The first country pick is two numbers: how many cities you own, and how expensive your technology is. Research gets more expensive as the country gets larger. San Marino is the cheap end of that scale and the United States is the expensive end.
What size changes
| Factor | Large country | Small country |
|---|---|---|
| Cities | Income and spawn points are spread out | Each city is load-bearing |
| Money | More taxable cities | One lost war collapses the budget |
| Manpower cap | 2% of a large population | 2% of a small population |
| Tech cost | High | The cheapest in the game |
| Losing a city | Recoverable | Often fatal, because an occupied city cannot spawn troops |
| Best use | First matches and long wars | A tech rush you can defend |
Everyone still starts at 60,000 manpower. The cap and the daily gain are what diverge after that.
Starts the notes actually name
For a first public match, China and the United States are the forgiving picks: more cities, more income, and room to lose a province. A beginner tips walkthrough names France, Spain, Russia, Germany, and Turkey for the same reason, a lot of cities. On the modern world map, India ranks first and Russia ranks fourth, with India ahead by about 2.7 million tax. Vatican ranks last on that map and on several historical ones.
A small country beside a major is the start the beginner notes tell you to avoid. Taiwan is the example they give. If the neighbour can put two ground stacks on you from different directions, the flanking rule hurts more when you only have one spawn city.
San Marino is the example for a tech race, not for a first match. You reach planes, artillery, missiles, anti-aircraft, and carriers sooner, and you have almost no room to lose a city.
Check the map before the flag
Germany is in Europe. Do not pick from the flag row and assume the location. Confirm three things on the map you actually loaded:
- Who shares your border.
- Whether you have a port. Ships need one.
- Whether your capital is still yours. Airports exist only on capitals.
Also confirm the map price of a war. Justification is 17 political power on the world map and 50 on the Europe map. Doing the arithmetic for the wrong map means you arrive at a war you cannot declare. Historical Europe maps do not all hand out the modern 30,000 infantry; the maps pages list which scenarios start unarmed.
Who should pick what
| Goal | Pick |
|---|---|
| First match | China or the United States, or another large city cluster such as France, Spain, Germany, or Turkey |
| World-map economy | India, the country ranked first on the modern world map |
| Tech rush | A very small country such as San Marino, only if you can accept losing one city |
| Defense | Any country you can push to defense X, then sit artillery behind it |
| Navy or planes | A port, plus a capital you can keep |
| Formable hunt | A former that can realistically hold every required city. See formables |
The ranked view of these starts is on the tier list, and it is an editorial sort of these constraints, not an official ladder.