@Trenacker:
In the actual war, a German victory in South Africa was never in the cards. Because of the greater randomness created by the dice, it is possible that the lone German infantry in South West Africa could survive an attack by, say, the full garrison of South Africans (say, 2 infantry and 1 cavalry), and later march directly into South Africa. At that point, the Boer revolt is a moot point.
I recommend linking the Revolt to a German combat victory in South West Africa, or else to the arrival of a second German unit (representing, in theory, expanding military capability). At that point, the Germans might receive, say, a free casualty when attacking South Africa, to simulate the fifth columnists. That leads to other questions about how to track and apply the rule consistently, which we can set aside for now.
My opinion is that Rumania and Bulgaria should base their alignment on bids. Alternatively, you can have them align historically, but subject to specific rules that govern how they function as player nations prior to the declaration of war.
If London or Paris fall, the Netherlands would cling to their neutrality in hopes of avoiding the same fate. But, in theory, the Dutch East Indies give something for the German and Japanese players to think about in the Pacific theater of war.
You may also want to play around with the British and the Dutch. Allowing the British to attack Dutch territory in the Indies on the pretext of needing to bolster the defenses at Singapore or prevent abuse of neutrality by German and Austro-Hungarian commerce raiders could create an opportunity for the Dutch to align with the Germans.
To simulate the Russian Civil War, you�d probably have to create rules for the emergence of minor pro-Central Powers nations in Finland, the Baltics, and Poland. Then, pro-Allied Whites in Crimea, the Caucasus, North Russia, and Siberia.
Leave Italy�s alignment up to the Italian player, is my feeling.
Starting from the bottom, Italian Alliance was a huge prize for anyone who took it. The flaw with the feeling from the Italian Player is that, if the German Player and the Italian Player are the same person, he would automatically join the Central Powers, and Vice Versa if any of the Allies had control of them. So, in the beginning, Italy will not be controlled by any player, but have the US player roll for Italy with my rules. If Italy goes to the Central Powers, the Ottoman Player should get control. If Italy goes to the Allied Powers, then the Russian player gets Italy.
The Russian Civil War is in the works right now, but I have finished revolution rules. So, possibly Germany controls the reds and Britan controls the Whites?
The Dutch rules are also in the works, love those ideas you have, might use some.
The bid system is what I have settled on for Romania and Bulgaria. They will operate like neutral nations. This is why I have a dice roll with a bid.
The Boer revolt ideas that you put out are way better than my original idea so I’ll go with that.
