“Kaiserkrieg!” (‘Emperor’s War!’) is a strategic solitaire game of the First World War of 1914-1918. As the player, you control the Central Powers (“CP”; Germany, AustriaHungary, Turkey and Bulgaria). The game’s automatic systems direct the efforts of the Entente Powers (“EP”; France, Britain, Russia, Italy, Serbia, the United States, and their minor allies) who are trying to defeat you. As in many of Ben Madison's games, you play the “bad guys.”

The heart of the game is its depiction of the ground war, which saw the battlefield deaths of some ten million soldiers. Kaiserkrieg’s treatment can be traced back to Darin Leviloff’s inspired Israeli Independence (2008) and the “States of Siege” system it started. The evolutionary leap in Kaiserkrieg! is the shift from the old ‘horizontal’ States of Siege model – where enemy forces converge on your central position along clearly defined lines of advance – to a new ‘vertical’ model where enemy forces mass in separate regions around you, to eventually achieve an advantage in size that threatens your overall position. This adaptation allows Leviloff’s original concept to more closely simulate the trench warfare realities of World War I on the continental level.

The game also depicts the epic naval struggle of pro-German blockade runners trying to evade fleets of British cruisers. Many historians identify the failure to outwit the British naval blockade as the main reason for Germany’s defeat in the war.

The ‘sideshow’ war in the Near East, where Germany’s Ottoman Turkish ally was assailed by Russia and the British Empire – including a massive army of Indian troops – is also simulated. This theater also includes East Africa, where a German-led Black African army (the Askari) held out against Indian and British Empire forces even after the Germans in Europe had surrendered!

The game is an uber-strategic view of the conflict. Some aspects are dramatically simplified to make it playable and to emphasize the “cool stuff” of World War I, like Zeppelins, trenches, and U-boats. Kaiserkrieg! is not a detailed historical simulation, but a fun and challenging game covering the salient themes of the actual conflict.

"I previously purchased Kaiserkrieg and had an absolute blast with that one." - Gram D.

THE BIG PICTURE
Socialist Agitation and Revolutions,
the French Mutiny
American Intervention
the German "Askari" Defense of German East Africa
Armenian Genocide and Resistance
Senussi Wars in Egypt and Libya
the Arab Revolt and Lawrence of Arabia
National Morale
Urban Unrest
the Hindenburg-Ludendorff Dictatorship versus the German Constitution
the Free Press and the Rule of Law.

THE GROUND WAR
Tanks
Trench Warfare
Poison Gas
Forts
the Siegfried Line (Hindenburg Line)
the Gallipoli Campaign

THE AIR WAR
the Red Baron,
Zeppelins
Strategic Bombing Campaigns

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THE WAR AT SEA
the British blockade
German Blockade Runners
the U-Boat Campaign,
the German High Seas Fleet
Major Naval Battles in the North Sea
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INFLUENTIAL LEADERS
​Putnik
Brusilov
Mackensen
Foch
Diaz
Hoffmann
Kemal
Plus German Alpenkorps and Stosstruppen
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"I have had a blast playing Kaiserkreig! I really enjoyed it, and as soon as one game finished, I wanted to play again. I enjoyed the early turns especially as there were some really tough choices to make...(the game) provides an enjoyable, stimulating, and well-developed challenge." - Charles D.