11.2 The Set-Up/First Turn
As with the Regional Maps, join the Political Maps in the rulebook (or the set-up turn) together for easy reference. To improve clarity on the Political Maps use a pen and mark the borders between the different empires. Take a bit of time, find your empire across all the maps and pencil in the co-ordinates. Evaluate the strategic importance of some of your territory - is it ripe for capture by enemies, or would it make a good base from which to further your interests?
Circle the territory of other empires within the game. This will allow you to see where potential alliances and conflicts might develop, and in future turns this will reveal invasions, and the economic strategy of other nations from the production sites visible on the map.
Your empire begins with substantial stocks in the national warehouses, an established navy, small army, plus several depots. Plot the positions of these items on the monthly political map on the turn report; your armies, commanders, spies, warships, merchant ships and baggage trains; using coloured pens for each type of item, or different colour pins. This will give an overall picture of the distribution of your forces around the globe.
Find all your barracks/shipyards and calculate their strategic value. If they're near the frontier of another country this will allow rapid deployment of troops and also a good border defence, but they can be vulnerable to raids. Fortify them if possible (see 5.3., p40).
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