EMPIRES RULEBOOK

4 THE MAP

4.1 THE MAP A copy of the map for a current game should be provided with this rulebook. Some game maps may be spread across several sheets of paper. Each map is divided up into individual areas. Some map areas correspond to real world countries, and others to provinces or parts of countries, or areas of sea. Each area will contains one of several different types of terrain and varying numbers of armies, forts and population.
Note: An "area" is a map location, and a "country" is a bunch of areas controlled by one player.

4.2 AREA AND COUNTRY CODES Individual countries (i.e. players) are identified by two letter codes (see rule 1.3, and the roundup section of your game report). Each map area has a three letter code, and although the game reports often give the full names you should ALWAYS identify areas (in your orders) by these codes. The computer understands ONLY the codes: if you enter other stuff it won't be able to process your orders.
Note: Sometimes there will be map areas and countries with the same name, but they'll be identified by different codes (e.g. in World Empires Argentina is a country whose code is AG, and usually controls the map area called Argentina, whose code is ARG).

4.3 TERRAIN The terrain types are mountains, forests, wetlands, uplands, jungle, deserts, lowlands, plains, towns, islands and seas (the key to the symbols for these should be shown on the map).
The terrain type decides the cost of increasing the population (income) in that area. The worse the terrain, the more it costs. Terrain may affect movement and battles, as armies moving into difficult terrain become "stuck" for the remainder of the turn. The defence strength may be increased and the battle losses of the defender may be reduced according to the type of terrain..
See 5.9 for the GROW action and costs, 7.5 for movement restrictions (getting "stuck"), 8.9 and 8.12 for terrain effects on battles, and 14.1 for a table of terrain effects.
Plains: This stands for a variety of steppes, scrub, bush, savannah, semi-desert and generally anything flat and not especially fertile (the fertile areas are the "lowlands").
Islands: This terrain type is for small islands. Big islands will have proper terrain of their own.

4.4 SEA SPACES An island may be located INSIDE a sea area rather than on an edge. In this case you must move THROUGH the sea area to reach the island(s). You can't reach an island directly from a neighbouring sea area UNLESS the island is clearly shown to be on the boundary of the sea space.

4.5 DISTANCES AT SEA Where these rules refer to the distance between two sea areas, you count the number of sea spaces between them. Don't include the start area or the destination.

4.6 POPULATION Each land area has a population level, which represents not just the population but agriculture, mining, industry and commerce as well. The population level decides the income you receive for each area. You increase your income in the game by increasing your population (mainly with the GROW action, see 5.9) but each area can only do this once each turn.
In Empires the population doesn't fight in battles, but to capture an area your must have more armies than the population level (a small army can't take over a well-populated area) and some population is lost during each battle (see collateral damage, 8.13).

4.7 ARMIES Armies represent a mixture of different ground forces. They can be moved around the map and used in attack and defence. You can raise new armies either with the ARMY action (see 5.3) at a cost of 3 BPs each, or they can be raised by converting population with the LEVY or MOBILISE actions (see 5.1 and 5.2). Armies can also move around at sea, but only by using ships. The CONVOY action (see 7.2) moves ships and armies together, and the MOVE action (see 7.3) allows armies to move one sea are containing ships to another.

4.8 FORTIFICATIONS Fortifications do two things. They allow you to keep more armies on the map (see dispersal rules, 6.5), and they increase the strength of the armies that occupy them when they're attacked (see defence strengths, 8.9).
Fortifications cost 1 BP per level to build and will increase your supply costs (see 3.3), cannot be moved once built, but may be dismantled (with the RAZE action, see 5.8). They may be destroyed as "collateral damage" (see 8.13) during battles, but they don't count as "battle losses" (ie. they don't count to "pay" for losses).