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As the axis, I've had 5 diplomatic chits in Sweden for a significant portion of the game up to summer '41 and earlier in 1940/41 also investing 2 italian chits in Sweden, just, apart from some minor initial gains, their stance hasn't changed for ages, it's stuck at 49% - even assuming the western allies had invested all 5 of this chits in Sweden I would have expected the odd gain for the Italian chits, but nothing! How is this possible, the USSR and USA can't invest diplo chits until they enter the war. Is Sweden harder to influence than other nations?

I've been able to influence them from the other side, getting them Allied aligned ended the Swedish convoys to Germany.

I've certainly seen good luck strings (pushing the US toward the Allies four turns in a row), but it could just be a bad luck string for you.

I put together a little betting pattern for the craps tables when I turned 18 just to see if it would work.
I would bet Any Craps each roll (seeking a 2,3,12 on two six sided dice). Odds of that coming up are 8-1, and the payout is only 7-1. I could put together a string of (I think) 21 bets in a row and still come out ahead if craps came up once. Worked for me both trips to the casino, but in running simulations I saw it fail a few times (more than 21 rolls without a 2,3 or 12 showing).

Face it, you're unlucky! [:'(]

Both Turkey and Sweden seem very hard to influence. They take forever to move even with 5 chits in. Possibly the AI is countering whatever moves you make there and makes it a priority to respond to diplomatic initiatives made by the player.

I am okay with this, frankly. The diplomatic system is too easily abused as is. Early US and Soviet entry, Spain, etc. I assume the AI gets sticker shock with regards to the two major neutral powers in particular, 125 MPPs a chit for those early on is very difficult to counter as the Axis without cutting deeply into their military buildup. The Allies can get away with this in a way the Axis cannot.

You can check enemy diplomatic spending even with FOW, correct? Not where, but how much, to at least gauge if that is part of what is going on.

I agree that diplomacy is a big weapon for the Allies. It'd probably be best to remove it for France entirely, and then examine the costs for the other powers (hadn't check, presumably the editor allows this).

I've barely played the Axis side, but the game, like the war, seems tilted in the Allies favor.

I've played and won as both but my sense is the allies have an easier time of it, which imo is as it should be.

It comes down to their economic edge in the end. If they can ride out the initial Axis surge, they've got a roughly 3-2 edge in terms of MPPs going into 1942.

I don't believe that this sort of game should be equally balanced. Raw economic might alone favors the Allies and at this level that advantage should be there. The Axis already get a lot of free MPPs in the form of plunder to offset this early on, but that should be the extent of it.

This is leaving aside the cheese entirely, which probably does favor the Allies and really is very dubious. I would insist on restrictions to Allied diplomacy in any kind of multiplayer situation. Bringing in the USA mid 1940 is practically an autowin for the allies. (Even against a fully jacked up AI!) I'm not sure removing the French is enough to stop this. The British could bite the bullet and do it all on their own, really. Very hard to counter for the Axis early on.

ORIGINAL: Seminole

You can check enemy diplomatic spending even with FOW, correct? Not where, but how much, to at least gauge if that is part of what is going on.

Oh yes, I forgot you could do that, here are some screenshots - the Axis (me) have spent 450 MPPs on Diplomacy (all on Sweden), most of it quite early on, the Allies (just the British in fact) 150MPP (and a ton on research!), mostly quite late, yet I'm still only at 49% with Sweden! BTW I'm playing at Intermediate level in this game and also gave the Allies +10% MPP, so they probably have quite alot of spare MPPs



Germany:


Italy:


Britain:



France (none):

I agree that diplomacy is a big weapon for the Allies. It'd probably be best to remove it for France entirely, and then examine the costs for the other powers (hadn't check, presumably the editor allows this).

I've barely played the Axis side, but the game, like the war, seems tilted in the Allies favor.

I think it should be removed for France, but it wouldn't have made any difference in this case