Standard, deliberately symmetrical element vs. element, using the four classics plus two. Topologically, this dissolves to a cube, with one space per face, edge, or vertex. Holding an element's space gets you one army (autodeployed there); also holding the four adjacent spaces is another bonus army (anywhere), or three more for holding the adjacent spaces and corners. These bonuses double if you hold an element and its opposite (and all eight adjacents, or all sixteen adjacents and corners*, for the latter two bonuses). For example, if you're reduced to two spaces at the start of your turn, but those are Fire and Water, you get two armies on each as well as your normal three. Edge and corner spaces count for all adjoining elements; e.g., the pure white space ("Energy"?) is a corner for Life, Fire, and Air.
* Of course, if you get this, you own over two thirds of the map and are probably about to win anyway. The doubled bonus will help ensure this.
The main likely problem is that some would find a deliberately balanced map boring - although good artwork can hide this somewhat (similar to the 8 Thoughts map: topologically it's an exact mirror, with all 8 side regions the same, but one might not see that at first). Also, it can be hard to set up bottlenecks, which might turn some players off.
I'm not sure if it would help to have the six primary element spaces be designated starting spaces - or, perhaps, designated starting neutral spaces.
Again, it will take a better artist than I to push it further. Not sure if the edges and regularity should be broken up or reinforced, but at a minimum, terrain symbolic of each element should be added to each space. (Also, coming up with names for all of the non-primary-element spaces, suggesting the elemental fusions that they are.) Maybe also break up each primary elemental space - say, into a sub-cluster of somewhere from four to nine spaces, connected only to the "edge" spaces and each other, to add more territories and a bit more topological complexity.
So...comments? (Other than "your art sux" - I know that already - unless you're volunteering to make a better version.)
