Overview
At a glance
Is this game right for my group?
ABG editorial scores on a 1–5 scale.
Harder to teach
High replayability
Highly interactive
Scales well
Deep strategy
How it plays
How does it play?
La Grande Guerre 14-18 (The Great War 14-18) The English rule set was released in 2002. La Grande Guerre is a strategic simulation of World War 1.
Core mechanisms
Key systems that shape the decisions players make.
Grid Movement
Move pieces between adjacent spaces on a regular grid.
Dice Rolling
Roll dice to introduce uncertainty into actions, production, movement, or resolution.
Hexagon Grid
Use a hexagonal map where each space connects evenly in six directions.
Secret Unit Deployment
Place or assign units secretly before their positions are revealed.
Simulation
Model a real or imagined system through detailed cause-and-effect rules.
Read the full game description
La Grande Guerre 14-18 (The Great War 14-18) The English rule set was released in 2002. La Grande Guerre is a strategic simulation of World War 1. Two maps cover all of Europe. Off map boxes represent Asia / Africa. Game year is broken down into 9 turns. Production takes place on the interphase every 3 turns. Either side may move first on a given turn. Two different combat systems are included. The initial combat system simulates the 1914 battles w/o trenches. Losses are lower and retreats are likely. In 1915 a new combat system is used. This new system is detailed, but does a good job showing the complexities of trench warfare (retreats are scarce and losses are real high). The game includes a limited fog of war. You may not look at opposing stacks, and units may be off board. The game is very complete in its depiction of WWI. (Similar to how World in Flames recreates WWII). Additional aspects of the game include: Fortresses Limits on coordination between different armies Diplomacy General Counters. Technology Naval War National Will - Leads to uprisings, mutinies, strikes even the dreaded revolution (likely to be Russia, but not necessarily them or a communist revolution). Note NW is lost on losing units and battles, so these effects are not random. Air / Armor Contents: 2 large map sheets (Europe, Middle East and World off-map boxes) - each map: 95 x 67.5cm (37.4 x 26.5 inch) 2 dices Loss charts (to be photocopied) 7 Armies Boxes charts (front/back) - 3 blue (Allies) & 4 brown (Centrals) Russie-Serbie-Roumanie (Russia-Serbia-Rumania) France-Angleterre (France-England) Italie-Etats Unis / Turquie-Etats Unis (Italy-United States / Turkey-United States) Autriche-Turquie / Autriche-Serbie-Grèce-Roumanie-Bulgarie Allemagne Ouest-Italie Allemagne Est Allemagne 1918 4 Rules & scenario booklets: Basic (for all 1914) Trench (for 1915+) Advanced (for Grand Campaign scenario: politics, diplomacy, technologies, air, production, naval) Scenarios (campaign scenario 1914-18, 6 scenarios for 1914, 6 scenarios for 1916-18) 8 Game Aid booklets: Entry into war (1914) Diplomacy Events & US entry chart Combat & movement (x2) Germany Austria-Hungary & Turkey France & England Russia, United States & Italy 7 Counter sheets (1811 counters) : 1 France, Bulgaria, Montenegro, Holland, Russia, Belgium, United States 2 Switzerland, Germany, Serbia, Rumania, Russia 3 Russia, United States, France, Germany 4 Austria-Hungary, Turkey, England 5 England, Italy, Turkey, United States, miscellaneous 6 Diplomatic (various) 7 Persia, Japan, technology sets, event chits