2950 starts with not only smaller armies, but also a
mangled map that have much fewer pop centers, at least
FP and neutral wise.
This is true, and this is the strength of the 2950 scenario. In 1650
you have great numbers of troops and the pop centres to support them
(almost). In 2950, especially in the winter, your greatest difficulty
is the economy. You simply can't just recruit as fast as you can and
send the troops over to the enemy territory to die. You have to keep
a close watch over your economy each turn. This means much smaller
armies, whihc means artifacts and mages are suddenly a great tool in
providing more firepower to your armies. And it means your pop
centres are somewhat safer in the beginning, so you can concentrate
on developing your nation the way you want. 2950 gives yoy more
economic difficulties, a "slower" start when it comes to army combat,
but much more freedom and a more important character game. In 2950
you get to create a lot more camps before you reach pop centre limit,
and therefore you can build a whole new backup area somewhere else on
the map, before your enemies put you out of the game, which is good
for vulnerable nations like the Dragon Lord. In 1650 the first few
turns can decide the game. If nation A, B and C move in on nation X,
X doesn't have a chance, unless Z comes to rescue him, but that would
open up the Z nations flank to nation D etc. No matter how good you
are, you can be in trouble if the surrounding nations don't move the
way you expect them to, and they seldom do. On the other hand, if
they do as you suspect they will, you will get the upper hand early
in the game. It's a lot like the first moves in chess, but with a
bigger element of chance. This is why I like 2950. In 2950 the player
who has the best long term strategy usually prevails, and even the
"lesser" nations have a chance of winning if you play with skill and
creativity. So if you want thousands of troops clashing together on
turn 2, choose 1650, and if you want to plan your conquest more
carefully and rely more on characters and your own ideas on nation
development, choose 2950. Players who played 1650 before 2950 often
find 2950 to be more "boring" and "slower" because they're used to
1650, while 2950 players find 1650 to be too much of everything. You
have to get rid of your enormous armies at once, because you can't
afford them, and therefore you're forced to attack or be invaded.
