I have played quite a number of games as A-H in the 1914 scen (ver 1.0 only - haven't tried a game on 1.01 yet) and have something to discuss here:
1. Italy's performances in WW1: It's surprising to see how poor Italy is in the scen. Once I even see only 3 German INF divisions fight through Venice, Milan and reach the western coast without any help from me. The problem is very easy to see: Italians seem to hate French so much that they put close to 20 divs at the French border and neglect the defend of the A-H border. That makes Italy even a easier opponent than the Serbs. I guess that there is something to do with the Italy AI. Same goes for British and American: I only see a handful of their divs on the Western front (even when it's summer 1919 and USA had declared war in 1917).
2. Italy's "Military Defeat": Consider that it always fired after I took Venice, Milan and all the way to Rome (which is basically half or more than half of their country in every aspects), the terms of the peace treaty is so easy for them - compared with the Treaty of Versailles (both against Germany and France): They only lose 1 IC and no resources - and after that, absolutely no partisans. And it's quite ridiculous that while I'm the one who take the main responsibility of fighting Italy, it's always Germany or Ottomans who take their colonies? The choice for peace terms MUST be a A-H decision rather than a German one, and A-H of course must the one who benefits most from Italy defeat.
3. Russia's condition of defeat: In stark contrast to their ally Italy, Russia is almost impossible to beat head-on. The "cycle of dead" events that lead to their defeat only start after I take Moscow in the north, and Sevastopol in the south. It certainly means that there is no way to beat Russia in a human vs. human match - take into account that they have General Mud and General Snow.
4. AI production emphasis: France - for example, focuses too much on production, while neglects to upgrade their divisions. Half of their amy are 19th century divisions – even in 1919. And with the combat system of DH it's a disaster: they lose manpower in a much faster rate than Germany or me - having all up-to-date units.
5. The IC cost of money: I simply think that it's too high. With three 5-level, a 6-level and a 7-level techteam research at the same time, it costs me 4.14 $ - 18.8 IC. So even if I can have 90 available IC (something you will never have playing A-H), it already costs me more than 20% of my production ability just to please my scientists' greed. And that effectively means that I will never be able to make a diplomatic or intelligent move without printing money like toilet paper…
6. There’s another problem with puppets. Once I played a hands-off game with Indochinese Union, and it really surprises me that while I can’t trade at all, it’s still possible to join the Axis after the war began (I remember it has about 25% chance). And after I joined the Axis, the event for Japanese taking over Indochina still fire. I think that you must give Indochinese people more self-determinination. It’s quite strange that such a pretty important country (with 7 IC, about 6-7 infantry/garrison divisions and an strategically important position) can’t do anything to determine their fate.
1. Italy's performances in WW1: It's surprising to see how poor Italy is in the scen. Once I even see only 3 German INF divisions fight through Venice, Milan and reach the western coast without any help from me. The problem is very easy to see: Italians seem to hate French so much that they put close to 20 divs at the French border and neglect the defend of the A-H border. That makes Italy even a easier opponent than the Serbs. I guess that there is something to do with the Italy AI. Same goes for British and American: I only see a handful of their divs on the Western front (even when it's summer 1919 and USA had declared war in 1917).
2. Italy's "Military Defeat": Consider that it always fired after I took Venice, Milan and all the way to Rome (which is basically half or more than half of their country in every aspects), the terms of the peace treaty is so easy for them - compared with the Treaty of Versailles (both against Germany and France): They only lose 1 IC and no resources - and after that, absolutely no partisans. And it's quite ridiculous that while I'm the one who take the main responsibility of fighting Italy, it's always Germany or Ottomans who take their colonies? The choice for peace terms MUST be a A-H decision rather than a German one, and A-H of course must the one who benefits most from Italy defeat.
3. Russia's condition of defeat: In stark contrast to their ally Italy, Russia is almost impossible to beat head-on. The "cycle of dead" events that lead to their defeat only start after I take Moscow in the north, and Sevastopol in the south. It certainly means that there is no way to beat Russia in a human vs. human match - take into account that they have General Mud and General Snow.
4. AI production emphasis: France - for example, focuses too much on production, while neglects to upgrade their divisions. Half of their amy are 19th century divisions – even in 1919. And with the combat system of DH it's a disaster: they lose manpower in a much faster rate than Germany or me - having all up-to-date units.
5. The IC cost of money: I simply think that it's too high. With three 5-level, a 6-level and a 7-level techteam research at the same time, it costs me 4.14 $ - 18.8 IC. So even if I can have 90 available IC (something you will never have playing A-H), it already costs me more than 20% of my production ability just to please my scientists' greed. And that effectively means that I will never be able to make a diplomatic or intelligent move without printing money like toilet paper…
6. There’s another problem with puppets. Once I played a hands-off game with Indochinese Union, and it really surprises me that while I can’t trade at all, it’s still possible to join the Axis after the war began (I remember it has about 25% chance). And after I joined the Axis, the event for Japanese taking over Indochina still fire. I think that you must give Indochinese people more self-determinination. It’s quite strange that such a pretty important country (with 7 IC, about 6-7 infantry/garrison divisions and an strategically important position) can’t do anything to determine their fate.
