How unsupplied units will be handled?

[vypuero]

One thing I liked in 3R was that Russia was in play earlier in the game but limited. For instance, your forces could advance into Eastern Poland, The Baltic States, and also Karelia and Bessarabia - but optionally - and that would affect diplomacy as well. Even with a simplified diplomacy model, it would be nice to have some early small battles along the border for Russia. I know that there was little fighting in Poland, but perhaps some, but the Finns put up stiff resistance. I can't recall if historically the Rumanians fought, I think they did not, nor did the Baltics. In any case, it may be more interesting than simply freezing them in place. There could be advantages and disadvantages to both - advantage could be more production and the additional border - disadvantage could be that the neutral nation gets into the war earlier. Finland could stay neutral if they had not been attacked, Rumania probably not but perhaps they activate later. I assume the various allies - Hungary, Rumania, Bulgaria, Finland, activate upon a DoW on Russia? When can Russia make a DoW on Germany if the Germans do not? I would say 1942 would fit. These could all also influence when USA enters the war. Even without a full diplomacy system, you can easily adjust a few variables to make the game interesting.

[SMK-at-work]

According to Wiki the average temperature at Moscosw in Winter is about -12 deg C (10 deg F).

But 1941 was the only severely cold winter in WW2 - with temperatures reported from -20C to -50C

[firepowerjohan]

According to Wiki the average temperature at Moscosw in Winter is about -12 deg C (10 deg F).

But 1941 was the only severely cold winter in WW2 - with temperatures reported from -20C to -50C

Ok, but what was the average temp in 1941?

[honvedseg]

As to the temperature in the winter of '41-'42, I've read that it was the 2nd coldest on record, the first being the winter when Napoleon invaded Russia. Somebody upstairs apparently likes the Russians.

As for minor powers entering the war, Hungary became much indebted to Germany for the return of a sizable portion of its original land, of which roughly 50% had been stripped by the allies after WWI (pieces of which went to create part of Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia, with other sections given to Romania, and even a sliver to Austria). This return of Hungarian land by Germany even went so far as to include some of the Transylvanian territory which had been given up to Romania, who were obviously less than enthusiastic about losing the region. Since the Romanians had invaded Hungary immediately after WWI, while Hungary was officially disarmed, the Hungarians were still wary of them and placed most of their troops along their Romanian border all throughout WWII, even though they were technically allied with them. Also, after an encounter in the 1850's where the Austrian Emperor appealed to his Czar cousin to bring in Russian troops to put down an attempted Hungarian revolt, the Hungarians had no love for the Russians. Further, an incident allegedly involving a lone Russian-design aircraft attacking a civilian Hungarian train led to heightened tensions between the countries. Germany's insistence on Hungarian participation in the war, and the implied threat demonstrated by the rapid German occupations of Czechoslavakia, Yugoslavia, and Poland, left the Hungarians sharply divided in their opinions, but with little choice but to declare war on Russia. It spent much of the war trying to find a way out, but Allied insistence on "Unconditional Surrender" made that essentially impossible, especially since they were informed that their surrender must be made to the Russians rather than to the British and Americans.

The Soviet Union invaded both Poland and Finland in the years between the World Wars, and in the areas it held, committed a series of retaliatory killings of former Polish officers who had fought against it. Neither country was likely to forgive or forget the incident.

[SMK-at-work]

According to Wiki the average temperature at Moscosw in Winter is about -12 deg C (10 deg F).

But 1941 was the only severely cold winter in WW2 - with temperatures reported from -20C to -50C

Ok, but what was the average temp in 1941?

Depends who you read.

Eg from http://www-cgsc.army.mil/carl/resources ... CHEW.asp#3

Although there is general agreement concerning weather conditions on the Russian front through October 1941, there are many conflicting versions of the severity of temperatures during the weeks and months that followed. For example, Field Marshal von Bock, commander of Army Group Center, recorded in his war diary on 5 November 1941 that the mercury dipped to -29?°C (-20?°F),4 and Albert Seaton reported that around 24 November it was a steady -30?°C (-22?°F).5 In contrast, Marshal Zhukov, then responsible for defending the approaches to Moscow, stated that during the November general offensive the temperature on the Moscow front remained stable at -7?° to -10?°C (+19?° to +14?°F).6 In a work specifically refuting German accounts, another Soviet spokesman cites the Meteorological Service records of the minimum temperatures for the Moscow area in late 1941: October, -8.2?°C (about +17?°F); November, -17.3?°C (+1?°F); December, -28.8?°C (-20?°F).7 There were also many reports of temperatures as low as -40?° during that exceptionally cold winter,9 and at least one report of -53?°C (-63?°F).9

I recommend reading the whole article - it goes into some depth about the effects of the temperature on both sides.