I've slowly been working my way through the content of BFTB and intend on doing a thorough review of all of it at some point, but there's quite a lot to get through so it will take some time to play through it all. There is one piece of content I haven't seen any mention or discussion of here on the forums yet and I was wondering what everyone else thought of it.
I am referring to Greece's monarchist path in the focus tree; which is to say, the monarchist path proper where King George takes direct control of the country, not the historical Metaxist path. For the most part, the monarchist path shares most of the same focuses with the Metaxist path, you can "Use the military" to stay non-aligned and join the Allies, but you do not have the option of pivoting to fascism. Additionally, you do not have the ability to take any of the focuses relating to the "Third Hellenic Civilization" and Metaxism.
In terms of unique content beyond the civil war and event chain leading up to it, the Monarchist path really only offers you an option to join the Central Powers, which is irrelevant in 99.9% of games unless you're using custom rules or playing MP.
I think I would have liked to have seen this route fleshed out a bit more. The way I see it, it is mostly a roleplaying option, but none the less it would have been nice for it to have received a bit more content.
The second thing that I think bears discussion is the balance. As mentioned, the monarchist path shares most of its focuses with the Metaxist one, so which is actually better?
Taking the Right to Rule instantly hits you with a 15% stability hit, and gives you 120 political power while putting you on the path to civil war. It also dissolves your debt to the Italians and French, reducing the consumer goods penalty from the ICF debt from a whopping 15% to a mere 5%. The event chain leading up to the civil war also hits you with additional penalties, including -5% to war support, -15% stability, -75 political power, and -1k infantry equipment removed from your stocks. Then there's the fact that you lose half your army and are plunged into the civil war.
King George himself provides some bonuses, but they are nothing Earth shaking or anything that would particularly incentivize you into taking this path versus sticking with Metaxas.
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So how does it all stack together in the broader picture? I don't think the benefits of the monarchist path stack favorably, even though you can instantly eliminate 2/3 of your debt. It's also worth mentioning that if you take the focus to ask the British for aid during the civil war, you lose the Schachtplan and it's -10% consumer goods bonus. On that subject, I also have never once seen Britain not reject this request for aid. I have played through the civil war about half a dozen times. I was able to get the Hellenic Civility achievement on my first attempt at it, but I did subsequent runs to see if I could optimize how quickly I could win it. I am curious to see if anyone else has had a different experience with this request for British Aid.
Additionally, it's worth mentioning here that even attempting to ask Britain for aid causes you to lose the Schachtplan and its -10% consumer goods bonus. Given that Britain seems to deny virtually every request for aid, it seems like it's not something you ever want to attempt to do until this is changed in an update.
RNG failures relating to foreign aid seem to be a recurring trend with the Greek content.
The hefty penalties to PP, stab, and war support, and the fact that you have to fight a Civil War all bring you out much weaker than if you had stuck with Metaxas. Additionally, the fact that you lose out on the Hellenic Third Civilization focuses also weakens you considerably in the long run. Those focuses bring you a permanent -5% consumer goods bonus and 15% recruitable population factor.
Despite this critique, I actually do like this option. I am glad it's in the game and think it's a fun choice from a roleplaying perspective even if I do think it could have been fleshed out with a bit more content and perhaps made a bit more powerful. I see this as a bit of bonus content. It didn't need to be in the game for Greece to be fully fleshed out, but it is a welcome addition that just gives you more options.
I'd like to see what the rest of you think about this part of the focus tree.
I am referring to Greece's monarchist path in the focus tree; which is to say, the monarchist path proper where King George takes direct control of the country, not the historical Metaxist path. For the most part, the monarchist path shares most of the same focuses with the Metaxist path, you can "Use the military" to stay non-aligned and join the Allies, but you do not have the option of pivoting to fascism. Additionally, you do not have the ability to take any of the focuses relating to the "Third Hellenic Civilization" and Metaxism.
In terms of unique content beyond the civil war and event chain leading up to it, the Monarchist path really only offers you an option to join the Central Powers, which is irrelevant in 99.9% of games unless you're using custom rules or playing MP.
I think I would have liked to have seen this route fleshed out a bit more. The way I see it, it is mostly a roleplaying option, but none the less it would have been nice for it to have received a bit more content.
The second thing that I think bears discussion is the balance. As mentioned, the monarchist path shares most of its focuses with the Metaxist one, so which is actually better?
Taking the Right to Rule instantly hits you with a 15% stability hit, and gives you 120 political power while putting you on the path to civil war. It also dissolves your debt to the Italians and French, reducing the consumer goods penalty from the ICF debt from a whopping 15% to a mere 5%. The event chain leading up to the civil war also hits you with additional penalties, including -5% to war support, -15% stability, -75 political power, and -1k infantry equipment removed from your stocks. Then there's the fact that you lose half your army and are plunged into the civil war.
King George himself provides some bonuses, but they are nothing Earth shaking or anything that would particularly incentivize you into taking this path versus sticking with Metaxas.
So how does it all stack together in the broader picture? I don't think the benefits of the monarchist path stack favorably, even though you can instantly eliminate 2/3 of your debt. It's also worth mentioning that if you take the focus to ask the British for aid during the civil war, you lose the Schachtplan and it's -10% consumer goods bonus. On that subject, I also have never once seen Britain not reject this request for aid. I have played through the civil war about half a dozen times. I was able to get the Hellenic Civility achievement on my first attempt at it, but I did subsequent runs to see if I could optimize how quickly I could win it. I am curious to see if anyone else has had a different experience with this request for British Aid.
Additionally, it's worth mentioning here that even attempting to ask Britain for aid causes you to lose the Schachtplan and its -10% consumer goods bonus. Given that Britain seems to deny virtually every request for aid, it seems like it's not something you ever want to attempt to do until this is changed in an update.
RNG failures relating to foreign aid seem to be a recurring trend with the Greek content.
The hefty penalties to PP, stab, and war support, and the fact that you have to fight a Civil War all bring you out much weaker than if you had stuck with Metaxas. Additionally, the fact that you lose out on the Hellenic Third Civilization focuses also weakens you considerably in the long run. Those focuses bring you a permanent -5% consumer goods bonus and 15% recruitable population factor.
Despite this critique, I actually do like this option. I am glad it's in the game and think it's a fun choice from a roleplaying perspective even if I do think it could have been fleshed out with a bit more content and perhaps made a bit more powerful. I see this as a bit of bonus content. It didn't need to be in the game for Greece to be fully fleshed out, but it is a welcome addition that just gives you more options.
I'd like to see what the rest of you think about this part of the focus tree.
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