The Channel Islands?

[ZombieFriedNuts]

I would love to fight over the Channel Islands and all the other tiny islands that are out there like the sandwich islands , I don’t suppose I will get my wish but you could have a small settlement on there, and while writing this I have just realised there is no Isle of Wight in medieval and Rome.

[pevergreen]

Mm maybe just a port? Could prove interesting. Then it could grow into a town!

[Aztec Warrior]

I've never heard of these islands. Where are they? the English Channel?

[Mikeus Caesar]

I've never heard of these islands. Where are they? the English Channel?

Indeed, just a few miles off the French coast. They are dependents of the British Crown.

[PBI]

In previous games I always did like snapping up all the little islands. I would always absolutely have to take all the islands in the mediterranean; it always disappointed me that there were so few of them and that they got rid of the Balearics for M2TW. It also disappointed me that in BC, the only island in the Indian Ocean was Socotra, off the coast of Yemen (which of course I always take without fail, regardless of which faction I am).

So yes, I would very much like to see not just the Channel Islands, but the Isle of Wight, the Isle of Man, Anglesey, the Orkneys and the Shetlands as separate provinces. In fact, if it were up to me, Rockall would be a separate province which can be built up to a Huge City. Unfortunately however, since I believe all of these islands were relatively unimportant historically, I suspect they are unlikely to be there.

Hopefully however the Caribbean and Indonesia will be in, so there should be plenty of scope for island-hopping if that's your thing. In fact invading archipelagos should work quite well for this game since it requires plenty of naval action as well as land battles.

Then, maybe I could make an Island Mod, where for example France is represented by a single province, but every single one of the South-East Asian islands is represented individually.

[Jolt]

Man... People remember such non-important places. Those islands were never important and it'd be a crime to put (for example) a "1 province Netherland/Portugal", both masters of isgnificant colonial empires, and then waste making a province on some minuscule islands noone knows about.

[PBI]

Yes, it would be silly if in the game places like the Channel Islands were in, but certainly there should be lots of islands to hop in the Caribbean and Indonesia. It might also be nice if island chains like the Canaries or the Falklands were in, for the same reason they were valued in real life, as a friendly base in a remote part of the world. I think it's fair to suggest that there should be more islands than in previous games, to make sure naval strength will be important.

South Georgia, Rockall and 1-province Russia can wait till my mod

[Aztec Warrior]

I agree, blockading, invading and conquering islands will be a blast!

[Ishmael]

I've always liked conquering islands and turning them into trading bases in rome...hopefully, as Poor Bloody Infantry said, there will be masses of islands in Polynesia which will emphasise naval power.

[Colonel Flambard]

With some luck we will see lots of small islands around the seas but yeah, channel islands and stuff would be silly unless Empire can have many hundreds of provinces.

[Aztec Warrior]

There should definately only be islands that were large or important in Empire . Making small insignificant ones provinces would just clutter up the campaign map.

[Polemists]

Slightly true but we don't know that.

This map is going to be almost geographically speaking quite a bit larger then mideval so they will have to less clutter areas somehow.

For Nations who plan to not build up legions but use economics and blockades to crush people, colonization of islands should be a viable means.

[PBI]

That's a good point, the new landmasses on the campaign map mean that there's likely to be fewer provinces to spend on Europe anyway, meaning we likely will see the Netherlands or Portugal being a single province. They were in M2TW anyway, so unless we are going to see a huge increase in the number of provinces it's likely they will be again.

[macsen rufus]

Those islands were never important

Hmmm, you can make a lot of people feel very slighted about their national heritage with sweeping statements like that.

Let's see, in the time frame of Empires, I can instantly think of: General Isaac Brock, Admiral de Saumarez, "Blue Beard" the privateer (or was it Black Beard, I can never remember which), not to mention their role as an entrepot/smuggling route between Britain, Europe and the New World, and being a constant cause of tension between Britain and France throughout the era. Beside the esteemed Admiral de Saumarez (still a national hero in Sweden, btw) a lot of Channel Islanders served in the navies of the day, earning themselves the nickname of "Chickadees" (non-English speakers, "Ch'i qui dit?" being the Guernesiaise for "What did he say?" )

[Zaleukos]

Beside the esteemed Admiral de Saumarez (still a national hero in Sweden, btw) a lot of Channel Islanders served in the navies of the day, earning themselves the nickname of "Chickadees" (non-English speakers, "Ch'i qui dit?" being the Guernesiaise for "What did he say?" )

Who is this guy? I'm Swedish, a bit of a history buff, and I've never heard the name:) Wikipedia doesnt tell anything either.

While a place like the channel islands might have been important in real life it is uncertain whether they fit with the scale or level of abstraction of a game such as total war, especially as there are other very populous provinces nearby. Islands like the Azores or Bermuda that would be more important for gameplay.

EDIT: I think I found him (I assume he is the James Saumarez who commanded the Baltic navy during Napoleonic times). Not quite a Swedish national hero even if he was appreciated by the king (we've mostly tried to forget the war of 1808-09 as it was a huge disaster that cost us a third of the country).

[Jolt]

Hmmm, you can make a lot of people feel very slighted about their national heritage with sweeping statements like that.

