I am very pleased to share the first beta version of the 1911 Anglo-German Alliance scenario! What I’m presenting here should be playable (and fun!) single player (vs AI), PBEM or hotseat for the first year or two of the war. This file was last updated on 14 May 2020.
Here is the current a download link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1sPNmaYya1YMP2hGA4DQQ0XFWb4yJrUig/view?usp=sharing
The Background
This is an alternate history scenario. It assumes that the Anglo-French Entente of 1904 foundered, while Germany was able to reach a naval understanding with Britain. Meanwhile, the rivalry between Russia and Britain in Central Asia has reached a peak and a dispute over Persian oil has led to war.
This scenario might seem implausible now, but it certainly didn't look implausible from the perspective of 1900....
What’s in?
*New scenario where the world is tipped into war by a dispute between Russia and the UK over Persian oil
*Reworked sides: Britain and Germany (plus Austria Hungary) vs France and Russia (plus Italy, the Ottomans, and the USA)
*Revised OOBs largely based on the historical 1911 – less unit density (but also preventing exploits on the Eastern Front)
*A completely different start to the game - a gradual escalation from the flashpoint in Persia, with Germany and France joining on turn 2.
*The Persian Theatre, where the Russian army contends with the British Indian Army for control of Tehran
*The naval war turned on its head: British blockade of France, Russian commerce raiders in the Atlantic, diplomatic consequences if Britain withdraws from the Med, a reduced German naval OOB reflecting a settlement with Britain.
*Dozens of event that markedly change the course of the game...
**Russia must decide whether to mobilise against Austria-Hungary and gain the upper hand in the inevitable war with them
**Germany must decide whether to allow Austria-Hungary dominion over Serbia, and whether to risk outrage in Britain by invading neutral Belgium
**France must decide whether its fleet is based in the Atlantic to raid British convoys (or support an invasion!); or in the Mediterranean to contest British control of the inland sea and bring other Mediterranean powers on side
**Britain is faced with many challenges; Deploy the Indian Army in Persia? Risk diplomatic consequences by enforcing a blockade of the Mediterranean at Gibraltar? Offer Home Rule to Ireland, or risk an uprising...?
**The USA provides support for France and Russia if US mobilisation gets over 20%...
*AI - the AI is good enough to keep you on your toes in the early game for sure (mainly this is the game's native AI, I have only scripted a few things)
*Balancing - this should be reasonably well balanced, extensive testing of the alpha builds has highlighted points that needed adjustment
Where to expect it to look incomplete
*Late war - for instance there is more to do on US mobilisation events, US War entry will need more detail. There is no victory condition set, and if you play until August 1914 then some inappropriate events will occur that I haven't got around to deleting
*AI difficulty levels - the AI ought to get additional troops depending on your difficulty selection, this does not happen at present
*There are a few highly-exploitable situations that I intend to make fixes for - e.g. the Entente player can move the Ottoman army prior to war entry
*This is the first beta release so likely there will be bugs and imbalances that are revealed through having more than one person testing
*The loading screen is still the default, and some popups/event messages need another pass to look better
How to install it
Note that Strategic Command will have a separate folder for user-generated campaigns, from the core campaigns. Unzipping the download file next to the core campaigns will probably not work. For me the correct path to use is:
C:\Users\Me\Documents\My Games\Strategic Command WWI\Campaigns\
If you are having trouble then try opening the Editor and saving a campaign yourself - this should show you the correct path. Or locate where the game is putting its savegames, there will be a Campaigns folder next door which you can use.
Thank you for downloading it - I really look forward to your feedback!
Also, here is a screenshot of one possible route the early game can go down - Germany has stuck with the Schlieffen Plan, risking a large hit to British morale for violating Belgian neutrality. The British have landed on the Belgian coast, and France is fighting for its life. But, you should see what is happening on the Eastern and Persian fronts...
