I searched all the best WL maps, and I could barely come up with seven good LD templates. There aren't enough maps that have what good LD games need:

(1) 70-120 territories (too big and the LD game lasts too long and it becomes boring)
(2) a good mix of choke points and interconnected lands
(3) no/few 1:1 or 1:2 bonuses (and if there are these low bonuses, they should be on the periphery or located in a buffer area)
(4) bonus value = territories - 1
(5) bonuses of 2:3, 3:4, 4:5, 5:6 only

Examples of maps that have some of these criteria but not all:

- Imperium Romanum: too many small bonuses --> late game transfers become annoying and lack strategic importance, map is too big east to west (it takes too long to move across the map)
- Vietnam http://warlight.net/Map?ID=6870: good size (70 territories), but too narrow for LD and bonuses are too large
- Heavy Earth: too many territories (154), bonus values would have to be adjusted
- Battle Islands maps: perfect in terms of spacing/connections, but each one is too big
- Phobia http://warlight.net/SinglePlayer?PreviewMap=19129: good in so many ways, but the number of larger bonuses (5-7 territories) is too much for a good, strategic LD game
- Treasure Map http://warlight.net/SinglePlayer?PreviewMap=24131: maybe just a bit too big (137 territories) but if this map were a bit smaller, it would be ideal
- Korean Peninsula http://warlight.net/SinglePlayer?PreviewMap=24131: at first I thought this map was perfect. I even made a template. Then I got to picking and realized it was a mess: too many larger bonuses, too many combos/counters. It lacks bonus balance: small bonuses (2-4 territories), medium (4-5), and larger bonuses (6-7). So I asked to vote to end to avoid playing a bad LD game.

I was rather surprised to find that the most interesting LD games I have played so far were on my Ancient Greece II http://warlight.net/Map?ID=9623. The map's size is ideal. The bonus sizes and balance (small, medium, larger) are ideal. There is spacing, choke points, and interconnected areas. It is so good for LD that I even made an auto-distribution template that seems as strategic as manual picking.

Edited 6/20/2014 08:12:06

My new map, could work: http://warlight.net/Map?ID=14607

Belarus: right size, right bonuses, too interconnected, no choke points. It could make for decent LD games, especially with the right amount of wastelands.

Ideally, someone would just use the Battle Islands or Treasure Island or Medium Earth shapes and reduce the number of territories to 90-110, and make sure the bonuses are all 2:3, 3:4, 4:5, and 5:6 only

Edited 6/20/2014 07:23:01

What about this?
http://warlight.net/SinglePlayer?PreviewMap=33134

Close to the criterias, just a little bit bigger and there are few 6 point bonuses.

I was wondering if my maps is a good map for that kind of games
http://warlight.net/Map?ID=9755

What do you think?

The discworld map might work if you remove the two super bonuses.

http://warlight.net/Map?ID=4509

It fits (1) (2) and (3).
(4) (5) can be fix by hand, since the bonuses = territories - 2 here, and you get some 7:6 bonuses.

@Willem van Oranje: Superbonus doesn't allow Local Deployment I think.

Edited 6/19/2014 23:06:57

Considering part of Treasure map usually won't be used in a normal game, I don't see why it doesn't work with LD.

Discworld? Too ugly. Bad lines. Small map but no small bonuses (lacks proper balance given its size). Maybe some people would like it for LD. But I doubt many people would play it on a daily basis.

Limburg: break up some of the bonuses with 7-9 territories into bonuses of 3-5 territories and it would work for LD. For a small map: the more large bonuses (6-9 territories) it has, the fewer total bonuses it has.

LD games need a certain number of bonuses to be interesting. If a game only has 10-15 bonuses, it might not have the balance need to make an LD game worth playing.

Edited 6/20/2014 06:09:22

Maybe there is a mathematical basis to strategic LD maps.

Maybe a territories-bonuses ratio between 5 and 4 on maps between 70 and 130 territories is ideal for "strategic" LD games.

"Strategic" = fun, interesting LD games that don't last 30-50 turns and don't involve too much annoying transfers of rather insignificant armies to battle fronts that might be too far away to really matter much.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Total territories (excluding neutrals) divided by total bonuses (excluding bonuses of 0).

MME: 125/23 = 5.4 --> Longer games with annoying transferring is more possible.
-----------------
Treasure Map: 137/27 = 5.08
Ancient Greece II: 103/22 = 4.68
GME III: 138/30 = 4.6
France: 112/27 (15 cities become 0) = 4.15
Turkey: 82/20 = 4.1
-----------------
Imperium Romanum: 106/31 = 3.42 --> In a longer game, you have to click too much on your little bonuses, which can be so far away from the front that those transfers of 1-2 armies can take away from the fun

Edited 6/20/2014 06:15:47

what about imperium romanum with all 1 income bonuses set to 0?

I tried that. But the locations of those 1s are so strategic that the extra 1 yielded seems useful and strategic. The problem is when the game lasts longer than 15 or so turns and those 1s are behind the front lines and don't really help you against the enemy. Maybe deleting the 1 in Lusitania would be fine. But the others serve a purpose from turns 0-15.

Another problem is that there are two 1:2 island bonuses, a 1:2 in North Africa, and a 1:2 in Spain. And once the 2:3 bonuses are far away from the front lines (Imperium Romanum covers a lot of space east to west and it takes a long time to transfer armies), the 2:3 bonuses become annoying too.

Setting all those 1:2s to 0 might work. But they also can be useful when the enemy is bordering you...With LD, you need income at the front line. Giving higher base income (6) and finding maps with good bonuses to feed the war machine is better than relying too much on reinforcement cards.

Ultimately, Imperium Romanum's distance from east to west and its having too many 1:1, 1:2 and 2:3 bonuses is why LD is not as enjoyable on the map. The games are fine for 15 turns. But in longer games it feels more like work than a game.

I want LD templates that people that aren't sold on LD might like. Clicking too much is one reason why LD games are not popular with everyone.

Edited 6/20/2014 07:21:05

um, there were a couple that we played a year ago that might make nice LD. they all fit your requirements and have interesting shapes. greece was also part of this set and that is so far your favourite.

http://warlight.net/MultiPlayer?GameID=4093492 http://warlight.net/MultiPlayer?GameID=4093547 http://warlight.net/MultiPlayer?GameID=4093480

Edited 6/20/2014 06:59:22

Gui, are there any examples of games on these templates?