[1914] Overly Detailed Modified Version

Let me be clear from the get-go: this version adds a LOT of pieces and rules to the game. If you’re the type that loves lots of pieces on the board, and a bunch of fun but unnecessary details, this is for you. If not, believe me, I get it.

My thought process: the OOB version is incredibly unbalanced (obviously).  We've used some house rules to even it out a bit, but at the end of the day there was still one problem.  The game played out the exact same way every time: Germany and Austria would go for Russia and try to get them out of the game as fast as possible.  Germany uses its fleet to wipe out the UK fleet, forcing them to rebuild, but for the rest of the game the Allies dominate the waters.  While that's happening, France builds up and advances, with UK dropping units to help.  The US buys enough transports to support a purchase of 4 inf and 2 art every turn, repeat.  I know there are other options, but, other than a full rush into Italy (which is pretty much undefendable) this is how 95% of our games played out (and my wife loves the 1914 version, so it was played often in my house).

On a slow day at work I decided to take a crack at making my own version of the game.  I wanted to incorporate some actual WWI related stuff (kind of like how the Oztea 1941 Global version sets up Barbarossa and Pearl Harbor).  Things like the Gallipoli Raid, a more realistic version of the attack on Sarajevo, and Jutland.  

Then I started diving further in; what about forts? Or resources? Iron, coal, oil, etc. How about food shortages? How about the fact that the Brits didn’t really want to enter the war, but told Germany “Hey look, if you attack Belgium we’re coming for you?” Where are the Zepplins? Why isn’t Russia heavily mobilized on the borders of Germany and AH? Where are the Bolsheviks? Shouldn’t Germany be stronger, and AH and the Ottomans be weaker? AH got wrecked right out of the gate, and the Ottomans were coming off the Balkan wars. Why aren’t German subs superior to Allied subs?
I could ramble on, but you get the point. Based on all these ideas, I wrote up a rough draft modification, and went about fine tuning it. I played tested a bunch of times, made modifications based on those tests, and here’s what I came up with.
Two notes:

1. As far as I can tell from multiple tests, this is even
2. I’m WIDE OPEN to suggestions

Here goes:

Turn Order – Germany, France, UK, Austria-Hungary, USSR, Ottoman Empire, Italy, USA

Resources, forts, and their effects:

• Oil Barrel – One ship per barrel can be produced at half cost (one exception, noted below)
• Grain/Corn – One inf per grain/corn can be placed in your capital at the end of your turn
• Cow/Pig – Two inf per cow/pig can be placed in your capital at the end of your turn
• Coal – One artillery per coal can be purchased at half price
• Iron Ore – One tank per iron ore can be purchased at half price (tanks available starting in round 2)
• Silver – One IPC bonus per silver
• Gold – Two IPC bonus per gold
• Small Fort – Represents five units, AND has an HP of five
• Large Fort – Represents ten units, AND has an HP of ten
  Forts – I’m sure you all know that HP means hit points. Let’s say you’re attacking a territory with one large fort in it; you need to deliver ten damage to destroy the fort, and then you must destroy the ten infantry that were IN that fort. If the fort IS destroyed, but you don’t take out the rest of the units, those units live, but the fort is gone. If you do NOT destroy the fort, you put damage markers on it and your opponent can repair that damage on its turn at the cost of 1 IPC per damage (think air and naval bases in Global)

Resources:

• All resources may only be used by the country that controls that territory, with ONE exception: if any CP controls Persia and its 3 oil barrels, they are allowed to Lendlease the oil to Germany (since there’s little to no incentive for the Ott’s to buy ships)
• Oil in SZ4 represents a supply line and counts as an IPC bonus for Germany (details below). It is NOT in play as a resource that can be captured

Other changes:

• The UK starts the game neutral and only enters the war when one of the following occurs
  o Germany attacks Belgium
  o Germany invades Paris
  o Germany attacks the UK
  o UK4
• Italy is neutral for one turn and CANNOT be attacked by Germany or Austria in the opening round, nor can it attack anyone in the opening round
• The SZ12 port is closed. Too easy for Germany to just send 5 loaded transports in there. The mine rolls still apply
• The straight of Gibraltar is off limits unless either the Allies or CP control both Spain AND Spanish Morocco
• US timing doesn’t change: they can move on US4. However, they get a 10 IPC bonus war income per turn once they enter
• I’ve introduced Zeppelins. Here’s how they work: after purchasing, but before combat, your zeppelin can conduct a bombing raid (it can move 4 spaces and must land in a friendly territory after the attack). Each zeppelin rolls 1 die: a 1, 2, or 3 means the defender must lose one unit. A 4 or 5, two units. A 6 is a three-unit loss. If there is a fighter in that territory, it can defend at a 2, and it if hits, the zeppelin dies. I’m still torn on whether zeppelins should be a unit you can buy (for now, I have Germany getting two, and the UK and France getting one each)
• German subs attack at 3 (reasoning: German subs were far superior at that point)
• Russia can only purchase 2 artillery a turn, and 1 tank a turn (reasoning: lack of materials)
• Rails are restricted to France and Germany. Friendly countries can use rails (i.e. Brits can use French rails) at a max of six Allied units and eight CP units. You can only rail within France or Germany, and only if you’re friendly. So just because Germany controls Lorraine, that doesn’t mean they can rail men into there. Only within original German territories, and vice-versa for the Allies and French territories

