North Sea/Black Sea in the opening, Ionian Sea in the Mid-game, Western Med/MAO in the end game.

I'm biased against land provinces by being poor at Germany, Austria and Russia though.

Tyrolia tops out my list,
And I think Galacia is somewhat under-appreciated.

In no particular order, a completely arbitrary top ten:

Mid-Atlantic Ocean
Munich
North Sea
Galicia
Ionian
Tyrolia
Western Med
Belgium
Ruhr
Rumania

I don't know, I think the North Sea is most important in the midgame, as it is crucial in deciding which western power will emerge from the chaos, possibly only to face a draw at the hands of... (dramatic music begins, before eastern villian is revealed).

Munich is very important throughout the whole game, although land spaces tend to be least important in the middle, unlike sea spaces.

The Mid-Atlantic is always vital in deciding whether someone wins or the game is a draw, so much so, in fact, that people often send fleets that way early to get a head start.

Centurian, great list, except I'd definitely replace Rumania with Greece.

north sea and munich, maybe ionian maybe should be at the top b/c they are crucial through the entire game, not just during opening, mid or end?

I'd say Munich belongs on the list, if not Burgundy.

The problem is that different provinces are important to different people. I'd include the Black Sea on the list, but thats only only because I've had more than my fair share of Turkies

I think Adriatic is also pretty important, too. Well, early on, at least.

It depends on the country, and what stage of the game you are in.
For beginning stage:
Italy-Ionian
Austria-Seriba
Turkey-Bulgaria
Russia-Galicia
Germany-Denmark/Ruhr
France-Spain
England-North Sea

I'd say North Sea, MAO, Munich, Ionian, Black Sea, and Switzerland.

Huh. I'd change this to

Italy - Ionian, Piedmont, Trieste
Austria - Galacia
Turkey - Armenia, Black Sea
Russia - Galacia, Black Sea, Sweden
Germany - Munich, Ruhr
France - Gascony, Burgundy, MAO
England - NTS, ENC

Under normal circumstances, of course. So obviously this never applies.

Pandarsenic, the Black Sea is so overrated.

ENC is also very important to france.

I've never thought it was *that* important; I suppose it does vary with our experiences.

Kiel

The channel may be important to France, but not as much as MAO or Burgundy or Gascony, so it doesn't really merit all that much warrant.

Care to explain, figle?

Oh, and Centurian +1.

Depends on the situation. If england enters the channel, it becomes very important to france. Same if Germany enters.

No one thinks Bohemia is worth a mention? Well, I do. It is a key lynchpin on the north/south division. With it you only need three units to hold Tyrolia and Venice. Without it you need four units. And that one extra unit can make so much of a difference elsewhere.

Venice is the most important space for Italy along with Tunis (Suprising) for its defensive value. A Ven can shift to the East; Tri and Tyr West: Pie and Tus South: Apu and Rom.
And Tunis can shift and support three of the most important sea spaces the Ion, Tys and WMS. With A Ven and F Tun Italy becomes one of the hardest country to crack.

I'm going to put my two cents worth in and say Munich.

From my very limited experience, I know some areas are very strategic and some are very important; but go back and look at all your past games that had an outright winner and see how many of those winners ended with Munich as one of their winning SCs.

I looked back over my few completed games and found only 1 where Munich wasn't held by the winner...

Just my thoughts...

texasdeluxe +1 also, if I can do that.

the thing is to look at provinces that play an important role no matter what country or phase. some end up being crucial no matter what, even if they affect how the other side of the board plays out.

A convoy from Spain/Marseilles to Tuscany (or vise versa) is awesome. Don't count out Tuscany. I agree it is Syria.. or Portugal perhaps. Usually a unit gets stuck in Portugal.

(foot in mouth) I see there are paired posting for best and worst, after the fact.

Nope Venice is still more important than Tuscany. ;P
Rome would be the top Italian useless space. Almost never have to build there. Its the Italian Version of Trieste. But, Italy has three ports with Naples being the better build place.

Taking control of Kiel is the mainstay of the Northern Stalemate in my opinion. Thus if you're in the north you want it to hold your stalemate, but if you're from the south its a realistic target to stop the line forming. I would think of saying Spain because it helps build the Mao/Med stalemates, but many games are gone before this.