ShatnerMA Noob to Intermediate (Running)

[shatner]

We have 9 players total: 7 land and 2 water. With a desired 12 to 15 provinces per player that gives us the following requirements for our map:

84 to 105 land and 24 to 30 water

Feel free to promote any maps that fall more-or-less within that range.

[shatner]

Click the map name to see an image.

Bering looks like it might fit (http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/showthread.php?t=39550), though I'm not sure if it has ports to allow the land nations to go from land mass to land mass.

Galadia is really nice but a bit larger than desired (http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/showthread.php?t=43594)

[shatner]

Ooh, and Pangaea looks like it'd be spot on (http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/showthread.php?t=32248).

[shatner]

I am strongly leaning towards the map Winner pointed out to me, Blackwald, because it has 144 provinces - 105 land, 32 in the big ocean, and 7 in various lakes (http://z7.invisionfree.com/Dom3mods/...?showtopic=325). That is exactly the right number of land provinces and that ocean is just the right size for two water nations. The lakes can be anyone's game since CBM 1.92 makes getting land nations underwater a lot easier.

This beat out Pangaea because the terrain is more varied and has better choke points. So, is everyone okay with this map? Do you have any other maps in mind?

Now, I've never hosted a game before and I'm unsure of what, if anything I need to do to ensure the capitals are placed more-or-less fairly. We want the land nations pretty evenly separated and we don't want either of the water nations to start in a lake. How do I do that, exactly?

Any tips from those in the know?