@simon33:
Look at it from the game perspective rather than the historical accuracy perspective though - why should UK/USA/ANZAC get to take control of FIC if Japan doesn’t invade it first?
Or are you saying that does make game sense?
Yes, of course it makes sense. Why not? Its no different from Uk/USA/ANZAC taking control of any other Vichy French colony, which they do all over the map after the “German-Franco Armistice” is triggered (and which they did historically too).
As I understand it, the issue that was initially raised was not UK/USA/ANZAC’s control of FIC, in and of itself, but rather the fact that even after UK makes an unprovoked declaration of war on Japan and takes control of FIC, Japan can’t invade it without losing the “Trade With America” NO.
This wss actually something I raised early on in “Vichy Mod” development as something that might be seen as “unfair,” and we did consider adding a proviso to the “Trade With America” NO that occupation of FIC does not negate it if UK has taken it after making an unprovoked DOW on Japan. But the impact on gameplay was deemed so negligible that the Mod Squad ultimately omitted this qualifier for simplicity’s sake.
If this really is deemed a significant problem the correct solution, in my view, would be to add the qualifier, rather than to have FIC remain Free French, which, as I stated earlier, would be grossly ahistorical.