[Baalz]

Well, I don't disagree with many of your points Micah/Zeldor, and as I mention I'm talking more of MA Atlantis and the conversation is getting a bit crossed. I will say, having played a fair number of games as aquatic nations I find it impossible to overstate the strategic value of attacking from the water to land the first (and possibly second) time. As I say with that sub/battleship analogy you're pretty undeniably weaker than a top notch land nation all things being equal. That said, I've never (in say 10 games) gotten to the point that I controlled the seas and didn't relatively shortly attack someone on the coast in an overwhelming sneak attack, which generally leads to a very good sized empire difficult to attack (because it's 2/3rds underwater) and a war ally. Given this massive strategic advantage I think it's appropriate that the underwater nation be somewhat disadvantaged in a fair fight. I'll concede you've got an uphill fight to get to that point as EA/MA Atlantis given their underwater opposition, but it's not a shutout and is appropriate for a more experience vs less experienced matchup.