Favourite Map of 2009?

by **MrBenn** on Thu Dec 17, 2009 3:54 pm

Ahoy Conquer Club!

During 2009, 28 maps have made it out of the Foundry Furnace. I'd be interested to find out what it is about each map that people like, so would like to pose the following question:

Which one of the following maps is your favourite, and why?

Cairns Metro (Tue Feb 03, 2009 8:28 pm)
WWI Ottoman Empire (Tue Feb 03, 2009 8:29 pm)
USA Map Pack (Tue Feb 03, 2009 8:53 pm)
France 1789 (Mon Feb 09, 2009 7:58 pm)
Wales (Mon Feb 16, 2009 6:47 pm)
San Marino (Mon Mar 02, 2009 8:40 pm)
Eastern Hemisphere (Mon Mar 09, 2009 19:46 pm)
Centerscape (Tue Mar 24, 2009 4:49 pm)
Peloponnesian War [BETA] (Tue Mar 24, 2009 4:50 pm)
Oceania (Mon Apr 20, 2009 7:24 pm)
Land and Sea (Sun May 03, 2009 6:11 pm)
Castle Lands (Wed May 27, 2009 12:23 pm)
Greenland (Wed May 27, 2009 12:24 pm)
Indian Empire (Wed May 27, 2009 12:25 pm)
Poison Rome (Tue Jun 02, 2009 1:17 pm)
The Age of Gilgamesh (Tue Aug 11, 2009 4:01 pm)
Vancouver [BETA] (Mon Sep 07, 2009 2:16 pm)
Route 66 (Tue Sep 29, 2009 4:47 pm)
First Nations of North America [BETA] (Tue Sep 29, 2009 4:50 pm)
Austerlitz (Wed Sep 30, 2009 3:10 am)
England (Sat Oct 03, 2009 11:12 am)
Third Crusade [BETA] (Fri Oct 30, 2009 4:47 pm)
WWII Poland [BETA] Fri Oct 30, 2009 4:50 pm

(The date in brackets is the 'Quench' date.)

by **the.killing.44** on Thu Dec 17, 2009 4:13 pm

Eastern Hemisphere.

Awesome graphics. Large map. Great gameplay. Great theme. It's awesome.

by **danryan** on Thu Dec 17, 2009 4:17 pm

Poison Rome. Unique gameplay, strong theme, lots of potential even for 1 v 1. With a strong second by USA Map pack - all excellent little maps.

by **ManBungalow** on Thu Dec 17, 2009 4:22 pm

the.killing.44 wrote:Eastern Hemisphere.

Awesome graphics. Large map. Great gameplay. Great theme. It's awesome.

That's my decision too, and for similar reasons.

I also quite enjoy playing First Nations of North America for its many easily-held bonuses and England for its balanced play. Most of the other maps are too small to interest me very much.

by **Duality.** on Thu Dec 17, 2009 4:32 pm

Eastern Hemisphere is my favourite there: a pattern seems to be developing.

by **TheMissionary** on Thu Dec 17, 2009 4:39 pm

Singles: Peloponnesian War - lots of shoot and miss opportunities, everyone starts evenly.
Doubles: Castle Lands - Fair sized, balanced play.
Triples: France 1789 - Requires good tactic and teamwork to be successful.
Quadruples: First Nations of North America - Plenty of opportunities for any style of play with the large territory count, very simple to analyze.

Also WWII Europe isn't listed, wasn't it quenched in '09?

by **AndyDufresne** on Thu Dec 17, 2009 4:55 pm

Eastern Hemisphere for me as well I think...but Greenland, Indian Empire, and Gilgamesh I enjoyed as well.

So I suppose, my favorite cartographer of 2009 would have to be Oaktown as well. His maps most always top my lists.

--Andy

by **Commander62890** on Thu Dec 17, 2009 5:00 pm

I enjoy a lot of these maps, but my top 3 would be: Pelo War, Gilgamesh, and WWI Ottoman

Edit: Forgot about the "why"

I dunno, I just really seem to enjoy team game play on these three. Pelo War is really a personal favorite now, especially for Dubs or Quads.

by **Incandenza** on Thu Dec 17, 2009 5:19 pm

I'd have to go for Poison Rome, just a fantastic trips map...

by **Master Fenrir** on Thu Dec 17, 2009 5:31 pm

1. Eastern Hemisphere (Mon Mar 09, 2009 19:46 pm) - Everything about this map is excellent. It's definately one of the best maps for team games.

2. Peloponnesian War [BETA] (Tue Mar 24, 2009 4:50 pm) - You can pretty much play any kind of game on this map. And I don't know why it is, but I find it to be a really "fun" map. (Why is this still BETA?)

