Thanks for catch on Total WarGear -- I've fixed that continent. I am aware of the imbalance you point out with regard to the starting positions, but unfortunately that's the way I made the map (without thinking about it), so that's how it is. Total WarGear II has a more balanced setup for the islands.
Thanks for the note about my Crystal Caves map. I made the fix, but unfortunately it will only affect new games started on this map, so it won't take affect for your game.