ok, been a while since i played warlords occ. i think the map should be equal_inland_sea or equal_team_battle_ground would be the best for all occ era starts. for one, everyone starts with the same resources, and are placed in a reasonable location, i.e. not on a coastal area.
As far as era, well it depends, are you looking for an ironman type occ? or a more ladder style beat each other up and be the top techer after x amount of turns? If ironman, anc start is reasonable. any other format and you really should look at a later era.
I'm not a fan of tech trading between teams. But if the consensus is to have it. so be it.
Do we have to pick leaders before the game is formatted? If its ancient start I'd like mansa musa. Anything later i think I'd like to have either Gandhi or Peter.
Things to be banned:
GL: in anc start whoever gets it probably will win.
Internet: another bad boy, i guess can be a losing teams savior, if playing late era game.
Nukes. Why play a billion hours to have everyone nuke each other? Bantams favorite tactic
spies: scouting only.
looking forward to playing with you guys!