small vs big countries

[Jos Theelen]

I play now the IGC, so I can play small countries. Small countries don't have much money, so their contribution to tech/trade/infra-levels are lower then the big countries.

Does that mean their levels are (after a while) clearly lower then in big countries ? Or doesn't the size matter, because they need less money to advance ?

 

[hjarg]

The more provinces you have, the more tech advancements costs. Haven't you noticed that small countries are usually the first ones to promote governonrs & judges, build new fortresses and get new uniforms?

 

[Jos Theelen]

Originally posted by hjarg
The more provinces you have, the more tech advancements costs. Haven't you noticed that small countries are usually the first ones to promote governonrs & judges, build new fortresses and get new uniforms?

I noticed that for those little countries in Germany. But when playing Aden, I got the impression, that my level didn't go like Turkey, Persia and others in the sunni-group. That's why I started to doubt.

I still wonder what to do when playing a small country. I could first start to conquer as much as possible, so become bigger and by that have a better tech-level. On the other hand, I could also start very peacefully, disband my army, have no alliances, and concentrate on trade and infrastructure. Especially because for a small country the neighbour-bonus can be much bigger then the budget.

 

[unmerged(3627)]

What matters is the quality of your provinces. If Aden has one decent province and three crappy ones they will not advance in tech with any great speed.

 

[unmerged(4217)]

Originally posted by Heyesey
What matters is the quality of your provinces. If Aden has one decent province and three crappy ones they will not advance in tech with any great speed.

That's my experience as well. If you are playing with a small country, try to annex only rich provinces in the beginning or you are the worst of.

I saw on another thread someone post that the inverse relation between research and number of provinces is completely linear. E.g. a two-province-nation needs double the amount in investment for the same result as a one-province nation. Is it completely linear?

 

[Jos Theelen]

Originally posted by Bylandt

That's my experience as well. If you are playing with a small country, try to annex only rich provinces in the beginning or you are the worst of.

I saw on another thread someone post that the inverse relation between research and number of provinces is completely linear. E.g. a two-province-nation needs double the amount in investment for the same result as a one-province nation. Is it completely linear?

I reread the thread. But does this means, that when I conquer some province, I have to pay more for my next techlevel ? And the same when I lose provinces ? If that is true, is the next correct ?

Aden is one city with 2 colonies. When I look at the quality of these provinces, it would probably be better to start a war and give in those 2 colonies as quick as possible. That gives me a CB to my neighbours and a century later my techlevel is so high (compared to them) that I can easily get those provinces back and more.

 

[unmerged(4217)]

Originally posted by Jos Theelen


I reread the thread. But does this means, that when I conquer some province, I have to pay more for my next techlevel ? And the same when I lose provinces ? If that is true, is the next correct ?

Aden is one city with 2 colonies. When I look at the quality of these provinces, it would probably be better to start a war and give in those 2 colonies as quick as possible. That gives me a CB to my neighbours and a century later my techlevel is so high (compared to them) that I can easily get those provinces back and more.

That doesn't even seem such a bad idea.

I'm not sure it is completely linear. But when I played a small country and annexed a province, a few years later I could actually see a dip in the research at the moment when the annexation occured (in the screen with the research-graphs). This doesn't mean I lost tech-points, it only meant that as of the moment of the annexation the cost for reaching the next level had suddenley been increased.

I think we better wait till somebody more experienced explains the correct relation between number of provinces and research-rate.

 

[hjarg]

Iirc, colonies don't count to tech level calculations. So you can keep them without any worries.

 

[unmerged(4217)]

Even when above 700 population?

 

[BiB]

Then they're cities, so they should count.