Vichy/Free France

[dhucul2011]

Yes, they are the color of a minor but they get nice flags on their units if you adjust the bitmaps.

I have now completed the following and would appreciate comments:

1. Free France as a UK minor. Leclerc and a FF corps will appear in Chad (added to bottom of Libya) in 1941 and De Tassigny and a FF armour in UK in 1944 depending on certain DEs and conditions.

2. Free Poland as a UK minor. Polish corps will now be their own minor country units.

3. French West Africa as a new nation that can go Vichy and can then be attacked. The Allies will have the option of completing the Richelieu in Dakar. The Richelieu will shell nearby Allied ships before FWA surrenders.

4. Un-scripted the invasions of Denmark and Norway. If the player says yes to Operation Weserubung for a cost and then DOW Denmark and Norway they will get a few unit helpers such as a SF (General Dietl and his Mountain Troops) and DD at Narvik and a PARA at Drammen. They will still be advised that Oslo must be taken.

5. Added Polish port of Gdynia and the German DN Schleswig-Holstein at Danzig. The S-H has two action points making it only good for shore defense.

6. Opened up the Denmark straights to all ships and added the Polish DD and sub as starting units that can try to escape to the UK.

7. Added German mine fields in the Baltic and a Maritime Bomber. This would make it costly for the Allies to enter the Baltic.

8. Added a DE for British poison gas attacks on Sealion attackers. This would impact world opinion but maybe help stop Sealion.

9. Added Zionist partisan attacks on British in Palestine.

10. Changed all Australian, New Zealand and Indian units to be British Empire units. If UK wins in East Africa then Smuts HQ and South African division arrives in Egypt.

11. Added Wiking and Charlemagne Waffen SS units for DE cost.

12. Changed the Winter War DE for USSR so that it is more desireable. It will add experienced units for a DE cost around Leningrad if victorious otherwise it will add half strength units if not.

13. Changed Finnish convoy to 0% Axis.

14. Finland will NOT attack USSR at all if no Winter War other than through diplomacy.

15. Axis oil shortages starting in 1943 if Axis do not hold Grozny, Baku or Mosul or Kirkuk. Basically a small MPP but increasing hit on certain industrial centers if they don't hold at least one of those. Maikop not included due to destruction.

16. Changed the UK home guard HQ to Ironside.

17. Adjusted some of the starting OOBs for all nations to more historical.

18. Working on a DE to create the Ukraine as a German minor for a heavy MPP cost. This would reduce partisan attacks and give a Ukrainian corps and garrisons.

19. Considering un-scripting the Graf Spee by adding the unit to South Atlantic and a German port of Montevideo on map just for supply. Might be fun?

20. Also considering adding Auxiliary Cruisers for Germany.

21. Lastly, will script some DEs to use Atomic Bombs on Germany in late 1945. Will include strength and supply scripts to hit a couple of cities and NM scripts.

[sPzAbt653]

they get nice flags on their units if you adjust the bitmaps.

Is this already part of your Flag Mod ?

3. I have also included the Richelieu ! I have it enter if/when the USA captures Casablanca. [I removed the Triomphant, as I don't use cruisers or destroyers].

4. I've left the scripts in, but if the player says NO, then all the units used historically will arrive in Germany so that the player can do their own invasion, or something else. Yes, this creates the problem of 'units at no cost', so I've offset that a bit by making them all strength 3-5. The units involved are:
XXXVI.Gebirgs Korps
XXXIII Korps
71.Bodenständige Korps
XIX.Gebirgs Korps
70.Bodenständige Korps
20.Gebirgs Army HQ
KG.40 Maritime Bomber
I created a new unit category for the Bo[Static] corps that were a large part of Germany's defenses. None of the above units were at full strength in April 1940, and some were not actually formed or named as above until later in the war, but I thought this was the best way to deal with the situation .
6, 7 & 8. Brilliant ! Very interesting to see how these play out.
10. I am using mostly corps organizations so I didn't need to include those units, which makes it a little easier on me due to their comings and goings.
15. Based on Maikop, we could argue that all of the Caucasus and Mid-East Oilfields and Refineries would have been destroyed. At Maikop the Germans estimated it would take a significant effort and probably one year before gaining any benefit from the destroyed facilities. Then there is the issue of how to get any oil extracted or refined from those areas back to Europe. I still ponder on how to simulate this, although the amounts in MPP's gained from those locations is rather low compared to historical outputs, so its not high on my list of things to address.

