Too Dependent on Map

What would be the point of having a Random setting if it only generates maps that are consistent? If you don't want fertile land to be scarce, maybe don't select "Random" or "Desert" under Map Type. If you always want to be able to win with everything set to Random, maybe try dropping the difficulty.

Ctrl-N

It was stated earlier in the Beta that the Starting points/tiles will not be balanced at all.

roads roads roads.

For your 2nd hero, make him:

level 2, commander

level 3, road building.

Have him build a road out of the 'wastelands' and towards fresher ground, and you should be able to compete still.

This is becoming de rigueur for me, no matter my starting Sov's path.

Speed kills.

I dont mind some randomness at all. Its a single player game and its fun not to know whats ahead. 

There are ways to be extremely effective with even a poor resource setup.

• If you have a few decent resources (metal, crystal, shards, horses or wargs), use these to your advantage and try to make an unbeatable army of elite units. Eventually an AI will declare war against you, and destroy itself on your stack of doom. You can then walk in and take over their empire, which is presumably much better than your own.
• If you can your hero to level up quickly (do not pick the + exp traits), you can get a jump-start on the AI. They will have a higher "power rating" than you, but you will actually be stronger then them by quite a bit. You can take the battle to them then.
• Most of the Wildland lords are very susceptible to cheese tactics in one form or another. My favorite is horse + haste + slow = win (after like 25 minutes). These will usually provide you with a weapon that will allow your champion to single-handedly take out civilizations early to mid game.
• If you get absolutely nothing to play with I recommend the following strategy which is always viable:
1. Try to get as much money and mana as possible.
2. Build many shock troops with maces charge, fast and +damage vs higher level units. This will artificially inflate your power level, because the power level equation if horrible.
3. Gain as much experience as possible on your sovereign, with a focus on gaining HP.
4. When you get to 200 fame pick an assassin or warrior champion (hopefully these are options), return your sovereign to town. He's now going to be an unrest modifier only.
5. Cast paragon on your new level 7 champion over and over and over and over and over. If you're properly specced you should be able to get 10-20 levels out of this, putting your champion between level 17-27. Win the game with this champion and a steady supply of shock troops.

He wants a communist map type.

Thanks for the suggestions, Sythion. There's one thing you say though that I don't understand, "do not pick the + exp traits". What do you mean by that?

In the general tab there's a +15% exp bonus, and the mage tab has another +25% exp bonus. Due to increasing costs of leveling, these are mostly worthless until super high level.

There are only two situations when they should be picked:

1. Paragon builds (explained earlier)
2. Epic paced games on a large map

If you don't like your hole cards in Texas Hold 'Em (popular Poker variant), you aren't allowed to ask for new ones; however, you are entitled to fold your hand.

In my last game, I had to be aggressive early to find a second city tile on a small map. If I knew the map was always fair (and thus guaranteed me a nearby second city tile), the game would not have been nearly as exciting. The cost of this particular really fun game is that next time I might end up with an "impossible"* map that I may end up folding. I agree that some maps are unfair (at least to us mortals), but it does make for a more interesting game not knowing what hand you've been dealt.

*I put impossible in quotes because there are those experts...

Sythion, my first attempt at implementing your proposed strategy didn't quite work. Thirty-five minutes into the game, I had two cities. My power rating was 18. Ythril's power rating was 75. He declared war on me, and shortly thereafter showed up with two armies, each of which was stronger than my single army. Party over. It's been my habit to first research the two Civilization techs that let me build roads between cities. I then research shard harvesting in the Magic techs. After that, I research Leatherworking so that I can built the Defender-type unit. It looks like I should first research Leatherworking so that I can get those stronger units earlier.

Which strategy?

The one you mentioned in reply #7, though it's probably better described as guidelines.

Birth of summer. It is now a tier 2 magic tech spell, and now works very reliably.

Build up 200 mana, and cast it near a shard or crystal crag. You'll create multiple city spots, at least one with essence. Just don't cast within 6 tiles of one of your cities. 

Who needs to rely on the map?

(The attunement sovereign ability makes this easier to cast)