First Draft of the New 10-Player Map

[Brekk]

Updated Map Notes:
Viperhead and Avalon will be designated as neutral cities, similar to Stormgate's current role.
Let me know your thoughts—planning to start with 10 kingdom regions.
Mountain regions or those without water access will receive better starting bonuses, with all values subject to adjustment as needed.
   

[davekuyk]

Does the Northern Mists have a minor city?

I am okay with the idea of two "city-states" rather than one. It is an interesting change.

I like Amberland having two cities - like in the old days!

A few of the borders I can nitpick - Runnimede seems it should encompass all the mountains, rather than lose ZJ and ZK. Similarly, it seems the desert in the area should either be all in Runnimede or in Arcania. Another area is the border between Amberland and Synisvania. IMHO the sea should be the border, rather the mountains in the center. Again, these are nitpicks. The region borders can be reasonably drawn a number of ways.

Overall I like the look and the idea of a ten-person map. Changes can always be made if there is a serious issue.

[JohnnyUtah]

Updated Map Notes:
Viperhead and Avalon will be designated as neutral cities, similar to Stormgate's current role.
Let me know your thoughts—planning to start with 10 kingdom regions.
Mountain regions or those without water access will receive better starting bonuses, with all values subject to adjustment as needed.

The map looks a little unbalanced to me. Smaller regions in the east with more bordering kingdoms and further from both neutral cities. I would want the western regions. Maybe Zarathon and Avalon as the neutrals.

Seems like Amberland borders 8 other regions would get overrun every game. Maybe both major cities could be twin cities or sister cities both located in the central valley that could be covered by the intercept range of a single group. Maybe JK for the other city?

[Mauler]

Hey Brekk,
Map looks great!
My concern is the huge swath of sea separating Runnimede/Arcania from Amberland/Torvale. It makes it all the more daunting for new players to understand the nuance of building fleets, the risks of sea movement, etc...
I would recommend a couple of diagonal land connectors (perhaps with a "ford" symbol on the map to call it out) through the contiguous seas to make land movement possible, but more difficult.

Perhaps...
SK as a 3 way link between torvale/amberland/arcania?
UI for runnimede/arcania?
Ve or VF for north/south Runnimede?

[davekuyk]

A bit of context for folks. This map is based on the original Alamaze map and while the terrain and seas are different, the cities are in the same places. In the old days it used to be set which kingdoms started where and that was part of the game balance. Thus Amberland, while vulnerable to attack from all angles, began with either the Giant or the Paladin (think Sacred Order) and those kingdoms were among the strongest. Amberland also had two cities, at least in some games (regional boundaries shifted).

That being said, Johnny made good points. Avalaon and Viperhead as the city-regions are both on the western side of the map. As the Northern Mists doesn't have a major city, perhaps Zarathon and Avalon should be the city-regions, and Viperhead part of the Mists.

Mauler also makes a good point about the seas. On this map they are more like rivers dividing up the map. The Sea of Mystery is HUGE and could be cut back some. A crossing point in Runnimede would be a good addition - perhaps VF,VG,VH.

[Brekk]

All good ideas—I really like the concept of choke points. I think the game could gain significant strategic value for troop movement if choke points were implemented. Let me review everything that’s been posted here and get another version of the map up. Thanks for all the input.
—Brek