Sounds like a great idea, guys!

Might I suggest that you could start even earlier than 1087... an argument could be made for including the time period of Basil II Bulgaroctonus "The Bulgar-Slayer" who I believe ruled from 1025. Don't have my books in front of me though.

A great resource is John Julius Norwich (you may have already heard of him); he has a 3-volume set on Byzantium: the Early Centuries, the Apogee, and the Decline and Fall. These 3 books are also smooshed together into his Short History, but it's probably better reading and more info to get the 3 big ones at the library or something.

I don't know what I could offer for help, as I don't know how to do any graphical changes with campaign map or units. But I hope you get it worked out, and let me know if you need anything!

It also occurs to me that the map you're using is pretty much exactly the area we are considering for the Crusader States mod. If our map gets done first, or vice versa, we might be able to do some sharing to make things go faster! Then again, some features might be different for the different periods. Just a thought.

CountMRVHS