Belgium

[lettowvorbeck]

The manual states that some countries can have their capitals relocated to other territories or even foreign countries. In the AAR, it looks like Belgium surrendered completely when all the cities were taken. Historically, a tiny sliver of Belgian territory remained under Entente control and the army kept fighting. Would they have quit if that last little bit of land was lost. I have my doubts. Can the Belgian capital move as a govt in exile to a city in England or France?

Also, does the Serbian capital move to Corfu when all the mainland sites are occupied?

[Bill101]

Both the Belgians and Serbs can fight on from exile after their last capital has been taken.

Thus any parts of the Belgian army which are in France when the Germans take their last capital will not surrender but will continue fighting. The same applies to any Serbian units that are outside Serbia but on friendly territory when their last capital falls.

One very surprising thing about Belgium that I learned while researching this game was that King Albert was actually negotiating with the Germans during the war. I had always thought that they would have fought on and on, but it appears that this wasn't necessarily the case.

[lettowvorbeck]

Thanks for the clarification, Bill! So the Belgian and Serb units have to be outside their borders to be spared from the general surrender. That's good to know!

That gives the player as interesting choice for the Belgians. Either allow your units to get bottled up in fortresses to delay the German advance, or fall back into France to spare the units themselves but give the enemy no roadblocks (well, as much as one might consider the tiny Belgian army a roadblock).

[tommyguns]

Hey Bill101, if the Belgiums & Serbs respective countries surrender, do they get funds from the rest of the Entente or are they just on their own?

[Bill101]

The British pay for the Belgians, and the Russians pay for Serbia. This applies both before and after surrender.

What happens in the game is that all active Minor powers have a Major power assigned to them, and this Major power pays out whenever you want to reinforce, expand or improve the Minor's armed forces.

[Jestre]

So if Russia surrenders to the CP then the minors attached to them also surrender??

[Bill101]

No, they won't automatically surrender as a result, but it will make their continued survival much more difficult.

A Major's active Minors provide income to the Russian coffers whether or not Russia is alive or dead, and this money is then available for purchases on their Minors units. So in a roundabout way the Minors actually pay for themselves, and it would probably be sheer madness for the money to be spent on anything else.

Taking an example from a recent game of mine, Russia had collapsed but Romania was still fighting on. This provided some money to Russia, which was all used to reinforce the Romanians in the short time that they existed before a mixture of German, Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian troops finished them off.

One reason all purchases are routed through the Majors is that it's much easier from a player's perspective to keep track of just a limited number of Majors' incomes, than it would be were every Minor to have their own distinct income and expenditure. Plus the decisions are usually obvious - i.e. there really is no sensible alternative to spending the money on the active Minors.

[Jestre]

I am impressed, every question we come up with has been taken care of in a most efficient and balanced way!!! Kudos!!!

[tommyguns]

Thanks for the answers Bill101!!!!

[Stalins Organ]

The British pay for the Belgians, and the Russians pay for Serbia. This applies both before and after surrender.

What happens in the game is that all active Minor powers have a Major power assigned to them, and this Major power pays out whenever you want to reinforce, expand or improve the Minor's armed forces.

That's not quite correct then - the Belgians were equipped by the French, as were the Serbs. When Romania was over-run its new army was equipped by the French and British - I don't know where the specific equipment came from but it was the French who sent a military mission to train and advise them.

[Bill101]

That's certainly true, but their political alignments were different. Belgium was closer to the British as they distrusted the French, and the Tsar had a strong connection with Serbia.

Overall, the relevant majors have the income to pay for Belgium and Serbia respectively, while the French need every penny they can get for themselves. At least for a while until the front lines has settled, providing of course that the French haven't lost too much territory, or the front lines haven't settled down...

[TaichungCanuck]

I've been messing around with the demo version and can't figure out how to invade Belgium. I simply can't find a way. How do I do it?

[Hubert Cater]

Hi TaichungCanuck,

If you click on the 'Maps' button on the right button pane and then go to 'War Maps' you can select the Belgian flag and click on the 'Declare War' button.

Hope this helps,

Hubert

[TaichungCanuck]

That worked. Thanks Hubert.