DOD2 - 1939 Scenario

From: James Perry (j.perry14@genie.geis.com)

I have devised a scenario that permits a game of DOD2 to begin in S/O 39 (so it is to be used in conjunction with the WiF 1939 two-map campaign game). I did this strictly as an intellectual exercise; I have not playtested it and make no claims that it is balanced (gee, with that attitude I could work for ADG), but simply present it and invite your commentary.

The big dilemma was how to interpret the events of 1936-39 in DOD2 terms so as to arrive at appropriate US entry numbers for each country. I have included my reasoning at the end of this posting; I don't think I missed anything major. It's hard to date gear ups exactly; I just wanted to get GE, JA, IT, CW, and FR to 2 (peacetime max) and US, RU, and CH to 1/2 by S/O 39, and looked at what it said on each country's option 2. Since the exact turn within the year isn't that important, I generally assumed J/F. (Look at the newspaper headlines on each card; they say which years each country geared up, and there must be some reason Harry put them there...)

28.7 World in Flames: 1939-1945 Global War

The World in Flames campaign game commences at the Pipeline Placement Segment of the S/O 1939 game turn. (In the pre-game Political Affairs Phase, GE declared war on Poland, and the CW and FR declared war on GE with a casus belli.) The Fascist initiative marker is placed in the +1 box of the Ideological Initiative display; the Communist and Democracy initiative markers are placed in the central triangle. The Fascists move first, then the Democracies, then the Communists; note that the pre-game declarations of war must be implemented in the first impulse. The weather is clear in all zones, equivalent to rolling a 6 on the weather chart.

Pre-Game Politics:

• The CW guaranteed the Netherlands, Turkey, Rumania, and Greece.
• The CW backed the Poles (CW 7).
• IT left the League of Nations and occupied Albania (IT 8).
• RU purged (RU 6) and Chiang was abducted (RU 8).
• The US passed the Neutrality Act (US 6).
• JA declared limited war on CH (JA 6).
• GE occupied the Rhineland (GE 6), did the Anschluss (GE 7), demanded the Sudetenland (GE 8), occupied the Czech rump (GE 9), demanded the Danzig corridor (GE 10) and created the Waffen SS (GE 12).

The Political Status Display:

• All Major Powers start in the same hexes as in 1936.
• Austria and Czechoslovakia are kaput; remove their counters from play.
• Poland is controlled by the CW; place its counter in Britain.
• Hungary is stacked with Italy.
• Rumania is stacked with Germany.
• Move Turkey 1 hex from the center directly towards Democracy.
• Move Spanish Nationalists 1 hex from the center directly towards Fascism.
• All other minors start in the same hexes as in 1936.

Alliances

• Turkey and Portugal each have one alliance with the CW.
• Yugoslavia has alliances with FR and RU.
• Rumania has alliances with GE and FR.
• Hungary has one alliance with IT and is not in the League of Nations.
• Spanish Nationalists have one alliance with GE.

Place control markers on the initiative track (in positions 1 to 8 respectively): GE, CW, FR, RU, IT, JA, US, CH.

Place PE markers to indicate the following Political Effectiveness:
GE 5, CW 5, RU 4, IT 3, FR 3, US 2, JA 1, CH 1.
Turn the GE and US markers over to -1 for having the lowest and second lowest naval ratios.

Place markers to indicate the following Production Multiples:

• GE, JA, IT, CW, FR: 2
• US, RU, CH: 1/2.

Place money markers as for the 1936 start.

The Political Map:
Place markers to indicate the following MP Alliances and Trade Agreements:

• GE has a level 3 alliance with IT (no trade).
• GE has a level 1 alliance with JA (no trade).
• GE has a level 1 alliance with RU (5 RU oil for 1 GE factory).
• CW has a level 2 alliance with FR (no trade).
• RU has a level 1 alliance with CH (no trade).
• FR has a level 1 alliance with RU and with IT (no trade in either case).

Place markers to show the following:

• JA is receiving 5 oil resources from the US.
• GE is receiving 3 resources from Sweden and 2 resources from Rumania.
• IT is receiving 2 resources from Yugoslavia.

Place Political Control Markers as follows:
(These show the effects of the pre-game declarations of war.)

• Put GE markers as follows: Argentina 1, Baltics -3, Belgium -4, Bulgaria 2, Chile 2, Denmark -1, FInland 3, Hungary 4, Netherlands -2, Norway -2, Rumania -3, Sweden -1, Turkey 2, Yugoslavia -3.
• Put CW markers as follows: Argentina -2, Baltics -2, Belgium -1, Chile 1, Denmark -2, Finland -2, Greece -1, Hungary -2, Ireland -2, Netherlands -3, Norway -2, Persia 1, Portugal 2, Rumania -1, Spain -1, S. Arabia 2, Siam 1, Sweden -2, Turkey -3, Yugoslavia 2
• Put FR markers as follows: Argentina -2, Baltics -2, Belgium -1, Denmark -1, Finland -2, Greece -1, Hungary -2, Iraq 1, Mexico 1, Netherlands -4, Norway - 1, Portugal 1, Rumania -1, Siam -1, Turkey -2, Yugoslavia 3

Gearing limits in the first production phase and the initial set-up are as specified in 28.7.2 and 28.7.3.

