Ageod's to End All Wars Announced

[Generalisimo]

Ageod announces Ageod’s To End All Wars, the latest game using the popular Age Engine.

As the game title suggests, this new strategy game will take place during the Great War, which started exactly a century ago this year.

In End All Wars, you will be able to take command of one of the major alliances which fought for dominance in this brutal conflict. You will take control of the countries, recruiting troops, taking political and diplomatic decisions and manoeuvring your troops to get into the best possible position to break through the enemy defensive lines.

Ageod’s To End All Wars will feature more different units and leaders then ever seen before in an Ageod title, immersing you as much as possible in this highly compelling setting of the Great War. On top of that, To End All Wars will also have a host of interface changes and refinements, making it easier to manage your armies and get the information you need to make those strategically important decisions.

Ageod’s To End All War is planned to release this year, stay tuned for more information.

[Leibst]

I was waiting for this announce! great new indeed!

[lecrop]

Waiting eagerly

[HidekiTojo]

YAY!!!!!!

My favorite engine in my favorite war topic!

Second

[Gen.DixonS.Miles]

Huzzah!!!! Now I can change history with a successful Russian campaign into Prussia and east Germany!

[Person of Interest]

I will be all over this. The Central Powers will pull it off this time!

[Kensai]

All parts are interesting. And you know what is more interesting?! Input for us PON lovers.

As CW2 gave me input to add some new stuff to the PON's dedicated CW campaign, the same will do EAW for the 1914-18 events.

[Pierro_F]

Great,

My game for this summer

[ANTONIORASDER]

Finally...

I can' t wait

[TheDoctorKing]

What relationship will this game have to AGEOD's current WWI strategic title, WWIG? I have to say, I really like your current WWI game, despite all the problems with the engine, and I hope you will duplicate as much of the strategic feel of that game in your new title. Best wishes, and I look forward to buying the game.

[GlobalExplorer]

I have been immensely looking forward to this. And I must say the screenshots look better than I hoped. Was the map painted by someone from the Lordz? It looks similar to their games, which is a good thing. In any way, the visual style is fantastic.

I am curious how trench war, air war and u-boat war handled? What about front lines? We know how the engine works, and we do not want French cavalry units wreak havoc around Berlin right?

What about revolution / mutiny in France, Germany, Russia?

I'm sure you have thought of this, but I'm looking for more information.

Also, will WW1 be released in several parts, like CW2, or in one? Also the product page mentions only 1 starting date (1914). What about later, yearly starts?
I know this might not sound very important but with the game always starting in 1914 a trench war might never happen.
I know how quickly one can bring the AI to its knees in AACW, before the war can really start, and I don't want WW1 to be over by 1915.

[Altaris]

The game looks very nice indeed, definitely on par with CW2's artwork. The map was given a bit more of a greyish gloom than CW2's map, we felt this represented the grimness of the Great War adequately.

To summarize answers to some of the questions:

- This game is a standard AGEOD game (as opposed to WW1G, which was a heavily modified version of the AGEOD engine). There are some new features implemented not seen in previous AGEOD games, for handling diplomacy with neutral nations, a basic research system, and various other small features, but for the most part this will feel like a normal AGEOD game. Combat, supply, command structure (though on slightly different scale), naval units, etc, will follow normal AGEOD engine rules.

- There are 3 playable sides, the Central Powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary, and their allies), the Eastern Entente (Russia, Serbia, and Romania/Bulgaria if either of them join the Entente), and the Western Entente (France, Great Britain, and any other minors which join the Entente).

- Command structure works the same way it does in CW2, but what constitued an Army in CW2 is a "Army Group" (a Front GHQ), an Corps in CW2 is an Army here, and a combined unit Division is CW2 is a Corps in EAW. Units are typically built as divisions. So you'd build, say, 2 divisions and 2 medium artillery units via the recruitment window, and combine them under a commander into a Corps (in the same fashion a Division is formed in CW2). Multiple Corps so formed can be placed under a stack led by a 3-star Army General, who can be attached to a Front GHQ (in the same fashion Corps commanders could be attached to Army HQs in CW2).

- In EAW, all 2-star and 3-star generals allied to one another can MTSG (March to Sound of Guns) to assist adjacent stacks under attack (as opposed to CW2, where they had to be under the same Army command).

- Trench warfare is handled via normal AGEOD entrenchment. Max entrenchment starts at level 1, and goes up roughly 1 level per month between September-December 1914 (there is a little variability on exactly when the entrenchment levels increase). Eastern Entente proceeds more slowly, at a rate roughly equal to half the Western Entente and Central Powers (so in December 1914, the Western Entente and Central Powers will likely be max level 4 entrenchment while Eastern Entente is max level 2). After 1914, the entrenchments go up a level each year that passes.

