BJR Mod - Looking for Play Testers for Potential Updates

[raffo80]

Update package

The above update package contains a change log file that lists the files changed and where they go. As always, please backup before copying over any existing files. This update package is incremental and requires that the original BJR mod be in place.

See first post in this thread for full details of the changes.

Also if I install it will it affect ongoing games that I have or not?

No, with the possible exception of the new Country.class file, which prevents Axis oil from dropping below -1. If both opponents update this file in an ongoing game then you won't have any problem. Personally, I'd recommend everyone update that file to this new one because it corrects what I believe to be a major flaw where the Axis oil would go negative and stay negative for the rest of the game in 1944.

If this concerns you then PM me and I can provide you an alternate approach to all this.

i have been using the new class file with old games during our first game ronnie, and had no problem with old BJR games. so i think both files don't affect old BJR games.
John, i am already playing our game with the new files (and you with old ones) and all is running fine (except the fact germans have big problems).

[Peter Stauffenberg]

I was home sick from work so I was in a cretive mood and made som changes again to the BJR-mod.

I've always felt that Vichy France hasn't been properly dealt with in CeaW. E. g. Vichy France also covered southern France and Axis forces weren't present there until a few days after the Allied launched Operation Torch in November 1942. In CeaW Germany will get all of France when France surrenders. Instead Algeria is created in northern Africa.

I decided to do something about this and changed the name of Algeria to Vichy France. I also flagged the hexes in southern France as Vichy so it's possible to see the demarkation line between occupied France and Vichy France even before France surrenders.

There is no change until France surrenders, but then Vichy France will be created as a neutral power. Before it only happened in northern Africa, but now it also happens in southern France and Corsica. Vichy France will get garrisons in all cities except Casablanca when the Axis or the Allies DoW Vichy France.
This includes new garrisons in Marseilles, Lyons, Vichy and Ajaccio.

I also changed the flag for Vichy France from Algeria to the French flag with Petain's Vichy symbol in the white area.

The introduction of Vichy France also in southern France will benefit the Allies short term and the Axis long term. These are the main reasons.

Will help the Allies:
* Germany will get 4 PP's less per turn from the fall of France till Operation Torch starts due to the production in Southern France is now neutral.

* Germany can't have a broad front line against Spain without first DoW'ing Vichy France. This means it takes more time to prepare for an attack upon Spain. I feel this is historical. Germany can bypass Vichy and attack along a narrow corridor near the the Atlantic coast and combine the attack with a seaborne invasion from Italy.

Will help the Axis:
* Germany will get full production (8 PP's per turn) instead of occupied production (4 PP's per turn) as before from southern France after the Allies invade northern Africa (Operation Torch)

* Germany will get free Vichy garrisons in Ajaccio, Marseilles, Lyons and Vichy when the Allies start operation Torch.

* The Allies can decide to bypass Vichy France to deny Germany the extra income and the free garrisons, but then it will be much more difficult to launch an invasion into Sicily or Sardinia and it's not possible to squeeze Libya from both the east and west. So most Allied players will go for Torch if they decide to get to put pressure on the Axis in the Med

Be aware that any Axis units located within Vichy territory at the time France surrenders will be sent to the production pool just as if the units were purchased the same turn. So a German infantry will arrive as a reinforcement the following turn while a German armor will arrive 3 turns later. So it may be smart to avoid moving into Vichy territory when this happens.

I think the Vichy France change will make the game even more historical and fun to play. Ronnie will make the new changes available and post a message here about where to get them.

[jjdenver]

Sounds like a good change.

One thing that I'm a little worried about w/ the changes are that USSR has been weakened. While I agree that Allies are a little too strong, I think weakening USA/UK was needed more than USSR. Allied invasion of France in 42/43 is too common I think. But I see any determined German invasion of USSR put it on the ropes in '42 and '43 in a big way. I personally don't think Germany could ever have completely conquered USSR and weakening them in the mod update might make it too easy to do just that.

