Tbh this has always been the way I saw the First Order. People always complain about how overpowered they seem because they have bigger ships, bigger walkers, a bigger Death Star, etc. but if you look at it from a story perspective they really always seemed much smaller than the Empire. In the OT you always got the sense that you were only looking at a fraction of the Empire’s might - the secret Death Star project in ANH & Vader’s personal quest in TESB. But the Empire had control over the entire galaxy, there was always a sense that there were other equally great imperial operations going on somewhere else, officers were surprised that the Emperor would take the time to contact Vader, and outright shocked when he decides to personally oversee the completion of the second Death Star.

Now compare that to the First Order, in TFA the galaxy is under rule of the New Republic so, despite being introduced as this misterious Emperor-like character, there really is no sense that Snoke has much else going on. Moreover, he seems highly invested in the Luke map plot, and is in constant contact with Kylo and Hux. Then by TLJ he’s outright leading the assault himself, so it really feels like he’s throwing everything the FO has to make sure the Resistance is wiped out. After the destruction of Starkiller & Holdo’s ram on Snoke’s fleet, the Battle of Crait is comprised of the crippled remnants of both sides, despite the FO still having the upper hand. TRoS really hammers home that the FO doesn’t have the reach to take control over the galaxy, it even brings up how their resources have been crippled by the destruction of the Starkiller. The ammount of Star Destroyers in Palpatine’s Fleet might look ridiculous when put toghether like that, but you can imagine the Empire had equal or even greater numbers spread out across the galaxy.