I'm wondering what people's favorite minor powers are. I've played Spain and Mexico. Both are fun.
Personally, I've really enjoyed Mexico, since it's out of the way and you can try different things, and in spite of being fairly weak can become quite powerful. It also has pretty distinct varieties of democracy, communism and fascism (can go Vasconcelos or Cristero), all of which seem at least remotely historically plausible alternate histories (though Trotsky taking over is obviously a bit far fetched! Imagine being Mexican and listening to some broken, Russian-accented Spanish on the radio every time El Presidente talks, knowing he's only been in the country a few years - you'd have to be a pretty committed internationalist to support that). I also like the mechanism of trying to balance church power and stability.
Moreover, its national ideas tree has some really interesting, and sometimes even obscure historical references. For instance, the corrupt Callistas, Cedillo, the Ejidos and rural schools, Cristeros, the founding of Pemex, the Aztec Eagles, and the invention of color television. Someone at PDX either did their research or is a history nerd. Its focus tree is more thoughtfully put together than some of the majors!
Lastly, it seems amenable to playing for goals of varying difficulty. One could try to consolidate Mexico as a regional power, or overcome the USA, or even go Trotskyist and topple Stalin. I'm doing a leftwing run now where Cardenas goes commie, and I'm enjoying it.
Spain is fun too. I havent tried many other minor powers - I prefer playing them to the big powers, since you have the ability to create a world power in your own image. What other minors are particularly fun? I'm guessing China is pretty interesting, though I can imagine it being a total grind too with the war against Japan. I'm also interested in Yugoslavia, but I imagine a historical run might become a huge challenge post-1940
Personally, I've really enjoyed Mexico, since it's out of the way and you can try different things, and in spite of being fairly weak can become quite powerful. It also has pretty distinct varieties of democracy, communism and fascism (can go Vasconcelos or Cristero), all of which seem at least remotely historically plausible alternate histories (though Trotsky taking over is obviously a bit far fetched! Imagine being Mexican and listening to some broken, Russian-accented Spanish on the radio every time El Presidente talks, knowing he's only been in the country a few years - you'd have to be a pretty committed internationalist to support that). I also like the mechanism of trying to balance church power and stability.
Moreover, its national ideas tree has some really interesting, and sometimes even obscure historical references. For instance, the corrupt Callistas, Cedillo, the Ejidos and rural schools, Cristeros, the founding of Pemex, the Aztec Eagles, and the invention of color television. Someone at PDX either did their research or is a history nerd. Its focus tree is more thoughtfully put together than some of the majors!
Lastly, it seems amenable to playing for goals of varying difficulty. One could try to consolidate Mexico as a regional power, or overcome the USA, or even go Trotskyist and topple Stalin. I'm doing a leftwing run now where Cardenas goes commie, and I'm enjoying it.
Spain is fun too. I havent tried many other minor powers - I prefer playing them to the big powers, since you have the ability to create a world power in your own image. What other minors are particularly fun? I'm guessing China is pretty interesting, though I can imagine it being a total grind too with the war against Japan. I'm also interested in Yugoslavia, but I imagine a historical run might become a huge challenge post-1940
