This board is way to pretty for its own good. I have trouble seeing certain player colors, and continents are impossible. I'd suggest playing hordes, but overall you get good games.
Found it a bit difficult. Dropped a country bonus or two to my opponent from not noticing he had one. You'll want to be experienced to do well at this one.
I played with Hordes, and thank goodness. It was hard enough to track what was going on with an abstract bonus structure. I can't imagine having continents to keep an eye on as well.
This is definitely one of those boards that looks far too pretty for its own good. Certain player color combinations can be difficult to distinguish, and borders between territories are basically invisible. Too bad.
I definitely need to play a hordes version, as beautiful as this board is, it just seemed too difficult to establish a base. I think i might really like the hordes version so i'll give it a go. Still definitely a board worth playing!