First and foremost is the Artillery. More than anywhere else, the artillery dominated Verdun. There were two reasons for this; the small area of the battle, and the continously high rate of artillery shell expenditure -- a quiet day would have 10 rounds falling per yard of front -- bombardments would have four to ten times this intensity. During the first phase of the battle, the period covered by the game of VERDUN, the Germans enjoyed a considerable artillery advantage. Most of this advantagewas due to the superior German guns, since the French rapidly built up an equal number of weapons.

Until well into 1917, the Allies were critically short of medium and heavy artillery, even, after mobilizing all of their obsolete and fortress pieces. The Germans were lavishly supplied with heavy guns, on the other hand, and Falkenhayn envisioned the German artillery as eliminating the forces opposing him, thus avoiding any heavy German losses. The Germans had been using their superior weapons for two years and thus knew their abilities and had developed tactics to suit them. The French could hardly develop adequate tactics when they were using a patchwork mixture of weapons with few common characteristics.

Most symbolic of the German artillery superiority was the 21 cm. Morser. This was the weapon that killed most of the Frenchmen, and was the most feared. As a trench bombarder it was unequalled by anything the Allies possessed. It had a rate of fire nearly equal to a 155 with a shell 2 to 3 times as large. It also had excellent accuracy and a better-than-average tube life. It's shell was nearly ideal for trench bombardment - it was heavy enough to penetrate earth and thin concrete and powerful enough to collapse trench walls and "bombproofs". It was easily mobile and small enough to be concealed without major construction and could thus be used closer to the lines - thus despite it's short (10,000 yd) range, it deserved it's reputation.

Verdun: The Situation

Introduction
Artillery
Other Weapons
Barrages
Observation
Forts and Terrain
Infantry

Verdun Game Variants

Introduction
Initial Order of Battle
Forts
Artillery CRT Variation
Observation
Use of the Artillery Shell Table