By the gods, i've had an epiphany! It is nothing short of divine inspiration I tell you.
Combining these two ideas of mine (AI menace and multi-team noobs and vets) makes a great deal of sense:
1. It makes sense thematically: With the defeat of the vets, noobs and vets now co-exist peacefully. This explains why they can be on the same teams together.
2. The rise of a new menace (this time led by the AI) brings noob and vet alike together to confront this new threat. But the new teams are quarrelsome and can't get along so after dealing with the AI threat they vie for dominance.
3. 4 teams composed of 1 vet champion or hall of famer (acting as captain), 1 intermediate level player and 2 noobs allows for players of all skill levels to join in on the action.
4. The fifth team of AI players allows for some compstomping action, provides an interesting twist, and can be placed in between the competing teams forcing the teams to deal with the AI menace first.
5. At 20 nations (5X4) a series of games could be played in each of the era's without having to worry about water nations. Beginning in EA and proceeding to LA, the AI menace could be made increasingly more difficult.
6. A complete custom made map would not be neccessary, this could be done with either a random or suitable pre-existing map.
Sounds like the makings of a new game and thread if people would be interested.
