Here is a rough image of the bounds of the map I am describing.
I got the base image here from Wikipedia's article on the Greater Middle East, and tweaked it a bit to include much more of Africa and all of India/Nepal. I disincluded the former soviet slavic states (most of those stans).
Of course, the real map would not include present-day political bounds. Rather, it would look a little like Feudal War and similar maps -- each civilization would have its own capital, with an outlaying area it can bombard, and so forth. Here's the twist: it would work in reverse from Feudal War. That is to say, players would start with the outlaying areas divided among them, and the capitals of each civilization inhabited by maybe 10 or 15 neutrals.
Controlling all the capitals or eliminating everyone else would be a win, and +5 would deploy each turn on each capital held. Major cities and settlements, like Ur, would also receive auto-deploys.
These are the following civilizations I've thought to include, with the rough location of their capital on the map:
-Songhai Empire. This would be in the west-central part of Africa.
-Nubia. This is in the southeast of Africa.
-Egypt. Centered on Egypt, obviously, where Africa meets with Asia.
-Babylonia. Centered in Iraq.
-Hatti. Located in the heart of modern-day Turkey.
-Persia. This is somewhere in modern-day Iran.
-Bedouin. These guys were all over the place. I've placed them in the south of the near east, in Saudi Arabia, to make that area less barren.
-Indus River Valley. This is in India.
That gives eight separate capitals to hold. All players can hold at least one. Here's where they would be (roughly) on the map:
Tell me what you think of this idea, possible civilzations to include in lieu of these, and general ideas for how this map could develop. (Clearly, the maps above represent neither the graphical style nor the size of what a draft would look like). Already, looking at the map, I'd say Egypt's capital will be moving to the southwest in my first draft, to even out the spacing between the capitals.
