Thanks for the feedback, guys. I'm glad people like the map!
Still not sure what to do with the camps graphically, but something as simple as campfires might do the trick.
Maybe I could put some blood on the altar for color... lol
The reasoning behind
bombardment up the ziggurat from the camps is this:
1. Realistically you can bombard a fortress, although with limited success if your weapons are weaker than the defenses.
2. The main reason though is
playability. Allowing bombardment from the camps
speeds the map up a lot and reduces the effect of the neutrals. It took me some getting used to, because I think I originally reacted the same as Swimmerdude. It felt like it was sacrificing the original strategy premise. HOWEVER, there were some negative comments about having so many neutrals on the map and I gradually began to see the advantages of eliminating those neutrals more quickly and
bringing the players together to clash in the struggle for high ground.
Look at it this way.
If players can basically attack neutrals all the way to the top without encountering their opponents, then it becomes nothing more than a dice competition. If I roll better against neutrals than you I get to the top first and win. And a roll advantage gets compounded exponentially as you gain bonus/auto-deploy. If I'm analyzing this correctly, bombardment brings players into contact with each other sooner and introduces more strategy angles. The basic dilemma is: "Do I take this neutral, because if I do he will be able to bombard me." So if someone jumps ahead conquering a few neutrals, you can neutralize his first turn/roll advantage by bombarding.
Several have suggested
limiting starting positions per player to 3. My original concern was that someone could end up with one side of the zig all to themselves and an unfair advantage. Others said it would keep people hidden from each other in fog games.
My concern now with this is what happens in a 2 player game? You could easily end up with someone getting a side to themselves. I'm torn between
keeping a fog element by limiting starting spots and creating a complex dynamic all the way around the map as each player attacks from multiple points. Without a limit on starting spots you create
a huge melee struggling for the high ground in the middle, but you lose the fog effect if each camp bombards its side. This feature is up in the air for me.
Which is better?
a) FOG and only 3 camps to work with to assault the mountain
b) 8 starting spots each in 2 player, 16 camps all attacking the mountain and struggling to control the high ground
)
I was thinking the same thing have something artsy for the starting camps or for the altar just to give it a little color. I like the layout of the map and that it is unique. 
