ways to control allied armies

[gwgardner]

I'm new to playing the game, although I've had it for a few years. I'm playing single-player. I came across the question of directing minor allied armies. In reading past threads that I could find on controlling minors/allied armies, it seems that there are five basic ways:

1) ingame, requesting expeditionary forces;
2) ingame, giving objectives to allies;
3) editing saved game files to create expeditionary forces;
4) using Army Organizer;
5) ingame using the TAG command.

Is that about it? What is the best way you have found, from experience?

 

[sebas379]

I generally just set allied objectives and hope for the best. Sometimes it works like a charm, sometimes it doesn't. It's an AI thing, can't be modded either.
I remember one Romania game I played where I went allies and resisted the SU annexing Besarabia. when they attacked, I held em off with tons or French and British exp. forces.
Ofc, France got steamrolled by Germany and I lasted until Germany DOW'd Yugoslavia, but the expo system worked like a charm, all kinds of allied nations gave me units.

 

[asavery]

I must have missed how to do this. This is something I miss from the original HOI, where you could have multiple country forces under your control. I see where to send expeditionary forces, but not to request expeditionary forces or set allied objectives.

 

[Kagernaut]

Basicaly what Sebas said....I have noticed that the AI seems to prefer to expo units to objectives that are encircled, in small weak minors with Axis borders, etc.

I played a Denmark game where I held Germany at that one province just west of Copenhagen. Was going very well till my MP ran low. I set objectives for all the allies for Copenhagen, and everyone gave me troops. I soon had such a large army that I went and invaded Sweden just for the heck of it, then I invaded Germany. Was a fun time, though completely awkward really.

Had a similar situation with Greece, set an objective for Athens and they flowed in.

I think that game I got the equivalent of about, 2 armies from various allied forces, including even Mexico lol.

 

[Pelican Sam]

Tag command is what I mostly do, but I'm more of a 'roleplayer' type player. It's just the simplest, most sure way I've found to get an expeditionary force.

 

[unmerged(276755)]

The most annoying thing about setting objectives for your allies is when they spam adjacent airfields with their crappy airforces.

As the SU pushing into Germany I once had 14 allied air units on a level 2 or 3 airfield. I still wanted their ground forces (Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria and the like) to help occupy Germany's southern flank, but I really could have done without all those useless aircraft overwhelming the repair/reorg function of the airfield.

Does anyone have a good workaround for that?

(Apologies for going slight OT)