


You have 3 players on your border that matter: Poland, Italy and France. You can take Belgium, The Netherlands, Luxemburg, Danemark and Switzerland. I played as germany, and if you ake over the small countries to the norht and south your problems go away This is especially true after the decrease of the VP requirements. The American countries in the 22 map are better to be avoided, since usually somebody wins at the other side of the map without you having the chance to intervene. Other interesting countries are Russian Empire and Caucasus, if you prefer not to be engaged immediately. That applies to the (otherwise quite good UK). My feeling is that in this map it is very important to have a double oil.

Given the lesser importance of Goods now, I would say that Italy and Yugoslavia have become very interesting to play. Now it certainly is not a powerhouse, but certainly is stronger than (for example) Germany. It is also vulnerable from almost all sides, and the only (minor IMO) strong point is the possibility of getting some nearby AI, but again if and only if the neighbors are inactive.īefore the research upgrade I would say in the 22 Romania was hands-down a superpower, due to the strong oil/metal/goods starting position and the possibility to solve the food deficit. Due to both food shortage (only one double core food) and oil shortage (only one oil), it will be in an almost hopeless position if you have active opponents nearby. In the 22: probably best to avoid Germany.
