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[&:] After playing a few solitaire games and having 2 PBEM games going, I'm starting to get a feel for the play balance. This looks like a pretty tough game for the CP to win. Is that the experience of others, or is my lack of playing time showing?

The CP has to get its shots in early - the longer the game goes on with all the TE still in it then the harder it gets. 
 
At the least the CP should be looking to KO Serbia by early 1915 and Russia and Italy by the end of 1916, or France by the end of 1915 (much harder to do)

The CP have the worst situation, its true.

ORIGINAL: wurger54

[&:] After playing a few solitaire games and having 2 PBEM games going, I'm starting to get a feel for the play balance. This looks like a pretty tough game for the CP to win. Is that the experience of others, or is my lack of playing time showing?

I think the Kaiser said something similar to this in 1918[;)]

the strategy phase for the CP is an exercise in frustration.  getting 0 from shipping in the Baltic despite having 5 transports there and complete control makes me want to throw the mouse through the wall.   having Johnny Turk produce one Industrial Point per turn up till the middle of 1916 is maddening.  watching the Italians enter the war despite last turns indication that they were very far from being Pro-TE is hair pulling.  looking on in horror as the US enters the war in Sept 1916 despite the CP not sinking one TE transport the entire game is... argh
 
 

Look again at the Diplomacy screen. Italy is always pro-entente unless you change them in the game options before starting play. The further to the left they go the closer they get to entering the war, not farther away from being pro-entente. When you sepnd diplomacy points you are trying to move them away from entering the war....thus moving the bar to the right. When spending diplomacy points you have chance of influencing the nation by 0-3 bars in your preferred direction. In my current game I was spending a diplo point on Italy. I could tell the Entente was doing same, because either the bar would stay the same or move just a little toward entering the war each turn. By spending the diplo point I prolonged Italy's absence from the war. Italy finally entered in the Fall of 1916. Now I have to concentrate on delaying America.

yes that's what i meant (by pro-TE I meant actually entering the war)- having the Italian bar all the way to the left one turn and entering the war the next is maddening.

The bar should probably be relabeled to say War and Pro-XXX neutral. I was confused by it at first also.

The problem I always used to have as the CPs was how Germany's industrial potential was down to 10-12 points a turn due to shortages of raw materials.

I've now sorted out how to fix that so you can have Germany on 20-22 points until the Entente goes into offensive mode.  Thats quite a relief.   I feel the effects of this as the bit where I scrimp tends to be R&D (when you got 12 points to spend on pretty much the whole CP war effort then obviously R&D is a poor second to replacing the shattered units you need to prevent from being overrun).  In my games these days the CPs keep up technologically.

how do you keep Germany at 20 points consistently?  Are you simply sending finished goods from Turkey and Austria?  I'm only getting 4-6 raw materials from those two a turn.

Clev- if the bar is all the way to the left then they should enter the war next turn. The bar is accurate. I think your miss reading it or miss stating it. Your goal is to push the bar to the right, away from enter the war and TOWARD the pro-entente side or the right.

I agree the bar should be relabled "enter the war", "delay entering the war" with the designation of alliance put elsewhere.

Would also like it better if diplomatic points influenced side on which a nuetral country enters, instead of alliance being determined prior to beginning the game. So spending diplo points push a nuetral to one alliance or another and when it reaches end of bar they enter war on that side.

huh, I'm the CP and want to keep Italy out of the war so I want the bar to increase (move toward the right)?   I feel silly.  haha That's some basic stuff I missed right there and I've played at least 4 complete games.  ugh. 

makes me wonder what the hell else I've been missing

[:@]

ORIGINAL: EUBanana

The CP have the worst situation, its true.

As it should be.

Ray (alias Lava)

Although, on the bright side, I've successfully recreated the actual German diplomatic efforts during WWI.  [;)]