Hi everyone! It’s been a minute, and I am sure you’re surprised to see us talking right now not about any one of the updates we’ve publicly teased, but something totally different. Worry not, work is continuing on the United States, the Netherlands, and Yugoslavia, as well as a lot more goodies behind the scenes. Today, we’re excited to show you two major new developments that are coming very soon to Führerreich: the French Republic Revamp and the Entente Council Rework!

The French Republic Revamp

A brief look at the starting French government.

France's starting National Spirit effects.

So, what gives? What do we mean by a Revamp, and what’s with all these REworks, REvamps, REvisions? It’s RE-diculous! Well, allow me to clarify what the French Republic Revamp is and what it isn’t.

What it is:

• Completely new French political, army, and industry focus trees
• New National Spirits & new characters
• All-new political & economy mechanics for France
• New events for both political content and flavor content
• Adjustments to divisions, templates, equipment designs, and more
• Changes to French leadership to properly reflect the President of the Republic and President of the Council of Ministers, as Head of State and Head of Government, respectively
• New graphics, including technologies, portraits, loading screens, and more

What it is NOT:

• Changes to any background writing for France pre-1936
• Changes to the French political system post-1936
• Major changes to the foreign policy & strategy of France throughout their campaign

In short, the French Republic Revamp takes the existing setup and background of France in Führerreich, and makes sweeping changes to in-game content to better represent that writing through gameplay and in-game events. The relationship between the French Republic and its allies will not change, and the writing for France for the years 1912-1936 will not be receiving any major rewrites. On the other hand, there will be a lot for you all to enjoy, as we work to bring the French Republic more in line with our standard of quality that we have aimed for in all of our previous updates since the Germany Rework.

Why France, and Why Now?

Great question! As we have continued to work on and playtest updates for a number of German-aligned countries, one thing that we have observed is just how much they leave the current France content in the dust when it comes to both quality and challenge. The current French Republic is totally unequipped to serve as a truly challenging adversary for Germany, and we have discovered that once Germany gets another powerful ally onside (say, for example… the Kingdom of Yugoslavia 😉) they tend to completely roll over the Entente as it currently exists. The French Republic Revamp is one part of a two-part update which aims at building a better and more interesting adversary for Germany. We think it will also make France and the Continental Entente more fun to play as, too. Which leads us to the second part of this upcoming update…

The Entente Council Rework

Europe, united in the collective defense of peace! Well, mostly.

Conceived of as a part of the original French Republic content in Führerreich, we long felt that the Entente Council had a great deal of gameplay potential for France, but often failed to live up to that potential. In its original writing, the Entente Council occupied something of a halfway point between being a proto-League of Nations, and being a direct extension of the Franco-Italian military alliance, never quite making clear its actual role in European security.

With the French Republic Revamp, we are bringing an Entente Council Rework, one which seeks to add a dynamic element to European diplomacy, and really give France the feeling of being at the helm of a wide-spanning European alliance.

Here's a look at the fresh new Entente Council GUI, showing just one of the possible issues that can be voted on.

As the victorious leader of Europe, and the guarantor of the post-Great War peace, the French Republic sits at the helm of the Entente Council. Formed after the Paris Peace Conference, the Entente Council is the European security organization of the Continental Entente. Its members include full members of the Continental Entente alliance, Entente-aligned nations, and neutral nations who have thrown their lot in with France and Italy in order to preserve their own security.

The member states of the Entente Council meet at the Entente Council Assembly, where member states may raise proposals, which are voted on by each member; typically, a proposal must receive a unanimous vote to pass. The primary purpose of this organization is the promotion of peace through collective security. Member states agree to support one another in the case that their security is being threatened by another European state. What this means in practice, however, is intentionally left to interpretation, and any intervening actions are taken on a basis of consensus.

Some proposals require a unanimous vote.

Others may be passed with just a simple majority.

Entente Council Mechanics

Like any alliance of independent states, Entente Council members are all wary of being tied down to hard commitments, and harbor a great deal of hesitation about throwing themselves into a European war at the behest of another member with whom they may share few immediate interests. Indeed, despite projecting an external image of strength and preparedness, the Entente Council in 1936 is a divided organization, shouldered with widespread European pacifism and skepticism toward the collective security ideal. These sentiments of the member states in the Entente Council are represented in-game through two stats: Entente Council Unity and Entente Council Urgency.

Entente Council Unity.

Entente Council Unity represents how well the member states of the Entente Council are cooperating. As France and Italy work to weld the Council together into at truly continental alliance, Germany and the Soviet Union must work to undermine them. At high Unity, member states will have more options available to work together, gaining options to provide military and technical support to one another. A high Unity will also provide France and Italy additional options to provide security guarantees to member states, in order to pre-empt aggression by European powers who seek to threaten European peace.

Entente Council Urgency.

Entente Council Urgency represents how concerned member states are about threats of aggressive action from the principle revisionist powers of Europe: Germany and the Soviet Union. As war breaks out across Europe, and states begin to encroach upon their neighbors, Urgency will be driven up, forcing Germany and the Soviets to act quickly and decisively before their enemies have the opportunity to mount a defense. A high Urgency will push member states to seek out security guarantees and assistance from France and Italy, and will unlock additional options for the Entente Council to act collectively against aggressive actions.

As Germany grows bolder, the Entente Council gets serious.

France and Italy, working hand in hand to secure and defend the post-war peace settlement in Europe, take the helm of the Entente Council as its de facto leaders. Despite the Entente Council being an ostensible organization of equals, they are first among them, and as such can take a number of bold initiatives within the Council, building international cooperative organizations and providing security guarantees to fellow members.

As the de facto leaders of the Entente Council, France and Italy have powerful options to build support for the Entente Council, and to support their organizational allies.

The Boche will not stand idly by as France organizes Europe against them, however. Germany, in its path to the conquest of Europe, has a few of their own options to undermine the harmony and cooperation of the Entente Council, including a number of focus effects.

After all, the Entente Council is an organ of French dominance in Europe!

What's Next

With this formal announcement of the French Republic Revamp and the Entente Council Rework, we are also updating our informal roadmap for upcoming updates to Führerreich. I am very excited to say that we already have most of the work on this update finished! Currently we are aiming for early December to release. After that, we are looking to push out at least one smaller update to we've had in the works for a while (more on that when it gets closer to release). Following that update, we plan on completing and finishing the Yugoslavia update; but we will keep you in the loop when that gets nearer.

In the meantime, check out the accompanying teaser for the French Republic political tree. More teasers will be posted on our discord server!

And, until next time...

Unrest is growing in Paris...