And here are two special changes involving Switzerland and The Bolsheviks

• Switzerland: the Swiss had a decent sized border guard during the war, which they gradually reduced as time went on (except for a brief surge during the winter of 2016-2017, but I’ve ignored that). In this game, Switzerland is a nice strategic spot, and I’ve added two gold bars to make it more enticing. However, Switzerland starts the game with 30 infantry. At the end of each turn, they remove five, until they have 10 left (and that’s where they stay)

• The Bolsheviks: hands down the biggest, and wackiest, change. The Russian revolution rule has always been an annoyance in my mind. I just don’t like anything about the OOB way to handle this. I thought about just eliminating it, but that would lack historical accuracy, and imo make the game way too easy for the Allies. After thinking about how to get the Bolsheviks involved, here’s what I came up with:
  o Using red pieces purchased from Wizards of the Coast, I added the Bolshevik revolutionaries to the game. Here’s how it works: at the end of Russia’s turn, any territory that does NOT have at LEAST three Russian units is considered to be poorly defended, and therefore five Bolshevik units raise (the setup guarantees that this happens in at least two territories after Russia’s first turn). The units are always infantry, and they attack and defend at 2 against Russia (they defend at 1 against everyone else and cannot attack other countries)
  o At the end of the round they get to move and attack. As stated, they can only attack Russians; if they want to attack a territory that is contested, they still only attack the Russian units there. If they win, that territory is now contested between the Bolsheviks and the attacker. If the attacker (say Germany) wants that territory, they must attack and kill the Bolsheviks there
  o At the end of the Bolshevik turn they add three units to ANY territory that either A) has Bolsheviks in it, or B) has less than three Russian units in it
  o At the end of Russia’s turns, starting in turn two, not only does the “Territories with less than three Russian units raise five Bolsheviks” apply, but any territory that already has Bolsheviks present adds three more (so as an example: Russia ends its second turn; Finland only has one Russian unit, therefore five Bolsheviks get added. Meanwhile, Ukraine and Tatarstan have Bolsheviks in it already, and therefore they add three more units)
  This sounds low-impact at first, but suddenly it’s round 3 and there are a LOT more Bolshevik units on the board than you’d imagine. Moreover, it creates a problem for Russia: do you want to sit back and just scramble to defend yourself from revolution? If you do that, you’re conceding a lot of land to the CP
  Revolution is achieved when the following occurs: at the end of Russia’s turn, there is at least ONE Bolshevik unit in a contested Moscow. Once this happens, usual rules go into effect (whichever Russian territories the CP have taken over they keep, the rest go “dark”)
  This is, hands down, my favorite element of this version

  Onto the setup (with explanations for anything that may raise your eyebrow)

A few overall notes before I get started:

• Russia has the border advantage to start the game due to historical accuracy
• Germany is significantly stronger and has more units spread out to compensate for the fact that I weakened AH and the Ottomans, both of whom Germany thought of as “helpful distractions” more than super-strong allies
• You might look at this setup and think “Dude, Russia is WAY too strong; too many men, too many resources.” My answer: playtest it, see how fast the Bolsheviks pop up and wreck things. You’ll be surprised

Germany
Starting income: 35 IPCs
• Berlin: 11 inf, 6 art, 2 Zeppelins, 2 fighter, 1 Large Fort
• Kiel: 26 inf, 11 art, 1 small fort
• Ruhr: 1 gold
• Alsace: 36 inf, 15 art
• Munich: 11 inf, 6 art
• Hanover: 1 coal
• Silesia: 1 major fort
• Prussia: 1 major fort
• Togoland: 2 inf, 1 silver
• Kamerun: 1 inf
• German East Africa: 1 inf
• South West Africa: 1 inf 1 art
• Galicia: 3 inf, 1 art
• Budapest: 3 inf, 1 art
• Vienna: 4 inf, 2 art
• Trieste: 3 inf, 1 art
• Trans Jordan – 3 inf 1 art
• Ankara – 3 inf 1 art
• Sea Zone 5: Nothing
• Sea Zone 7: 4 subs
• Sea Zone 10: 3 battleships, 3 cruisers, 4 subs, 3 transports (sets up “Jutland” and gives the Germans some transports to start the game with, probably for an attack on Sweden and Norway, which are LOADED with resources, partially to put them in play, and partially to counter-act the Allies, who will gain tremendous resources from Africa)

