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The map is clearly 1914 but the game start date is 1901. WHY?

That is a great question! I don't know either.

According to Wikipedia:
Although the game starts in 1901, the map generally reflects the political boundaries of Europe in 1914, just before the outbreak of the Great War. Bosnia is already annexed to the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and the Balkans reflect the results of the wars of 1912 and 1913 in the region.

On the other hand, Montenegro is shown as part of Austria-Hungary. Additionally, North Africa and Tunis start the game as neutral, despite these regions being part of the French colonial empire in 1914. Finland and Syria are both parts of Great Powers, as Finland was part of the Russian Empire, and Syria was part of the Ottoman Empire in 1914. Tunis is used rather than Tunisia on most boards. North Africa is a single province covering parts of Algeria and Morocco.

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I have always assumed it is just a mathematical ease sort of thing. 1901 is a good starting year, for remembering numbers reasons.

Actually, it isn't the right map for either 1901 or 1914. Bulgaria is depicted with access to the Aegean Sea, which was only briefly after the 1878 St. Stephen's accord. In 1901, this was not the case, and by 1914, Greece had a border with Turkey along the river Evros, though things were not concluded after WWI.
I guess the creators of the game, although they depicted the power play before the war, took some liberties with the map to make it more even on playing terms.

Stuka Whistle wrote: ↑

Fri Feb 02, 2024 10:41 am

The map is clearly 1914 but the game start date is 1901. WHY?

I think the map took some liberties to improve gameplay.

Because it's a GAME...

For historical accuracy, I recommend Modern2, but I think Classic is more balanced statistically.