Bulkangen [4.0] is submitted for review.

[slanmaster]

New map: Bulkangen [4.0] by slanmaster.
Map editor link: Bulkangen [4.0]

[slanmaster]

Small map designed mainly for 2 player team games or 4 players FFA. But I made it to be able to handle crowded 8 players FFA madness or 4v4 team games. Gonna try to run a few test games and I hope some players will be up for it.
All cities and ruins default. Multiple team settings.

[Igor]

Another archipelia theme...
Make it ladder one, will use.

[slanmaster]

Yep, I was inspired by the eminent Ansalon map by Tim. Im currently trying to find out ways to reduce the impact of the sorceress hero in this type of map. Fewer ruins obviously, but maybe also either guard them with heavy infantry/orcs or reduce the quota of level 2 ruins, as they usually are what gives the sorceress leverage to go crazy.
What do you think about fewer but a bit more accessible ruins, that can be reached almost as easily by slower ruin hunting heroes like paladin or ranger? Will that make the sorceress less mandatory?

[Igor]

Sorceress is useless on such maps as Battle Field and The Waste. Both contains no water, and other heroes like Horse Lord are necessary.
Looks dofficult to play without Sorceress where there are much water and coast lines. She can easyly cross rivers for searching ruins and other heroes can''t, but only spend 2 additional turns for 2 ports.
Sorceress can't use her speed on ruins, if to protect them by... may be ghost, or indeed HI. This can let other heroes to search lvl.2 ruins with help of other units.
On archipelago, just a little chance that nobody will use Sorceress. Terrain means much, at my look.

[KGB]

What Igor says about the Sorceress advantages (waterwalk) is true. There are *are* some things you can do to this map to help counter that:
1) Make the nearset city to each capital produce Eagles. That guarantees a flyer to each player and a way to cross water which helps to negate the waterwalk advantage of the Sorceress.
2) Make a lot of the shorelines especially (and other map areas) have ridges. You need fly skill to cross ridges so the Sorceress will need to spent a skill point to fly unless she wants to take a flyer with her (as other heroes will need to do).

On other thing I note. The White player has no cities he can take on turn 1. This forces him into slower expansion. It also means in any non-ladder game you will always know who plays White by the player who doesn't take a city on turn 1. Maybe consider a bridge to the island just north.

KGB

[slanmaster]

Good points KGB as always. I don't really like the eagle cities idea but the ridges work well. This map also has a lot of lava that blocks flyers even better.
I think you're right about the white start though - I thought since it starts so safe it would be ok to reach cities on turn 2 but probably more fair to just give him a bridge to the north.
Furthermore on the sorceress topic I don't think her early access to ruins over water is a problem as much as her fast power up that happens around levels 4-5 when she is able to search level 2 ruins on her own combined with extreme mobility. With an abundance of level 2 ruins she will often reach level 10 or higher in just a few turns and eat all ruins on the map. The only way to slow her down would be limited access to lvl2 ruins as I see it. Either fewer of them or guarded so she'll have to wait for backup.
I don't mind sorceress as an option but I don't like when she feels mandatory.

[KGB]

Ridges it is then! Use plenty of them and you'll keep her from overpowering the map in the early game.

You could also put a bridge to the cities to the south instead of the north. That makes the expansion at least go southward instead of toward Blue on turn 1. Might be a idea. You can potentially move 1 of the cities to the north island if you don't like the idea of a bridge to an island with 2 cities but I don't think that's really necessary.

As for the L2 ruins, I think fewer is better for all the reasons you stated. If you go with Guardians, I suggest 1 Ghost. Hv Inf seems OK (25 str) but with the hero adding their UL to their strength on ruins it means a UL of 20 (or 25) being added to a 25 or 30 or 35 strength means 50+ strength so she might just run right through a Hv Inf with little to fear. At least a Ghost gives a good ambush chance regardless of strength.

KGB