How do I make Peaceful Lowlands more difficult?

[MyUrp1]

So I'm just not enjoying the highest difficulty maps that much. Frozen Highlands is too easy. Desolated Wasteland is frustrating due to lack of food. And Caustic Lands is too hard to expand in and keep up with exponentially growing waves.

So... what's a good way to make Peaceful Lowlands more challenging? I'm not looking for anything ridiculous like trying to win with just archers, but rather, some handicap that forces me to think more creatively with the tools available to kill zombie swarms.

[MyUrp1]

I thought about this some more... maybe I'm being unfair to Caustic Lands. I'm up to day 51 at 900% and whining because my gold income is only 1000 and I can't afford a decent Titan output. But around day 35 I decided to press into the City of Doom that was sitting next to my command center, which obviously is going to be a harder direction to expand than others. Maybe I should have just let it sit there and kept at the other opportunities for expansion.

I'll give Caustic Lands another try and see if I can get my economy expanding faster some other way...

[Lazy Dog Daddy]

mods will help you on that .. There is one where you can give modifiers to zombies , inc noise , etc .

[MyUrp1]

interesting idea

[Dslim]

Do you beat the 540% on the caustic lands every single time?

[MyUrp1]

540? I'm currently trying 570 - high population, 80 days. I've beaten 490 (max pop / 100 days) several times but the initial expansion is painfully slow. 570 doesn't seem as bad but I do feel pressured for time. I'm definitely going to have to use shock towers against mid waves because I'm not going to have time to rush Titans.

[MyUrp1]

Day 15. My western wall is guarded by an elite ranger. Yes, that's enough to handle a random runner or executive. Nope, it's not enough to handle a %$@^ing HARPY that decides it wants to visit my colony.

And no, I didn't have any activity anywhere near it, I was busy expanding on the Eastern side of my base until I saw the dreaded "The Colony is Under Attack!" popup.

Fortunately I was able to throw a bunch of walls up, bring all my other rangers over, and survive. But this is exactly the sort of irritation that makes me hate Caustic Lands...

And a SECOND HARPY shows up 15 seconds later, wtf???? I'm not even attacking anything now, just building walls and stakes on the opposite side of my base. This is ridiculous.