Thank-you Ian!
I've edited the first post - please tell me if it's not okay.
We're now on v26. It's possible that v25 was skipped but 26 comports with my own version numbering so let's please go with it.
There was never any "dagger". That was a
gladius (a short sword). We can discuss its reappearance.
I have no problem eliminating "river".
The original post included the following:
BONUSES
Bonus for every three territories of any type (as normal)
Bonus for every four gates
Bonus for getting all three of any of five different special territories, designated by icons and spread across the map
So if you own four gates do you get the bonus for that PLUS the bonus for owning three of any type?? Is it +4 as per the current map or +5 because it's four plus one? If you own three matching thematic terts the same question applies.
The issue of bonuses is going to be a complex one on this map and, I suspect, not settled before significant play-testing. Consider: the five thematic groups of three each have all terts separated by a goodly distance. Isn't it harder to hold onto them than a group of four that all connect and can reinforce/protect each other? But not all gate terts come in such groups. Five of them are all alone, not connected directly to any other gate. There's a group of three at the southwest edge, another group of three just southeast of them, a group of five center high (Fontinal to Colline), and then from the Flaminian in the northwest corner all the way around and down to the Ardean (center bottom) is a connected group of 14! How in the world could a perfectly calculated bonus be derived for such a diverse group of terts? Likewise, the terts that are neither thematic or gates appear alone and up to a clump of six. Imagine a three-player game with automatic initial troop drop. You'll start out owning nine plain terts and no gates or thematics. On the first turn all the other plain terts will have three armies in them, gates and thematics just two. It will be easier to go after gates than plain terts. Say you roll like a madman and capture four gates on the first turn. You will earn not just the +4 for the gates, but an extra one because now you own 13 total terts. So in effect four gates already earns you 5.33 armies. Since that matter of whether gates count toward total tert count was not clear even to me, I suspect Ian may not have considered this. And though this dynamic is hugely unlikely on the first turn, as the game progresses it certainly will apply. So I beg to differ with Ian. A gate tert is not "worth less per region held" and not really any more difficult to secure than any other four specific terts. Let's discuss this.
Another critical issue: I originally proposed that all gate and thematic terts would start out neutral. Is this strictly necessary? It makes sense for two players but what about for eight? Couldn't one each of the thematic terts be assigned and some of the gates?
I just counted carefully to be sure. There are:
30 Gate terts
15 thematic terts
29 plain terts.
Finally: I ask Ian, if at all possible, to suggest a plan of action as we go forward. What do we tackle first, second, third, etc.? I realize it's probably too much to expect any such plan to be followed closely. As this very post shows, all sorts of issues occur to one willy-nilly. So if the plan is just to tackle them as they come up until no more do, that would be understandable. But maybe at least a rough idea of order would be helpful.