US Entry numbers are as follows:

• Germany: 88
• Italy: 52
• Japan: 57
• US: 30
• CW: 70
• France: 24
• China: 9
• Russia: 47

Modified totals (plugging into the formula):

• Germany: 14
• Italy: -4
• Japan: -2

Design Notes

I can't see any compelling reason to move the Major Power markers on the status display, and most of the minors seem like they should be in the same place too. Hungary and Rumania moved closer to the Axis in this period, and the CW signed an alliance with Turkey in M/J 39, so Turkey should be a little closer to the CW. I decided the net effect of the Spanish civil war was to put the Nationalists in the center of the map, and then Spain moved one hex closer to Germany when she joined the Anti-Comintern Pact. There's no way to figure out what the "at start" money should be in 1939, so I decided to keep it the same as 1936. The minor economic agreements are simply to make this consistent with regular 1939 WiF (Germany gets 3 from Sweden, Japan gets 5 from the US, etc).

I interpreted historical events as follows (US entry effects for each country are included in brackets):

J/F 36

IT, GE, JA, and the CW gear up to 1.

RU gears up to 1/5.

[IT +8, GE +11, JA +13, CW +10, RU +12]

M/A 36

GE occupies the Rhineland. [GE +4]

CW concludes treaty with FR (level 1). [CW +17]

(These were the Anglo-French staff talks after the Rhineland was occupied.)

J/A 36

IT coups Spain (Spanish civil war breaks out).

IT backs the rebels; RU backs the government. [IT +3, RU +5]

(RU and IT probably backed each side more than once, but, for simplicity, I'm assuming IPO 7 and IPO 8 were played only once by each.)

S/O 36

IT concludes treaty with GE (level 1). [IT +13]

(Mussolini announced the "Rome-Berlin Axis" in Milan on 1 November, but negotiations had been going on since July, and Ciano and von Neurath signed secret protocols in Berlin on 23 October.)

N/D 36

JA concludes treaty with GE (level 1). [JA +16]

GE backs rebels in Spain (Condor Legion arrives). [GE +3]

Chiang abducted. [RU +10]

(The Anti-Comintern Pact, 25 November 1936.)

J/F 37

FR gears up to 1, US and CH gear up to 1/5. [FR +10, CH +9, US +14]

M/J 37

Russian purges. [RU -4]

US passes Neutrality Act. [US +6]
(nb all US entry effects reduced by 1 from now on.)

J/A 37

JA declares limited war on CH (Peking Bridge Incident). [JA +12]

RU concludes treaty with CH (level 1). [RU +12]

(Few people know about the Sino-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact of 21 August 1937. The Soviets wanted to pin down the Japanese Army in China; the USSR loaned China $50 million to equip 24 divisions, and from 1937-1939 sent China 60,000 tons of ammunition, 885 aircraft, advisors, pilots, etc. But the Flying Tigers got all the press! This aid continued until April 1941, when the Russo-Japanese Neutrality Pact was signed.)

N/D 37

IT leaves the League of Nations.

IT concludes treaty with Germany (level 2). [IT +12]

GE gears up to 2. [GE +10]

(Italy joins the Anti-Comintern Pact, 6 November 1937.)

J/F 38

IT, JA, CW, and FR gear up to 2.

RU gears up to 1/2. [IT +5, JA +9, CW +7, FR +7, RU +8]

M/A 38

Anschluss. [GE +2]

RU guarantees Czechoslovakia. [RU +2]

(And to this day the Russians insist they would have honored it!)

S/O 38

Germany demands Sudetenland. [GE +3]

J/F 39

GE creates Waffen SS. [GE +4]

CW concludes treaty with FR (level 2). [CW +9]

US gears to 1/2. [US +10]

M/A 39

GE occupies Czech rump and demands Danzig corridor. [GE +12]

GE breaks minor alliance with Poland. [GE +9]

GE concludes minor alliance with Spanish Nationalists. [GE +3]

IT occupies Albania. [IT +2]

CW backs Poles and guarantees Greece and Rumania. [CW +12]

(Spain joins Anti-Comintern Pact, 31 March 1939, announced 7 April.)

M/J 39

CW concludes minor alliance with Turkey. [CW +3]

IT concludes treaty with GE (level 3). [IT +9]

J/A 39

GE concludes treaty with RU (level 1). [GE +12]

CW concludes minor alliance with Poland. [CW +4]

(Russia joins the Anti-Comintern Pact!)

S/O 39

GE declares war on Poland. [GE 15]

CW and FR declare war on GE with casus belli. [CW +8, FR +7]

Add +7 to Japan for being at limited war with China since J/A 37.