I found this to be the best 1 v 1 skirmish I have played. Very challenging. I also recommend this one to any player. I played on hard difficulty and now I will try extreme. definitely gets 5 stars from me. I also appreciate the effort put into the pathing.

part 1, Review:

A great map, I wish there were more similar maps to this one. Very well though, creates a lot of challenges, especially for the guy at the bottom. I'm a huge fan of this pathing design, it creates A LOT of opportunities for armies to clash on their way, it takes a lot of time for reinforcements to come and it's not rare for operations like these to be a big deal, armies too small are taken down easily. There is no one big chokepoint that can be easily defended which complements AI skills a lot. Warlords support is a key, not just additional support for a player with a lot of diplomacy points.

part 2, My personal experience:
It was a big surprise for a series veteran to be actually beaten, especially by one brutal Sun Tzu. My keep was at the bottom and there was no warlord in the first and second gameplay that didn't change their allience at least twice. Especially the Crane was a key to victory and a tough one to keep on their side, the Turtle would be too boring and simple.

The only questionable part is resources. Woodcutters can get only them at our possession and there's too little of them. No iron ar the botton is also a mystery for me. In the other hand maybe that's the intent, to keep the bull any useful.

+1 Would recommend it!