The second edition of Illusions of Glory: The Great War on the Eastern Front (“IoG”) is currently on the P-500 list.

Links to prototype unit counters, player aid cards, mapboard, rules, and playbook can be found on the IoG webpage. 

Playtesters have remarked about the difficulty of fighting Large Unit Counters (“LCUs”) representing regular or elite German infantry corps.  Each of them has a Loss Factor (LF) of “3”.  Under the Combat Results Table, those units end up absorbing hits without taking step reductions.

 A unit’s step reduction is caused by applying the unit’s Loss Factor (LF) to the Loss Number (LN) generated by the Combat Results Table for damage inflicted by the enemy (Rule 12.6.2).  If the LN is equal to or greater than a unit’s LF, the unit loses a step; if the LN is less than the unit’s LF, then the unit absorbs the LN without taking damage (Rule 12.6.3). 

The second edition of Illusions of Glory: The Great War on the Eastern Front (“IoG”) is currently on the P-500 list.

Links to prototype unit counters, player aid cards, mapboard, rules, and playbook can be found on the IoG webpage. 

Gamers who examined these game components have commented, and I have answered their comments on forum sites.

New rules for Illusions of Glory 2nd Edition are available for your view.  (Go to this link).  The rules have been clarified with respect to:

• Troop Quality Penalties: reductions in Troop Quality for incurring unit losses and using Reinforcement Cards have been reduced so that reinforcement step reductions should not occur until 1916, as is historically accurate.

• Allocating Unit Losses: the player taking fire must apply as much of the Loss Number as possible to his units (using guidelines instead of scripted procedures), cannot take fewer losses than is required to absorb the entire Loss Number, and units cannot take more losses than is required by the Loss Number.

• Out-Of-Supply Effects: a unit that is Out-Of-Supply can move by just 1 Movement Factor; can be activated for attack but cannot participate in a combined attack with supplied units; cannot use Combat Cards; cannot use Strategic Redeployment; cannot receive Replacement Points; cannot build Trenches (but can use existing Trenches); cannot be used to make Flank Attacks; and is reduced to a Combat Factor of 1.

• Diminished Supply Effects: units that can only trace a supply line to Supply Sources of other friendly nations can activate for movement or attack at a cost of 1 additional Operations Point, cannot use Strategic Redeployment, and cannot receive Replacement Points.

• Building Trenches: any nationality may attempt to build a Trench in a Clear space; only German, Austro-Hungarian, Italian, and Serbian units may attempt to build a Trench in a Mountain space; only one trench building attempt may be made per space in an Action Round; and entrenching is attempted by rolling a die.

• Retreats After Combat: every defending unit forced to end its retreat in an overstacked friendly space is reduced by one step and continues retreating to the nearest friendly-controlled space or region where it will not overstack; and defending units in Forests, Mountains, or Swamps can reduce a two-space retreat by one space by taking a step loss from any of those units, but a one-space retreat normally cannot be halted.

• Destruction Versus Permanent Elimination: reduced-strength units that take another step reduction are destroyed and go into the Replaceable Units Box, but units are permanently eliminated and removed from the game if destroyed by combat when Out-Of-Supply, if reduced-strength while Out-Of-Supply during the Attrition Phase, or if forced to retreat into or through a space that contains enemy units, an unbesieged enemy Fort, or an Uprising Unit.

• Choosing Movement or Disassembly: a unit can move or assemble/disassemble in the same Action Round, but not both.  (Similarly, a unit can be used to move or entrench in the same Action Round, but not both.)

• Reserve Box Uses: Small Combat Units (divisions) in the Replaceable Units Box that are rebuilt go immediately into the Reserve Box; they can use Strategic Redeployment to go from the Reserve Box onto the mapboard; or they can use Strategic Redeployment to go from the mapboard into the Reserve Box.

• Movement Into Neutral Nations:  units that move or retreat into neutral nations are immediately interned to the Replaceable Units Box, except that Serbian and Montenegran units in neutral Albania are not interned until the end of the Action Phase and may use Strategic Redeployment to leave neutral Albanian ports.

• Deployment Of Uprising Units: If a nation’s National Will marker has reached National Demoralization by Step 1 of the Rebellion/Revolution Phase, the opposing player can immediately place 2 of that nation’s Uprising Units in separate spaces and/or regions of that nation without cost.

• Playing a Strategy Card: If a Strategy Card cannot be played for its Event, it can still be played for its War Status Points.

• Treaty of Brest-Litovsk: When the Victory Points marker reaches the “26” space on the General Records Track, the Allied Powers can play the “Treaty of Brest-Litovsk” card and, when the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk takes effect: all Russian units are removed from the gameboard and are replaced with Russian control markers; other units cannot move into Russian-controlled spaces and regions within Russia; units can attack Russian Uprising Units and take control of spaces or regions that they occupy; all German Large Combat Units (corps) outside of Germany immediately go into the Brandenburg region. After that, one German unit in the Brandenburg region can be moved in each following Action Round.

Introduction

As with other games, playtesting has led to some re-design for Illusions of Glory: The Great War on the Eastern Front.  Notwithstanding the months dedicated to research and development of IoG, this GMT P-500 game continues to be a “labor of love” for me.

The rules, strategy cards, unit counters, and map have been revised to make this WW1 Eastern Front game a better simulation—more realistic and challenging.  Short scenarios have been prepared as an introduction to the game and to accommodate players lacking time to play the entire four-year campaign.

This article will highlight the latest changes inspired by playtesting, and hopefully draw your attention to other IoG material that GMT has put on its website.  That material provides context for this particular article, and will hopefully convince you to place a P-500 order for the game.

Genesis of a First-Time Game Designer:

My interest in wargame design began when I was a playtester at SPI’s legendary “Skonkworks” in Manhattan.  Perhaps I’m dating myself, but I recall those days with great nostalgia.  I was bitten by the designer bug there, and wanted to create my own game.

Career, marriage, and raising a family caused me to shelve that desire (although it was never forgotten).  I was then approached by my good friend and neighbor, Brad Stock, who designed the well-received CDG “Pursuit of Glory” with his son Brian. Brad had proposed a WW1 Eastern Front game to GMT based on the “Paths of Glory” and ”Pursuit of Glory” systems.  However, he accepted a full-time college teaching job and was no longer able to design this game.  Brian was also unavailable.  They asked me, with GMT’s permission, to get it done.