First!... "France you could have the ultra-hard alt history "France Stands" path where France fights Germany to a standstill:"Nalikill wrote: ↑Sun Apr 26, 2020 11:12 pm IMO France or Spanish Civil War would be perfect for showing off the "branching campaign" tech: an "allies" and "axis" alt history branch for a Francoist victory and a "comintern" and "allies" (read: France or North Africa) branch for a Republican victory.
France you could have the ultra-hard alt history "France Stands" path where France fights Germany to a standstill, a medium difficulty alt history "Evacuate to Algeria" path, and the historical branching between Vichy and Free france.
Japan / China would set us up perfectly for an eventual Pacific War DLC and cover a little-known and understood front in the war.
The only realistic possibility is if and when the German's had invaded Poland... with all their 'Get-Go!'... and then have only left a weak screening-force stationed on the French/ German border... would such an opportunity have presented itself to severely cripple the German war machine or completely put it out of business.
Alternatively!... there were real ongoing plans to complete the 'Maginot-Line', but due to the reality of 'Insulting' the Belgians... the French decided to stop the 'Maginot-Line' construction in it's tracks... near Sedan. Charles de Gaulle also was in the process of trying to further develop France's armored units with many more tanks and organizing them into something resembling what the Panzer Divisions were to the Germans.
His superiors... the "WWI Vintage cabal"... couldn't and didn't see it his way... and instead wanted such tanks as they had to be evenly dispersed to the infantry divisions for infantry support. The French tanks were superior to the German tanks, but that superiority was negated by the Stuka (Junkers Ju 87 ) Dive Bomber.
Not only that... but the French only had out- dated WWI 'Anti-Tank' guns... and most of them were allocated or deployed to the north to stop the supposed main German invasion coming through Belgium. As well... the French troops in the South near the Ardennes' were mostly made up of hastily recalled reserves as well as fresh conscripts... by no means a seasoned veteran fighting force.
When the German tanks and other heavy battle equipment came thundering out of the forest... the French had nothing realistic to stop them with!. So many of them panicked and ran for the hills. Had the French paid more attention to the development and modernization of their 'Anti-Tank' artillery guns and had made sure to develop them in meaningful quantities... that would have also have made a big difference.
"Japan / China would set us up perfectly for an eventual Pacific War DLC and cover a little-known and understood front in the war:".
Agreed!... not too well understood!.
Not only that, but many games on this subject put too much emphasis on only one sector of this theatre' of operations... such as in the Game... "Strategic Command". There is so much overwhelming pressure from the Chinese... that the Japanese player cannot really 'Not-afford' to not make China a first priority!.
A more balanced Game is needed to fairly and honestly complement both the Land and separately also the Island Campaigns. To make both of them playable together or... even as separate game entities. Until this is accomplished, there is no real satisfaction in playing a 'Pacific Region Campaign'.