Before you get yourself all ruffled, I'm not saying that Saudi Arabia is objectively bad or that I couldn't/haven't won with them. So, *please* try to consider the context and scale of the discussion I am intending as you read the rest.
When *I* play as Saudi Arabia, I never feel like they are as *comparatively* strong as I assume they should be. Let's already rehash to try to avoid confusion. I am *NOT* saying, "Oh, Saudi Arabia is a garbage nation to play! They're the worst nation on the map. No one could ever be successful with them! This game stinks and needs fixed and I quit and also Saudi Arabia is a broken junk country!" I'm *NOT* saying that.
What I am saying is that they are a decent-sized, well-situated, 7-city nation bordered/surrounded by a number of smaller and resource-poor nations, and yet every time I play as Saudi Arabia, I think, "Wait, shouldn't I be stronger than I am?"
Now, it is entirely possible that is just because of the way that I play them. If you've ever read any of my posts, you know that I play according to Military Doctrines. However, SA's two ports make it difficult to both build a strong navy and rely on Marines (which I love) as the primary infantry unit. So, then I've considered Western Doctrine's other major strength - air superiority/air power. The planes are great, but Airborne Infantry is so frail it makes me want to peel my own skin off. So, maybe the answer is to play "outside-of-doctrine", which is reasonable and perfectly acceptable, but in my head that counts as at least a minor drawback when other countries could be benefitting from specializing within their own doctrines.
Aside from doctrines and infantry, though, it still seems (to me) like Saudi Arabia is just lacking something. I've not compared specific numbers, but maybe it feels like a base resource issue? That's the only other reason I can think of that they just don't feel strong enough to me.
For a long time now, I have played small nations probably 90% of the time. When I do play a larger nation, though, I'm generally like, "Whoa! This is crazy (powerful)!" Saudi Arabia is the exception. When I play as any of the 7-city European or Oceania/Pacific nations, I always feel like they are total powerhouses. When I play as Saudi Arabia, though, I always think, "What's this country's deal? Why won't it go?"
Is there some obvious/glaring thing that I am missing, or... is it just kind of a case of "it is what it is"?
ADDED: As I was thinking more about the very real possibility that it is just me, I was thinking about when other capable players are playing as Saudi Arabia, and I realized I feel the same way about them as an opposing country. When I see that a solid player (reasonably experienced, knowledgable, active) is playing as Indonesia or Japan or UK or Sweden or France or Poland or whatever other 7-city country, I'm often like, "Uh oh, that could end up being a challenge for me." I really (almost) never think, "Uh oh! Saudi Arabia could end up causing me some real trouble!" (Not that the best CoN player in the world couldn't beat me using Saudi Arabia; I'm just making a comparison under common circumstances.)
ALSO ADDED: You're completely welcome to tell me about the time that you played as Saudi Arabia, noticed no issues, and beat everyone else on the map by 1500VPs. That's great for you, and I'm duly impressed. However,... unless you can point out some specific strength of Saudi Arabia that I am overlooking, that story isn't going to be very helpful to clearing up this issue for me.
When *I* play as Saudi Arabia, I never feel like they are as *comparatively* strong as I assume they should be. Let's already rehash to try to avoid confusion. I am *NOT* saying, "Oh, Saudi Arabia is a garbage nation to play! They're the worst nation on the map. No one could ever be successful with them! This game stinks and needs fixed and I quit and also Saudi Arabia is a broken junk country!" I'm *NOT* saying that.
What I am saying is that they are a decent-sized, well-situated, 7-city nation bordered/surrounded by a number of smaller and resource-poor nations, and yet every time I play as Saudi Arabia, I think, "Wait, shouldn't I be stronger than I am?"
Now, it is entirely possible that is just because of the way that I play them. If you've ever read any of my posts, you know that I play according to Military Doctrines. However, SA's two ports make it difficult to both build a strong navy and rely on Marines (which I love) as the primary infantry unit. So, then I've considered Western Doctrine's other major strength - air superiority/air power. The planes are great, but Airborne Infantry is so frail it makes me want to peel my own skin off. So, maybe the answer is to play "outside-of-doctrine", which is reasonable and perfectly acceptable, but in my head that counts as at least a minor drawback when other countries could be benefitting from specializing within their own doctrines.
Aside from doctrines and infantry, though, it still seems (to me) like Saudi Arabia is just lacking something. I've not compared specific numbers, but maybe it feels like a base resource issue? That's the only other reason I can think of that they just don't feel strong enough to me.
For a long time now, I have played small nations probably 90% of the time. When I do play a larger nation, though, I'm generally like, "Whoa! This is crazy (powerful)!" Saudi Arabia is the exception. When I play as any of the 7-city European or Oceania/Pacific nations, I always feel like they are total powerhouses. When I play as Saudi Arabia, though, I always think, "What's this country's deal? Why won't it go?"
Is there some obvious/glaring thing that I am missing, or... is it just kind of a case of "it is what it is"?
ADDED: As I was thinking more about the very real possibility that it is just me, I was thinking about when other capable players are playing as Saudi Arabia, and I realized I feel the same way about them as an opposing country. When I see that a solid player (reasonably experienced, knowledgable, active) is playing as Indonesia or Japan or UK or Sweden or France or Poland or whatever other 7-city country, I'm often like, "Uh oh, that could end up being a challenge for me." I really (almost) never think, "Uh oh! Saudi Arabia could end up causing me some real trouble!" (Not that the best CoN player in the world couldn't beat me using Saudi Arabia; I'm just making a comparison under common circumstances.)
ALSO ADDED: You're completely welcome to tell me about the time that you played as Saudi Arabia, noticed no issues, and beat everyone else on the map by 1500VPs. That's great for you, and I'm duly impressed. However,... unless you can point out some specific strength of Saudi Arabia that I am overlooking, that story isn't going to be very helpful to clearing up this issue for me.
The post was edited 4 times, last by PerigeeNil ().