I love your idea WILD BILL, it is the best I have seen by far.
The way I see it is that there are two possible solutions to the India problem, either make Germany slightly stronger in the west (slightly more naval, ground, or maybe some actually useable Submarine Warfare rules) therefore forcing the UK to spend money in the Atlantic because right now they really don’t have to since France can hold Paris even w/o support unless the Germans literally send everything they have to France (i.e. all of Hanover and Berlin go west) but this makes them just too weak vs Russia and I still am uncertain if they could take Paris. The other option is to limit India’s production in some way, and this is the option I will explore since it is easier to see the problems/benefits of various balancing ideas without play testing them.
By playing out the game it is obvious that limiting India to 4 or less production for the entire game would make it way too easy for the Ottomans to take India, considering their income after taking some territory in the Balkans and the fact that they start with more units than the UK in the theater.
However, something clearly needs to be done to limit the UK’s early spending in India, because otherwise any allied player with any sense will just buy 10 units a turn in India for a few rounds and completely overpower the Ottomans. I appreciate the attempts at historical accuracy like limiting/preventing the UK from building heavy units (art, figs, tanks) in India, but in reality India had about the same production capabilities as the Ottomans if not better considering that the UK could transport materials there from the homeland. I don’t want to alter the game board at all if at all possible, and overall I just want the changes to be as easy as possible (and maintaining traditional A&A mechanics, i.e. no infinite railroad, just balance the game with OOB, the FAQ, and a couple additional minor rules (like WILD BILL’s idea).
WILD BILL’s idea would take some testing to see if the UK could still smash the Ottomans in the first 4 turns, but I doubt it since for at least the first few turns the Ottomans would have at least the same if not more production capability than India. This would also add some more strategic gameplay to the theater as both sides try to control the new production mechanic for India. Basically if the UK wants to cripple the Ottomans, it should take at least 5-6 turns of steady building before they can get the upper hand, and neglecting the Western Front for this long would have consequences, leaving the UK with tough decisions to make about their spending. It would be nice for the UK to have any decisions, because in my experience they should basically spend everything possible in India for 3-4 rounds until the Ottomans are backed up all the way to Constantinople, then either go for the kill on the Ottomans or start building a large landing force for France.
The most important thing to remember here is that we are trying to add strategic options, rather than make the game even more strategically limited than it already is (this is what would happen if we completely limited India’s production to a small, unchangeable, number). IMO the best way to add options to the game is to make Germany a bit stronger somehow as I stated at the start, but I think that WILD BILL’s idea could certainly make the middle east a battlefield rather than a mass-grave of Ottomans.