Early war and later war are where it's at for WWI West Front gaming.
Generally speaking, yes. Having said that, I think a lot of the failure of WWI games covering 1915-1917 has to do with scale. It's tough to do much interesting in 1915-1916 period particularly if the game is operational/strategic. However, Gorkowski's
Red Poppies grand tactical system is really very good at that period, at least in the Ypres game. That game also includes three different maps of the same area over time, really nicely illustrating just how destructive the war was.
Nope, you aren't going to get war-ending offensives, but you can get some interesting grand tactical gaming that if fun while illustrating how the new weapons systems drove the need for tactical change. Gorkowski has a mechanic in both this and the {i]ITT[/i] system that so perfectly captures why MGs were so destructive. I also have his new East Front game in the series but have yet to play it.
Because I too am a game whore.