New Mod#3: Franco-British Union

[Robert24]

Good day all,

Here is a historical alternate just for Bill.

Enjoy - send feedback please.

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/eiuu46qt ... 42qhc&dl=0

Start date is 22 June 1940.
France is not surrendered, yet.
French National Moral is lowered to 14000.
Bordeaux is an alternate capital.
Axis occupy all territory in France north of the 22 June 1940 line of contact.
French colonies are mobilized, less Indochina.
French colonies are changed to UK Allied Parent.
French territories without a mirror country are changed to UK territory.
Removed all Decision and Territory scripts for French surrender and Vichy.
Added units to Axis Africa Corps scripts.
Removed Axis Offensive scripts into Greece.
Increased Axis Transport scripts to North Africa.
Adjusted Japanese Indochina scripts.
Changed Free French Unit script to all units 100% free.

[BillRunacre]

Aha, very interesting!

[Jack59]

Interesting game. I have been playing Allies vs Axis computer on expert. I have only played a hand full of turns but the Axis seems stronger than usual. U-boats seem to be extra effective Allied shipping and take no losses. The Italian navy is aggressive, which is good, but the subs and ships seem to take larger chunks out of the British and French units. The German Africa corps seem invincible and faster than the British. The Brits pound the Germans and take losses and the Germans are seemingly untouched. It seems the Axis is overpowered. The +2 experience level might be too much. Have to look at the calculation again.

[Jack59]

OK, playing the game on expert is probably not winnable. I went back and started intermediate difficulty, with computer MPP bonus of 20%.

This modification is very challenging! I'm less than halfway through it. It starts with a couple of French units bugging out of France before the surrender. The Franco forces fight on. The Axis send a substantial force to North Africa. The Union must hold on defending Egypt and Tunisia. The navy must re-arm, cut the Axis sea supplies and defeat the Italian Navy to hold Egypt.

I am worried about the Russians, there forces slowly buildup. Yugoslavia has fallen. In China the Japanese make little progress. The USA slowly builds up, but their is diplomacy drop from 50% to 8% due to sending troops to the Pacific Islands. Maybe the USA will not go to war...

What, the Japanese declare war on the USA, Philippines, Dutch East Indies, and others a turn later. The Navy in Pearl Harbor goes to the bottom. Russia is still neutral! Maybe there will be an Operation Icebreaker? What is going on?
The German's are very quiet near the Eastern borders.

[Jack59]

Well, finally finished the game. The Germans lasted 2.5 months longer and the Japanese lasted 11 months longer. Should have gotten a major victory instead of a decisive. A good mod over all, I enjoyed it! The Indians head on to Burma and Malissa, and eventually took Thailand and Cambodia. China took Vietnam and Hong Kong and rolled north.

I did not like when France was liberated and they lost some of there abilities. The blue French threw away their new guns for the old junk ones. The British built French and Algerian troops, kept the good ones.

I am not sure what the Japanese were doing? They seemed to weaken China and occupy some of their Islands. They did not fortify and build early. Their Navy never repaired battle damage. Maybe the Home Islands were packed with troops and fortifications (not so), but they surrendered after three atomic bombs and the collapse of their China and Manchurian territory.

As for both Germany and Japan they did not seem to emphasize building combat ground units and reserves. The Japanese AI should have free events building fortifications (like the Atlantic wall) and rear guard occupational units. The Japanese AI had no engineers. There seamed to be no new navel units in the pipeline.

[Robert24]

Great detailed summary. I am glad you enjoyed the campaign.

I know the game engine reverts upgrades back to the level they were at when a country surrendered. I will ask the developer to add this to his list of items to review.

The Japanese not acting more aggressively in China may be because they were tight on resources. That may also explain why their naval units were not repaired and why no ships were in production. I will look into adding additional MPPs for the AI-controlled sides, and I will also review the AI scripts to make sure ships are being built.

Good point about the Japanese engineer. I can add scripts to have the engineers fortify the Home Islands. The challenge will be getting them to fortify some of the outlying islands as well.

Thanks!

Robert

[Jack59]

Yes, the British navy did base itself out of Singapore and control the supply lines, after the Mediterranean was safe. Forgot about that effect. I was waiting for a counter attack when the Jap troops in China seemed to withdraw. Again have some fortifications appear (like the Atlantic wall) at a appropriate time. Randomly place garrisons, divisions, and marines on the pacific islands. They could start at half strength.

For the Germans, they could easily have taken Egypt and the Middle East, if my navy wasn't so diligent. Maybe half strength divisions and corps could be allowable builds in the later stages of the game (for the AI).

Jack

[Robert24]

Thanks Jack!