Hence in my last game against the (EU)banana I declared war on the Ottoman Empire with Germany to – so I thought – prevent the BEF from going anywhere. As I wrote in that AAR I thought that was a nifty what-if build into the game. In a situation where Germany respect Benelux neutrality and the Entente is perceived as the stronger military side on land – as they likely would be with the Ottoman and Italy firmly in their camp – I can easily imagine Britain deciding to content herself with committing her fleet and material resources to her allies but being unwilling to incur the social cost of expending millions of lives and mobilizing a conscripted army.
All in all I think this is a reasonable historical what-if. Admittedly not allowing the Greatest Sea power in the world to move by sea sounds a bit silly but I considered it representing political restrictions – No Entente Cordinale in this timeline?
Clearly a Central Power DoW vs the Ottoman in turn 1 has to be assumed to represent a different political lead-up to the war and not an actual German attack on the Ottomans but that is a flight of fancy I find acceptable.
Anyway I figured wrong, as it turned that the game engine as currently configured does allows the British to use amphibious transport once the Ottoman Empire enters the war on either side – thus rather dramatically invalidating the Ottoman gambit.
Subsequent email correspondence with Frank revealed that he simply hadn’t considered the possibility of an Entente Ottoman Empire. He would give it some thought whether that ought to be changed in any future patch.
I still however think the Ottoman Gamble would make a good addition to the game and it has the advantage of being eminently practical for Frank to implement. We are talking about changing a single line of code. I personally think it would be even better, more balanced, and a far more plausible historical what-if, to simulate a neutral Britain by adding another line of code disabling British strategic movement as well.
So in order to test the feasibility of an Semi-neutral Britain and a Ottoman Empire on the Entente side AdmSpruance and I have agreed a game with the following house rules in effect:
The Central Powers declare war on the Ottoman Empire on turn 1
Russia leaves any forces setup within 3 hexes of the Ottoman-Russian border in a historical deployment where they are.
No British Land forces may be set up outside the United Kingdom
(This simulate that the Entente player should not have prior knowledge of the option)
Until either the Central Powers declare war on a Benelux country or the United States enter the war British Forces many not use Amph movement or rail movement. (This would include HQ’s)
This essentially simulate a semi-neutral but strongly Entente-learning Britain that is only willing to commit her navy and airforce in a way that would be very easy to code and is therefore realistic to ask Frank to implement
So once again we go
