(I really want to love hex maps - I've seen many (to include Ye Olde Mappe) which are lovely and have a lot of hard work put into them - but the cold reality is that 6 connections per province makes maps so much tighter and starting position so much more of a deciding factor in outcomes that I can't bring myself to use them in MP)

No real guides.

The main point I'd make is that the most common way to estimate ideal player ranges for maps doesn't take into account the degree to which highly connected maps effectively reduce map size and make them much more cramped. Most assumptions about players-per-province ratios seem to be aimed at maps w/avg connections per prov of 3-4 - when you get over that pure number-based estimates lead to ugly, uneven starts. The actual metric which seems most useful here - but that I don't have a great rule-of-thumb to use with - is shortest path between any two points, but especially capitals.

The other thing I'd say is that snakey seas - especially ones never more than 2 wide - hurt UW nations a lot.

Very nice!

I am planning on building a map eventually, are there any guides about optimal or suggested map balancing, idealy also relevant to what you have here?