Thing is, Carnage games aren't modelled as a three-way battle of Axis-Allies-Comintern. Given that the games are often decided so early on, (not to mention positioning, historical imperative and so on), the game always turns out as Allies and Comintern vs. Axis. That's reflected in the fact that allied players are allowed to help the soviet player out in coop. Effectively, the SU is just another ally.
And that, in turn, means that any smart SU player will attempt to engage germany in a 2-front war between itself and France, a war that tends to end very badly for germany.
And, as far as I know, the SU is perfectly capable of refusing a Moltov-Ribbentrop pact, yes? Or even of wiping out Poland on its own before 1939? The existence of Poland is a precondition for the pact.
Obviously one solution would just be to make the Pact mandatory, but that doesn't seem optimal. I think Germany should be able to gamble a little. The slice of Poland the SU gets makes for very valuable defensive ground, and giving Germany the ability to lay the groundwork for barbarossa by taking away that land seems like a good idea. It gives games more variety, because gives the players a larger degree of choice in the opening game.
Of course, the ability to lay that groundwork needs to come at a cost. And I think that "A much shorter window in which to eliminate france" is a pretty good cost. I'm not exactly sure of the timeframes, but I think something like 4-8 months post-rejection is at least reasonable. It gives the germans a window. After rejecting the pact they have to use that windown to wipe out poland, france and the benelux countries as soon as possible. If they succeed and they've got their army at the eastern front in time, the gamble will have payed off and their reward will be starting positions much closer to the important soviet cities. If they fail, then they'll find themselves embroiled in a 2-front war.
It'd make for more tension in-game, more variety in terms of openings and a lot of general fun. I think.
And that, in turn, means that any smart SU player will attempt to engage germany in a 2-front war between itself and France, a war that tends to end very badly for germany.
And, as far as I know, the SU is perfectly capable of refusing a Moltov-Ribbentrop pact, yes? Or even of wiping out Poland on its own before 1939? The existence of Poland is a precondition for the pact.
Obviously one solution would just be to make the Pact mandatory, but that doesn't seem optimal. I think Germany should be able to gamble a little. The slice of Poland the SU gets makes for very valuable defensive ground, and giving Germany the ability to lay the groundwork for barbarossa by taking away that land seems like a good idea. It gives games more variety, because gives the players a larger degree of choice in the opening game.
Of course, the ability to lay that groundwork needs to come at a cost. And I think that "A much shorter window in which to eliminate france" is a pretty good cost. I'm not exactly sure of the timeframes, but I think something like 4-8 months post-rejection is at least reasonable. It gives the germans a window. After rejecting the pact they have to use that windown to wipe out poland, france and the benelux countries as soon as possible. If they succeed and they've got their army at the eastern front in time, the gamble will have payed off and their reward will be starting positions much closer to the important soviet cities. If they fail, then they'll find themselves embroiled in a 2-front war.
It'd make for more tension in-game, more variety in terms of openings and a lot of general fun. I think.
