France holds out until '41 - Vichy joins Axis immediately?

[ForzaA]

Finally had some luck with the RNG (vs. Axis AI) and managed to hold Paris until February(?) 1941 - but after Frances surrender, and the creation of Vichy&Friends, Vichy, Algiers and Tunisia all immediately joined the Axis.

Thing is, I can't really find why this is so (if France falls "historically", all three go neutral to start with) Hidden event? Hidden effect of a visible event?

If by design, what's the rationale?

[Kornstalx]

Did you abandon your French colonies or southern France and let the Axis (Italy mainly) take some of these territories? If so, when France surrenders Vichy falls apart. You have to defend your colonies/backdoor as France or there will be nothing left to sign the armistice.

There's a script that governs this, and there a similar thread that's recent in this forum somewhere. I'm on mobile or would link it.

[ForzaA]

Colonial forces remained in place, but my forces in Lyon and Marseilles were defeated before surrender (and the cities taken), so if the check is "merely" if those cities were taken, I suppose I did "abandon" them.

Will have a look through the forum to see if I can find the thread you're referring to. Thanks.

[Kornstalx]

Bill talks about some of it here, there's another thread somewhere on it too

tm.asp?m=4586779

[ForzaA]

Thanks - that's not really the situation I was referring to though. That is to say: Vichy (&Vichy colonial regimes) DID form - the decision did fire - but Vichy France, Algiers and Tunisia (not the other Vichy colonies though) immediately joined the war as Axis minors.

[BillRunacre]

Hi

When playing against the AI at difficulty level 1 or higher there are some War Entry scripts that can trigger Vichy territories to join the Axis.

These are designed to give a more challenging game. We don't have a perfect way to make them not fire if the fall of France is delayed, but they do require the USSR to still be neutral, so in your game there was a fairly narrow window of opportunity for any of them to take place.

There is a 10% chance of Vichy France doing so, and if Vichy France has joined the Axis there is a 30% chance that Algeria can. If both of those have, then Tunisia will too.

These won't happen in PBEM, and can be turned off via the Options screen at any time before they've fired.

Bill

[ForzaA]

Thanks Bill, those are some impressive odds I faced then But not connected to holding out as such, then.

What's difficulty "1", is that normal/default?

[BillRunacre]

It's called novice, there are a number of different levels and you can scroll through them, and tweak the exact settings too to suit your desired level of challenge.