Hey there. I've loaded a number of games as France and gotten a variety of starts.
Sometimes, Bordeaux is there and flips. This has no significant impact because it's easy to settle there in any case.
Rarely, Lyon is founded and flips. This is pretty good for France when it happens.
Most commonly, Barcelona is the only city left in the area. This prevents founding any nice-feeling cities on the southeast of France. Especially if you wanted to found something with Mediterranean access, it would be very rare. Sometimes Barcelona's territory even extends up to the horses. Here's an example of a particularly oppressive start.
Given the variety of starts if you reload, it makes me want to keep reloading until I get a "good one". I wonder if anything can be done to give Spain and France a more consistent and balanced start. France could always expand east or annex Barcelona but that feels wrong for the very start of the game.
Or maybe I'm missing something?
Sometimes, Bordeaux is there and flips. This has no significant impact because it's easy to settle there in any case.
Rarely, Lyon is founded and flips. This is pretty good for France when it happens.
Most commonly, Barcelona is the only city left in the area. This prevents founding any nice-feeling cities on the southeast of France. Especially if you wanted to found something with Mediterranean access, it would be very rare. Sometimes Barcelona's territory even extends up to the horses. Here's an example of a particularly oppressive start.
Given the variety of starts if you reload, it makes me want to keep reloading until I get a "good one". I wonder if anything can be done to give Spain and France a more consistent and balanced start. France could always expand east or annex Barcelona but that feels wrong for the very start of the game.
Or maybe I'm missing something?
