Winter Wonderland
Winter Wonderland is the winter Great Lakes variant. The lake is nearly frozen with only a small open pool, so naval play is limited and land units can cross the ice.
Map character
Villagers and other worker units cannot build on the frozen lake. The map has a circular Trade Route with six Trading Post sites, while Huron and Cree settlements and occasional Cheyenne offer Native access. Older vanilla versions used Iroquois and Lakota instead.
What to scout
Treat the map as a land-control contest: secure Trade Route posts, use the frozen crossing for army movement and protect the workers building along the shore. A navy usually has little value because fish are scarce and open water is limited.
Frozen lake, six-site Trade Route and old roster variants
Winter Wonderland is a winter version of Great Lakes, but the frozen water changes its strategy: only a small pool remains open, Fish are scarce and a navy is usually unnecessary. Land units can cross the frozen lake, while Settlers, Coureurs des Bois and Villagers cannot build on the ice. A circular Trade Route has six Trading Post sites, making control of the route a major objective. Huron and Cree settlements may appear, with occasional Cheyenne; older vanilla layouts used Iroquois and Lakota instead. Treat it as a land-control map and contest the route rather than planning around a normal lake fleet.
Use the frozen crossing without exposing builders
The ice gives land armies a route across the lake and can open a flank that does not exist on a normal Great Lakes layout. Workers still need to build from solid shore, so move Settlers to the bank before placing a Dock, Trading Post or other structure. With little open water and few Fish, protect the six-site circular Trade Route with land forces rather than spending heavily on a fleet. Scout the shoreline and settlement locations first, then use the ice to rotate troops while keeping builders and resource workers on buildable ground.