[Peter Stauffenberg]

I don't think USSR has been weakened much. Here are the changes made:

* Industry starts at tech 1 instead of tech 2 (it starts at tech 0 in the vanilla game)
* Armor antitank tech starts at tech 1 instead of tech 2 (as in the vanilla game)
* Some Russian units are placed in the reserve to simulate the Siberian forces released when Stalin knew Japan was going to invade USA and not Russia. These units are therfore not available in 1941, but available from early 1942. This change will only weaken the Russian counterstrike possibilities in 1941, but not later. This is quite historical. From 1942 and later the Russian strength is as high as before the latest changes.
* The gap between tech 1 and tech 3 organization is bigger to simulate the difference between tech 0 (Russian) and tech 3 (German) organization as in the vanilla game. It means Russian units will initially perform worse, but they will close the gap by investing in general labs.
* Russia will have to build a leader when they join the Allies and if they build a good one they can e. g. place the leader near Moscow and have a better chance than before to hold the crucial area.

So I think Russia is only weaker in 1941. From 1942 and beyond they will be a considerable force to be reckoned with. It's only if they decide to defend far too the west that they will have serious problems in 1942.

[pk867]

Hi,
So when can we expect the update? In games that have not reached French surrender
should work except that the map will not update.

Regards,

PK

[jjdenver]

I don't think USSR has been weakened much. Here are the changes made:

* Industry starts at tech 1 instead of tech 2 (it starts at tech 0 in the vanilla game)
* Armor antitank tech starts at tech 1 instead of tech 2 (as in the vanilla game)
* Some Russian units are placed in the reserve to simulate the Siberian forces released when Stalin knew Japan was going to invade USA and not Russia. These units are therfore not available in 1941, but available from early 1942. This change will only weaken the Russian counterstrike possibilities in 1941, but not later. This is quite historical. From 1942 and later the Russian strength is as high as before the latest changes.
* The gap between tech 1 and tech 3 organization is bigger to simulate the difference between tech 0 (Russian) and tech 3 (German) organization as in the vanilla game. It means Russian units will initially perform worse, but they will close the gap by investing in general labs.
* Russia will have to build a leader when they join the Allies and if they build a good one they can e. g. place the leader near Moscow and have a better chance than before to hold the crucial area.

So I think Russia is only weaker in 1941. From 1942 and beyond they will be a considerable force to be reckoned with. It's only if they decide to defend far too the west that they will have serious problems in 1942.

I think the most likely complete conquest of USSR comes from an early 1941 invasion. Taking away the units that they can use to form a double line in Aug 1941 makes it more likely that the Germans will: hurt USSR more in 41, take more cities/PP's in 41, take fewer losses in 41. By weakening USSR in 41 you are not necessary (at least in my opinion) changing the outcome of the avg game nor the course of 43/44.....but rather are merely increasing the chance of that rarer game where USSR can be completely knocked out. Said another way: I don't think you are helping Germany in 43/44 so much as just hurting USSR in 41 which is the main danger area for them being tipped over the edge into conquest (which occurs in '42). An alternative approach might be to move more of the Soviet PP into cities to the west to weaken them in 42/43, weakening their air/armor tech so they have to wait longer to commit air/armor...thus delaying their unstoppable offensive into late 43/early 44 instead of late 42/early 43.

I'm aware that I'm only one voice, and you've done great things w/ the mod - but I would prefer to figure out a way to weaken USSR a little in 43/44/45, and US/UK in 42/43 rather than weaken USSR in 41 when a conquest games tips over the edge into conquest of USSR.

anyway- the mod is the best thing that's happened to this game so kudos.

[Peter Stauffenberg]

I think the most likely complete conquest of USSR comes from an early 1941 invasion. Taking away the units that they can use to form a double line in Aug 1941 makes it more likely that the Germans will: hurt USSR more in 41, take more cities/PP's in 41, take fewer losses in 41. By weakening USSR in 41 you are not necessary (at least in my opinion) changing the outcome of the avg game nor the course of 43/44.....but rather are merely increasing the chance of that rarer game where USSR can be completely knocked out. Said another way: I don't think you are helping Germany in 43/44 so much as just hurting USSR in 41 which is the main danger area for them being tipped over the edge into conquest (which occurs in '42). An alternative approach might be to move more of the Soviet PP into cities to the west to weaken them in 42/43, weakening their air/armor tech so they have to wait longer to commit air/armor...thus delaying their unstoppable offensive into late 43/early 44 instead of late 42/early 43.

I'm aware that I'm only one voice, and you've done great things w/ the mod - but I would prefer to figure out a way to weaken USSR a little in 43/44/45, and US/UK in 42/43 rather than weaken USSR in 41 when a conquest games tips over the edge into conquest of USSR.

anyway- the mod is the best thing that's happened to this game so kudos.

