A hex-based grand strategy war game
Strategic Command: World War I puts you in command of the Great War from the opening shots of 1914 to the final offensives. The fighting spans Flanders, the eastern front, Italy, the Balkans, the Middle East, North Africa and the Atlantic, all laid out on a 20 mile per hex map of Europe. The flagship campaign has France, Italy, Russia, Serbia, the UK and the USA facing Germany, Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire, with other countries such as Belgium, Greece, Portugal and Romania entering the war on either side. It is a turn-based game where you move units across a hex grid, entrench them, research new military doctrines and deploy technologies like the Tank, the Aeroplane, the Submarine, the Aircraft Carrier and Fighter aircraft. Diplomacy and political intrigue matter as much as force, and decisions come with historical notes you can read before answering.
Playing with your group
The game supports Online PvP and Remote Play Together, so you and your friends can take turns commanding opposite sides. Games run through a PBEM++ Multiplayer server with a Challenge Lobby and seamless in-game sending and receiving of turns, which suits a group that plays at its own pace rather than all at once. Friendly Majors can be set to AI-controlled and this can be adjusted at any time during the game, so a smaller group can still field a full alliance. You can also switch sides mid-game if you want to see the war from the other direction.
What to know before starting
There are five campaigns to pick from: 1914 Call to Arms, 1914 Triple Alliance (where Italy joins the Central Powers), 1914 March on Paris, 1917 Fate of Nations and 1918 Ludendorff Offensive. Enhanced Fog of War shows the limits of your units' spotting range, and Reconnaissance Bombers spot for the Artillery to improve its effect. Units can move and entrench, trenches improve through researching Trench Warfare, and Dynamic Movement lets you de-select and re-select units that still have Action Points left, which makes planning moves easier. Naval Mines can be laid to damage enemy shipping, naval units can only be reinforced in stages so they cannot be repaired instantly after heavy damage, and Naval Cruise lets naval units cover longer distances quickly. The Decision box can be minimized so you can study the map before responding.