[sPzAbt653]

11. I've added Waffen-SS units as a separate category. Here is how my unit categories appear:

[sPzAbt653]

How do I make Brazzaville the Capital of Free France ?

[TheBattlefield]

1. Set the associated Hexes to FEA via Edit Hex Layer. Set Brazzaville as Capitol sprite.
2. Edit Country Data. Set Brazzaville as Capitol for neutral FEA.
3. Crate a surrender#1 event "Free France Government Installed" after Vichy DE and take over FEA territory
as Free France.

Hope this makes sense! [8D]

[sPzAbt653]

Thank you sir.
1. Done
2. Done
3. See below - 'The Country ID = 44' is FEA, and 'Recipient ID = 42' is Free France. Does this seem correct ?


;Free France Government Installed
{
#NAME= DE 100 - UK Supports Free France
#POPUP= Free French Government Formed in Brazzaville [121,135]
#IMAGE=
#SOUND=
#FLAG= 1
#TYPE= 0
#AI= 0
#LEVEL= 0
; Set global variable condition to always trigger (dummy value)
#GV= 1[1,100]
; Set link value to always trigger (dummy value)
#LINK= 100[1]
#COUNTRY_ID= 44
#RECIPIENT_ID= 42
#SURRENDERED_TO= 2
#TRIGGER= 100
#MAP_POSITION= 121,136
#MAP_POSITION= 121,137
#MAP_POSITION= 120,137
#MAP_POSITION= 119,136
#MAP_POSITION= 119,137
#MAP_POSITION= 118,137
#MAP_POSITION= 117,136
#MAP_POSITION= 117,137
#MAP_POSITION= 117,135
#MAP_POSITION= 118,136
#MAP_POSITION= 119,135
#MAP_POSITION= 120,136
#MAP_POSITION= 121,135
}


Do all of these positions have to be typed in by hand ? Some of these events have like 40 pages of positions [&:]

[TheBattlefield]

Yep. Looks fine. But make sure that you don't mix up the countries. In my list it's like this:

; #COUNTRY_ID_42= French Equatorial Africa
; #COUNTRY_ID_44= French West Africa

But maybe you change this for some reasons...

LOL. Use Edit Hex Layer and than [File] Export Map Positions. Open the new file and copy 'n paste into the script...[8D]

[sPzAbt653]

I changed 42 to be Free France instead of FEA. Then I used FWA in place of FEA in your suggestion [;)]

Now I get this stinkin' error. If I make it a city it tells me I need a Capital, if I make it a Capital it tells me I need to make it a City [X(]

[sPzAbt653]

[File] Export Map Positions.

[&o][&o][&o]

[TheBattlefield]

ORIGINAL: sPzAbt653

I changed 42 to be Free France instead of FEA. Then I used FWA in place of FEA in your suggestion [;)]

Now I get this stinkin' error. If I make it a city it tells me I need a Capital, if I make it a Capital it tells me I need to make it a City [X(]

Oh. Ok. Stroke "set the associated Hexes to FEA via Edit Hex Layer. Set Brazzaville as Capitol sprite."
Try this: Make FEA part of France (like Algeria). Set Brazzaville as major City. Change "#COUNTRY_ID= 44" to "#COUNTRY_ID= 40" (France). Brazzaville should change to capital after the event fires...