Here you have to remember that the initial Russian forces in the BJR-mod is considerably stronger than in the vanilla game. So the Russians should be even more prone to lose the game in 1941 in the vanilla game. Historically the real Russians were pushed really hard in 1941 and almost lost Moscow and Leningrad. It was poor German strategy in September 1941 (Hitler overruling the advise from his generals etc.) that saved Moscow. So the Germans
should have a CHANCE to capture Moscow and Leningrad in 1941, especially if the Russians defend too far to the west and lose units.

I don't think the Russians really need to form a double defense line everywhere in 1941 to halt the Germans. In the north they can entrench in the forest hexes and only have units in every other hex in the rear to prevent breakthroughs. If the Germans start early in 1941 then you might have to retreat further in the south that you would otherwise, but you have good defense lines near Don (south of Rostov) and Volga. The Germans don't have the troops to cover the entire front line if they move past Rostov.

If Germany invades early then they must have sacrificed something to get ready for a. g. an April Barbarossa. The production budget is so tight so it's not possible to have a strong land and air force as early unless you decided to not build subs or labs. If the Germans did that then they will lose unless the knock out Russia in 1942.

Russia must adapt to the power of the German initial Barbarossa strength and the time the invasion starts. If the Germans invade in force as early as April 1941 then you must form your initial defense line even further east and just abandon Leningrad and Moscow (leaving speed bumps in the area). If you defend these cities and lose a lot of troops then you will suffer in 1942.

Your concern is noted and we will definitely look into that when we playtest the latest changes. I propose you try them out as well and give us feedback to what you find out.

We can easily change the house rule so the Siberian reserves are released from reserve if ONE of the following happens:
1. USA joins the Allies
2. An Axis unit is within 2 hexes of Moscow or Moscow is captured
3. An Axis unit is within 2 hexes of Rostov or Rostov is captured
4. An Axis unit is within 2 hexes of Leningrad (except from the Finnish side) or Leningrad is captured.

Would that help?

[Peter Stauffenberg]

Hi,
So when can we expect the update? In games that have not reached French surrender
should work except that the map will not update.

Regards,

PK

We (the BJR-mod developerers) have decided to playtest the latest changes solo for a day to two to check for undesired side effects.
Right now we're tweaking the value of the Vichy production in southern France. So I think Ronnie will release the updated files implementing Vichy France maybe tomorrow.

In addition we're testing the latest program updates made by Timothy. When the updated class files are bug free then we will release them as well. This is what will be released then.

1. Max 2 air attacks per hex is supervised by the program so it doesn't need to be a house rule anymore. When a hex has been bombarded twice then you won't be able to select it again during the same turn. Next turn it's all reset so you can bombard the hex again twice.

2. If you select a fighter and hit the S key on the keyboard you put it in sentry mode (shown by Zzz across the unit symbol). When a fighter is in sentry mode then it won't intercept regardless of strength. If you want to cancel the sentry mode then you just click on the unit or hit the S key again.

This is a very nice change because now you can finally decide if you don't want to have your fighters lured into intercepting. E. g. the British can decide to
not have their fighters intercepting strategic bombardment of London instead of having to move outside the range. if your fighter is e. g. down to 5 steps and you can't afford to repair it then you can put it in sentry mode to prevent it from being destroyed from an unwanted interception.

3. Strategic bombers attacking resource hexes occupied by fighters will now bombard the resource after air combat. This means we can remove the house rule about not allowing fighters to be placed in resource hexes.

4. Land based fighters can now intercept air attacks upon friendly CV's.

5. Fighters will now not intercept if the oil reserve is negative

[IainMcNeil]

I'm very impressed guys - keep it up!

[pk867]

Hi,
Great stuff! I hope the internal goes well. This is really making the game great!
Regards,

PK

[rkr1958]

I'm just waiting for a thumbs up from our team before I provide you a link to the update. But before then and to wet your appetite below is a list of the changes with respect to the original mod to be introduced by the upcoming update.

I'm really excited about these changes and I'm impressed by the work we're all doing (including those folks who've contributed to this and other related threads); but, I'm especially impressed by Borger, Jim and Timothy. Borger is the master architect behind the mod. He's also the one making the map, scenario and data file changes. Jim is our WWII expert/historian and he really knows his stuff. Timothy is the one making the code changes (i.e., class file updates) to CEaW.

****************************************************************************************************
Change Logs from BJR mod version 1.00 (i.e., the original BJR mod).
****************************************************************************************************
BJR mod ver 1.03. 6-9-2009.