France
Starting income: 35 IPCs
• Paris: 16 Infantry, 6 Artillery, 1 Fighter, 1 Bomber, 1 large fort
• Picardy: 1 Gold,
• Brest: 1 Infantry
• Bordeaux: 1 Infantry
• Burgundy: 16 inf, 6 art, 1 ftr
• Lorraine: 2 Large Forts (the reason Germany wanted to go through Belgium was because of how fortified the French were along the border. What I’ve done here is given Germany the option: A) go through Lorraine and keep the UK out of it, or B) take the easy route through Belgium, wipe out the UK fleet as much as you can, but then you get the UK in right away)
• Marseilles: 1 iron ore
• Morocco: 1 Infantry
• Algeria: 1 Infantry
• Tunisia: 1 Infantry
• French West Africa: 1 Infantry
• Hanover: 11 inf, 4 art, control marker
• Ruhr: 1 inf, control marker (owning these German territories represents France’s march into Germany, not realizing two key points: A) German armies were marching around them toward France, and B) the German reserve troops were as good as their main army)
• Portugal: 1 unit, activates on turn 1 (rather than having to drop troops into these walk-in friendly territories, I’ve just placed men there. You CANNOT move activated troops on the turn they were activated, even in this case)
• Sea Zone 15: 1 Battleship, 1 Transport
• Sea Zone 16: 1 Battleship, 1 Cruiser, 2 Transports

British Empire
Starting income: 30 IPCs
• London: 6 Infantry, 2 Artillery, 1 Fighter, 1 Bomber
• Wales: 4 Infantry, 1 Artillery
• Yorkshire: 1 Infantry
• Scotland: 1 Infantry
• Canada: 6 Infantry, 2 Artillery
• India: 11 Infantry, 3 Artillery
• Egypt: 6 Infantry, 2 Artillery, 1 Fighter, 1 Large Fort (I’ve given Egypt and Trans-Jordan a large fort each to make it more difficult to break through)
• Anglo-Egyptian Sudan: 1 Infantry
• British East Africa: 1 Infantry
• Rhodesia: 1 Infantry
• Union of South Africa: 1 Infantry, 1 Artillery
• Constantinople: 25 infantry, 6 artillery (Gallipoli raid; Ottoman’s have matching numbers. This battle also has to be rolled until there is a winner)
• Gold Coast: 1 gold
• Sea Zone 2: 1 Cruiser, 2 Transport
• Sea Zone 3: 2 Cruisers, 1 Battleship
• Sea Zone 5: 1 Battleship, 2 Cruisers
• Sea Zone 8: 1 Battleship, 2 Cruisers
• Sea Zone 9: 3 Battleships, 3 Cruisers, 1 Transport
• Sea Zone 10: 1 Cruiser, 1 Transport
• Sea Zone 17: 1 Cruiser
• Sea Zone 19: 1 Cruiser, 1 Transport
• Sea Zone 20: 21 transports (these transports cannot leave the water; they’re there to drop the men off for the raid, and just for the comic relief of losing 21 transports on UK1)
• Sea Zone 29: 1 Battleship, 1 Cruiser, 2 Transport

Austria-Hungary
Starting income: 26 IPCs
• Vienna: 12 Infantry, 2 Artillery, 1 gold
• Bohemia: 6 Infantry, 2 Artillery
• Tyrolia: 6 Infantry, 2 Artillery
• Trieste: 6 Infantry, 2 Artillery
• Budapest: 12 Infantry, 2 Artillery, 1 iron ore
• Galicia: 6 Infantry, 2 Artillery, 1 large fort
• Serbia: 21 inf, 6 art (these units CANNOT leave this battle! This is the attack on Sarajevo and is rolled until there is a winner. I haven’t decided if this battle should start the game, despite Germany going first. I’m open to suggestions)
• Sea Zone 18: 1 Battleship, 2 Cruiser, 1 Transport

Russian Empire
Starting income: 25 IPCs
• Finland: 1 infantry, 1 Silver
• Karelia: 1 infantry, 1 grain
• Livonia: 1 infantry
• Poland: 25 infantry, 3 artillery (represents their strong numbers at the borders)
• Belarus: 1 infantry
• Moscow: 3 infantry, 1 corn
• Ukraine: 21 infantry, 3 artillery (represents their strong numbers at the borders)
• Tatarstan: 1 infantry, 1 gold
• Sevastopol: 8 infantry, 1 artillery
• Kazakhstan: 1 infantry, 1 grain

