Can the US invade neutrals before the War?

[unmerged(12214)]

I had it all planned out. I was going to play a mini-scenario from '36 until the outbreak of the war as the U.S. In this scenario, which I had even named, Mexico was going to go fascist. They would be making noises about joining the Axis, but would not actually do so unless they were left alone until around 1941.

This would worry the US. The President would make speeches about the "Axis of Evil", portray the Mexican President as a monster, and stir the American people up to war with Mexico. Mexico, of course, would arm more heavily than they do in the 1936 scenario.

The actual campaign into Mexico wouldn't be too tough for the US after the start of '39 (if they build divisions). The point of the scenario for me would be to play with political events and try to create an alternate history. It would be great practice and might even turn out an interesting MOD.

So when I started working on this I suddenly realized that (a) The US can't invade neutrals before the actual beginning of war -- at least it won't let me invade Mexico. (b) I have no idea how to alter Mexico's political leaning. I can copy the "Election Right" events but that isn't going to provoke a neutral, isolationist US into war. Even if I declare Mexico to be fascist and ally them with Germany, that isn't going to open the door to a US invasion before the US actually joins the Allies. Is there a way to do that?

I'd be ok with Mexico starting the war, even though that would be obvious suicide on their part.

Tricks and tips would be very appreciated. I have to be careful here because designing scenarios might prove to be as much fun as actually playing the game, and I want to keep playing

T.

 

[ShrineGuard]

You have to create an event that raises the US war entry value as well. If the war entry value is too low, the US will not be able to go to war.

 

[unmerged(12214)]

Thanks, Shrine.

Thinking this through a little more thoroughly, it may have to go down like this:

Event: Mexican coup puts fascists in power. New Mexican President vows to reunite "Greater Mexico", puts claims on California and Texas.

This would raise US WE.

Random event: between 1937 and 1939, Mexico joins the Axis and declares war on the US. That solves my problem with the US invading a neutral.

The idea of the scenario on a grand scale is that the U.S. finds itself with much less time to stay out of the war. It's entirely possible we would be thrown into the Allied camp by 1938, before the US even has an army worthy of note. It would force the US to invest in more armed forces sooner and less on technology, making it a little harder to play the US.

Taking Mexico wouldn't be the tough nut to crack (though I can make it tougher by adding militia units to the Mexican Army). The tough part would be joining the war before the US was ready. And the Mexican IC (about 56) wouldn't be enough to make that much difference for the US.

Once patch 1.02 shows up, it's possible Mexico could even have partisans after an American annexation.

It's starting to solidify in my mind now Thanks for the input.

T.