[LURKERS] PB 42

[Mardoc]

No time to look at this in depth, and I'm not sure if this is the sort of thing you want, but just from a glance at the landforms:

Thanks, Ref, that's very helpful.  I'm ok with a civ needing ships, as long as those ships are galleys and they have enough land to get to galleys.  What I'm really concerned about is making sure that players have more than one direction they can expand once those galleys are in play.  Trying to keep choice alive.

In addition to making it more fun, choice helps with keeping things balanced.  If everyone has multiple directions to go, then it's really hard for a single neighbor to wreck your game.

Map A:  Spain, China, and the Vikings each need ships to reach any other civ (Vikings on their own island, Spain and China separated by a peak at a one-tile chokepoint which is much closer to China than Spain.)

Hmm, could make this one work by flattening that choke and adding enough islands near China/Vikings to allow them to go west, not just east.

Map B:  Sumeria and Ethiopia are each alone on an island.  The Celts, on a landmass with two other civs at the ends of peninsulas, have huge back lines.

Now that you point this out, I think I'm ruling this map out.  Too many civs which start at the end of peninsulas, which really restricts their options.  And the Celts having more options rubs salt in that wound.

Map C:  Rome, Japan, Mongolia, and HRE are each alone on a landmass.  Aztecs have a two tile long, one tile wide diagonal choke point (due to peaks) that they have to get past to get off of their long, thin peninsula by land; if they can't, France has the rest of that enormous landmass to themselves.

I think I'm leaning for this one.  I can give people options with very minor edits, like giving the Aztecs a second bridge to France and adding a few island chains to make sure the single-landmass people can sail in multiple directions.