You misunderstand me: Spamming certainly CAN work (if your men do not break from the losses, that is), and sometimes it is the ONLY way (the First German Mission is a sterling example of this). But you will loose FAR more men than you have to, and you should not be suprised when your men give up the ghost from it.

The most efficient strategy is to carefully measure what units you commit and what ones you don’t. REMEMBER: “Blitzkreig,” “Combined Arms,” and modern industrial warfare were more-or-less developed in WWI, and finally unveiled by the Western Allies during the final two years of the war. By 1917, the regular military had roughly taken the shape that still exists today: The Air air was fleshed out into specialized roles, Artillery ahd become more accurate, Tanks became (slightly more) reliable, and the Infantry cooperated with everyone.

You will decrease your casualties VASTLY by using the tools you have carefully. For instance, why bother sending entire companies of riflemen up against a trench when a gas attack will clean it out more efficiently? If you time your men correctly, you can occupy the enemy’s trenches just as the shelling stops/gas dissipates. USE your fire support to turn the tide in an evenly-matched engagement (for instance, between two “Landships” in the final battles of the campaign), and, above all, upgrade wisely.

Sure, you can win by merely tossing waves of men at the trenches, but you will probably suffer several defeats in the meantime, and it will likely take longer to win.

If you doubt which is more effective, would you like to compare campaign scores?

This is a VERY bad thing to do in WF1917, as it will not accomplish much of anything.

The strategy is far more in-depth than you hint, and it primarily revolves around a few choices:

1. What units do you send?

2. When do you order them to advance? (For example, do you order a single squad to move on the trenches without support because artillery may destroy them if you wait?)

3. Where and when do you deploy your support (a good gas attack can singlehandedly change the course of the battle).

While making these decisions, you have to try to outthink and outmanuever your foe by having a unit in the right place at the right time to counter his units (IE have Lewis Gunners in the trench when the Germans launch an attack using riflemen), and by outmanuevering his artillery by not being there when it strikes.

Also, remember that just because you CAN advance DOES NOT mean you have to. For instance, on the first British mission, the best option is to simply stack your trench with soldiers and watch while the Germans get mowed down, perhaps only coming out to avoid the Sturmtrupper’s grenades.

Keep these in mind, and the battles will be far less painful for you and far more painful for the enemy. And also far more decisive.

Also, one note: the units themselves do not gain experience, you do, which goes towards upgrades.

As for additions to the system, other possibilities that I thought of were other WWI battles (Verdun, for instance), the Crimean War (the Seige of Stevastopol would probably not be that radical a change for the system, save for coping with more open-field combat), and the Balkan Wars.

However, besides that, it was very fun and another notch on ConArtist’s rather-full belt. I am sure the Reichswehr would agree. If there were any still alive after my Tommies got through with them.

But unless you’re TRYING to make it hard, it’s soooo easy.

Good little game, though. Not quite WW1 Medic levels in terms of PTSD, but…