On South East Asia's future

[Torma25]

In Waking the Tiger the Philippines, Malaya, Indonesia and Thailand all got some favour decisions. And I love that! Especially the addition of Chromium and Steel in the Philippines. Does this mean some, or all of these countries can get their own unique focus trees in the future? If yes, I have a couple of suggestions:

These countries aren't played much by players, and in general, not exetremely important in the war, other than their relations to Japan. So I think their focus trees should reflect this. First of all, their focus trees shouldn't be very big. They don't need as much alt-history stuff as countires like DoD and TfW countries, who got multiple pretty large branches in their unique trees. Just a relatively small industry path (like the one the warolds get) and simiarly sized army/navy/airforce branches.
And their political branches should be simpler as well.
The puppet countries have three (two and a half rather) options: Stay loyal to your overlord and get help from them (fortifications, factories, research bonuses, tech sharing) and gain more and more autonomy to break free, preferably after the war (both Indonesia and the Philippines became independent during the aftermath the war). Or, you fight for your independence (civil war) and either bend to the Japanese to save yourself, or try to take them on by yourself (Japan gets individual wargoals against all these countries in WtT).
For Thailand, it could be more immersive, since they're actually a sovereign nation. One of the paths (the historical one) should be about Plaek Phibunsongkhram's takeover, their claims against France in indochina, and the initial border conflicts that resulted in territorial gains, and finally their alliance with Japan and their role in the Burma campaing. The other path could be a return to the absolute monarchy, geving you more cores that the historical tree, but no alliance with Japan. They could even have a democratic path, where the join the allies and get ecomic aid from them. This way they don't get cores or wargoals however.

 

[Liquid Ghost]

While I'd love to see FIC (French Indochina) show up and a Siam NF tree released, all of that should go to the back of the line in favor of other countries.

 

[Torma25]

While I'd love to see FIC (French Indochina) show up and a Siam NF tree released, all of that should go to the back of the line in favor of other countries.

Don't get me wrong, I don't think this is a priority. That'd be USSR/USA update or a mediterranean pack, with focus trees for Greece, Turkey, Spain and Italy and of course a naval update.

 

[SeekTruthFromFx]

Although I think it's some way down the line (please, please, please prioritize the naval update, which doesn't fit well here), there is acres of material for an exciting South East Asia DLC in a couple of years. The book to read on the British territories is Bayly & Harper, Forgotten Armies: Britain's Asian Empire and the War with Japan. Here are a few suggestions that spring to mind from that book:
- As @Meglok has been arguing in another thread, Singapore should become a separate state that's a British (tag ENG) state, allowing the UK to build radar and airfields, as it did IRL
- Thailand should definitely have an alt-history where they join the Allies, as OP suggested
- British Malaya should have multiple alt-history routes to independence: a civil war that allows the Malayan Communist Party to join the Comintern if successful (which is what very nearly happened in the 1950s), perhaps with cores on Singapore and south Borneo; an agreed independence under the Malay sultans that leaves it teetering between non-aligned and democratic (roughly what happened in real life); an alliance between British plantation owners and Chinese businesspeople that results in a Rhodesian-style UDI with a core on Singapore and a strong desire to join whichever faction the KMT (tag CHI) is in
- All those options should be tied in to decisions for the big two Chinese states, UK and Japan which allow them to back one faction on the other, but with various options for covert and overt support. E.g. Tokyo could covertly support the sultans against London; if Malaya is occupied by Japan, then London could choose whether to back resistance movements linked to the KMT, the MCP or the sultans.
- Similar paths would work for the Netherlands East Indies, but there might be interesting interactions with a fascist Netherlands, which might get decisions/focuses to try and delay Indonesian independence even more aggressively than IRL.
- Burma should obviously be separated from India in 1937. The British administration should have to choose between respecting Buddhist sensitivities around the Schwedagon Pagoda or cracking down on Buddhist monks. They were both nationalist and radical nationalist factions, so there could be slow or fast paths to independence, and there might be potential for outside powers to stir the pot of ethnic rebellion. And an independent India might feel the need to intervene to protect the rights of Indian immigrants in the country.

And of course Vietnam is a very interesting nest of intrigue with potential for involvement by multiple outside powers. South East Asia ought to be a really interesting place to play as a minor, even as a colony or integrated colony.

 

[Daelyn75]

Personally, I think any and all events, RPing stuff, flavor, and cultural things are welcome for all the nations in the game. I think it really adds to it. I would think working on the most played nations first and then fleshing everything else out is the smart way to do it.

Eventually every area of the world may get this.