I quite like the idea of famine, ok not famine as such, but I think it does help remind us that part of the game is developing and improving your nation. It encourages you to look at agricultural improvements, develop things like a fishing industry, enter in diplomacy with other nations to obtain extra grain.
Having said that I do agree with some of the concerns around it, especially early in a new game or when you just take over a position. I think it is partly grain has increased in importance over the years. When I first started playing the game, grains main purpose was (I think) just to offset famines but now we need it to move armies and navies, so a surplus is more important-if you want to do anything military (without incurring too great a sickness level) you need grain.
I have wondered if another approach, to help new players and make the start of the new games flow better, would be for a player to start with a small grain reserve, not large but say 1.5 times what you need to counter a harvest failure. So you could have enough to make sure your popuation didn't starve in the first year plus have some to move units, try and develop an initial batch of hardy grain, sell off if you want. Ok, an inprudent player could waste their grain on strange ventures and still have a famine situation but at least it would, in theory, give you a breathing space
Having said that I do agree with some of the concerns around it, especially early in a new game or when you just take over a position. I think it is partly grain has increased in importance over the years. When I first started playing the game, grains main purpose was (I think) just to offset famines but now we need it to move armies and navies, so a surplus is more important-if you want to do anything military (without incurring too great a sickness level) you need grain.
I have wondered if another approach, to help new players and make the start of the new games flow better, would be for a player to start with a small grain reserve, not large but say 1.5 times what you need to counter a harvest failure. So you could have enough to make sure your popuation didn't starve in the first year plus have some to move units, try and develop an initial batch of hardy grain, sell off if you want. Ok, an inprudent player could waste their grain on strange ventures and still have a famine situation but at least it would, in theory, give you a breathing space