1. Hardcoded. A maximum of two air attacks are allowed per hex per turn per side.

2. Hardcoded. If a Strategic Bomber attacks a resource hex with an air unit present,
the attack is targeted on the resource rather than the air unit. If the opposing air unit is
a fighter, it may intercept per the normal rules and may in turn be intercepted by an escort.

3. Hardcoded. (Land-based) Fighters will now intercept air attacks directed against friendly Carriers.

4. Hardcoded. Fighters on sentry (Ctrl-S) will not intercept. The icon for fighters on sentry will
show a Zzz. A fighter can be taken off of sentry, which will allow it to automatically intercept,
by clicking on it.

5. Hardcoded. Fighters will no longer automatically intercept when oil reaches 0.

6. After the fall of France, Algeria, Southern France and Corsica become Vichy France.
Vichy France is defined as a neutral country and the hexes controlled by France at the start
of the game. So France will have the same income as before.

7. Changed the map so Corsica and southern France are flagged as owned by Vichy France and not
France. This means you can see on the map the division line between occupied France and
Vichy France even before France falls.

8. Changed the flag images of Algeria to Vichy France.

9. Changed the location of the French resources. Moved 1 PP from Marseilles, Lyons and
Toulon (port) to Bordeaux, La Rochelle (port) and Lille. This means only 5 PP's are left in
Vichy France and Germany will lose 2.5 PP's per turn till the start of Torch when they will
gain 2.5 PP's per turn more than they would otherwise.

10. Added Vichy garrisons in Ajaccio, Marseilles, Lyons and Vichy.

11. Upped the German at start PP's from 70 to 90 so they can build theirfirst lab as well
if they decide to build Rundstedt. Or they can buy Heinrici for 85 PP's and get +1 defense
on the unit it's attached to.

12. Increased German starting manpower to 1005 from 858. That is 215 above the threshold just as
before when max manpower was at 858.

13. Updated the proposed Siberia Transfer house rule to:

The eight Russian units that start the game in the northeast map corner near Omsk in Siberia are part
of the Russian defense against Japan and may not be moved until one of the following events occurs:
* USA enters the war
* An Axis land unit is within 2 hexes of Moscow or Moscow is captured.
* An Axis land unit is within 2 hexes of Rostov or Rostov is captured.
* An Axis land unit is within 2 hexes of Leningrad south of the city or Leningrad is captured.
So Axis units in Finland close to Leningrad won’t trigger the release of the Siberian reserve.
These units, which have Siberia in their name, are:

* 1st Siberian tank army, 2nd Siberian tank army (two armor corps)
* 1st Siberian guards army, 2nd Siberian guards army (two motorized corps)
* 3rd Siberian army, 4th Siberian army (two infantry corps)
* 1st Siberian Fighter Corps (one fighter unit)
* 1st Siberian Bomber Corps (one tactical bomber unit)

14. Updated House Rules (draft), Research and Screenshots PDFs.

15. Removed house rules 16a, which restricted basing of fighters in cities or resource hexes.
Change 2 above makes this restriction now unnecessary. Fighters are free to base anywhere now.


Notes on Vichy France

A. If Germany wants to attack Spain on a broad front then they need to first DoW Vichy France and
Capture the hexes in southern France. That means they will only get 2.5 PP's per turn instead of
5 PP's per turn if they wait for the Allied operation Torch.

B. The Allies will now know that Vichy France will usually be neutral until they launch Torch so it's
even possible to try a landing near Marseilles since it will only be defended by garrison
for a turn. But it's very risky in 1942 with so few US units.

C. The Allies can also bypass Vichy France and keep it neutral to deny Germany the extra income,
but then they won't be able to squeeze Libya from 2 sides and it will be very hard to take
Sardinia and Sicily without Corsica and northern Africa.

D. It's very important to know that any Axis units inside Vichy territory
when France surrenders will be sent to the force pool as if the unit was built this turn.
So an infantry unit will arrive next turn while an armor unit will arrive in 3 turns.
So players should be careful about sending units within Vichy territory before the fall of France.
They won't lose the units, but the units must be placed again in a German home city.

****************************************************************************************************
BJR mod ver 1.02. 6-1-2009.

1. Updated Country.class file so it will work with both Java 1.4 or 1.5.
The previous one distributed initially with this update only worked with the newer Java version 1.5
and would cause CEaW to crash on start up under Java 1.4.

