With respect to the startup settings in which all the alliance members are at war with each other, some possible ideas for a better balance between realism and game play.
I’m thinking of experimenting with TWO slightly different version of the mod:
(1) Allied & non-aligned human player version. This would be identical to the current version, except that
(a) US would NOT be in a locked alliance with anyone,
(b) there would be a mechanisms to insure that the Axis declare war on her almost inevitable by about late 1941 (see below), and several settings to discourage any AI from attacking US, or her attacking any AI (c through i following)
(c) US would have PLENTY of special fortress units right from the start, as well as
(d) exorbitantly high unit maintenance cost because of being a “Federal Republic” government at start, a situation which can be ameliorated with a government that comes available to US from a Tech that cannot possibly be reached until late 1941 (Air 1941?) that has similar unit maintenance to the other Democracies, and allows mobilization
(e) all offensive military units (or at least the early ones) are reset to require a special resource “Arms Race” which requires one of the existing governments to reveal it, copies of this resource are put under key strategic cities, but US cannot “see” the resource until it gets to Tech Air 1941, which allows it to change to one of the existing governments
(f) US is SOLE supplier of strategic resources which are CRITICAL to her allies war-fighting (e.g., rubber and iron?)
(g) allies are sole sources of strategic resources that are critical for US in her buildup to war (see below for details of ideas)
(h) flavors are set to create a lack of animosity b/w US and all non-Axis powers (with possible exceptions of Spain, Sweden, etc.), but high animosity between allied powers and Axis
(i) Aggressiveness set to absolute minimum for all non-Axis powers. There would be a house rule that US CANNOT declare war on ANYONE, ever, but can only fight wars when they are declared on her, and the allied powers can NEVER declare war on US.
(2) Version for Axis Human Player. This would be identical to number (1) above except EXCLUDING sub-items (b), and (c ). This will make US entry into the war a questionable event (as it was right up until Pearl, and Axis declarations in Dec 11), and make Axis strategy in this regard up to the human.
Surtur devised a scheme for using invisible units to create wars.
I turned the invisible flag for submarines off and there was no war for years.
There is also a possibility to make the AI start wars when you want it to. Just create an invisible, immobile unit owned by "South-East-Asia" for example in North Korea. After several turns the China AI will attack this unit and will start the war.
This could be a chance to trigger wars. For example give North Vietnam later in the game the possibility to build invisible scouts with low attack and defense stats. Maybe they will walk in the South Vietnam territory and the AI will then "accidentally" attack that scout and start a vietnam war. I didnt test that but this would be a very interesting idea to trigger wars in scenarios.
http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?p=3092260&highlight=surtur#post3092260
Perhaps this could be used to prompt the entry of the various nations into WWII without starting off with everyone in the locked alliances as they currently are. I've just been reading Calvocoressi's "Total War" and some observations from this (which you guys are probably amply familiar with).
The Axis alliance was pretty much formed up and solid by 1937, so Japan-Italy-Germany-Finland alliance at start is fine. However, Japan also had altered its agreement with Germany so that it would not necessarily be drawn into a war with USSR by the letter of their agreement. I notice that Japan does NOT start out at war with USSR, and that it did not startup for the first 10 or 20 turns so I'm not sure how you worked this out, but you guys seem to have this well in hand.
So, the main issue is US participation in war too early, as well as the problem that, US NOT being in locked alliance could result in US-AI player declaring war on its historical allies prior to war being instigated with the Axis. Ideas for possible solutions:
As we all know, Japan declared war on US in Dec 7 1941, and the Nazis and Italians Dec 11 1941. Basically, to reflect the strategic vagaries of the war in an SP game: If the human is playing USA, it should be the OPTION of the US player to declare war whenever they choose, on whomever they choose, except their allies, aka house rule, and mechanisms to STRONGLY discourage allies from declaring war on US.
The complications come in when the human is playing any other position. Entry of the US into the war should be delayed at least until end of 1941, maybe longer, depending on the vagaries of the game play. I realize that you have tried to more-or-less represent this eventuality by having the US be severely underbuilt as far as land forces, and production capacity for land forces, and indeed this seems to be accurate based on my read of history. Unfortunatley, the US naval and air force holdings at start are ALSO, highly realistic (which BTW, AWESOME job!). The result being that, fierce naval battles between US and Axis in both Atlantic and Pacific ensue in 1939! Not realistic, and indeed unbalancing of the entire US role in the war (whether as human playing US, or human playing others) because this results in two years of naval battles that ultimately decide the outcome of the entire war if human is playing either US, Japan, or Germany. This happens because these nations have the capacity to determine who controls the seas, thus either knocking US out of the war (when human plays Japan or Germany), or giving the US a big early advantage when human played. The typical outcomes most likely being:
(A) when human plays US, he/she wears down the Axis naval presence methodically bw/ 1939 and 1940, resulting in more or less total domination of the Atlantic and Pacific long before the US was actually historically engaged in the war at all. For the Atlantic, this might not be too unrealistic. The Battle of the Atlantic was essentially "over" by late 1940/mid 1941 but in reality, it was the Brits who won this Battle (though true, largely using US machinery and thanks in large part to US provided material and cash). For the Pacific it is unrealistic. The naval situation in the Pacific took a major turning point in 1941 with Pearl, another major turning point in 1942 with Midway and yet more turning points later. But it was by any means a sure thing until probably 1943 (?). In my game as US, I was able to start island hopping in early 1940, when in fact, the first amphib operations of US forces in the Pacific were not until mid to late 1942.
