Bill101

Hi Claus I know, this is something that's on my list of things to consider for the future. Bill

US mobilization does speed up a little once Russia is out of the war, thus increasing her exports to the UK irrespective of whether or not she eventually enters the war. As to an option to bring the USA into the war once Russia is knocked out, there is of course already a way you can do this, by simply declaring war on the USA. Mind you, I'm not sure that I would advise doing so in a multiplayer game!

Hi steelwarrior77 With your trench warfare research, if you hover your mouse over the research category it should show you what % your research has attained. This should rise every turn, so you can keep an eye on it and if you research Intelligence too then you'll start to see breakthroughs in your research more often. The first part of the game (i.e. 1914 to spring 1915) generally has less of these than later on. The USA is a tricky one, because historically it was only actions by the Central Powers that brought it into the war, and it would be rather frustrating for Central Powers' players if the USA were to enter the war in 1917 regardless of their actions. So for this reason it is largely up to the German High Command whether or not the USA remains neutral. Bill

Sorry to hear that, and I suggest checking here and raising a ticket (on the top right hand side of the screen) as hopefully someone in tech support can help you: http://battlefront.mojohelpdesk.com/ Bill

Hi Philippe I'm afraid so. However, if you were to amend the UNIT scripts for the 1939 World at War campaign, firstly by deleting the script entitled Commonwealth HQ Arrives In Egypt. Then by changing the three instances of: #COUNTRY_ID= 24 To be: #COUNTRY_ID= 1 And running the Update button in the Editor to recheck the UNIT script type. You could then change the Egpytian flag. The changes above would mean that the Commonwealth units would arrive as British, and as the British have their own HQs it makes most sense to delete the Commonwealth HQ. Bill

Yes, it's certainly good training!

Hi uberjuden If you are playing in Full Screen mode then you could try disabling that to see if it makes a difference. Bill

Hi NWJB Strategiclayabout is right, as your success in France guarantees ultimate victory in the west unless the Entente can drive you back, but it is very unlikely that France would have folded in 1914 in such a situation. They had immense fighting spirit, which was sadly spent by 1940. By holding what you've gained in the west, and driving into Russia in the east should ensure a win here. Bill

Yes, have a great time everyone!

Hi Korut Zelva Funnily enough, I was looking through my documents yesterday to answer another WWI question, when I found something I think I must have written about a year ago which details what happens when countries surrender or withdraw from the war. I believe this to be accurate, but if you have any further questions please don't hesitate to ask. Most minor countries would surrender if their capital is captured and they have less than 2 units remaining within their country's territory. Bulgaria historically signed an armistice hence its special rule. In fact, Romania isn't listed here but they also signed an armistice and that is possible, see DE 629 - Germany: Sign the Treaty of Bucharest? in the 1914 Call to Arms Strategy Guide which can be found in the game's Manuals folder. What Happens if a Nation Withdraws from the War Bulgaria Bulgaria will withdraw from the war if German National Morale is less than 10% and there are two Entente units within 3 tiles of Sofia. Germany, Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire would all lose 2,500 National Morale points. Egypt If Egypt surrenders to the Central Powers then Germany will gain 1,000 National Morale points, the Ottomans 2,500, and the UK will lose 50 points a turn representing the loss of trade and prestige now that the Suez Canal is in enemy hands. This is in addition to the penalties to the UK when Cairo and Alexandria are lost (2,500 points each) and the three towns along the Suez Canal (250 points each) making Egypt an attractive Central Powers' objective! The UK and USA If the UK or USA's National Morale fall to zero then they will withdraw from the war. All their naval units will be removed from the map. France, Russia and Italy would each lose 7,500 National Morale points. France If France's National Morale falls to zero, then it will surrender to Germany, and all its units will be removed from the map. Russia and Italy will both lose 7,500 National Morale points. Italy If Italy's National Morale falls to zero, then it will surrender to Austria-Hungary, and all its units will be removed from the map. If Austria-Hungary is no longer in the war when this happens, then Italy will instead surrender to Germany. France will lose 5,000 National Morale points, while Germany and Austria-Hungary will gain 2,500 points each. Russia If Russia surrenders or withdraws from the war France will lose 5,000 National Morale points, and the UK 2,500. Russia's withdrawal from the war will lead to the formation of the Transcaucasian Democratic Federative Republic; The Crimean People's Republic; Estonia; Latvia; Lithuania, and the Ukraine. Germany will annex Poland, Bessarabia will vote to join Romania, and the Ottoman Empire will gain territory in the Caucasus. If Russia is defeated without the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk being signed, then Germany will gain 2,500 National Morale points, and Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire 1,000 points each. Please also see Decisions 619 and 620 in the 1914 Call to Arms Strategy Guide. The Ukraine When formed, the Ukraine will have a strong leaning (60%) towards the Central Powers, and will supply Germany with 50 MPPs and 150 National Morale points a turn representing grain imports. These imports would immediately cease were the Ukraine's political leaning to change so that it no longer favours the Central Powers. To help maintain its friendly relationship with the Central Powers, i.e. to prevent the Bolsheviks or other revolutionary forces from seizing power in the Ukraine, Germany will need to keep four units within five tiles of Warsaw. Germany If Germany's National Morale falls to less than 1%, or it surrenders due to having its capital captured, then the game ends and the Entente win a Major Victory. Austria-Hungary If Austria-Hungary National Morale falls to less than 1%, or it surrenders due to having its capital captured, then all its units will be removed from the map. Germany will lose 10,000 National Morale points, and the Ottomans 5,000. The following countries will be formed as the Austro-Hungarian Empire collapses: the Hungarian Republic; Czech Republic; Poland (with its capital at Krakow); the Yugoslav State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs. Providing they have not themselves surrendered, Italy will gain Trento-Trieste and Romania, Transylvania and Bukovina. The Ottoman Empire Germany will gain 2,500 National Morale points, and Austria-Hungary 1,000 when the Ottoman Empire enters the war. The surrender or withdrawal of the Ottoman Empire from the war would cause Germany to lose 7,500 National Morale points and Austria-Hungary 5,000. Please also see Decision 149 in the 1914 Call to Arms Strategy Guide.