2. Reduced the US at start manpower from 61% to 45% so they need 30 turns before they reach 75%.
That means they get 75% manpower in April 1941. That is still early enough to start building naval
units for the November 1941 war entry. But you can't crank out lots of units in 1941 / 1942
without suffering -1 quality loss. Then even the US fighters should fight the German fighters in
even terms except the Germans have better tech.
****************************************************************************************************
BJR mod ver 1.01. 5-31-2009.

1. Increase the German max manpower from 858 to 1058.
At start manpower remains at 858 (81% of max)

2. Change the organization tech increases the following way:
* Tech 1 (+3 instead of +5)
* Tech 2 (+8 instead of +6)
* Tech 3 (+10 instead of +8)
* Tech 4 (+6 instead of +7)
* Tech 5 (+3 instead of +4)
* Tech 6 (+3 as before)

3. Reduce the Russian at start antitank value from 2 to 1.


4. Moved the following Russian units from the locations near Omsk (Siberia)
to the northeast map corner.
* 3 armor units
* 2 corps units
* 1 fighter
* 1 tactical bomber

Add a Siberian reserve that will only be released from the reserve on the turn USA joins the Allies. A message
about the release of the Siberian reserve is added to the USA joins the Allies message.

Siberian reserve in the northeast map corner that can’t move until USA joins the Allies:
* 2 armor units
* 2 motorized units
* 2 corps units
* 1 fighter
* 1 tactical bomber

All these units are named so people can see they’re Siberian.

See new house rule 32.


5. Moved the British motorized unit from Southampton to south of Birmingham,
added a garrison in Southampton.

6. In order to pay for a free leader (i.e., see new house rule 31) changed at start PP's to:
* German 70 PP's (from 20)
* Italy 25 PP's (from 0)
* Britian 70 PP's (from 0)
* France 25 PP’s (from 0)
* USSR 40 PP's (from 0)

7. Move the 1st Canadian corps from adjacent to Halifax to Ottawa.

8. Reduce the US production by 8 by reducing Washington from 16 to 12 and the Eastern USA resource from 10 to 6.

9. Reduce the north atlantic convoy from max 110 to 100. Reduce the south atlantic convoy from max 70 to max 50.
Keep the mid atlantic convoy at max 140.

10. Reduce the at start tech level in industry:
* US industry reduced from 3 to 2
* Russian industry reduced from 2 to 1
* US at start war effort increased from 3 to 4
* Russian at start war effort increased from 3 to 4

11. Added a new Country.class file that prevents oil levels from every dropping below -1.
This prevents the Axis oil levels late in the game for going into and staying negative
for the remainder of the game.

12. The port of Cherbourg has been moved from directly north of the city to the hex southwest of it.
This change helps in the UK defense against Sea Lion and later helps the Axis defense against
"Overlord". We made this change because it was possible for the Axis to land (i.e., unload) a unit
in England the same turn they loaded it (on transport) if the port of Cherbourg was occupied.
With this change this tactic is no longer possible.

13. New House Rule 31. Free Leader.
Germany, Britain and France must build a leader on the first turn of the game (September 1, 1939).
Italy and Russia must build a leader at the first opportunity after they activate (i.e., enter the war).
These leaders may be freely assigned to any unit.

14. New House 32.
The eight Russian units that start the game in the northeast map corner near Omsk in Siberia
are part of the Russian defense against Japan and may not be moved until the USA is at war.
These units, which have Siberia in their name, are:
* 1st Siberian tank army, 2nd Siberian tank army (two armor corps)
* 1st Siberian shock army, 2nd Siberian shock army (two motorized corps)
* 3rd Siberian army, 4th Siberian army (two infantry corps)
* 1st Siberian Fighter Corps (one fighter unit)
* 1st Siberian Bomber Corps (one tactical bomber unit)

[afk_nero]

Just a quick question regarding Vichy France

If America DOW on Vichy are they (Vichy) able to build new units - ie: do they have there own force pool, research etc as France has in the begining of the war?

[rkr1958]

Just a quick question regarding Vichy France

If America DOW on Vichy are they (Vichy) able to build new units - ie: do they have there own force pool, research etc as France has in the begining of the war?

No. They're treated just like any other minor country. However; Germany would be able to repair units.

