Mers-el-Kébir

[WanderingHead]

thinking about the British attack of the French fleet at Mers-el-Kébir, whether this could be modelled.

One could change the rules so that attacking a Neutral by *air only* did not automatically make the Neutral go to the opposite Alliance, but rather caused a roll of die(10) compared to its political volatility, then one could do it.

I.e. if Neutral attacked by force including non-air units, it goes to the opposing alliance. If Neutral attacked by air only, it becomes pro-Axis(or Allied) and then rolls die(10) and compares to political volatility.

Add a port to Algeria, put a Vichy French fleet of 1HF+1LF there, make Vichy political volatility "1", and voila it is done. The fleet is there and could become German, but the British can preemptively take it out by air. With some risk that Vichy becomes German, of course.

The mechanics seem OK to me.

It is, as they say, just a thought.

[Lucky1]

It would be interesting enough, although I personally would not risk even a 1 in 10 chance of Vichy joining Germany for only a chance of sinking a single heavy fleet and one light fleet. (would a hit destroy them or queue them in S. France's factory?) Perhaps a different penalty might exist.... Or, might it be possible to have a dimishing (but always present) chance of the attack causing Vichy to join the war, depending on how many times the Axis and Allies have declared war on other nations? Dunno. Brainstorming....
 
Would these be new fleets or taken from S. France? Although I don't understand the mechanism, it appears that French fleets have a chance of becoming becoming English. Off the cuff, I might suggest that there be a percentage chance that non-switching fleets become Vichy fleets. Some could be in Algeria and some could be in South France. Then, a variable incentive might exist to make the attack(s). Of course, this has balance of play implications.

[WanderingHead]

Yeah, probably not worth the trouble ...

The UK would never be able to attack more than 1 or two fleets, since it requires air units which means the UK's one CV plus support from Gibraltar.

[runyan99]

I always assumed this was implicitly simulated by the rule where 1/3 of the French fleet, or whatever the fraction is, survives the Vichy event. It's natural to assume what doesn't survive was destroyed by the Brits or the French. I don't see the need for more.