There was never a very good explanation for the 6.2 map. It inserts Saudi Arabia as a 36th power, but fails to consider the cavalcade of consequences to other surrounding nations. The 35 player map was actually pretty well balanced for each nation. It had been play tested for over a decade, and worked very well within it's constraints. The 35 player map was specifically designed to be played for no more than 10 years. Victory was achieved by voting, and could *only* occur in a coalition of three nations. Votes were based on specifically designated supply centers, which we do not see on this map anymore. That version of the game could probably be played in a 'moderated' game format with a few graphic revisions to display the vote centers. The 6.2 map was a creation of the original map designer arriving at VDip and becoming enraged that we were playing his map without giving him proper credit from drawing it. I think he wanted monthly royalty checks... Anyway rather than play or even watch VDip WW5 games, which were played to supply center based victory, and suffering from the latent flaws in the map design, which reveal themselves seven or eight years into the game, the map artist decided to arbitrary and capricious changes absent any player feedback. The result was an even less playable map than the original one. With that said the island chain convoy issue was a positive improvement.
Mr. Ambassador, if your question is germane to which map should be the basis for further evolution (like sealanes), my recommendation would be to use the 35 player map with the feedback Kaner has accumulated, and lift the map edits and coding of the island chain convoy