[Peter Stauffenberg]

No Vichy France can't built any units. They will operate as any minor country without a capital. When the Allies DoW Vichy France then have a garrison in all cites except Casablanca. So Germany will get some free garrisons in cities like Ajaccio (on Corsica), Marseilles, Lyons and Vichy in addition to the garrisons in Tunisia, Algiers and Oran

If Germany decides to DoW Vichy France to have a chance to put German units on the area before the Allies launch operation Torch then the Allies will get all these garrisons.

The biggest impact of introducing Vichy France is that Germany can't now send in 1940 a big invasion force against Spain without first having dealt with Vichy France. Either they invade from the Atlantic coast border (2 hexes wide) and with an amphibious landing from Italy or they will have to DoW Vichy France first and lose the African ports to Britain unless they move from Libya into Tunisia to capture them.

It's possible to make Free France as a major power and e. g. create a country near Senegal in Africa (Dakar as a capital with a port). Free France can e. g. join the Allies from November 1942. They could start the game with one corps the XIX Free French corps, but have production to build new units. E. g. they should get some at start PP's to build a leader (Leclerc or De Gaulle). In September 1944 the Free French forces consisted of 560.000 troops and by the end of the war more than 1 Million troops.

Should I look into the possibility of creating Free France as a major power joining the Allies in November 1942 with Dakar as a capital port and some production near this territory?

[jjdenver]

We can easily change the house rule so the Siberian reserves are released from reserve if ONE of the following happens:
1. USA joins the Allies
2. An Axis unit is within 2 hexes of Moscow or Moscow is captured
3. An Axis unit is within 2 hexes of Rostov or Rostov is captured
4. An Axis unit is within 2 hexes of Leningrad (except from the Finnish side) or Leningrad is captured.

Would that help?

I think it would help.

[jjdenver]

Should I look into the possibility of creating Free France as a major power joining the Allies in November 1942 with Dakar as a capital port and some production near this territory?

Nice idea - would be really cool. I only worry about anything that tilts the game further into Allied favor.

[rkr1958]

Should I look into the possibility of creating Free France as a major power joining the Allies in November 1942 with Dakar as a capital port and some production near this territory?

Nice idea - would be really cool. I only worry about anything that tilts the game further into Allied favor.

November 1942 is late enough that it shouldn't. Torch should be underway and / or Iraqi oil fields lost/secured by then.

Personally I'd think it be cool having Free French units participating in the liberation of Paris.

[rkr1958]

We can easily change the house rule so the Siberian reserves are released from reserve if ONE of the following happens:
1. USA joins the Allies
2. An Axis unit is within 2 hexes of Moscow or Moscow is captured
3. An Axis unit is within 2 hexes of Rostov or Rostov is captured
4. An Axis unit is within 2 hexes of Leningrad (except from the Finnish side) or Leningrad is captured.

Would that help?

I think it would help.

This update was suggested/made specifically to address your concern. So (everyone) please keep up the constructive comments and suggestions.

[afk_nero]

Should I look into the possibility of creating Free France as a major power joining the Allies in November 1942 with Dakar as a capital port and some production near this territory?

Nice idea - would be really cool. I only worry about anything that tilts the game further into Allied favor.

November 1942 is late enough that it shouldn't. Torch should be underway and / or Iraqi oil fields lost/secured by then.

Personally I'd think it be cool having Free French units participating in the liberation of Paris.

I agree it would be cool but then I think this would be somewhat unfair to the Axis allies who should then also be treated as seperate "major powers". The Romanians had a greater impact on the war than the Free French did, although this was mainly felt on the eastern front.

I think that as the Free French where almost totally reliant on the good will of the allies that they should not be given any autonomy unless the same could be said for Axis allies.

[joerock22]

I agree it would be cool but then I think this would be somewhat unfair to the Axis allies who should then also be treated as seperate "major powers". The Romanians had a greater impact on the war than the Free French did, although this was mainly felt on the eastern front.

I think that as the Free French where almost totally reliant on the good will of the allies that they should not be given any autonomy unless the same could be said for Axis allies.

I agree that the Free French don't need to be a major power. What if they were treated as a minor power, like Romania? They would be given a certain number of units when they entered the war and would not be able to build any more, just like the Axis allies. A few Free French units helping the western Allies would be nice to see, but let's not have them be a critical part of the invasion of western Europe.

The other thing that occurred to me is how you would handle amphibious landings. Would the Free French use British landing craft? They probably wouldn't have their own, would they?