Handling an alternative Soviet surrender situation

[Solaristics]

I've been messing around with the editor and I'm not sure the best way to go about this.

I want to use the Case Blue scenario as my base, but have the Soviet Union cede all territory occupied by the Axis, and for the unoccupied part of the Soviet Union to become neutral: basically, a version of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk in 1918. However, I want partisans to appear in the occupied territory periodically. I'm thinking of doing it how France/Vichy is handled: make the occupied territories Soviet owned but German controlled, and make the rest of the Soviet Union a new neutral country (I was thinking of using the "Red" country in the country list).

However, I wanted to have it that there was an outside chance for the remaining Allies to apply diplomatic pressure to the neutral Soviet Union to re-enter the war (I'm planning to have the scenario go for 5-7 years, so it is feasible the Soviets might rally and cause some trouble along the border at the end of that time, particularly if the Germans are being hard pressed elsewhere), and in this case I would want them to attempt to liberate the occupied territories. So, I'm not sure how to handle this with the editor. Any suggestions?

[BillRunacre]

Hi Hondo

I think this should all be possible, but it will require some testing to be sure.

A SURRENDER_2 script can be used to make the USSR withdraw from the war.
A TERRITORY script can be used to create a new country, e.g. Red, when the USSR withdraws from the war.
A MOBILIZATION_3 script can then be used to give Red a pro-Allied leaning, at the Mobilization % you think appropriate, with further Mobilization scripts to bring it into the war in line with your intentions.
UNIT scripts would definitely be needed too, as otherwise the new country won't have any armed forces.

I would recommend trying all of this out in a fairly quick fashion, i.e. don't worry too much about getting all the settings as intended for the actual version, instead set them to fire at the start of the campaign so you can see if they all fire as intended.

For testing purposes I would just input a few map positions into the relevant TERRITORY script, with the top one being the new country's capital, so make sure it is a suitable resource.

Then after the scripts have been shown to work you can change their settings so that they fire at more appropriate times.

Bill

[Solaristics]

Thanks Bill, very helpful.

Is there any way to instill a revanchist mood in Red so they try and liberate occupied SU territory, and also make it that this liberated territory joins them? I would really prefer it all to be SU throughout (some ceded occupied territory, some rump state) to avoid this problem, but I'm not sure the engine allows that.

Currently, I'm running the Case Blue campaign with the SU surrendered as per the original campaign rules, and with Axis forces redeployed, just to get a feel for how it will play out before working on the revised surrender rules.

I really only bought the game to make what if? campaigns, and I'm gratified to see the palette of options the game engine offers in that respect. I was hesitant to buy the game, as I really have no interest in playing through an historical WW2 ETO again (first time was in 1975 with Avalon Hill's Third Reich, and about a thousand times since with a hundred different games ... OK, a minor exaggeration!).

[BillRunacre]

It's great to see your interest in this as designing your own campaigns can be very satisfying. [:)]

Providing Red with significant forces when it enters the war, possibly with decent research upgrades pre-set in the Editor, should give it the ability to start advancing when it enters the war. Getting the levels right might take a bit of practice.

Major powers can be set to receive MPPs via DECISION events, whether or not they have entered the war, and these can also be useful to give the new country the oomph it needs.

[Solaristics]

I've tried an alternative solution to this that seems to work more cleanly. Firstly, I mark all the hexes of the SU I want to give Germany in the 1942 scenario as owned by Red but occupied by Germany. I then set Red up as annexed and a child of the USSR (not actually sure what either of these do but I'll RTFM on these shortly, but they sounded right and seem to work OK), and then I don't surrender the USSR but rather demobilized it (trying 0 for now). I'll then remove some of the USSR's units to represent its demobilization.

I think this might be the easiest solution, but I've yet to test it properly (having trouble with hotseat). I think all I need to do is set up some partisan script for Red as I assume this won't happen automatically, even though it is annexed. I don't think I need to give Red any unit scripts as I'm assuming if the SU reenters the war later, they will liberate it and just use the extra resources to build their own units.

[BillRunacre]

Hi Hondo

If Red is annexed then it won't be able to deploy any Partisans, so that might need a rethink. Apart from that I think what you're doing should work.

Maybe have it as a Soviet Minor that surrenders when the territory it covers (i.e. according to the capitals you give it) are taken by the Axis? Partisans can still operate after a country surrenders if set that way, but not if the country is annexed.

Bill