Use/work with the little guys as much as possible. The best pawns are on your opponent's flank (i.e, a small England clinging to life on the island against a powerful France), but a lot of littles can be very useful and helpful in the midboard. Italy and Austria are often littles, and control some good real estate. If you help a little grow, you can make a very solid friend that does not pose much of a long-term threat. Of course, littles are trying to survive turn to turn, so you must be ready for them to punch at you if their survival is at stake.

I think it all depends on the situation. Oddly I find it easier to work with a little power if I'm on the way to a solo win, than if I'm desperately trying to stop someone else getting the win. The little power is often feeling very spiteful towards the larger power who ignored his requests to band together against you, and will often help you solo, in exchange for surviving. That deal is almost always worth it.
I find however if you're trying to secure a draw rather than a solo, keeping little powers around can be detrimental. A Turkey who's about to solo would be much more willing to draw at 15 supplies with a France who has 10 supplies and an England with 9, than with a France who has 8 supplies an Italy who has 2 supplies, an England who has 8 supplies and a Germany who's just holding on at 1. You have to think, would those 2 supply centres be better off in my hands, or is it really worth it to keep an Italy around who might grab what he can to stay alive?

I've never thought very serious about having a policy or rule of thumb towards pawns. But I thought about past games I've played, and I think I have a tendency to focus on eliminating powers that are about to be finished off, since I try to play for a favorable draw in most games. I'm usually okay with taking down a player who is at 1-2 SCs and then drawing the game.

It's always possible to be included in a draw when you're a small power, especially if you're in the way of somebody who is on the path to victory. In WTA games, the best thing that can happen to a weak power is for somebody to get into position to try for a solo win.

They make good buffers, will work with you cause they desperately want to survive short term to try and mount a comeback, and eventually you can consume them for the win.

I'm generally a very beliigerent and vengeful 1-2 SC power. I'll do whatever you say as long as the country that was most responsible for acing me PAYS IN BLOOD.

Note to self... Don't attack SD unless it ends him completely.

Second not to self... If SD comes under attack from someone else, wait until he has a couple of SCs left then save him. He will bring you the victory.

I keep reading the title of this thread as "prawns." May have to mute.

Well, we are talking about little nations. I suppose shrimp could be an adjective describing them.

I find them very handy. however, if you come close to getting the solo, then they'll turn on you in an instant, I've found. You have to work their units towards your front lines and gain their absolute trust

I prefer to use rooks, as they are fairly reliable pieces.

Rooks are rare. Pawns are many.

Pawns tend to bump head first into one another and get stuck. You have to keep helping them out so its really not worth it, unless you have a shot at turning them into queens.

lol I enjoy the way this thread has turned. Segueing to chess, there are numerous trade offs between equally skilled players at the beginning of the game. Would you rather trade a knight for a bishop or vice versa?

Oh, and the pawn I was using provided an excellent stop gap against Carthaginian expansion in my last game, allowing me (as Greece) to win the game due to Egyptian stupidity.

I mainly play gunboats and in those games, I like to eliminate small countries as soon as I can just because it reduces the number of variables. They also tend to play erratically because they are trying to survive and not solo / stop a solo. The only exception is when I'm trying to solo, I always try to rush past stalemate lines as fast I can and so I leave some little guys in my wake and then try and clean em up later.

Going to have to argue slightly against the definition of pawn in this thread. A player who has just 2 or 3 units but has managed to work his way into a good location can't really be called a pawn, and can even dominate the game if he's good enough. At the other end of the spectrum you can have a 14 unit strong player, who you have "promised" a share of a two way draw with, who is as close to the perfect pawn on the way to your solo that you can find.

My favourite kind of pawn, however, is the two or three SC power who has seen the red mist and has developed a mighty hate for your closest rival. These people are lots of fun. It can take a lot of work to manipulate them into this situation, but it's worth it for the amusement factor alone. Most small powers are a pain in the proverbials though

That's a pretty interesting point Octavious. What power do you think is most likely to be able to serious influence the outcome of the game even reduced to 2-3 centers?
Lately, I've been thinking Russia.

I've had a Frenchy in a Gunboat who was reduced to 2-3 centres, and when all the other players threw up their draw votes and tried to stop the solo, the inbred fuck threw in his draw vote and simultaneously stabbed every adjacent power until the guy got the solo. The worst part is, he would have been part of the draw, and got more points, more GR and more win/draw %. But he chose to be a fucktard and wreck a game.

I'd like to propose a nomenclature case, since no one likes to be called a "pawn." Feel free to shoot this down with memorable and cutting phrases.

Instead of "pawns" for 2-3 SC powers in the mid-late game, why not "Palmers?" Ray Palmer is the Silver Age Atom in DC Comics, a smart scientist who uses his brains a lot and also shrinks to little size and punches people in the nose.

This also opens up the verb "to Palmerize," that is, to channel your 2-3 SC might at a particular power (usually the one what brung you down).

I considered Atom/Atomize, but some might feel being called an atom by some 10-SC power is worse than being called a pawn.

For your thoughtful consideration. Best.

In the first line, "case" should be "change."