I have no idea why CA thought this was a good idea when they could have just expanded the map east into Mongolia, India and the entire Middle East. I would have loved to see China as well, but I can understand if that was too much work. It seems completely out of place, it probably seemed like a good idea at the time but will mean they will spend too much time on a faction few people will be that interested in when they could have commited themselves to sticking to Europe doing it properly.

Question- could a Viking faction get there in the early period in longboats?