I find it ridiculous that (i) it takes months to "generate casus belli; and (ii) casus belli expire in a matter of weeks or months after "attained."
IMO, this is an absurd dynamic and it should be fixed in vanilla.
My suggestion:
(1) Simple Fix
(a) Lower PP cost to generate casus belli by 75%, i.e., if 'c' is casus belli cost parameter then let 'c' = c * 0.25
(b) Lower time to generate casus belli by 75%, ditto math
(b) Extend casus belli 'shelf life' by a factor of 4, i.e., if 's' is casus belli shelf life, then let 's' = s * 4
If someone can tell me if the files to make these changes are not baked into the .exe and what files they are I appreciate, as I'd like to make these changes in a mod, test it and if it seems good, then put on the Workshop.
Or perhaps someone has already created a similar mod?
(2) Complex Fix
there are many options here and it might be worth a long discussion, but suffice to say: Japan did not have to "generate casus belli" by "expending political points" in order to plan and execute ANY of the wars they started. I would say the same is true for the other Axis powers, and many other nations in this time period. The overall level of constraint which the current system applies might be more roughly appropriate for the democratic and/or pacifistic/isolationist countries, but even there, the 19th century diplomatic system carried over from other games just doesn't seem correct.
A bit more background on why I have reached the conclusions I have reached in this thread. First I should say, I waited till the game was on sale, and only recently bought, and have perhaps 12 hours of play time comprising two play throughs as Germany. One play through got into late 1940 the other is at summer 1937. Both of these will be abandoned because of my lack of understanding of how the casus belli system works and how best to game it in its current incarnation (assuming modding it is not appealing).
Both Tries I have sought to approach play is as historical a fashion as possible and with Normal diff and historical computer opponents (there is no such thing as "artificial intelligence" or "A.I." and I refer to such things as "computer opponents" (CO), or "algorithms"). In 2nd Try, I did give China a +1 to strength because Japan steamrollered them in 1st Try.
1st Try: made some non-optimal choices in terms of buildup, organizaton and planning, but most importantly: I did NOT even explore generating cassus belli on Poland until AFTER annexation of Slovenia, ca. mid 1938? If memory serves, I still had ~250 days left to generate "justification" to go to war against Poland in Fall 1939, despite having my military perfectly setup on both east and West.
This was infuriating and it makes me wonder if anyone actually tested the game. Yes, I realize the game MUST have been tested, but did anyone try to just play Germany from 1936 following along with history as closely as possible!?
If so, please tell me exactly when I should start generating the cassus belli to be able to carry out Fall Weiss within one month +/- of when it actually occurred (1 Sept 1939), and likewise, when (and how, in terms of PP martialing) I should start generating for Lux/Neth/Belg/France in order to launch the Fall Gelb in ~ 10 May 1940?
2nd Try: knowing what I now knew about how cb works in the game, I started from scratch and did a better job with optimizing my timing and sequencing on national focii, techs, etc. I figured I would "stockpile" by CB for the Low Countries and started with Lux. I forget the exact date I began "generating" but it finished around about 4 June 1937 and when I was alerted I became aware of the other egregiously bad design: casus belli EXPIRE(!?!?). Even worse, it appears that if they are gained, and not acted upon, then the player's nation takes a morale hit in the form of lost war spirit, lost stability, etc. . . . absolutely ridiculous, at least for a police state like Nazi Germany.
IMO, this is an absurd dynamic and it should be fixed in vanilla.
My suggestion:
(1) Simple Fix
(a) Lower PP cost to generate casus belli by 75%, i.e., if 'c' is casus belli cost parameter then let 'c' = c * 0.25
(b) Lower time to generate casus belli by 75%, ditto math
(b) Extend casus belli 'shelf life' by a factor of 4, i.e., if 's' is casus belli shelf life, then let 's' = s * 4
If someone can tell me if the files to make these changes are not baked into the .exe and what files they are I appreciate, as I'd like to make these changes in a mod, test it and if it seems good, then put on the Workshop.
Or perhaps someone has already created a similar mod?
(2) Complex Fix
there are many options here and it might be worth a long discussion, but suffice to say: Japan did not have to "generate casus belli" by "expending political points" in order to plan and execute ANY of the wars they started. I would say the same is true for the other Axis powers, and many other nations in this time period. The overall level of constraint which the current system applies might be more roughly appropriate for the democratic and/or pacifistic/isolationist countries, but even there, the 19th century diplomatic system carried over from other games just doesn't seem correct.
A bit more background on why I have reached the conclusions I have reached in this thread. First I should say, I waited till the game was on sale, and only recently bought, and have perhaps 12 hours of play time comprising two play throughs as Germany. One play through got into late 1940 the other is at summer 1937. Both of these will be abandoned because of my lack of understanding of how the casus belli system works and how best to game it in its current incarnation (assuming modding it is not appealing).
Both Tries I have sought to approach play is as historical a fashion as possible and with Normal diff and historical computer opponents (there is no such thing as "artificial intelligence" or "A.I." and I refer to such things as "computer opponents" (CO), or "algorithms"). In 2nd Try, I did give China a +1 to strength because Japan steamrollered them in 1st Try.
1st Try: made some non-optimal choices in terms of buildup, organizaton and planning, but most importantly: I did NOT even explore generating cassus belli on Poland until AFTER annexation of Slovenia, ca. mid 1938? If memory serves, I still had ~250 days left to generate "justification" to go to war against Poland in Fall 1939, despite having my military perfectly setup on both east and West.
This was infuriating and it makes me wonder if anyone actually tested the game. Yes, I realize the game MUST have been tested, but did anyone try to just play Germany from 1936 following along with history as closely as possible!?
If so, please tell me exactly when I should start generating the cassus belli to be able to carry out Fall Weiss within one month +/- of when it actually occurred (1 Sept 1939), and likewise, when (and how, in terms of PP martialing) I should start generating for Lux/Neth/Belg/France in order to launch the Fall Gelb in ~ 10 May 1940?
2nd Try: knowing what I now knew about how cb works in the game, I started from scratch and did a better job with optimizing my timing and sequencing on national focii, techs, etc. I figured I would "stockpile" by CB for the Low Countries and started with Lux. I forget the exact date I began "generating" but it finished around about 4 June 1937 and when I was alerted I became aware of the other egregiously bad design: casus belli EXPIRE(!?!?). Even worse, it appears that if they are gained, and not acted upon, then the player's nation takes a morale hit in the form of lost war spirit, lost stability, etc. . . . absolutely ridiculous, at least for a police state like Nazi Germany.
