Changing Nations in an Alliance

[Akmatov]

Browsing the Editor and the manual and seem to be missing something.

In an existing scenario, how would I change which nations are members of an alliance?

I am looking at a 1980s Gulf scenario and it has Syria and Iraq as allies of Iran. Syria,OK both are Baath Party states, but certainly not Iraq. I just want to make Iraq neutral unless attacked. Later I might investigate events and how Iraq could join in on one side or the other, but for the moment I is both difficult and irrational to have to fight Iraq and Iran as allies in this time frame.

Any pointers would be appreciated.

[Curtis Lemay]

ORIGINAL: Akmatov

Browsing the Editor and the manual and seem to be missing something.

In an existing scenario, how would I change which nations are members of an alliance?

I am looking at a 1980s Gulf scenario and it has Syria and Iraq as allies of Iran. Syria,OK both are Baath Party states, but certainly not Iraq. I just want to make Iraq neutral unless attacked. Later I might investigate events and how Iraq could join in on one side or the other, but for the moment I is both difficult and irrational to have to fight Iraq and Iran as allies in this time frame.

Any pointers would be appreciated.

You would have to create twin copies of Iraq's forces - one copy on each side. Cover Iraq with an exclusion zone. Either side would have to excercise a Theater Option to attack Iraq. If so optioned, events would remove the exclusion zone and the appropriate copy of the Iraqi forces would arrive on the map as reinforcements - use the event-triggered option. You would also have to initially set all the Iraqi hexes to one side or the other. If it turns out that Iraq joins the opposite side, then you would have to toggle ownership of all those Iraqi hexes - that could take a lot of events, depending on the hex scale. You would also need to use events to place the appropriate supply points in Iraqi cities as needed. Note that Iraqi replacements would best be provided via disbandments of dummy units rather than trying to adjust either side's replacement tracks. That will take more events. Then there's the issue of the VP locations in Iraq. The initial owning side should have their value deducted by event award to the other side. But it Iraq joins the other side, that will have to be double reversed.

In case you're wondering, no, TOAW is not designed to handle this.

[Akmatov]

Wow!

So, if I understand you correctly, TOAW is not really designed to support having a nation neutral unless attacked. So for the games that cover say the entirety of WW2 in Europe, the scenario author has probably had to perform this double task for neutral nations like Switzerland and Sweden? Why make things easy, right?

[Curtis Lemay]

ORIGINAL: Akmatov

Wow!

So, if I understand you correctly, TOAW is not really designed to support having a nation neutral unless attacked. So for the games that cover say the entirety of WW2 in Europe, the scenario author has probably had to perform this double task for neutral nations like Switzerland and Sweden? Why make things easy, right?

Not to have a neutral join either side. It can be neutral with an option of joining only one side quite easily, though. That's usually all that's needed. But it is humanly possible to do the other, though - as I explained.