Golfe Du St. Laurent

[Orange-Idaho-Dog]

^ Agree 100%, something needs changed. In my team game, team one was dropped 2 bonuses (Labrador & Great North) minus one territory. By round 2 they had both and were unbreakable.

[ender516]

Well the obvious simple changes are, first, putting a neutral in each of the 3-region bonus zones (New Brunswick, Newfoundland, and Labrador). But that still leaves a 2% chance of anyone in a 3-player game dropping a 4-region bonus zone, and there are three of them: Great North, Est Du Quebec and Nova Scotia. So, perhaps a neutral in each of those as well?
Starting positions might work too, but my first few checks on possible combinations seem to lead to 1v1 games where players start with 12 regions, which is a bad number, as it is too easy for the first player to take one region and reduce the second player's deployable troops.

[danfrank]

i haven`t played this map yet , and i may have said this before but this map shows that we need more female map makers ! This map is so graphically pleasing and by that i mean , the colors and shading are so easy to look at , while the cupid and flowers in the corners add that special touch. Great Job Tisha and i hope to see more maps from you in the near future

[danfrank]

Well the obvious simple changes are, first, putting a neutral in each of the 3-region bonus zones (New Brunswick, Newfoundland, and Labrador). But that still leaves a 2% chance of anyone in a 3-player game dropping a 4-region bonus zone, and there are three of them: Great North, Est Du Quebec and Nova Scotia. So, perhaps a neutral in each of those as well?
Starting positions might work too, but my first few checks on possible combinations seem to lead to 1v1 games where players start with 12 regions, which is a bad number, as it is too easy for the first player to take one region and reduce the second player's deployable troops.

How about starting with ten terts each on a 2 player game.. i am not too fond of this type of game mechanics , starting positions mean what ? neutrals ? or places where players may have a starting territory . and neutral starting territories are always starting neutral regardless of the amount of players or do these factors change with the amount of players involved ?

[Orange-Idaho-Dog]

I haven't even looked in to singles on the map yet. But I know team games are gonna be a problem. Maybe the more players, the better the chance of the bonuses being split up. But the game I mentioned earlier was lost from the drop (literally, not just an excuse for losing..)

[Tisha]

What's three neutral territories going to do to the territory count?

[ender516]

I am working on some calculations using MrBenn's Bonus Spreadsheet, but it is too late to finish and post them tonight. Probably inside of 24 hours.

[HighlanderAttack]

I love this little map--might be too easy to get bonus, but it is a nice little 1v1 map for sure. I might make the bonus structure one less on each bonus region, but I might not change anything either. Great job--love it

[ender516]

Okay, here are some tables to help with the discussion about neutrals and starting positions. These were all produced using MrBenn's Bonus Probability Calculator spreadsheet.

First, the status quo:

Click image to enlarge.

As you can see, the probability of someone dropping a bonus are quite high.

Next, if we put a neutral into each 3-region bonus zone (Labrador, Newfoundland, and New Brunswick):

Click image to enlarge.

With this arrangement, we are no longer concerned with the probabilities of 3-region zones. Things are better, but the chance of dropping one of the 4-region bonus zones is still significant.

Now, if we put one neutral in each of those regions (Great North, Nova Scotia, and Est Du Québec):

Click image to enlarge.

Again this looks better, but we must consider the problem that the 3 non-neutral regions of one of those zones could be easily dropped on one player, who could then get that bonus easily in the first round. This is not strictly counter to foundry guidelines, but it might still make for poor gameplay. In fact, the 3-region zones with one neutral each could also be easily taken by a player dropping the two non-neutrals.

Now, using starting positions can ensure that small zones are well split up, so that they cannot be taken too easily on the first turn.

For example, Labrador, Newfoundland, and New Brunswick can be distributed among three starting positions:

Click image to enlarge.

In order to prevent two-player games from starting with 12 regions per player (which puts the second player at a disadvantage for his first deployment), these starting positions must use regions that are "underlying neutrals", that is, that start neutral if they are not distributed to a player, which happens with one of the three starting position sets when playing 1v1, and for all starting positions in games with 4 or more players.

We still have a significant chance of dropping Great North, Nova Scotia, and Est Du Québec. So let's throw them into the starting positions. Just taking one region from each zone can actually make things worse, by making the situation more like a 3-region zone, which is relatively easy to drop, combined with the 1/3 chance that the starting position matches and gives that player the whole bonus. Let's look at taking two out of each of those zones:

Click image to enlarge.

With this setup, we ensure that the 4-region zones are not dropped, but I believe we are making it quite likely that someone will have 3 out of 4 regions in one of these zones.

Also, the probability of someone dropping the 5-region zone, Duplessis, is now on the rise.

I have no more time to explore this tonight, but will present some more possibilities soon.

[pamoa]

I used starting position in Austerlitz for all three territories bonus zone
it doesn't reduce the number of initial territories you get
it just force the repartition
so no one get two territories out of a three bonus zone
which is an even and elegant solution
in a 2 player game you have one red one green one neutral
as in such games territories are always splitted in 3

Code: Select all

<positions

<position><territory>Suchet</territory>
<territory>Pratzen</territory></position>

<position><territory>Kellerman</territory>
<territory>Skolnitz</territory></position>

<position><territory>Caffarelli</territory>
<territory>Telnitz</territory></position>

</positions>

[greenoaks]

i just started my first game on this map and i wasn't impressed.

the other player dropped a bonus, got most of the other bonus and i got neutrals between me and those bonuses. game over.

reading the last few posts this seems like it could be a regular thing. rare i could handle but this doesn't seem likely as is.

[natty dread]

in a 2 player game you have one red one green one neutral
as in such games territories are always splitted in 3

Starting positions are divided by 2 in 2 player games, so using starting positions does change the drop for 2-player games.With 3 starting positions, each player gets 1 position and the 3rd position is distributed regularly with the other territories. With 34 territories on the map, this would mean that each would start with 12 territories in a 2-player game, so it won't work for 2-player games.

[Tisha]

Sorry I'm clueless about gameplay. I am reading all this, just clueless as of how to fix it..

[ender516]

I am coming to the conclusion that MrBenn's Bonus Calculator can produce misleading values when starting positions become involved. I believe it does calculate the right number of territories in the pot, but somehow as I increase the number of territories in starting positions, the likelihood of dropping larger bonuses increases, which is counter-intuitive, since the number of territories in the pot is going down. Again, I have run out of time this evening, but I may try working around the quirks in the calculator and coming out with more rational numbers soon.

[thenobodies80]

Sorry I'm clueless about gameplay. I am reading all this, just clueless as of how to fix it..

Tisha you have only to code 3 regions to start neutral, maybe Goose Bay, Saint John and Avalon Peninsula.
In this way you'll have 31 regions at the start, that is a good number, and a just a 2% that any player start with a 4 regions bonus.
Starting positions are not necessary in this case.

Blue numbers are a bit hard to see on Cape Breton, I suggest to move the coords few pixels down, where you have a lighter color.

http://h1.ripway.com/Tisha1276/Golfe.xml

better?

Yes much better.