(B) when human player plays Japan, or Germany, the result is essentially the reverse of (A). The human can wear down the US navy to a mere shadow of its actual self, thus knocking the US out of the war before it ever has a chance to get into it.
(C) If the human player plays Italy, Britain, or USSR, etc., then the effect may be more realistic because the human does not have control over the engagements between US navy and her main adversaries, and thus, the AI vs. AI naval engagements simply result in a net stalemate with respect to US naval control. Thus, whether or not the US is knocked out of the war, or not determined by the human exploiting the AIs naval stupidity, and more by whatever random factors regulate AI-vs-AI encounters.
First, to insure that the Axis declare war on US by about late 1941: Use Surtur's "invisible unit" scheme. Give US one size 1 city in Japanese territory that is absolutely surrounded by japan culture, and has virtually nil opportunity to grow because it is totally enclosed by Japan culture. Put enough strong defenders in it that Japan has no hope of taking it out without major weaponry (some sort that becomes available in mid to late 1941 depending on rate of Tech advance). Say for example, 3 Special Fortress and one "Super Special Fortress" (ADM: 0:20:1)?
This bogus US town should probably be a coastal town in China, IIRC, there was from the early 19th century a major US missionary and trade presence in one or more small port towns in China, a US attempt to replicate Britain's Hong Kong, but never really succeeded so smashingly. Make up one additional unit "Expatriate" or something like that, that has ADM: 1:3:1, and is set to "explore" for AI strategy. Do not give it capture or load or anthing else that will allow it to do anything except roam around China causing problems, once it has been built. Make it dependent on a fake resource "Sino-US Mission" that is set under that town, the only one tile on the entire map that has that bogus resource. Make the Expatriate also dependent on a Tech that the US should get in about mid 1940 or thereabouts. It is roughly 120 turns from game start until approximate period of US entry into the war. If this town produces 1 shield per turn, then it won't be able to produce much in the way of culture expanding structures, or units. The only potential problem I foresee is that:
(a) Japan-AI will declare war on US automatically, and annex the town
(b) US-AI will build a ton of infantry in the Sino-American town. However as I recall the cost for infantry is about 100, so this should not be a problem?
One potential solution to (a) is to put one bogus structure in that town ("Mission" that has an exorbitant maintenance cost, but produces no culture. If the town can NEVER produce any culture or grow beyond 1, then it will be razed once the Japanese eventually have the power to take the town, and when they declare war on US and attack it. This would require that all the culture bearing structures be linked to a resource that all tribes have in all their locations, but which is NOT available to the Sino-US town. Not sure if this is possible or not . . .
Here is the ideal outcome: US starts off NOT at war with anyone and not in a Locked Alliance with anyone (more on how to potentially avert problems from this below). She is underdeveloped and has virtually no units to speak of, except her extensive navy, and ample immobile city and border defenders. She has this one city in China that is entirely useless, except that it will eventually allow construction of an "Expatriate" unit that will allow her to get into war with Japan, and thus the entire Axis. Note, surrounding Japanese culture levels might need to be slightly upped to insure that this place does not expand its culture but stays surrounded by Japanese culture (taking over cities by culture expansion is currently turned off right?).
Japan has better things to do than declare war on US, simply to bang its head against tough units to try to capture a useless town with a high maintenance cost structure in it. The Sino-US Mission resource allows _ONLY_ US to build the Expatriate unit, so the town is effectively useless to Japan, and because it has a high maintenance cost, maybe Japn will never attack it, until such time as it poses a tactical threat because US moves air units into it? Once the US gets the Air 1941 Tech, it can build the expatriate unit in the Sino-American town, it starts cranking out these invisible units (the cost only 1 shield) and naturally given what we know about the AI's propensity to roam around, it sends these out to roam around China, Japan bumps into one of these: boom, war between US and Japan starting sometime around 1941. With this annoying rear area town in its Chinese territories held by an opponent, Japan shifts a bunch of its firepower to the area, reduces it to rubble and takes it!
Now, how to deal with the US NOT being in a locked alliance with France, US, and Soviets, a less predictable, and potentially much more problematic issue.
The AI declares war for three reasons: (i) animosity; (ii) perceived threat; (iii) perceived opportunity for gains. Various settings in the game afford an opportunity to tweak these dynamics for those games where the human is not playing the US, including: flavors, governments, trade relations, and starting units.
