Originally Posted by
Abdülmecid I
I would say that it has actually worsened in the latest games. In Rome I, the Seleucids were always screwed, but that is largely because they were the most unfairly implemented faction. For practical and somewhat contradictory reasons (basically no time/resources to design Central Asia, but Creative Assembly also wanted to add Parthia), the Seleucids are less than half of their actual size and are encircled by inflated enemies. Pontus, Parthia and Armenia were much smaller in 270 B.C. and the Egyptians benefit a lot from their rich and sheltered province and especially from chariots being over-powered in auto-resolve. On the other hand, in Barbarian Invasion, the Roman Empires were designed more carefully. They almost always retreated, but I never saw them getting completely wrecked, despite having to face hordes and an economy purposefully built in a bad manner.
In Empire, the situation has deteriorated, mainly because there is an immense difference in the wealth of the various provinces. Palestine, Baluchistan etc. are extremely impoverished and basically a burden in the early game. Meanwhile, the Carnatic region is literally drowned in precious gems. So, what happens is that the Maratha can afford large armies in a small front, while the Mughals, with an even smaller force, need to guard essentially the entire sub-continent. However, as the game progresses, the differences between the regions become smaller, depending on how provinces are developed. India has a huge growth potential, which means that an eventually industrialised Mughal Empire will be much more prosperous than the Maratha and their shiny stones. Usually, the Mughals are wiped out, before the first factory has been built, but, if the Maratha are delayed, then the Mughals will most probably prevail. That's what happened in my last campaign as France. The Ottomans on the other hand don't have the same potential and are also crippled by the Bosporus Strait bug, so they are almost always destroyed by whoever dominates central Europe (usually Austria, but sometimes also Poland or Prussia).
In Rome II and Attila, large factions are doomed for the opposite reason: Wealth is almost identical, so Carthage is almost as rich as the Sahara. Normally this wouldn't cause any problems, but the balance is thrown away, because of how the AI cheats work. Every faction is receiving a standard amount of money, besides its revenue from mining, taxes, trade etc.. That gift, however, presents a huge percentage of their total income. So, if an empire can normally afford two armies and an extra third, thanks to the cheats, a faction half their size will deploy two, one thanks to their "natural" income and the other through cheating. Consequently, the analogy has already been disturbed. Their military ratio is 3/2 instead of 2/1. Considering that larger factions inevitably border several minor factions, they are eventually getting overwhelmed and their numerically inferior troops are defeated in a war of attrition.