[eia] two propositions

["Kyle H" <menexenus@xxxxxxx>]

    Today JJ, Jim, and I were talking at our FTF game about a couple Empires in Arms issues.  We were able to come to consensus among the three of us, and I hope that that consensus can be extended to the rest of the group as well.

Proposition 1:  How to handle confusing declarations of combined movement.
    In the case at hand, GB and Prussia *seem* to have combined movement, and Austria and Prussia also *seem* to have combined movement.  But it is impossible for both combinations to happen simultaneously (because that would entail a combination of all 3 countries which was not accepted by Austria in its orders).  The question was how to resolve which of the 2 combinations should take place in a way that was fair and generalizable to future situations.  
    Jim came up with what I think is a very elegant solution to this problem.  He said we should leave it up to Prussia which country he wishes to combine with (since he can't combine with both).  I think that makes a great deal of sense and am willing to endorse it.  It won't solve all potential problems that we could have with combinations, but it will solve a large subset of them.  And that's good enough for me.

Proposition 2:  Access declarations during the Political Phase.
    Once upon a time, we had a house rule saying that all voluntary access agreements (and amendments to those agreements) had to take place during the political phase.  Later, we scrapped that rule so that some countries could make voluntary access agreements on the fly.  Recently, JJ made a request that Spain declare at the beginning of the turn whether GB would have access to Spain for the remainder of the turn.  This request seems to take us back in the direction of our old house rule.  I propose that we return to our old house rule that specifies that all voluntary access agreements (as well as amendments thereto) must be publicized during the Political Phase.  The benefits of such a house rule are that all countries know where they will have access for the entirety of the turn without needing to fear that it will be yanked out from under them just as they are about to make a move.  JJ and Jim were in favor of returning to this house rule, and I hope the rest of you are as well.

    If there are significant dissents or concerns about either of these propositions, please voice them.

kdh
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