Secondly, having played around with the game a bit, I've got some ideas for improving the game that I hope might be taken into consideration:
- 1. Like a lot of people, I've managed to work out how to ensure an early victory for either side, I've taken to declaring war on Spain/the Netherlands (a reverse Schlieffen plan is a beauty to behold) in order to even things up a bit and add an extra theatre to the war. This makes for a decent alt-history challenge, and I'd like to see some way of making the game throw up these kinds of challenges without having to rig it myself. This could be done through the use of diplomatic influence points given for each friendly capital held to bring some countries - but not ultra-neutral countries like Switzerland - into your alliance or something. This would greatly add to re-play value.
2. Reduce the home port bonus range. ATM it's possible for the Austrians, for example, to dominate the Adriatic based simply on holding Split. Really, if this bonus is just a reflection of the advantages given by being able to lay minefields around home ports and so-forth, it should only be 1 hex.
3. Make air units sea-transportable. American air units should arrive in Europe.
4. Great Britain should send support to the Spanish if they are at war with Germany after a German conquest of France, but currently doesn't.
5. Great Britain shouldn't pile up so many units in Egypt - ATM there are so many it can't even move the artillery close enough to the Turkish lines in Sinai.
6. Independence events for at least Ireland, Poland, and the Ukraine, similar to that for Finland - however these states should not be neutral but should align with the Central powers.
7. The game ends too early - it should run until the start of 1920 at least, and preferably until the start of 1921. As it is there isn't time to research e.g. railway guns from a 1914 game-start, or enough time to invade the USA after conquering Spain and the UK.
8. Ports should give full supply to units belonging to the port-owner. As it is amphibious operations in areas without capital cities (e.g., North Africa, Ireland, any of the smaller islands) suffer from half supply.
9. Railway guns should be easier to research - like I said, from a 1914 game start with one research lab for artillery you should have them by 1918 but ATM you don't.
10. Consider making Canada a separate country - yes it had dominion status and not full independence, and the Canadian corps fought under British command, but it just feels wrong to have the British flag flying over Ottawa at that time.
