I don't know if you feel the same or not, but small (~10 regions or less, for egamma) realms give a different feeling all together. You give your best for the realm and then you feel, "yess, I have my share of contribution". See Eponllyn, GDoF, Fronen are the underdogs, when you fight for these type of realms, you find a different aspect of Battlemaster.
Also I would like to point out that there is you don't find the importance of water (noble count) unless you are in a desert.
And also