I have played a lot of the twenty-five player historical map, and I think that it is a lot of fun to play. I also think that it could be a lot better if a few things were changed.
A. Offline Players
I find that a lot of games start out with people picking all of the powerful countries (Germany, Britain, Russia, the US, etc.), and people also pick up some of the weaker countries (Yugoslavia, Mongolia, Iran, etc.). Often, however, the smaller players stop playing, the larger countries fight, and eventually everyone goes offline. Part of it is that the small countries start out weak, and people want to have lots of armies starting out.This is unfortunate because the smaller countries are not that bad if you take the time to play them. Their economies are very underdeveloped, but if they are properly managed they can build up reserves of resources and allow the production of large armies. This can't really be fixed because this is caused by the players. The second part of the problem is the lack of compelling gameplay for some countries. If you are not in Europe and to a lesser extent East Asia, it is much harder to enjoy the game due to the lack of proximity to other countries. For example, if you play as Australia, you can build up and expand, but due to your distance from other players that takes a while. An easy fix to this would be to add a few countries in a few regions:
1. South America
I find that one or both of the South American countries (Brazil and Argentina) usually goes offline fairly quickly because they don't really have much to do in the short term. Venezuela and Columbia, and possibly even Peru or Bolivia, should be made playable so that South America will be a more important continent. This would give all of those countries, plus Mexico, a fight to look forward to. It also would make whatever country or group of countries gains control of South and Latin America a world power. If all of those countries fought for twenty-five days, whoever emerged would have access to a lot of resources and advanced units, which makes them a force to be reckoned with on the world stage.
2. The Middle East
Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and British Egypt should all be playable countries. Right now, only two countries really have a presence in the Middle East, Turkey and Iran. Turkey usually focuses on Europe, and Iran is usually offline due to its poor economy. Some world powers occasionally get involved, but often these countries remain untouched for the whole game. If these countries were added, there would be a conflict over the Middle East and add a lot more to this region. If they were added they would require some changes to their economies because right now they don't have enough resources to support a player.
Tibet should be removed as a country because it is fairly pointless. It also might be interesting to see Belgium, the Netherlands, and Portugal as playable countries due to their colonies. They would need some resource increases, but it would be interesting nonetheless.
To do this, the number of players should be increased to 30.
B. Removing Add Target for Land Units
On two separate occasions, I have seen Moscow get taken over by an armored car. The Russian army wasn't defeated, but someone sent it overnight and took it over. Supply lines aren't a mechanic in this game, but in real life you couldn't send an army to march across Russia without stopping at all. Add target should be removed on this map so that fights would require more strategy and diplomacy. It also would make strategic bombers and economies more valuable. This also would allow for more compelling gameplay because it would allow foreign countries to intervene. If Germany and Russia were fighting a massive war, countries like Britain or China would have time to send reinforcements.
C. Giving Everyone Fire Control on this Map/Sea Territories
Fire control is when you can order specific ships to attack certain countries. The reason is that on the world map, navies become very important, and fire control allows countries to defend certain areas of sea. I've seen Britain get taken over by countries sending ships over the English Channel during peacetime. I've also seen players send convoys straight to Japan and take it over because the Japanese navy was spread out. In real life, this couldn't happen because of fuel constraints. Either everyone should get fire control so they can defend their coasts without having to be checking the game constantly. Another solution would be to make coastlines and specific seas under the control of certain countries. Every country's coastline would be considered their territory and anyone entering it without right of transit/shared map. Right of transit would be allowing a certain players to cross your waters. Major waterways would also be part of this. For example, the Suez Canal or the South China Sea can be controlled by certain countries. Areas with very few islands (i.e. the middle of the Indian Ocean or the North Atlantic) would be international waters. Places with lots of islands like the Western Pacific or the GIUK gap would be controllable. This would encourage island hopping and make naval combat better. Submarines would be able to travel through territorial waters undetected. It would be interesting if each level of submarine had better concealment, and each level of units that are adept at fighting submarines (Destroyers, Naval Bombers, and Submarines) had better detection. A nuclear submarine might be undetectable by all but the highest level naval bombers, destroyers, and maybe other nuclear submarines, while low level submarines are easier to detect.
D. Airplane Ranges
This one applies to all maps, but is especially important to this map. Airplanes currently have a circle that defines their range. This makes sense if the planes are sent to bomb a unit and then return to base, but if you are sending them to another base then their range should be doubled because they don't have to return to where you sent them, it's a one way trip. If this is added, it would make aircraft carriers much more useful for crossing oceans. It also would be nice if allies could use each others aircraft carriers.
