How many units / provinces to manage at start of game?

[RobC04]

A while ago I tried to get into BIA 2, but you start with so many units and such a large number of regions it is too overwhelming. I had also purchased American Civil War, but didn't even try it because of getting overwhelmed in BIA 2. I don't really have trouble with the concepts of the game, just the quantity of units and regions to manage.

So, how many units and regions will you typically have to manage at the start of a game of Pride of Nations? The game concepts sound very interesting, but I fear that if there is too many units / regions to manage right off the bat it will be hard to get into.

[von Sachsen]

I obviously can't answer the question, but you should try ACW again, there are a large amount of units, but it is easier because most of them are fed in gradually rather than large amounts at the start and also the organization of the armies makes it better to have larger, more coherent stacks rather than in WIA, which encourages you to spread out a bit more.
Though to stay on topic, judging from the screen shots, the number of units shouldn't be all that bad. IIRC you mostly build things in the size of divisions and corps rather than at the regimental or brigade level, which obviously would help imensly with micromanagment. Also, you won't be forced from turn one to form a campaign, but rather you have a decent amount of time to position things as you will, so generally if you forget something in peace time, no biggie.

[hgilmer]

I felt much the same way. But I finally dove into AACW and played it on easy levels and learned what you had to do, what you should do, and what you didn't have to do on every turn and it was actually a lot easier to manage than I had thought it would be.

[caranorn]

I'm a bit astonished that you found WiA unmanageable in that way. I started these games with BoA and while it certainly wasn't easy at first, it was only a matter of time till I knew what was likely to happen where etc. While I haven't played WiA for the past year or so, I'm sure I could jump right back in now...

Now as to PoN (VgN). I haven't seen the game yet either, but I would von Sachsen assume that the unit count will be lower than most Ageod Games so far. On the other hand, at least depending on which Nation you will play, you will have to keep an eye over a much more disparate area. Britain for instance would have colonies and interests to manage on every continent right from the start of the game. Also this game should have the most inovations since BoA itself, so even experts of previous Ageod games will have a lot to learn...

What I'd reccomend you would be to try and play some of the smaller scenarios in WiA and AACW. That way you will have more manageable forces and map areas. Once you get the hang of this you can move on to larger scenarios and the grand campaigns. Personally I'd always recommend WiA over any of the other games for someone new to Ageod, but I recognise that managing the armies in that game can sometimes be confusing...

[RobC04]

Thanks for the replies. I don't know why I find WIA hard to manage, but I do. I do play games like Europa Universalis, Hearts of Iron, Civilization, but I usually start small and build up to a lot of units and land. Perhaps I will try again and try and find the smaller scenarios to get my feet wet. Perhaps I will take a look at ACW also and see if it is easier for me to manage. Pride of Nations does look interesting though!

[Generalisimo]

I'm a bit astonished that you found WiA unmanageable in that way. I started these games with BoA and while it certainly wasn't easy at first, it was only a matter of time till I knew what was likely to happen where etc. While I haven't played WiA for the past year or so, I'm sure I could jump right back in now...

Now as to PoN (VgN). I haven't seen the game yet either, but I would von Sachsen assume that the unit count will be lower than most Ageod Games so far. On the other hand, at least depending on which Nation you will play, you will have to keep an eye over a much more disparate area. Britain for instance would have colonies and interests to manage on every continent right from the start of the game. Also this game should have the most inovations since BoA itself, so even experts of previous Ageod games will have a lot to learn...

Exactly, it is not the same to play with Sardinia, than with Great Britain.
If you play with GBR, you will have plenty of stuff to do right from turn zero... that's not the case with Sardinia, you are a very small nation in the middle of Europe... you just can't steamroll the world in turn one.

Also, the unit count is lower in PON... units are bigger in size, so, you should see less units around the map...
Remember that the game covers the entire world... even if you can't play with Argentina, they still have units around.

[Pocus]

I wonder why!