Playing "Defense of the Country" you have a whole lot of activity packed into a very small space. Most of the center of the "tiny" sized map is filled with two concentric rings of stone and wood defenses and nearly 750 defending units are squeezed into and around the fortifications. There is not much room around the edges for the invaders when they come - but come they do - quickly and repeatedly.
The designer has done a decent job of preparing the terrain, rounding it in a natural looking way and adding a stream flowing through. The addition of plants and rocks would have added to the appearance.
Nothing fancy with the fortifications themselves but they have a pleasantly irregular shape and appear as if they were truly constructed there on the rolling land beside the stream. Not just a box with towers at the corners. The towers are small and he stone wall is a single thickness and, as such, they do not stand up very long under the attacks of enemy macemen and pikemen. Also the archers and crossbow men stationed along the wall suffer for not having an outer, crenellated, wall to protect them. Map Design - 2.5, Creativity - 3
I played this game 3 or 4 times on NORMAL and suffered overwhelming defeat each time. I did try a few different strategies with my use of the troops located outside the walls and with my positioning of the troops inside. It wasn't even close. Switching to EASY I was able to win first time. I am not really sure what I would need to do differently to win on NORMAL (Now that I have said this, the next reviewer will probably comment on how easy it was for them to win on NORMAL!)
While there is a challenge to this map also it a bit frustrating because it is so cramped and full. At the beginning of the game the invading troops appear right in the midst of several hundred of your own defending pikemen and spearmen unless you take immediate steps to move them.
Alli indicates that his desire was to make a 160x160 map but the castle he has produced would fit much better on 300x300 or larger. Playability - 3, Balance - 3
A small story is included in the game but it give only a brief statement of the setting and doesn't add much to the game. Story - 2.5
Alli - This is a good start at map making but I think trying to put so much in a tiny map was not a good idea. Expand this map, add more detail to the terrain, and give the defenders a bit stronger fortifications and this would be a much better map. Also the story needs fleshing out, with names, places, dates and a motivation for playing to win. I look forward to more maps from you.