaving it with less money for solving the other problems the Centrals will create.

    While Germany’s main anti-Russian effort will be to the north, in Scandinavia, it should also send 2 - 4 infantry each turn to the Polish/Russian front. Those infantry are for back-and-forth battles, and to help Austria defend Galacia.

    The heart of Austria’s anti-Russian effort will be its factory in Galacia. That factory is right on the Russian border, and can produce six units a turn. Initially Austria will be on the offensive against Serbia, on the defensive against Italy and Russia. But once Serbia falls–as it should do on Austria’s fourth or fifth turn–then Austria can adopt a more offensive posture towards its other two fronts. There will be a large Russian force in Belarus. Austria should threaten to destroy that force. This will force the Russian player to build trenches in Belarus. The more defensively-oriented the Russian force there is, the more successful the next part of Austria’s plan is likely to be. Its goal is to split its Galacia force, with one half remaining in Galacia, the other half moving forward to Odessa. (The fact that Germany will have some soldiers in that area will help Austria get away with this.) If Austria is able to split its force without getting either half killed, then the Odessa half will normally be able to take Russia’ factory in Kiev. This is a “death by a thousand small cuts” strategy, and the conquest of the Kiev factory represents one of the intended cuts.

    Turkey’s initial focus should be on wiping out Arabia–with that objective to be achieved on Turkey’s third turn. After that it will be in good position to go after Russia. To achieve this it should take Caucasus in force, and build a factory there. The Turkish force there will threaten the factory that Russia will presumably build in Volgograd. Sure, you’d love to take the Volgograd factory if possible. But if not, then at least Turkey should be able to split its Caucasus force, with one half going to Kazakhstan. The Kazakhstan half will then take Russia’s factory in Omsk. With the Omsk factory under its belt, Turkey will then be in a position to threaten the Volgograd factory with main force. Also, the Turkish player should be eyeing Russia’s factory in Moscow. Turkey’s approach should be opportunistic, with it taking whichever Russian factories seem the most vulnerable. On top of all this, Turkey should have a Black Sea fleet, complete with several transports. The objectives of this Black Sea fleet include creating more back-and-forth battles for Russia, and speeding the flow of Turkish troops from Constantinople to Caucasus.

    The communists have several objectives. Ideally, they’d like to capture at least one Russian factory. Preferably more than one. In addition, they should embrace opportunities for back-and-forth battles against Russia, as well as looking for chances to grab off Russian land wherever possible. The Russian hinterland is a potential candidate for a Turkish or communist invasion. The Vladivostok factory would be a great one for the communists to take. However, it’s four spaces away from the communist capital, making an early conquest of it difficult. The nearest and most tempting factory is the one in Irkutsk. However, the Russian player knows this, and is likely to heavily defend it. The communists might be able to take it anyway, especially if Russia is under so much pressure elsewhere that it’s unable to spend the money it would like to spend on defending that factory. There is also a plan B for the communists. Plan B involves them taking Bratsk in force, thus forcing the Russians to go into a defensive shell in Irkutsk. Then, they move the Bratsk force one space west to Novosibirsk, to threaten the Russian factory in Omsk. After taking Omsk, the communist force could then return to Bratsk to once again threaten the factory in Irkutsk. Or, it could continue west, with the thought that the Moscow factory is only two spaces away. Even if it merely besieges Moscow (after having taken Omsk), that could easily set the stage for the conquest of the Russian hinterland. The thinking is that even if you can’t take away Russian factories immediately, you can take a chunk of Russian income instead. The smaller Russia’s income, the easier it should be for the Centrals to take an extra factory or two here or there.

    The penultimate goal of this strategy is to take all Russian factories except the one in St. Petersburg. Once that’s been achieved Russia will be a rump state, controlling little more than the area immediately around its own capital. At that point, a dedicated effort by one Central power should be enough to finish off Russia. Other central powers can contribute to the finishing off effort via back-and-forth battles, or by gas attacks against St. Petersburg. (Gas is a good way to get a somewhat decent exchange, even if your attacking force is much weaker than the defender’s.)


  • There is a German factory in Tsingtao, which produces beer ( no its not Chinese but German)


  • Turkey is very fun to Play.


  • Only when Germany is drawing the UK’s fire and giving Turkey a free ride! :-P

    Of course it is a pleasure to help you out! :-D


  • Turkey is keeping the British busy so that Germany can walk into Paris for some crepes. :lol:

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