On the Western Front

This game is realistically unplayable currently. Or at least not without some intense micromanaging. The game itself is not optimised very well yet and you get quite a bit of staggering and lag, and crashes are not rare. Which combined with no saving/loading yet implemented, can be heartbreaking. There are many units, which many capabilities, but the functionality to move around the chain of command, and issuing commands to units is clunky and shoud be improved, for ease of access and also to streamline play. There is no AI component for your own forces, so ever single unit needs to be ordered specifically in order to get things done. This is fine initially, but after a while it really becomes repetitive. I'd love to see more area orders, for example; ordering a company or battalion to move to/hold this line of trench, instead of moving everyone in a batch and then tediously going thr

English and German below. GER: Machen wir uns nichts vor: Der grafische Anblick von On the Western Front lässt vermuten, man habe uns nicht in eines der grausamsten Kapitel der Menschheitsgeschichte zurückversetzt, sondern in die frühen Neunziger. Nicht nur blendet seine Präsentation unangenehm das Augenlicht, vor allem ernüchtern die komplizierten Spielmechaniken, welche auch das rudimentäre Tutorial kaum zu erklären versteht, sowie die verwirrenden Menüelemente, die sich als so unübersichtlich erweisen wie die Gefechtslage an der Somme. Dies ist angesichts der Tatsache, dass dieses Spiel von einer Person designt und programmiert wurde (und wird), nicht verwunderlich. Es dauert tatsächlich nicht nur Stunden, sondern Tage, bis man die ersten zähen Erfolge erzielt: Damit sind keine Eroberungen im jeweiligen Frontabschnitt gemeint, sondern kümmerliche Erkenntnisgewinne im Umgang mit der B

Summary This has the potential to be one of the best hardcore strategy games ever made. I would even dare to call it a "division simulator". It's the only title which truly puts you in command of an infantry division - you delegate (or not) responsibilities, manage engineer, supply, and even medical units, decide on where to place essential structures and artillery, and how to rotate units so they can rest properly. It's still early access but this is such a breath of fresh air that it's almost criminally underappreciated. This is probably the only strategy games that depicts WWI just right. The warfare might be static, but that doesn't mean not interesting! What works 1. Amazing depth - all the different types of units, structures, equipment, and support. 2. Delegation - you can delegate different responsibilities to your subordinates who do a reasonably good job, very much like a r

I recommend you check this game out. it does have it's problems, for example, tutorials are confusing which gives it a bit of a learning curce, etc. BUT the dev is active with the communtiy and welcomes feedback and normally replies to most discussions for example. He is SOLO developing this game, he has a great idea and concept. It just needs some work, but we're at 1.0 at the time of this review, so there's plenty of time to do so!

I have 39 hrs into this, and have gone 5 days in the British 1915 campaign. Much has happened at the micro level but very little at the macro scale. Basically I'm still getting artillery gunpits dug, and infantry dugouts for my frontline company HQs. Learning logistics, managing officers, artillery missions, and aerial recon are interesting for a day or two but of course tech development is very slow (how much change would one expect in front line technology in 5 days?) so it's realistic as far as all that goes. But much like the real conflict, it all becomes very tedious and casualties creep upwards from constant shelling and MG fire with little to show for it on the ground. Somehow my companies began or became intermixed and the UI can be quite clunky for trying to get companies and battalions sorted out while staying under cover in the trenches. Sure, you can select a company HQ and

I look for troop concentrations. I shell them for 5 days straight. I raid them. I take prisoners. The funny green number goes up. It is 1916. I have launched about 400000 shells at the British. I have taken 0 real ground. Incredible. Just like the real thing.