Ottoman Empire
Starting income: 16 IPCs
• Constantinople: 25 Infantry, 6 Artillery (Gallipoli)
• Smyrna: 6 Infantry, 1 Artillery
• Ankara: 6 Infantry, 1 Artillery
• Mesopotamia: 6 Infantry, 2 Artillery
• Syrian Desert: 1 Infantry
• Trans-Jordan: 2 Infantry, 1 Artillery, 1 large fort
• Bulgaria: 1 Infantry (activated on O1)
• Sea Zone 20: 2 damaged battleships that CANNOT be repaired (represents the BB’s the Ottoman’s bought at the start of the war that were total garbage) and 1 cruiser

Italy
Starting income: 14 IPCs
• Piedmont: 6 Infantry, 3 Artillery
• Venice: 6 Infantry
• Tuscany: 1 Infantry, 1 corn
• Rome: 11 Infantry, 2 Artillery, 1 grain, 1 small fort
• Naples: 1 Infantry
• Libya: 1 Infantry, 1 Artillery
• Somaliland: 1 Infantry
• Sea Zone 17: 1 Battleship, 1 Cruiser, 1 Transport

United States
Starting Income: 20 IPCs
• United States of America: 6 Infantry, 4 Artillery
• Sea Zone 1: 1 Battleship, 1 Cruiser, 6 transports

Neutrals (if I left off the unit number, just go with the default)
• Norway: 8 infantry, 1 cow, 1 or 2 silver, 1 iron ore, 1 grain, 1 oil
• Sweden: 8 infantry, 1 pig, 1 or 2 silver, 1 iron ore, 1 corn, 1 oil
• Afghanistan: 1 gold, 2 inf
• Perisa: 10 infantry, 3 oil barrels
• Arabia: 1 coal
• Greece: 8 inf, 1 pig, 1 iron ore
• Romania: 1 coal
• Serbia: 21 Serb inf, 6 Macedonia inf
• Albania: 1 coal, 1 iron ore
• Switzerland: 30 inf (remove five a turn until 10 left), 2 gold bars
• Denmark: 1 grain
• Belgium: 1 small fort
• Spain: 8 infantry, 1 pig 1 grain
• Morocco: 4 inf, 1 coal
• Angola: 1 Silver
• Belgian Congo: 1 Gold
• Portuguese East Africa: 1 coal
Sea Zone 4: one oil barrel (five IPC bonus for Germany if there are no UK ships blocking SZ10 from SZ 4)
Holland: 1 cow

That’s all. I may have forgotten something (how could I not?) so feel free to ask anything. I know this is a beast, but I’ve played tested it several times and it’s damn fun. I can add pictures of the setup if anyone would like to see

@Nippon-koku

Two notes I forgot:

1. Bolsheviks cannot “take territories” from Russia. What I mean: if 10 Bolsheviks are in Ukraine, and no other units are there, Russia still collects that money. If the CP want to take it they have to defeat any units there

2. We’ve reduced mine rolls to a maximum of 1 hit. One crazy roll affects the game too much; you’re having a 10 on 10 naval battle, someone rolls four 1’s, and you may as well just re-roll it anyway.

@MasterMark26

Ten and ten.

So Lorraine has two large forts; if you wanted to wipe it all out in one turn, you’d have to do 40 damage

@Midnight_Reaper

I think you’re probably right. Starting with that battle is a must. It could be a fun way to start the game: “Hey, before anything happens, roll this battle.”

I like that idea for Gallipoli! I love having the battle, but like you said, it’s a year away at this point. As long as we make that battle happen, we’re good. I’m going to give that a shot

@Imperious-Leader

Lol Is that a good or bad omg?

@SS-GEN

Good to know. Thanks.

I like the livestock and the Gallipoli raid, although I did like the suggestion someone else had on making it round 2.

I like the Baltic idea though. I’m going to set up the board this weekend and take a look

@MasterMark26

Don’t think I knew that tidbit. I like it

The new turn order has worked great. Combined with all the other changes, each major country has a bunch of options now. Maybe this was just in my household, but like I mentioned in the first post, every game was just “Ok, Germany and AH go after Russia and try to get them out of the game asap, then just turn all attention toward France.”

I listened to Dan Carlin’s breakdown of the war, and something I didn’t know was France had pushed into the middle Germany quite a bit. Germany had a big army going North, and one going South. France wasn’t supposed to advance, but the general in charge (blanking on his name) went for it and was beat up by the German reserve troops, which were a larger in number, and far better trained, than the French thought they’d be

If I got any parts of that wrong, someone jump in. It was a while ago that I listened

@MasterMark26 If you have the time and inclination, Dan Carlin’s breakdown of WWI is incredible. It was a large part of the motivation for making this