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I have always considered Serbia to be the most important space in the Balkans, but to be perfectly honest, for a long time I only had a vague notion as to why I felt that way. Thinking recently about the board I determined that it was useful, at times, to look at spaces on the board in terms of their influence. How many different spaces can this space affect? When choosing between two different spaces all other things being equal, it makes sense, when playing for position, to move to the space with the most influence. Serbia is one of the most influential spaces on the board, able to affect six other spaces (there are several that affect seven, ie., BUR and BAL). Logically a unit in Serbia can move to, cut or support six different units. One might come to this assumption by simply saying “well it’s in the middle” but it's more than this. It has to do with the way the borders are drawn. Vienna is just as much “in the middle” as Serbia but affects only five other spaces. Bulgaria borders as many spaces in the Balkans, but any given unit in BUL can only affect four if it is an army and only three if it is a fleet. There is more however, to this discussion of influence. Serbia is more influential than BUR or BAL because of the six spaces it borders five are power centers (BAL and BUR both border only four). BLA is the only other space that borders five centers, but a unit in BLA must be a fleet and is then limited in choice once it moves to another space (i.e. it can advance no further into Russia once it has moved to Sevastopol and cannot influence the spaces beyond SEV) and so BLA is influential mainly for supporting and cutting support. If this were not enough to seal the argument, Serbia is itself a power center. Munich borders seven other spaces, but has less influence because it borders only two other power centers. [Editor's Note: Eugene Hung compares Serbia and Munich's influence with a twist.] Serbia is the only power center to border six or more spaces and five centers. There are a few power centers that border as many or more spaces (although most are limited by the choice of fleet or army in true influence), BUL, BUD, and RUM come close to the center influence with four, but the combination is unique to Serbia. Given my definition of influence, it would be hard to find a more influential spot on the board. This takes a practical bent when the scramble for the neutrals begins. I would not argue that Serbia is essential to win the game or even for survival in the east, but whoever controls Serbia is in position to control the tempo in the Balkans; able to assert influence on all the other Balkan centers and decide the fate of Austrian home centers. Allow another power to control Serbia if you are an eastern power at your peril.
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