[Verjigorm]

I would like to point out that the Ogre map seems to have some VERY bad starting provinces. I'm frequently getting 3 neighbor starts and this last time I got a 2 neighbor start.

I'm fine if you want to use it, but I reserve the right to mulligan if I get a 2-neighbor starting province. :-)

The other option is to fix the starting provinces or... if the map has been updated since the version I'm using, perhaps those provinces have already been eliminated as starting locations?

Additionally, due to the sheer number of available water provinces (the map is intended for 3 water players), I'm going to say that my prediction is that either R'lyeh or Atlantis will win.

Additionally, (again with the water advantage), All land movement between the four land provinces is restricted to single choke points whereas movement via the sea is extremely unrestricted meaning that not only do the water nations have a numerical advantage in terms of land size, a land nation must also defend a much larger area against them. The ending of this game is therefore predicted to by Atlantis vs. R'lyeh who will optimally take the following strategy:

Enter into a "Last 2" alliance and split the water provinces evenly among them (23 each) and then do a NAP until all land nations are eliminated.

There are 56 land provinces per land nation, but land nations have great difficulty controlling water provinces against sea nations in early and into early-middle game since they cannot hire defenses or naturally travel there (with a couple of exceptions) which means that the water nations have 23 incontestable provinces each for at least 30-50 turns until strong undead, aquatic summons, and the living castle come into play. Sounds very cushy for the water boys.

Not saying I won't work at it or that I'm disgruntled--I always enjoy a challenge. I'm just sayin'... might be a little skewed especially for really new players.

I would recommend that when you build your pretender and formulate your strategy keep the advantage of the water nations in mind, but don't go overboard. Just make sure you have a way to get into the water. LA R'lyeh's dominion is also quite dangerous, so ensuring that you can keep their dominion from spreading into your lands is also a good idea, but that's enough "table talk", I think.