Let's see, in the time frame of Empires, I can instantly think of: General Isaac Brock, Admiral de Saumarez, "Blue Beard" the privateer (or was it Black Beard, I can never remember which), not to mention their role as an entrepot/smuggling route between Britain, Europe and the New World, and being a constant cause of tension between Britain and France throughout the era. Beside the esteemed Admiral de Saumarez (still a national hero in Sweden, btw) a lot of Channel Islanders served in the navies of the day, earning themselves the nickname of "Chickadees" (non-English speakers, "Ch'i qui dit?" being the Guernesiaise for "What did he say?" )

I'm certain Channel Islands are important to its nationals

As you history within the timeframe of Empire is little, and non-significant. I wouldn't mind having Channel Islands if 80% other more strategic archipelagoes appeared. I'll clarify this later

[PBI]

Islands like the Azores or Bermuda that would be more important for gameplay.

Nice idea, it occurs to me that neither chain is present in M2TW. Didn't Columbus actually sail from the Canaries?

Definitely need lots of islands in the New World and SE Asia, I'm pretty sure some empires such as the Dutch consisted of mostly islands rather than huge landmasses. In Europe they don't need too many, though it might be nice if the Knights of St John on Malta could just about squeeze in (as a rebel settlement with some unique units, I suspect, not important enough for a full faction). Plus obviously Rockall, which you can clearly see must have been of vital strategic importance due to its key central location, large population and abundant natural resources.

[Colonel Flambard]

Plus obviously Rockall, which you can clearly see must have been of vital strategic importance due to its key central location, large population and abundant natural resources.

Yes, with mercenary Periwinkle Musketeers and recruitable Explorers.

[Zaleukos]

Nice idea, it occurs to me that neither chain is present in M2TW. Didn't Columbus actually sail from the Canaries?

He did. Such islands would also be a lot more important if there was a limit to how far ships could go without resupplying (either from a friendly port or by simply stopping to chop down a few trees and refill sweet water supplies).

Other priority islands would be the Carribean sugar colonies, they were immensely valuable and it is rather telling that France rather gave up Canada after the seven years war than lose Martinique and Guadeloupe... The Indonesian islands (which are a good deal bigger than anything mentioned in the thread, and extremely populous) should also be in as they constituted most of the Dutch empire (provided the map covers that area, does it?).

Rockall could be supplemented with Hans Island, a gem that still stirs up emotions between the commonwealth and the foul Danes;)

[Jolt]

I'm certain Channel Islands are important to its nationals

As you history within the timeframe of Empire is little, and non-significant. I wouldn't mind having Channel Islands if 80% other more strategic archipelagoes appeared. I'll clarify this later

Bleh, this needs not clarifying as other people have already said it for me. For the Channel Archipelago, to be in, we'd have to see basically every archipelago from England to India. Azores, Madeira, Canaries, Gorée, Cape Verde, Asunción Island, São Tomé, Mauritius, Zanzibar, Seychelles, Reunión, Maldives, Laccadives and Nicobar Islands. And I'm saying those that actually make sense (and those which I instantly remember as important) entering the game. Every single island of those deserves to be in way, way before Channel islands can even be considered.
They were simply historically non-important, and noone cared about them, except those who exerted control over it. They were not populous, they were not strategically placed, they had no relevant resource, etc, etc, etc.

[PBI]

Such islands would also be a lot more important if there was a limit to how far ships could go without resupplying (either from a friendly port or by simply stopping to chop down a few trees and refill sweet water supplies).

Would become a big consideration if steam ships make it into the game (a bit early I know, but could sneak in as a high end tech), since I believe this was essentially the reason Britain held the Falklands, and various other small islands, so that ships could refuel every few thousand miles rather than carrying enough coal to make the whole trip.

They were not populous, they were not strategically placed, they had no relevant resource, etc, etc, etc.

Unlike Rockall.

[Jolt]

Would become a big consideration if steam ships make it into the game (a bit early I know, but could sneak in as a high end tech), since I believe this was essentially the reason Britain held the Falklands, and various other small islands, so that ships could refuel every few thousand miles rather than carrying enough coal to make the whole trip.



Unlike Rockall.

It would be funny for Rockall to be in, at least in a Custom Battle option. I wonder what would happen to the ships who'd hit the rock... :P

[PBI]

Ah, a custom sea battle. Yes, that could be interesting. Rather than a land custom battle on Rockall, which would basically consist of the two opposing soldiers clinging onto either sides of the rock until the other falls off.

[Jolt]

Ah, a custom sea battle. Yes, that could be interesting. Rather than a land custom battle on Rockall, which would basically consist of the two opposing soldiers clinging onto either sides of the rock until the other falls off.

Or a huge number battle comprising of 20000 soldiers on 10 square meter, with some cannon units. Immediatly on start of the battle the cannons would attempt to fire at the opposing army, hitting instead their own soldiers trapped at the entrance of the cannon barrel. What would happen was that due to the impact and shock force of the explosions (considering the other side's cannons would have the same problem), the 20000 soldiers would instantly drop to 5, those who were lucky enough not to fall into the water or die.

That'd be nice.

[rajpoot]

I doubt any cannons would remain intact after that