- Frontage has been heavily reworked in this game, which means there is a limitation to how many units can be involved in any given round of combat. This makes it tough to break through enemy positions if they are well entrenched, but at the same time keeps losses reasonable on both sides. In a test PBEM I have going on now in beta, the Western Front has just entered July 1915, and the Western Entente have been launching attacks against Germany almost every turn since October 1914. So far, they have only moved forward in two regions, but they've kept my Germans on their toes and held me back from unleashing the full German forces upon the Russians. It works well, between October 1914-July 1915, we've seen roughly 1 million losses on the British/French side, compared to about 750K on the German side. The Western Front is more or less static, but it's certainly not boring!

- Ammunition in EAW represents Munitions for artillery, and is only used/consumed by medium, heavy, and fort artillery, and naval vessels. If a stack's Ammunition runs dry, it's artillery stops firing. Artillery is very important in EAW, as it softens up enemy cohesion considerably, and the heavier artillery units have good trench penetration values. But the shells run out quickly, and the player needs to build Munitions Factories (via RGD) to bolster shell production. This is tough for the Russians in particular (who are lacking in War Supply compared to the other sides), and tends to be their Achille's heel.

- Diplomacy is a dynamic element in the game. Neutral nations are represented by off-map regions which can be influenced by the opposing alliances (those who have played the Guns of August mod will be familiar with the general set-up). Each neutral nation has its loyalty split between the Entente and the Central Powers (ex. Bulgaria's off-map region may by 67% Central Powers, 33% Entente loyalty). Diplomats and various effects will gradually change these values, and when a side reaches 100%, it joins the alliance it favors. For the most part nations tend to drift towards their historical leanings, but certain in-game effects can lead to ahistorical outcomes (such as Italy joining Central Powers, or Ottomans joining the Entente). In general, the most likely ahistorical results can occur in the Balkans, but others are possible under certain circumstances.

- There is a basic research system in EAW (not as advanced as PON, but along similar lines). Research categories include: Infantry, Artillery, Gas/Chemical Warfare, Tanks, Aircraft, Submarines/U-Boats (Central Powers Only), and Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) (Western Entente Only). Research has various effects, mostly introducing new units and upgrades to existing units, though Chemical Warfare grants Regional Decisions which can be used to soften up enemy positions, and Submarine/ASW research has effects on raiding and protection of shipping lanes.



There were 3 main goals I had in mind working on this game, and I'm very happy with the results:
- Make the game feel like an AGEOD game
- Make the game feel like a Great War game (static in the West, fluid in the East, but with the West still viable for offensives, to inflict losses without much territorial change)
- Make a dynamically fluctuating diplomatic scene, but within confines of reasonable possibilities

[Metatron]

Thanks for infos, sounds great !

[wosung]

Approach, units size, etc., all this sounds really good. Well reasoned.

I hope this will be fun to play for us and a commercial success for Altaris and Ageod.

Best regards

[Ironclad61]

Thanks for the info, sadly i see the typical sides set, i really expect something more "powerfull" with support for 4-6 players not the usual entente VS central powers... even when you split entente in 2, why not a minimal split in central powers??? to be fair i alllways want a WWI title that provide team game support and i expect some love here...

Static fronts... well, is not a very elavorated solution but if AI can deal with it and human players are unable to exploit it is ok for me.

Maybe for me now the salvation is in scenarios... maybe one covering the ottoman participation in war.

[Person of Interest]

Thanks for all the info Altaris. The game sounds great and I eagerly await its release.

Several questions if you would be so kind. Assuming that Germany goes with an Eastern Front strategy in the free setup scenario and does not invade Belgium, what ramifications will this have on British involvement? Does the game begin with Britain already at war with the CP? Is Belgium neutral at game start? If so and France invades Belgium to widen the front against a Germany tearing through Russia what ramifications would that have, especially diplomatically?

[GlobalExplorer]

What about Italy and Turkey?

[GlobalExplorer]

Sounds great, especially the importance of ammunition.

[Altaris]

Several questions if you would be so kind. Assuming that Germany goes with an Eastern Front strategy in the free setup scenario and does not invade Belgium, what ramifications will this have on British involvement? Does the game begin with Britain already at war with the CP? Is Belgium neutral at game start? If so and France invades Belgium to widen the front against a Germany tearing through Russia what ramifications would that have, especially diplomatically?

If no invasion of Belgium is made, the British have about a 33% chance of entering the war a few turns later (IMO, the British were not going to remain out of the war long, but it is plausible they would've waffled over the decision for a few months). If the French opt to invade Belgium, this really swings the British away from the Entente side, and if Germany plays its diplomacy right, it is plausible Britain could remain neutral indefinitely. Britain will never join the Central Powers, though.

to be fair i alllways want a WWI title that provide team game support and i expect some love here...

I have a very keen interest in this type of scenario as well, but it won't be in the initial release. Perhaps as an expansion, though. I initially did consider splitting the Centrals into two sides, and sometimes wish I had done so, but overall I think it works fine having them together on one side. The Entente was more important to split, to represent the difficulties Russia suffered from, which wouldn't have been possible with a shared morale and resources list. The Central Powers were more intertwined, and in fact this set-up helps represent the Austro-Hungarians as a drain on the German resources.

[Ech Heftag]

The game sounds very interesting so far.