Hi Buford I fully understood with the MPPs and thanks for pointing this out. The reason we spread the cost over 5 turns is to relieve the Axis player of the burden of facing a large cost for them in one turn, which would have a greater impact on their preparations for invading France. It's hard to think of a fully satisfactory solution to this, but I've made a note of it to consider a different method. Bill

Glad you've got it sorted.

It can be done, but it's certainly not easy!

Hi Korut Zelva I've just checked the scripts, and once French National Morale has fallen below 85% he will either have surrendered to Bismarck, or abdicated and left France. Which it is would be determined by whether he chose to join the army, or to remain in Paris. At the same time the Government of National Defence should have been formed. But these will most likely have happened quite a few turns before the other events you've mentioned, such as Count Palikao fleeing and Gambetta's balloon trip, as they start to happen when French National Morale has dropped to 75%. In real life Napoleon gave up first, and the other events happened later. Bill

Sounds right to me!

Hi Philippe Free French units that survive the fall of France will use the French tricolour, as in engine terms they are units belonging to France that are not surrendering when France falls. Bill

Hi Philippe You're right, in that this is a very tricky area with no easy solution, and the method adopted is probably the best one to avoid confusion while also avoiding very complicated scripts/events to try to work around it. The only thing to add is that any French units not surrendering when France falls will retain their French activation icons while serving as Free French. Bill

Hi Philippe There is a way but it involves changing the names of some countries and unit scripts. Otherwise there is no way to have Egyptian flag represented at the same time as the Commonwealth. One way would be to rename the British Commonwealth as Egypt in the campaign's Localization file, and to either: amend the Unit scripts relating to the British Commonwealth to be British. or to amend the Unit scripts to belong to the Transjordan. With the latter, you would need to rename Transjordan as the British Commonwealth and amend all the relevant flags and activation items accordingly. Bill

Yes, that's right, they are subsumed within the other units serving in the western desert.

Hi Philippe The Indian unit which arrives at Basra is represented as if it were a British unit, whereas the Australian and New Zealand units are represented as Commonwealth units. The reason for this is that the Indian unit's arrival is tied in to the British dealing with Iraq, and if it were a Commonwealth unit then the loss of Egypt would (in game engine terms) prevent its arrival. Having it as British guarantees its arrival providing the UK is still in the war. Bill

Turkey's war entrance isn't actually a factor, as Bulgaria and Turkey weren't on friendly terms. The reason it works the other way around when countries surrender is that then the Central Powers are falling apart, so the remaining parts fear the worst at that point.

Hi Sapare There is a 15% chance per turn of a partisan unit spawning in Belgrade if it's left empty, I hadn't thought it likely that it would be left empty. However, I do agree that it isn't intuitive that one would have to keep a unit in Belgrade in order to trigger Bulgarian interest in entering the war. This is essentially an engine restriction which can be worked round, but due to the requirement for an anti-partisan garrison I'd not considered implementing a work round before. Bill

Thanks Karhu, that is a fair point and I've made a note of this to consider a solution that works with a see-saw battle in the west. Bill

Thanks Sapare, I guess we never expected the Russians to be in Vienna quite so quickly when we wrote the scripts. That is some achievement! Bill

Hi Furchtlosundtrew There are other events that can have an impact, such as any countries surrendering to the Central Powers (3-5% per country). If France surrenders then the impact would be 11-20%. If the Entente declare war on Albania then Bulgaria would swing 10-20% towards the Central Powers, or 20-40% if the Entente declare war on Greece. The lack of movement from 77% suggests that Belgrade is empty, as for the script to fire it requires a Central Powers unit to be in Belgrade. That's about all, so I'm not sure about the bagatelle either, but hope that this helps clarify most of the other issues. Bill