[Edi]

With regard to start locations, there are a huge number of them, so this can result in a lot of players being clustered fairly close while others have more room to expand in peace. The deserts and swamps are nostarts, so anyone who starts next to the Anauroch desert can gain a lot of gem rich wastes fairly easily before running into neighbors.

Also, keep track of the VP markers on the map. If a province provides 3 or more VPs, traipsing in before scouting it out with something expendable is likely to hurt.