Influence nation does not work

[Noble]

Hey,

I'm playing as UK (TFH 4.02) and I've tried "influence nation" on Brazil and Portugal, but neither of them drift towards allies. I should be pulling them towards allies but they keep "drifting towards axis by value of 1.50...". It still consumes my diplomatic points but nothing happens. Thoughts? Does it matter what their political organization or political leaders' party is? AFAIK it shouldn't matter...

 

[Kovax]

Each country has a natural drift due to ideology. They also have a drift due to Relations. Direct influence has to work against those other factors, and for some countries, it's difficult to draw them in unless you use Trade and other tools to counter their natural drift away from you. Hover over their icon on the Diplomatic Triangle and it should show you what factors are working for and against you. Once you pass wartime laws, your effective IC will increase, boosting your Influence as well. GER starts with more aggressive laws and a lot more "effective" IC, so their influence is difficult to counter in the early part of the game.

 

[Didz]

I'm using the Influence Button quite a lot in my Soviet Campaign, and it seems to be working as expected. However, it's not an auto-win button in that it only adds a bit more to the drift towards your faction. How much seems to depend on other factors, and you need to look at the detailed breakdown of the drift to determine exactly how much benefit you are getting from your influence and what other factors are helping or hindering.

As an example: I began influencing Turkey to join the Comintern in 1936, but they continued to drift towards the AXIS, although I did slow this drift down by my influence. Part of the problem was their government which wasn't interested in Socialism, and part of it was the low popularity of their socialist parties (3%). So, I started a 'Support Our Party' mission to boost the popuarity of Socialism in Turkey. I also sent an Increase Threat Mission to Germany to begin circulating propaganda about how nasty Fascism and the Axis was. As a result interest in Socialism in Turkey has risen from 3% to nearly 12% and Turkey now considers the Comintern to be a convenient protector against the threat from the AXIS and ALLIES. it is now 1938 and they are now drifting towards the COMINTERN and have been since early 1937.

I did the same thing with Persia, Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia and they were all drifting towards the Comintern until May 1938, when Germany suddenly decided it was going to counter my influence with its own. That was enough to cause the drift to go back towards the AXIS again. So, I have to decide now whether to keep the pressure on or save my Leadership and let the Axis have them..

 

[Noble]

Before influencing:
http://prntscr.com/9z0u3e


After influencing
http://prntscr.com/9z0utr

Ok, I see a small change in the numbers, but why doesn't the drift change even a little? The year is 1936.

 

[Didz]

Well you've added 1.28 to the drift towards Allied, but as the net Axis drift is 1.50 it's just not enough to change the predicted end result. Basically there is a net drift of 0.20 towards the Axis, and thats entirely due to the similarity in ideology. To claw back that final 0.20 drift you would have to do something to alter Brazil's ideology. So, something like a Support Our Party mission for your agents might help.

 

[Noble]

Thank you very much. You've been helpful.

 

[Kovax]

Making 3 or 4 trade deals could also be enough to tip the balance in your favor, thanks to improved Relations.

 

[Didz]

Making 3 or 4 trade deals could also be enough to tip the balance in your favor, thanks to improved Relations.

Yep! if you're micro-managing your trade that might work. Personally I can't be bothered, but there are advantages in doing so.