wanted: advice on setting up a MP game

[Zooko]

I'm planning to host a MP game after I move into my new house, Nov. 1. This will be the first time I've done this.

I don't like "house rules", such as "no playing the Vampire Queen" or "no more than 5 Clams", but I do like mods which attempt to rebalance things so that those strategies are no longer "no-brainers".

Therefore I plan to use the latest balance mods from Zen. Any other advice about balance? One idea is to request that players try a nation that they have not played before in multiplayer.

I want to do 5-player "pentagram" war, in which the win condition is to capture the capitols of the two players opposite you on the pentagram (while retaining control of your own capitol).

I find the Cradle map to be very appealing, but too big for a five-player game. Can anyone recommend a smaller map, and one that is highly connected -- i.e. not very many barriers or intervening water?

About schedule I was thinking of starting with 24 hour quickhost and switching to 48 hour quickhost whener three out of five players say they want to switch to the slower schedule.

Thanks in advance for your advice!