Trade Question

[caravel]

The point you made about islands and separation, and reappearances being more likely on islands due to their being more easily separated. I was thinking that loyalty on (former) islands should be lower, as with provinces such as lithuania and portugal. This will force bigger garrissons and make for much more volatile choke points. At present my landbridges are as follows:

1) cyprus -> anatolia/lesser armenia/antioch

This is basically just to like cyprus to the mainland, It is so close to those provinces that I had to link it to all of them. Cyprus in this form would become a chokepoint. A cornered crusading force could hold out their for a while, though wouldn't be able to ship in convenient reinforcements every year from [wherever].

2) rhodes -> niccea

A simple link to the mainland, which it's much closer to than say, Wessex is to Flanders.

3) crete -> greece/cyrenacia †

A route from Europe to North Africa crete forms a necessary stopping off point for crusades heading there, and if in muslim hands needs to be secured.

4) malta -> sicily

A simple link to the mainland. Sicily reappearing here without a port would be pretty useless, now they can get back to where they were.

5) sicily -> tunisia

A route for the Almohads into Europe and for crusades going in the opposite direction. Sicily starts well fortified so initially the sicilians shouldn't have any problems holding off any attempted invasions.

6) ireland -> wales/scotland

Ireland is pretty useless to the AI and I've often seen it still in it's isolated condition well into the high or late periods. Sometimes the English will go for it other times they won't. Then of course if they do, there's always the chance they'll reappear there later... without a port.

7) sweden -> finland

It's linked by land, just off the map, so it makes sense.

8) corsica -> genoa/tuscany/provence †
9) sardinia -> tunisia †

Another route to north africa for crusades or invasions.

10) greece -> naples

This needed to be linked as it would be ridiculous if our "virtual shipping" couldn't ferry troops between these shores.

† crusade routes

Historically difficult voyages may have been undertaken during the 11th and 12th centuries though I can't imagine transporting 1000's of men by sea from Scotland to Palestine being just "a matter of course". Ships would have to have made port they wouldn't have simply sailed all the way between those locations non stop in the days before the invention of the compass, and in the case of the crusades they mainly went by land due their enormous size and the nature of those expeditions (the recruited as they travelled).