This is the great thing about randomness:
I put the no diagonals criteria back in and it generated this output in 178,867 iterations:
Which looks pretty good to me.
Edit:
Actually, I hate my starting position 
But, I like the overall look of the board.
Why the condition of no stones on the third line? That seems rather arbitrary to me.
I see two advantages:
It is arbitrary (Probably several of the other rules are too), but I like the way the board “looks” with it in.
I think “no stones on the first and second line” would be preferable. I see no problem with third-line stones. I do approve of no diagonals.
Here is a board for that:
I like it less than the no first and third line since you can see purple has good placement in two corners already.
I think we are going down a rabbit hole since there are too many options to chose from.
So @CharlieVinnie - since you are the game master - please let me know what criteria you would like to use for the starting position. Then, I will generate a board and post it so we can start playing.
I like the above board 
(Regardless of which colour I would play)
Oops, seems that I’ve misexpressed 
I meant to say “No stones on the first and second line”.
I think we’ll all be content with “No stones on the first and second line and no diagonals”.
P.S. Maybe in the above board, other colors might unite against purple, so his advantage might not be too great?
I can’t relate to this reasoning, because it’s just one possible generated board where purple has a good starting position. But with all the randomness, it doesn’t say much about the methodology itself.
Plus to make up for it, purple goes last. 
OK, so do we want to start with the board above?
It’s just a comment on the generated board.
I think it’s better if we generate another one in the same way, for fairness.
From the desk of the Ageless Leader of the Azure Empire:
To the leaders of the purple @Maharani and green @martin3141 empires, we have no quarrel with you. And, it looks like you have other enemies at your flanks. We would like to reach a mutual accord to allow our people to flourish without bloodshed. Please let us know if you are amenable to such arrangements.
Edit: I made a type which seems to say we have a quarrel with purple and green. I mean to say “we have no quarrel with you”, oops!
If we’re all happy to play (I completely missed this thread for a couple of days) then good luck!
I’ll play G7.
So I’m right in thinking that the first player to lose a stone will be out, but after that players that have capture will then have some leeway to potentially allow a stone or group to be captured?
(I can’t take a proper screenshot on mobile, so I’ll update the link with an image later on)
Here is the board after your play:
Next is @CharlieVinnie
That is how I am interpreting the new rules.
I am not doing this on mobile, so I can’t say, but Antontobi said instead of taking a screenshot, it is better to right click on the screen which gives you a menu. Then, choose Copy image from that menu and come back to this thread and paste it into a response.
From the desk of the Ageless Leader of the Azure Nation:
We must move armies to E2 in order to protect our people
To the esteemed leader of the green empire @martin3141, this is not a move of aggression towards your lands. We would like to reach a mutually beneficial accord with you.
OOC:
@CharlieVinnie when you post the board image, it is helpful to make it link to the url of the board for the next player to click on and play. Let me know if you want help on how to do that.
Hello, I’m Green. My stones stand for balance and equal chances.
Some of us are blessed with coherent positions, while others need to cope with scattered stones. Green will work towards creating a balanced and exciting game where everybody has chances. For this I am looking to cooperate with anybody who supports the same goal - especially underdogs.
This is Greens ranking of the current relative forces:
Blue > Red > Green > Yellow > Pink
Pink (@Maharani) and Yellow (@CharlieVinnie), Green would like to offer you friendship. Let us cooperate and compensate for our starting positions.
Red (@shinuito) thank you for extending towards a less crowded area. Green would like to establish a peaceful relationship with you. Let us avoid conflict in the lower left caused by the local density of stones.
Blue (@NeilAgg), your first move paints a strong picture that you view the green stones as a threat. Being in an already crowded area, this move promotes conflict and imbalance. Let this be a warning: If you continue in this direction, Green will retaliate.
Green plays M13.
Over to you @Maharani
We meant no threat. We are simply creating some space for our armies to live. We are not looking to provoke you. We would rather co-operate with you if you are willing.
