Matrix Games Forums

Hi all,

We have this situation in our PBEM game:

1) France is at war with Batavia and besieging the capital
2) France and England are at peace and have a peace treaty for yet 5 months
3) Batavia asks protectorate to England and this is accepted (without popup menu are anything)
4) French troops are stuck in Batavia and can only get out by violating England's neutrality

The manual states that nations that are under a treaty that has peace turns left with the aggressor of the country that asks protection cannot be asked as protector of this country.

My interpretation: England can not be askd to protect Batavia against France as it has a treaty with peace turns left. And even if this would be possible, England would have to at last cance its treaty and declare war on France (costing heaps of points). Nothing of the sort happened :Batavia is now protectorate of England, the French army is stuck and there is no state of war between France and England.

England and Prussia (for whom this presumed bug is very welcome indeed) argue that it isn't a bug.
France insists that it is, and states the manual.

Any help would be welcome here.

Tom

Hi Tom,
 
This is Sven, the Prussian player...  and I want to add the following.  Correct or add your remarks as wanted:
France and England have indead a peace treaty that was a result of free treaty not one as a result of an peace treaty forced upon one of them after a war.
 
Furthermore the Foreign relations information has versus Batavia every Major in the negative except for the next three:
England : 293
Sweden : 53
Prussia : 5
 
It is Prussian opinion (and I am currently in war with France) that Batavia could become one of Englands for a protectorates because of this.  Now is this possible the same turn as France declares war, that I don't know.  Furthermore the voluntary peace treaty (not a forced peace after war between them), is not a blocking factor for declaring a war in the game since it can be broken manually by any of the three countries in that treaty (Spain also signed the treaty with a maintain peace promise towards the others).  Additionally the political setting of England vs France in the PBEM are BE AGGRESSIVE. 
 
The political setting of France versus England is not published by the French player, but he does not deny that it is set so he's not to be aggressive versus England, and I think this influence the game to the point where France was no more at war when Batavia was a protectorate of England.  This then resulted in the French army being stuck in Batavia, since England did not give France a free passsage in any treaty.  The French army could then only move by manually selecting to violate the English neutrality...
 
That is why all this seemed not to be in contradiction with the game's manual.
 
Sincerely Yours,
Sven