Send as much as you like there, the main fighting will be against players I think? But there's also a Wraith guarding access to each 2nd tier of spells, and three Doom Priests in a tower guarding access to the 3rd tiers.

The entrance itself also has unguarded towers so you'll need wall crushing; alternatively, you could fly over the lava.

gg

OK lol, time to restart this after a variety of minor edits
I completely forgot that Sandworms don't have wallcrushing in TS136 when designing the Azrac start, and I accidentally gavew the Dark Elves four starting rebuilders instead of the 2 everyone else has.

Oh good, I don't waste several turns and one of my builders on a useless shipyard.
And that's all Arnuz really needs, double the starting stuff of the rest of us! XD

Why can't the Azracs just use elephants to break the walls?

Does anyone besides the Orcs need to build a boat to reach their teleporter? I'm assuming the teleporter is next to the sign which is next to the scrying pool, all of which are across the water with no apparent land bridge that I've seen.

When your map description talks about sending expendable units, not your leader, did you account for how fast Town Gate is going to be available?

I have just restarted the game with twice the starting gold, a couple more mines and hamlets in the starting area, two of the starting mages hidden in a prison somewhjere else (thus not drawing upkeep), slight rearrangement of the map movement spells in the Cave of Lore, map fixes and rearrangements, etc.

The Azracs' start was pretty harsh due to my oversights.

Don't forget that while they might be drawing gold upkeep, they are providing mana upkeep and magic research. I'm not going to say one way is better than the other, I'm just pointing it out so you make the choice instead of it being an oversight.

Also consider whether a player besides the intended recipient might be able to recruit those helpers.

Dwarves, Day 1

We uncover a ring of... Poison Immunity. Not the strongest periapt - but should i venture into the lands above, it could prove invaluable, for the Necromancers are known raise to toxic gales against their foes.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I think this should be happening.

IIRC Arnuz is having hardware issues, and occasionally borrowing a laptop to play on or something.

So I'd heard, and I don't fault him for the delay. I simply didn't know if he didn't have game access or if he was unaware of the save for some reason.

Carwyn of the Dark Elves, day 1

The idea of groundhog day is to do it better each time so that finally you end up out of the loop.

Not understanding the idea we do it worse, losing two swrdsmen to gain one less city. The teleporter seems to have moved faraway and we have to leave a mine behind or we'd lose one or two more days to reach it...

Orcs, Day 1

Much better sight gives us much better ability to make tactical decisions. Yay!

We raid the nearby crypt, taking the treasure it contained for ourselves. Our constructors begin moving toward ruined towns, but can't reach them quite yet. We also begin construction of a boat so we can explore the Caves of Lore.

TS

Southern: One of my constructors is one hex away from reaching my 3-hex ruined city on Turn 1. That's fine if this is deliberate, I just wanted you to know.

Also, consider whether to explicitly give each player Enchant Weapon as a starting spell. I started with Dispel Magic this time, and it will take two turns to research Enchant Weapon. It shouldn't be a huge deal; my priests should be able to swamp each wraith around the time my constructors arrive (or finish), but it is something to consider.

Right, on feedback: I don't have any nearby dark elf city, the 2 cities I've started won't be dark elves, so I am hardly a dark elf leader... Don't know if it is intentional or not.

Me too.
Day 2, Dwarves, Day 2

Oh blimey, the Azrac leader has entered the Cave of Lore himself? Better research Warp Party sometime to escape.