Middle Earth LADDER [1.0] is submitted for review.

[Jeremy]

I\'ve seen both the northern and southern players win several times each, so I know both are possible. The fact that the north has a Dragon producing city certainly helps them for the long game. Also, the dominant northern players tends to be able to clean up the north before the dominant southern player can, which gives the North an advantage in the final matchup that perhaps balances the fact that they have fewer cities. So far, that seems pretty balanced. I\'ll continue to tweak as I get reports of imbalance.

[LPhillips]

Well, I'd certainly be happy to see more ladder maps! Thanks for working on a Middle Earth map, and I hope to play a few games on the current version so that I can see for myself and throw my support behind you

For now, I've got a few too many games running.

[garvisus]

I started with eagles and was able to reach Edoras from Isengard and raze it on turn 2 before the opposition took their 2nd turn. Granted they left it unprotected, but not the way I would like to start a campaign.

[Jeremy]

I agree -- that's a serious problem. Which is why in the Scenario version, neither side starts with flyers.

Not sure how to solve it -- in the story, Edoras and Isenguard aren't that far from each other.

It used to be that you could hit it on your first turn -- I removed some roads to make that impossible.

How should I fix it? Remember that in a Ladder game, the start units are random, and often include 1 or 2 Eagles.

I want Saruman/Isenguard to be able to hit Rohan with Crows by turn 3, but being able to hit Edoras with an Eagle on turn 2 is too fast.

[LPhillips]

How to fix spawns that are too close?
Impossible.

There's currently no solution for this. Eventually, we hope for a feature to exclude certain starting units. There are numerous instances where those units are unfair, including games where one or more players starts in desert terrain with a sandworm and others do not.