[sPzAbt653]

Can you stop by next weekend so we can knock this out ? I'm buying

[TheBattlefield]

Always![:D]

[sPzAbt653]

Now I am into trying to make France not become liberated [which is the whole point of what I am attempting. The issue [to me] is that with historical oob's, when the French are liberated, they get all of their 1940 units in the build pool, which is inaccurate. Bill had suggested to transfer France to Germany [when conquered initially], then transfer to Free France [when liberated]. I am wondering if Mr. Battlefield has any other suggestion ?

[TheBattlefield]

In order to clear the (France) horse historically from behind...

...the France, after their liberation, did not enter the war against Germany as an atomic superpower but have joined the victorious Allies with what 's left for the remaining months!

For my Mod this means:

1. The Free France will be a minor of GB with their supreme headquarters located in Canada. May be gamey but safe and they don't have to be relocated in case of a successful Sealion.
2. The France OOB is written in stone for the Battle of France. No time, no MPP and no need for additional units. So I will set them (exept some support units) to zero in the Editor. Same for research.
3. The France have to learn English. After liberation there will be a territory event which change former Vichy, occupied France and Free France to a (minor based) France under the good will of GB. As a result the new France share research with GB and have their own units. If needed at all. As a startup I will use a unit script to give the new "France" some standard infantry divisions. That's all. [8D]

[TheBattlefield]

PS: I hope this will work because of the (Paris) capitol problem. But there will be a solution for this. Maybe first annexation (Germany) and then reconstruction by territory event. Or British annexation after libaration and then reconstruction by territory event. I will see...

[TheBattlefield]

The easiest way would be to simply change Free France to "France" as a GB minor and let them use the standard France activation sprites again. Then I can create some unit scripts to deploy a few French units in the libarated and Allied France. Voila, no problematic territory event and well researched French units! [:D]

[sPzAbt653]

Yes, the Paris Capital problem. From what Bill says we will have to test methods to see if anything works. I am not experienced enough yet to know what the specific scripts [surrender, territory, annexation, resource, war entry] can be used for. So we shall see what we can come up with.

I am using a fixed oob for Free France of two mech and one HQ [maybe some garrisons], with FF as a minor of USA. USA because the UK and French did not get along, they fought with each other. Actually, the French fought with everybody and generally did not get along, but the US was their daddy [;)]

Thanks for all your assistance [&o] I am approaching the end of my current game, after which I will begin testing rounds for Free France. I feel that it is going to be more effort than the result gained, but I must try.

[TheBattlefield]

Same for me. Try and error. A lot of work and I am just at the beginning. [X(]
The Editor is very powerful but there are some limits. Like the experiance level. You can set a minimum but not a maximum for executing a event. That is difficult if you try to implement different prerequisites for the same task.

[BillRunacre]

To speed up your testing, I strongly recommend making a campaign with a very small map, add a country or two with a Capital, and then test out various scripts to get a good grasp of the theory before transferring what you've learned into your main campaign.

This is largely because making minor adjustments and updating scripts is so much quicker when there are very few.

It also means that you haven't got to refight the whole battle of France to see what effect your scripts have when France is liberated. In your test campaign a small country (call it France) can be created, set to be surrendered to Germany, with a country representing the UK being set to be at war with Germany and with a unit poised to liberate the country representing France.

I hope this gives an idea of what I'm thinking of... more can, and probably will be added to it as you progress.

[TheBattlefield]

ORIGINAL: Bill Runacre

To speed up your testing, I strongly recommend making a campaign with a very small map, add a country or two with a Capital, and then test out various scripts to get a good grasp of the theory before transferring what you've learned into your main campaign.

This is largely because making minor adjustments and updating scripts is so much quicker when there are very few.

It also means that you haven't got to refight the whole battle of France to see what effect your scripts have when France is liberated. In your test campaign a small country (call it France) can be created, set to be surrendered to Germany, with a country representing the UK being set to be at war with Germany and with a unit poised to liberate the country representing France.

I hope this gives an idea of what I'm thinking of... more can, and probably will be added to it as you progress.

Thank you Bill. That's it. Think big, try it small and make it huge![:D]