3. Vancouver [BETA] (Mon Sep 07, 2009 2:16 pm) - I've played the hell out of this map since its release. It is a great map for any team game, and has quickly become one of my favorites.

by **JOHNNYROCKET24** on Thu Dec 17, 2009 5:37 pm

I love every map that was not produced by MrBenn

by **Qwert** on Thu Dec 17, 2009 6:21 pm

Also WWII Europe isn't listed, wasn't it quenched in '09?

its quenched-27 december 2008, together with Europe 1914.
16 month in development
Hmm,maybe its need to open topic for:
Favourite Map of 2006
Favourite Map of 2007
Favourite Map of 2008

by **natty dread** on Thu Dec 17, 2009 6:49 pm

top3:
Vancouver, Austerlitz & Poland.

Runner ups:
Third crusade & First nations of north am.

by **Gilligan** on Thu Dec 17, 2009 6:55 pm

Austerlitz (For 1v1)
USA Map Pack (Beautiful!)

I'm surprised that there is only 28 (33 if you include each individual USA map)

by **safariguy5** on Thu Dec 17, 2009 7:06 pm

USA Map Pack. Good gameplay, and has many applications in tournament use (sports team home maps).

by **L M S** on Thu Dec 17, 2009 7:45 pm

Gotta go with Eastern Hemisphere on this one. Beautiful map to look at and the gameplay is simply fantastic. There are so many ways to win; it takes real effort to analyze and execute the plan. I also love that the kill is rarely seen ahead of time when done right. Also, my partners Wolfpack0530 and Master Fenrir and I absolutely own that map on trips.

Just Sayin.

p.s. A nod to the USA Map Pack and Poison Rome for all the previous reasons stated.

by **MrBenn** on Thu Dec 17, 2009 7:50 pm

Gilligan wrote:Austerlitz (For 1v1)
USA Map Pack (Beautiful!)

I'm surprised that there is only 28 (33 if you include each individual USA map)

It's 28 including the USA map pack as 6 maps.
45 during 2008
43 during 2007
27 during 2006

<back on topic>
I've had a couple of good games on First Nations of North America - it seems good for games with larger numbers of players...

by **sully800** on Thu Dec 17, 2009 10:07 pm

I really enjoy Indian Empire. It's relatively standard gameplay but the combination of region bonuses and rail bonuses makes for very interesting 2 player games. There are a lot of good starting strategies and I think it's the only map on this list that I have played repeatedly

by **slowreactor** on Fri Dec 18, 2009 12:47 am

Poison Rome all the way. There are always so many options regardless of your drop or game type, and it's just an amazing map to play on.

by **GreazzzzMaster** on Fri Dec 18, 2009 1:55 am

i would have to say that Eastern Hemisphere is my least favorite of all of them

i guess i vote Cairns Metro. it has a lot of possibilities for trips and quads and decent game play for doubles as well

also fairly fond of WWI Ottoman but mainly just for doubles.

by **Bruceswar** on Fri Dec 18, 2009 3:31 am

I am old Fashion. Greenland and First Nations of North America top my list. Vancouver is nice also.

by **Mr Changsha** on Fri Dec 18, 2009 4:59 am

TheMissionary wrote:Singles: Peloponnesian War - lots of shoot and miss opportunities, everyone starts evenly.
Doubles: Castle Lands - Fair sized, balanced play.
Triples: France 1789 - Requires good tactic and teamwork to be successful.
Quadruples: First Nations of North America - Plenty of opportunities for any style of play with the large territory count, very simple to analyze.

Also WWII Europe isn't listed, wasn't it quenched in '09?

Agree on France 1789 for trips. Just discovered it (on my first game) and I like that the bonuses seem to be not all that key (they all have so many borders/territories that can hit the borders), lots of rivers and natural obstacles AND a +1 capital (neutral 4) to tempt. I also like the graphics...having spent the last year playing classic shapes for trips it is nice to actually have a game worth looking at!!!

by **sdh** on Sun Dec 20, 2009 11:24 am

I love the Wales map, which has quickly become my favourite. I like how the game won't usually be decided based on your drop when playing a 1 on 1.

by **edbeard** on Sun Dec 20, 2009 5:32 pm

I haven't played many maps this year so I can't really speak to that but ...

AndyDufresne wrote:Eastern Hemisphere for me as well I think...but Greenland, Indian Empire, and Gilgamesh I enjoyed as well.

So I suppose, my favorite cartographer of 2009 would have to be Oaktown as well. His maps most always top my lists.

--Andy

Each map is among the best of the year (in terms of looks at least). Combine that with the quantity and Oak's got a good lead.

Benn taking on a foundry role meant less map making from him.

WM did the map pack and took a break though we'll probably see many maps from him in 2010.

Cairns slowed down a bit but we saw two solid maps from him. I think he's got a few in the pipeline too.

I'm a little bit surprised that Land and Sea has barely 2000 games. I think it's a solid map. I was also surprised that it has only been around since May. It's my favourite map produced by myself this year.

Again without playing most of the maps, they all look pretty solid so that's a nice thing for 2009.