Two Crabs

Each player has his own island, so they are separated at the start of the game. The islands are roughly circular, with a deep inlet on one side.

The separation of the players makes for a much longer game than in say, Hills Divide Us, because there is no possibility of going for a quick early kill, or of stealing your opponents' wildmen. The key to winning, I believe is to build a boathouse or balloon factory as early as possible so that you can harass the enemy, aiming for his boat/balloon house first, then the firewarrior training hut. If you can keep him from completing those buildings, you will have the advantage and be very hard to beat. And don't let him capture a boat or balloon! If you build a boat house, consider putting it in the inlet, with a couple of guard towers manned with fire warriors on each promontory to protect it from water-borne attacks. Scatter guard towers around the rest of the island as well so that you will have warning of sneak attacks. Angel of Death is a favorite weapon on this level, so make sure that you have plenty of fire warriors. Those not in guard towers should be 'on patrol' so that they return to their posts after an attack, rather than being scattered. Make sure that you leave plenty of ghosts around, as well, to give that bird something else to eat. All these things help against airborne shaman, as well.

Because of the separation, the main risk is from shaman attacks rather than rushes, so plan accordingly - don't train too many followers, but put them in huts as braves so that they build manna for your shaman to use in attacking the enemy village. Consider creating some extra land around the shores as well, as the more distributed your huts are, the harder they are to destroy. Also, wider shores mean that a sea-borne enemy shaman has to leave her boat in order to blitz your town centre, which makes her much more vulnerable.

There is however also the possibility of building a land bridge between the islands, so keep an eye on what your opponent is up to. If he is laying down land, or training loads of preachers, which may well be his plan, so react accordingly.