A. Offline Players
I find that a lot of games start out with people picking all of the powerful countries (Germany, Britain, Russia, the US, etc.), and people also pick up some of the weaker countries (Yugoslavia, Mongolia, Iran, etc.). Often, however, the smaller players stop playing, the larger countries fight, and eventually everyone goes offline. Part of it is that the small countries start out weak, and people want to have lots of armies starting out.This is unfortunate because the smaller countries are not that bad if you take the time to play them. Their economies are very underdeveloped, but if they are properly managed they can build up reserves of resources and allow the production of large armies. This can't really be fixed because this is caused by the players. The second part of the problem is the lack of compelling gameplay for some countries. If you are not in Europe and to a lesser extent East Asia, it is much harder to enjoy the game due to the lack of proximity to other countries. For example, if you play as Australia, you can build up and expand, but due to your distance from other players that takes a while. An easy fix to this would be to add a few countries in a few regions:
1. South America
I find that one or both of the South American countries (Brazil and Argentina) usually goes offline fairly quickly because they don't really have much to do in the short term. Venezuela and Columbia, and possibly even Peru or Bolivia, should be made playable so that South America will be a more important continent. This would give all of those countries, plus Mexico, a fight to look forward to. It also would make whatever country or group of countries gains control of South and Latin America a world power. If all of those countries fought for twenty-five days, whoever emerged would have access to a lot of resources and advanced units, which makes them a force to be reckoned with on the world stage.
2. The Middle East
Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and British Egypt should all be playable countries. Right now, only two countries really have a presence in the Middle East, Turkey and Iran. Turkey usually focuses on Europe, and Iran is usually offline due to its poor economy. Some world powers occasionally get involved, but often these countries remain untouched for the whole game. If these countries were added, there would be a conflict over the Middle East and add a lot more to this region. If they were added they would require some changes to their economies because right now they don't have enough resources to support a player.
Tibet should be removed as a country because it is fairly pointless. It also might be interesting to see Belgium, the Netherlands, and Portugal as playable countries due to their colonies. They would need some resource increases, but it would be interesting nonetheless.
To do this, the number of players should be increased to 30.
B. Removing Add Target for Land Units
On two separate occasions, I have seen Moscow get taken over by an armored car. The Russian army wasn't defeated, but someone sent it overnight and took it over. Supply lines aren't a mechanic in this game, but in real life you couldn't send an army to march across Russia without stopping at all. Add target should be removed on this map so that fights would require more strategy and diplomacy. It also would make strategic bombers and economies more valuable. This also would allow for more compelling gameplay because it would allow foreign countries to intervene. If Germany and Russia were fighting a massive war, countries like Britain or China would have time to send reinforcements.
C. Giving Everyone Fire Control on this Map/Sea Territories
Fire control is when you can order specific ships to attack certain countries. The reason is that on the world map, navies become very important, and fire control allows countries to defend certain areas of sea. I've seen Britain get taken over by countries sending ships over the English Channel during peacetime. I've also seen players send convoys straight to Japan and take it over because the Japanese navy was spread out. In real life, this couldn't happen because of fuel constraints. Either everyone should get fire control so they can defend their coasts without having to be checking the game constantly. Another solution would be to make coastlines and specific seas under the control of certain countries. Every country's coastline would be considered their territory and anyone entering it without right of transit/shared map. Right of transit would be allowing a certain players to cross your waters. Major waterways would also be part of this. For example, the Suez Canal or the South China Sea can be controlled by certain countries. Areas with very few islands (i.e. the middle of the Indian Ocean or the North Atlantic) would be international waters. Places with lots of islands like the Western Pacific or the GIUK gap would be controllable. This would encourage island hopping and make naval combat better. Submarines would be able to travel through territorial waters undetected. It would be interesting if each level of submarine had better concealment, and each level of units that are adept at fighting submarines (Destroyers, Naval Bombers, and Submarines) had better detection. A nuclear submarine might be undetectable by all but the highest level naval bombers, destroyers, and maybe other nuclear submarines, while low level submarines are easier to detect.
D. Airplane Ranges
This one applies to all maps, but is especially important to this map. Airplanes currently have a circle that defines their range. This makes sense if the planes are sent to bomb a unit and then return to base, but if you are sending them to another base then their range should be doubled because they don't have to return to where you sent them, it's a one way trip. If this is added, it would make aircraft carriers much more useful for crossing oceans. It also would be nice if allies could use each others aircraft carriers.
