France and Little Entente

[camfrlas]

Hi guys, out of sheer boredom at work (and need for good planning) I have a question about my future first campaign.

I want to start in 1936 as France with a historical focus on and try to stay democratic. At first, I want to go down the Government Reform tree because of Little Entente. The whole tree ends with Polish guarantee, so in the end, there should be an alliance of Czechoslovakia, Romania, Yugoslavia and France backing Poland. I guess it should be gameplay-possible to finish this tree before September 1, 1939, to make sense in the war. I have three topics about this scenario I'd like to discuss.

1. How much can we expect Germany to adapt to this? Is it gonna ask for Sudetenland anyway and drag France into the war too soon? Is it gonna go for Poland soon after Anschluss? Is it gonna reconsider and attack someone else? (Who?)

1a. It may have been said before, but how long does it take to go from top to bottom of the tree?

2. What about France - UK relationships? There is a mutually exclusive decision to form Little Entente OR Go with Britain. But if all goes well, we both should end up guaranteeing Poland. So can we expect good relationships but in different alliances? (If all goes well with Germany, I'm not against going for Brittish colonies after that. But we are both democratic. To hell with gameplay limitations.)

3. What alliance would Poland join (if any), should the war started with guarantees from both Allies and Little Entente?

 

[Number 7]

1 - if germany thinks it can still beat you up (especially if you are not in the allies, say UK abandons Czechoslovakia but you dont) it may opt for war. i assume a historical focus would make it even more likely to still demand, but perhaps Germany bides its time and builds its alliance with hungary and italy first.

1a - not sure, short focuses seem to be about 70 days each

2 - if the Little Entente forms a faction then the best you can hope for is the allies and the entente fighting to protect poland. Forming a faction means you would be able to attack the allies later, although i dont know if you'd be able to get a CB on them

3 - being guaranteed doesn't put you in an alliance or faction. Much like how Romania in hungary WWW took a while after the war dec to formally join the allies. Poland would probably join the faction it likes more within a month of the war dec however.

 

[camfrlas]

ad 1 - i understand it's about calculations and estimates when it comes to AI making decisions. with a historical focus, claiming Sudetenland should happen at around October 1938, so there should be enough time to build a faction of your own. there is even path in German tree to go from Anschluss to Reassert Eastern Claims and Danzig or War after that, skipping Czechoslovakia. so it brings back the question how likely it is for AI to alter history and its own goals when facing new circumstances. (i may be bold, but i feel like Germany in 1937-1938 was not ready for the war and would like to avoid big confrontation and later in 1939 Little Entente with UK could protect Poland from Germany and its allies. unless it befriends USSR.)

ad 3 - i wasn't clear enough, i understand guaranteeing does not equal an alliance. what i meant was how does Poland react to the new situation. obviously, it compares military sizes and other numbers, but what about other factors? does (should) UK have the edge because it supported Poland longer in the past? does (should) LE have the edge because they are closer and more suited for help? or rather would Poland chose to stay out of a faction for some time just to keep both options open?

 

[blue_yonder]

This is going to be my first game as well (and my 2nd.. and my 99th..) so I'm as curious as you are. Giving top priority to this branch of the focus tree I think it'll take about 16 months to guarantee Poland (after stopping off to 'strengthen govt.). Once the entente exists, it's moot whether there will ever be an 'allies' unless the low countries are attacked, and for the sake of gameplay if nothing else, the UK might well do a full Chamberlain and let continental Europe get on with it.

 

[zjohn4]

ad 3 - i wasn't clear enough, i understand guaranteeing does not equal an alliance. what i meant was how does Poland react to the new situation. obviously, it compares military sizes and other numbers, but what about other factors? does (should) UK have the edge because it supported Poland longer in the past? does (should) LE have the edge because they are closer and more suited for help? or rather would Poland chose to stay out of a faction for some time just to keep both options open?

Itll probably just choose the country with higher relationship score, but that algorithm isnt released (as far as I know). Poland definitely wont join UK because of anything before 1936 though, if thats what you meant "in the past", except maybe if theres a relationship modifier for "historical friend" which might boost it generically. I do believe Poland WILL choose a faction though, but I cant say for sure. We'll have to test once released, unless dev answers