Just in terms of the technical discussion - is there a way of editing the original scenario files such that the factions GBR and FRA are controllable by the CSA player, as is done in other AGEOD games (eg the original, various RUS factions etc)?
deguerra, there is at least one way I know of to achieve what you're talking about in CW2, and maybe two. Let me first say that I think the game designers made the right decision in modeling a more realistic concept of foreign entry. I agree with some of the other posters that it's unlikely the CSA (or any nation) would have been given control of a huge expeditionary force, or that either Britain or France really wanted to or could afford to go to war with the Union. Napoleon III might have been ambiguous as far as the issue of slavery went, but as you know Great Britain on the whole was against it.
You can use the console command ChangeFaction to switch to another faction immediately. However, for some (myself included) this does not automatically update the FOW for that faction so you end up having to turn FOW off (more on that in next paragraph). That command gives you control of only one faction at a time, so once you're GBR you have to switch back to CSA to do anything with them. You have to save your commands before you switch. If you try to switch CSA to GBR to CSA to GBR, it will forget the moves you made at the 2nd step. It's a debugging tool and is designed as such. This is a total immersion killer, IMO, but it will give you control of the forces for a different faction. My game frequently crashes during these steps, but my game crashes at other times, too, so I've gotten used to saving and backing up my saves directory often.
The way the foreign entry is currently scripted, when it fires the value (
http://www.ageod.net/agewiki/SetFacRelationships) that controls the relationships between CSA<>FRA and CSA<>GBR is set to 20. That means that CSA can't enter French or British territory, nor can you see what the other factions see; you don't get to peer through their FOW. By default, if the British manage to invade and control Ohio, the CSA cannot simply cross the Ohio river into what is now British controlled territory because of their relationship value. With higher relationship values you can enter allied territory and see what they see, but even the highest value won't give you control of another faction.
The way it's currently written, the AI for the other factions is turned off until foreign entry fires (or for the French, until the intervention in Mexico fires). If you have historical attrition turned on, that means that during this time they've been bleeding men. They've been accumulating resources so they can afford to replace most anything, but initially they'll be potentially weakened. After foreign entry fires, if you're using the ChangeFaction command to control GBR but you use it only intermittently (not every turn) the AI will run that faction on the turns that it doesn't already have orders created.
In addition, the following are true under current setup. Other factions are not scripted to allow corps creation (you can change this, but GBR is the only faction that is given land forces with which to invade the US). They can create any number of armies provided they have the three-stars available. They can buy replacements but they cannot improve their already-low rail/river numbers, and they bleed those rail/river numbers over time. This limits their mobility in a *huge* way. By the 2nd year of foreign entry you'll be lucky to move a single division across Canada by rail, and forget about supply wagons at the same time. I believe their entrenchment level is limited at 3; it might be scripted to improve but I haven't been looking for it. However, it ends up being like I remember from AACW. You'll draw away some forces from the CSA lines, but with a concerted push the Union can take the area north of Lake Erie pretty easily. The long harsh winter will prevent the Union from doing too much up there, but the same can be said for GBR.
The other way of getting foreign "control" is one I'm experimenting with. The existing models for units are tagged with their faction names (NationTag). With the built-in units it's not as easy as scripting French units to appear in New Orleans by event while you have the CSA faction selected. I've tried that and they just don't appear, or if they do I can't find them no matter what faction I've used. New models would have to be created with the appropriate NationTag, essentially copies of the existing GBR and FRA units with updates.
The problem with this approach is those units are still technically CSA forces (I think). The issue of entering, say, GBR territory with your fancy new CSA-GBR units (mentioned above with relationships) still exists. Unless you totally rewrote foreign entry, you'd still have the British and French factions doing their own thing. Replacements for these CSA-GBR units will be drawn from your faction's pool, not the appropriate nation (I think; you could script free conscripts in addition to the other foreign subsidies). In wouldn't be realistic to assume that these forces would fight as hard for the CSA, essentially defending slavery as an institution. They'd need to be tweaked like state militia are: less effective fighting outside their home area.
Attached below is an example of a CSA-tagged French unit (Legionnaire; er, make that Zouave) I created with a modified copy of the existing model. I ask pardon from the French members of the forum for my levity with the name of the unit. Almost all of the models would have to have duplicates made for this to work.
[ATTACH]31809[/ATTACH]
You probably remember in AACW there was a very small set of actions and territory to simulate the French intervention in Mexico. Now we have all of Mexico and much more potential for control, right? From what I can see, it was given a framework but the event is not simulated beyond a few basics. The Mexican faction is not given any structures to generate resources. There are events to place forces at intervals depending on whether Porfirio Diaz still exists and they are given some free replacements, maybe some money and WS, but nothing auto-generates per turn from a structure. The French have a shipping fleet and structures in France. The biggest indicator is that there is no event in Foreign Entry.sct (where all the other events related to the French intervention are) to turn on the AI for the Mexican faction (scratch that, I found it). However, it's the perfect setup for a DLC down the road.
I am working on running the French intervention scenario from the Mexican side, but I'll let the royal families keep running things in Europe. About the most I'll do with them now is increase the relationship setting if foreign entry fires, so I can see what's going on. With the faction relationships at 20 and playing as the CSA, you can have French and British ships in your harbors and not be able to see them.
Orso frequently likes to disagree with whatever I post, so he'll be along in a few to correct me on one or more things.