Central Asia
Central Asia is a Random Map themed around the vast Central Asian steppe area around the former Aral Sea. Its in-game starts and resource placements are generated for each match.
Map character
Scout the two shallow rivers, grassy plateau, riverbanks and northwest before choosing a resource route. Gold Mines and vegetation cluster on the plateau and banks, while Hunts and Salt Mines appear in the northwest. Locate Sufi and Tengri sites and check guardians before sending the Explorer beyond the safer starting area.
What to scout
Expand across a river when the destination has Coin, vegetation or a settlement that justifies the crossing. The starting town is comparatively easy to defend, but distant resources need an escort. In team games, coordinate who secures each bank so the army does not concede both the plateau and the northwest.
Rivers divide the resource-rich steppe
Central Asia is an arid map around the former Aral Sea, added in Definitive Edition update 13.12327. Two shallow rivers separate teams and flow from a grassy plateau toward the sea. Gold Mines and vegetation lie on the plateau and riverbanks; Hunts and Salt Mines appear in the northwest. The starting town is comparatively easy to defend, but reaching the richer parts of the map is a separate challenge.
Guardians and alliances
Sufi and Tengri settlements provide alliance choices. Treasure guardians include Mongol Riders, Blind Monks, Lion-Tailed Macaques, Black Bears, Black Panthers and Tigers; Wokou Horsemen and Wokou Monks are the named outlaws. Rewards include Food, Wood, Coin and experience. Scout crossings before moving an army across the rivers, and avoid conceding both banks and the plateau. Shallow waterways and the sea edge make this a hybrid map.