That's a good point about fleets and trade routes, Toddyvegas.

Come to think of it, it seems to be one area where the STW2 AI is strangely weak. As Oda, I was able to secure all trade routes without much effort. This was surprising, as Oda is probably the faction furthest from them at the start. And in ETW, the AI - after patches - made it pretty hard to monopolise trade routes (even when playing GB).