i) Why does the Persians start on the Gulf? The Achaemenid and Sassanid heartland was in inland Fars.

ii) What's all that forest doing in the Ukraine, southern Russia, and northern Kazakhstan? Is it just for game balance?

:bump: Anyone?

I believe the tracts of dense forest in many areas of the map are indeed for game balance - they cannot be chopped down until later in the game. This is to prevent overexpansion by the civilizations in those regions.

If Persia didn't start on the gulf, it would be next to impossible to expand. There is little fresh water that far inland, and Irrigation is a very late tech.

Precisely what they said.

Thanks for the replies. :)