[LURKERS] PB 42

[Mardoc]

Something I should have said last night:  Saltwater shellfish make for late, slow food:  It's rarely worth even connecting them before the first Settler.

Do you think that replacing them with Fish would make them worthwhile, or should I abandon the Fishing resources altogether for starts and replace everyone's resources with land resources?

Alternately, I guess I could reverse course and give seafood to France / HRE in place of their weaker land resources (in France's case, expanding their lake and/or connecting it to a nearby sea).  I do want to encourage people to research toward navies and build coastal ASAP, given the test nature of the game.

Also, from looking at the map last night:  Some but not all players have copper or horses in their BFCs.  I don't like having either at the capital (later strategics, even including iron, are fine) but when some capitals have one it and others don't, the "haves" have a big advantage over the "have-nots" - probably a bigger advantage than an extra saltwater clam or crab.

Good catch.  I had been thinking in terms of adding, not removing, when I checked strategics.  Now shuffled those a handful of tiles further away. I don't think it will be as important on a map this big, but it's still probably better to make them work a little.

Answering one of my own implied questions from last night:  Yes, contesting someone else's home island from overseas is a real possibility for land significantly closer to the overseas capital, if played correctly.  So that's a good thing and potentially interesting!

It helps a lot with balance when I can expect the players to contest the good stuff .