Overall - 2.4			1 - Balance
Playability - 2			2 - Map Design
Creativity - 4			3 - Story/Instructions

Empire Area: Valentia
Rank: Procurator
Goals to Win:  Culture: 40, Prosperity: 20, Peace: 50, Favor: 50, Population 1500

If I had to guess (and I guess I do!), I'd wager that Fortress at Valentia is the first time effort of a designer who has good ideas but has not yet mastered his map editor. In addition, I'd have to assume he didn't test play his own level. Why? Nothing else would explain the fact that when the first army invades it's only one man! I'm assuming B. Dragon thought that setting the number of armies at "1" would get him one whole army...

And this problem repeats a couple of times before forces of any significance begin to show up. In the instructions, we are assured that the barbarians "will visit quite frequently," but I didn't expect them to show up as though they were coming to tea.

Is Fortress at Valentia without redeeming factors? By no means. The idea of fortifying a small peninsula was an excellent one, and it forces the player to make tough choices as well as planning ahead effectively. This is why I gave the scenario a high mark for creativity.

Nevertheless, creativity is not a substitute for playtesting -- nor is it a substitute for being certain to work the bugs out of your scenario before sending it out for others to play.