So, returning to hash out the other details of how to make war between US and her allies as unlikely as possible in the Allied Human Player version but, without locked alliance: (a) US is NOT in a locked alliance with anyone, (b) the invisible unit mechanisms described above to insure that the Axis declare war on her almost inevitable by about late 1941 (see below), and several settings to discourage any AI from attacking US, or her attacking any AI (c through i following):
(c) US would have PLENTY of special fortress units right from the start, say for example, 2 in every coastal city, plus one on every single border tile?
[remember (b) and (c ) are NOT set for the Axis Human Player version].
(d) US starts as a “Federal Republic” which has an exorbitantly high unit maintenance cost and does not reveal the strategic resource “Arms Race,” a situation which can be ameliorated with a government that comes available to US from a Tech that cannot possibly be reached until late 1941 (Air 1941?). This tech makes Democracy available to US, which reveals the “Arms Race” resource under some of US cities, and facilitates her entry into the war offensively;
(e) all offensive military units are reset to require a special resource “Arms Race” which requires one of the existing governments to reveal it (Democracy, Fascism, Communism Monarchy, or Republic), copies of this resource are put under key strategic cities (e.g., Moscow, London, Berlin, Tokyo, Washington, San Franciso, basically all the cities that you have on the list as being house rules for winning). In 1939, US cannot “see” the resource until it gets to Tech Air 1941, which allows it to change to Democracy, get the Arms Race resource and start building offensive units
(f) US is SOLE supplier of strategic resources which are CRITICAL to her allies war-fighting. I have not examined all the editor and the map to see exactly what could be done here, but I’m sure you guys may have immediate ideas. Say for example GB, China, & France have no Iron, or Rubber. They need US to provide these, and low and behold! The US just happens to have 3 extra (maybe 4) of these lying around! This will also prompt the Axis AI to try to do blockades between Washington and allied capitals. This could also create some other interesting wrinkles. The Spanish Civil War was won by the Fascists largely because Brits and French were more lukewarm about supplying the leftists (which were largely commies) than were the Soviets. The result during WWII being that Spain was distinctly neutral throughout the war, being a fascist government that provided iron ore, and ports to Germany, but also did not enter into the fracas against France or GB (esp Gibraltor). I think it should be possible using my scheme to set Spain to be a more strategically complex puzzle, and thus, to ALSO make playing Spain a more interesting puzzle for a human player. Spain should be a Fascism, but Flavored with Soviets. Soviets should supply Spain with something, and Spain should supply Soviets with something they need . . . bit I digress . . .
(g) allies are sole sources of strategic resources that are critical for US in her buildup to war. US needs to build granaries, marketplaces, libraries, temples, cathedrals, factories, offshore platforms, barracks, etc. There are a lot of “bonus resources” in the game that could easily be reset to be strategic, and still provide their “bonuses” just the same. Select 2 or 3 of these which are absent from US at present, make sure EVERYONE except US has at least one of each of these new “Domestic Strategic Resources,” and that GB, France, China each have AT LEAST one extra copy of one of these (all in their most remote territories, and thus, not vulnerable to being captured by Axis), and voila, a state of interdependence is set up between US and her allies. US supplies GB, France, and China with iron and rubber so that they can fight the Axis, they supply her with resources so she can buildup: Specifically (e.g.,) Everyone except US has ONE whale resource. GB has ONE extra whale somewhere in Canada. Whales are required to build Factories, so US had better be buddies with GB (esp since US starts with zero offensive ability, and cannot build offensive until Air 1941. Everyone except US has ONE tropical fruit (or perhaps some other resource that occurs in grasslands, jungles and the like. Tropical Fruit is necessary to build the Manufacturing Plant, and France has one extra Tropical Fruit to provide to US from one of its remote colonial territories that will take the Axis AI many many turns to get to and knock out. Depending on just how reliant you wanted to make the allies, you could alter 3 or 4 or 6 resources to make even more complicated webs of interdependency between US and her allies.
(h) flavors are set to create a lack of animosity b/w US and all non-Axis powers (with possible exceptions of Spain, Sweden, etc.), but high animosity between allied powers and Axis. Actually what could be quite interesting here is if, Axis are Flavor One, Allies and MOST non-aligned nations (e.g., C. Am., Persia, Balkans, Sweden, Norway, Brazil, etc.) are Flavor Two, communist sympathizing nations are Flavor 3 (e.g., USSR, Spain, China), and perhaps even some remainder of wild cards are Flavor 4 else perhaps to represent pro-Fascist movements Flavor One (e.g., Argentina, Turkey, Bolivia)
(i) Aggressiveness set to absolute minimum for all non-Axis powers. There would be a house rule that US CANNOT declare war on ANYONE, ever, but can only fight wars when they are declared on her, and the allied powers can NEVER declare war on US
) posters here are real masters in knowledge.
all the way around the baltic sea, to strike at German held Riga. Now, THAT was quite a slugfest 
So I guess I will continue this game a little bit longer... maybe the Russians will get off their a**** after this.
