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Trench Relief Orders

Command one stretch of the Western Front over months, balancing supplies, rotations and small raids while mud and morale shape every order.

36% of World War I Military games found an audience, yet few came out lately. 11 of 28 judged games reached 1,000 reviews, and 6 came out in the last three years.

What it feels like

You are the tired sector commander who knows every dugout, and each choice costs somebody something.

The core loop

  • Survey: Read the morning report on supplies, weather, morale and enemy activity along your sector.
  • Allocate: Split rations, ammo, timber and rest rotations between trench sections.
  • Build: Dig, repair and reinforce trenches, dugouts and supply lines before the next push.
  • Raid: Send small raiding parties, then see the results and the toll on your men.

One sitting

One sitting covers a week or two of game time, about forty minutes. You end on a night raid or an enemy barrage, then see how the sector looks afterward.

What sets it apart

  • Building a trench sector is the core, which answers the ingredient most hits share and the misses lack, instead of a board-game or flight take.
  • Raids and defenses are played in a small shooter view, so the shooter ingredient sits next to the command layer.
  • Every campaign has clear objectives and a progression of sectors, so it is a full game and not a sandbox tool.

The first playable

One trench map with three sections, a supply meter and a morale meter, plus a single playable raid. Prove that the allocation choices change how the raid goes.

Scope

  • One sector map with a grid for trench pieces
  • Supply and morale meters
  • One raid mission in a simple shooter view
  • Placeholder soldiers as colored shapes
  • Three or four sectors with different terrain
  • Weather and mud that affect movement and supply
  • A soldier roster with names and traits
  • Save system and a short tutorial

Art

Muted top-down painted map with ink-style soldiers and a limited mud-brown and grey palette with one accent color. A tight palette keeps the capsule readable, and it is cheap for one artist.

Risks

  • Management layers can feel like a spreadsheet with nothing to do between decisions. Keep the shooter raids short and frequent, and show the result of each allocation on the map right away.
  • World War I is a grim setting, and a game with no clear goals can feel like a slog. Give each sector concrete objectives and a visible sense of progress across the campaign.

Price

$10 to $20: Games in this band found an audience for most of its titles, which suits a small strategy game with a single campaign.

World War I Military games that found an audience

The other idea

Armored Prototype Works

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