I have a couple of questions, though, if you don't mind:

- What about colonial warfare? I take it this aspect of the war will be abstracted (similar to how overseas warfare in Rise of Prussia appears as events with small effects in terms of national morale and so on)?
- To what extent will the early Russian Civil War (maybe with input from the SepRed-Guys) be represented in the game?

[Person of Interest]

Thanks for the reply Altaris. That all sounds very reasonable. When will the call go out for beta testers?

[Taciturn Scot]

This is looking very good indeed and is a definite purchase on release for me. One small request if it is at all possible to do. Could you make the province borders much more pronounced when they are front lines? This would make it look even more WW1-ish for me. But it's not a factor in my peciaion to purchase.

[Altaris]

The game sounds very interesting so far.

I have a couple of questions, though, if you don't mind:

- What about colonial warfare? I take it this aspect of the war will be abstracted (similar to how overseas warfare in Rise of Prussia appears as events with small effects in terms of national morale and so on)?
- To what extent will the early Russian Civil War (maybe with input from the SepRed-Guys) be represented in the game?

- Colonial warfare is represented in off-map regions, so it's a fairly minor part of the game but it is represented.
- Russian Civil War is not represented in game. Once Russia surrenders, it is blocked out for the rest of the game.

When will the call go out for beta testers?

There is already a beta in progress, has been for a few months now. You'd have to contact Tamas about how to join, if interested.

[Kensai]

- Russian Civil War is not represented in game. Once Russia surrenders, it is blocked out for the rest of the game.

A prompt to install RUS could fire up!

---

All in all, very interesting design decisions, Altaris. One question: have you experimented with higher level entrenchment levels? I would have expected their maxing at 7-8 (as in RUS), instead of 4. Wouldn't more levels give a better gradual appearance of effective trench preparation?

[Ironclad61]

Well, i allways like have big alliances divide in 2 or more nations because you have the option to play with one of them and avoid the stress of command a lot apart this opens the option to play with more humans and well, i find more interesting see 3 guys fighting their own war BUT with one eye over "that damn sick allied that needs my valuable resources to survive", for example as is represent in game west entente and central powers is like in a WWII title at same scale you have germany and Italy joined in a nation... sure you avoid use Italy as kamikaze because you fight for and by Germany victory but with an Italian human player with his own objetives...

I like know maybe un future we can see a split in the entente and central powers but future is allways obscure.

[PJJ]

I was hoping to see all the nations playable separately, but maybe there are some engine or game mechanics limitations that prevent it from working well?

For example, Germany and Austria-Hungary didn't really play nicely together. Their combined war effort was often a mess and relations between the military leaders of the two nations could be quite bad. I hope it won't be too easy to coordinate them in EAW. The same can be said of the Entente powers. Even though they did cooperate better than the Central Powers, especially in the final stage of the war, they certainly had their fair share of failures in cooperation.

In any case, I'm very excited about this game!

[GlobalExplorer]

I think Altaris decision to split the factions this way is very logical.

Not always, but very frequently Germany and Austro-Hungary fought with combined armies, on the same fronts, under a unified command. So did England and France.
I don't want to belittle the Austro-Hungarians, but for several deficits in their military they would not have been able to continue the war without direct German support, and would have capitulated to Russia at some point.
So it makes no sense to split them, or complete chaos would ensue (as we know from other games).

Russia was fighting a lone war on their sector, and they lost the war early, so it would be problematic to unify them with the Western forces.
I also see unrealistic outcomes with large armies transported between France and Russia.

Altaris, you have been very good with answering our questions. but I still want to know, what about Italy and Turkey?

[Kensai]

I really hope all the minor nations can essentially align one way or another (with the respective historical cost) in order to make dozens of possible starting scenario permutations. I always wondered what would have happened if Italy stayed with the Central Powers. Altaris, one more question: do you plan different starting scenarios according to plans or at least a start-up selection of plans as with Great War?

[Ironclad61]

Well, he said that fight sides are 3, west entente, east entente and central powers... any new allied for central powers are simple added to GE-AH but entente allies... maybe Altaris uses somekind of predefined controler for new allies??? like balcans to east entente (Hungary, Romania, Serbia, Greece...) and USA+western to west entente (Portugal, Spain, Italy...) . Other option is that player can decide when appear a new ally what of the 2 ententes control it.

I think that have 2 sides to in central powers to put here Ottomans is interesting, not like 3 VS 3 but worst is have a single central powers side.

Well, France and UK have total diferent interests and they face war in very diferent ways for example UK with this navy try open new fronts or need mantein key areas for his interest.. think in Suez i doubt an UK player alone leave ottomans take this position even when the troops be more usefull in west... and same in german and AH think in AH obsesion with Italy when a more usefull aproximation was hold italians.

Is a question of decisions and what you can asume balancing release VS the perfect game, i dont say game is bad for this but is like many other WWI games in what i can play in scen (in role you select)

[Kensai]

Since one of the major playable blocks can influence the minor nations, I expect that they are not predefined where they will align. It depends on the choices of the major blocks. In other words: Greece could end up an "ally" of the West Entente (which was what historically happened), albeit being an Orthodox nation in the Balkans.