So I just started a game (I’m assuming a link to the game is OK, if not let me know and I’ll remove it - https://www.conquerclub.com/game.php?game=24233851 Iberia - Doubles, No Spoils, Adjacent, Trench), and one team at the start has full control over a coveted +2 corner region alongside all three of the bordering territories to that region, which with the trench warfare and no-spoils option means they are very likely to be going to get a constant +2 every round until the end of the game. In addition they have 3/4 of what seems to be the second or third best region (SW - Alentejo) with one territory within held by my team and 2/4 bordering territories all defended by a single territory that they also hold at the beginning. And as a third bonus they also have the first move in the game.
Basically this is a disaster for my team, I’m guessing that the expected win rate for the advantaged team here should be something like 95+ percent.
My suggestion then is this, prevent the generation of map starting positions where one team (i.e. one player on one team) holds an entire region at the beginning, especially the best region(s) in the game and especially with the trench warfare option, as without serious error or bad dice luck those conditions are something akin to a won game from the beginning, which one team and possibly both are likely to find unenjoyable.
I realize that on larger maps (for example the beehive map) some initial full control over minor regions is natural and not likely to have a big impact on the game (though this could tie into my related suggestion on this forum that those with an initial bonus are excluded from having the first move), but on smaller maps this is such a disadvantage to the other team that it should be eliminated as a possibility IMO.
... or.. lets have them Blow this,,,,,, joint
