Colonial Empires

[JJ68]

Why are certain colonial possessions treated as independent nations. If I try to ally with Portugal, I do not get access to Timor, East and West Africa. Why is Hong Kong, Solomons etc not under British control from the start? Is it to cater to Japanese play. I suppose the same is true for Indochina. I had hoped to use French troops to hold Indochina, but the game is saying no, no matter how many scripts I check.

[Bo Rearguard]

Why are certain colonial possessions treated as independent nations. If I try to ally with Portugal, I do not get access to Timor, East and West Africa. Why is Hong Kong, Solomons etc not under British control from the start? Is it to cater to Japanese play. I suppose the same is true for Indochina. I had hoped to use French troops to hold Indochina, but the game is saying no, no matter how many scripts I check.

I suspect it is to help Japanese expansion follow a historical pattern. For example, the remote, malaria-infested and economically insignificant Solomon Islands was probably the last place the British or Australian high command would have prioritized to place an army, corps or even a garrison in with war raging in Europe, but with the hindsight of history a player probably would to frustrate a Japanese advance towards New Caledonia and avoid the bomber penalty that comes with Japanese possession of Guadalcanal.

[BillRunacre]

Why are certain colonial possessions treated as independent nations. If I try to ally with Portugal, I do not get access to Timor, East and West Africa. Why is Hong Kong, Solomons etc not under British control from the start? Is it to cater to Japanese play. I suppose the same is true for Indochina. I had hoped to use French troops to hold Indochina, but the game is saying no, no matter how many scripts I check.

I suspect it is to help Japanese expansion follow a historical pattern. For example, the remote, malaria-infested and economically insignificant Solomon Islands was probably the last place the British or Australian high command would have prioritized to place an army, corps or even a garrison in with war raging in Europe, but with the hindsight of history a player probably would to frustrate a Japanese advance towards New Caledonia and avoid the bomber penalty that comes with Japanese possession of Guadalcanal.

Exactly, it would encourage ahistorical play and would also mean we would have to totally rebalance the economies in the early period of the war.

[JJ68]

Thank you both. I figured that was the reason, but it is nice to get confirmation.