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It doesn't really matter about might've, could've and all that. Any reasoning for the hows and whys of whatever you choose to add to, or do in, your scenario, is going to be infinitely more reasoned and sensible than martial morris men, cricket pads as defensive armour... or even that Edward VIII's refusal to reconsider his forthcoming marriage to 'that woman' could really spark a civil war.There are no limits and certainly real history does at times do the ridiculous. I wouldn't over-think things and just get stuck in. As mental exercises go it's good fun too; I also looked at Belgium and its potential to cause a war between France and Britain. In a real comparison however, the Spanish Civil War didn't erupt overnight, it took near enough ten years for it to come to a boil and the left and right had been gunning-down each other in the streets since 1930. The military coup of 1936 was supposed to stop all that and restore common (and traditionalist) sense.Foreign powers unloaded all their old surplus arms and equipment and worn out tanks, in return for, or the promise of, Spanish gold, yet still paid lip-service to international opinion and the Non-Intervention Committee.Only the 'Emperor of the Med', cast adrift from the League of Nations, actually sent a formal military body there and even then had to excuse them as just 'enthusiastic volunteers'... they also all signed-up with the Spanish Foreign Legion (as did the Condor Legion) when they got off the boat, thus becoming actual 'Spanish' soldiers in the eyes of the law. Internationalists on the other hand risked arrest by the French for attempting to cross into Spain illegally and quite often were arrested in Spain for actually doing so and having no papers.All things to consider before you boot volunteers and your best kit onto a boat and then send them off to a sovereign country at war.
What surprises me is that I've not come across any American game that applies this rule set to America. I would have thought this would be an Ideal 'what if 'template given you have the Mine Wars as a starting point.Mark.
I might add that the combination of nostalgia and ridiculousness of VBCW is precisely what has led to it's becoming "the most successful imagi-nation or alt-history in the world of miniature wargaming".