also assistance as to regions that are naturally unpassable, so I can put some mountain ranges into the map.

It all looks very nice, kaner, my congrats.

Personally, I've always thought that the main fault of 901 map is the lack of a 4th power in Africa. There's a lot of room you can get from Kot, Kon, Lub, Rha, Nam. So the river Congo may come out more useful.
Also the Siberian area looks a bit too "empty". Adding the river Ob and a couple of SCs could turn out funny, if it works.

Hi kaner

Is this an update to the Monghol variant tested in the Lab a year back? If so I assume the caravan routes across China to the near east work the same? Some impassable mountain ranges (eg the Himalayas) would be good too.

Assuming that's the case you have one awesome variant there my friend.

Only thing that slapped me in the face and looked wrong is the river in the Kongo. What's the point of that? It goes no-where for river navigation.

I know , but to have Africa without the Congo... I thought I might split up some territories down there anyway.

Yes the variant is an evolution of the Monghol variant from last year, same rules regarding SilkRoad movement. I am thinking that Asia will need to be a bit more split up - territory wise.

Of course adding some mountain ranges like the Himalayas.

Awesome. Love the rivers and the Silk Road. I concur with a 4th power in Africa. You might also look at adding some a few sea spaces to help break up the stalemate lines that occur in Known World 901. Last, due to the extensive additions of the rivers, I would play-test this one thoroughly to iron out the bugs before it gets added to the site (as it seems like once a new variant is introduced, no more changes are made to it, even when I've heard creators say they were still modifying and putting in the finishing touches).

Not sure what rivers you are using, so I would probably add some.

What I would like to see in games to remove stalemate lines is having ships be able to move 2 territories in oceans (1 in rivers), to represent the fact that they are faster, and harder to stalemate then armies.

What I'm thinking is that I make the oceans OZ's (overseer zones) to allow equal access to the oceans & facilitate movement whilst breaking up stalemate lines.

As for the rivers I am toying with two ideas:
1. fleets can move 2 territories along rivers, or;
2. fleets can move 1 territory but can convoy on rivers.

what rivers would you add?

I should clarify OZs for you, here I've employed them in the Mars variant:
http://forum.webdiplomacy.net/viewtopic.php?f=25&t=893&p=4986#p4986

and you can see them in action here:
http://lab.vdiplomacy.com/board.php?gameID=171

Excuse me but what do the Silk Road provinces actually do? My field of expertise is European History and I can tell you that the 901 Europe will have to be redrawn a lot with the changes of the political situation prior to the Mongol invasion most notably the rise of the Normans, Crusades, and the Great Schism. I'm not quite sure on Asia but I think they stood relavently the same till the Mongols came down with their UU.

I agree that Europe will need to be re-drawn, and most likely some provinces in Asia & Asia minor, the Mongols arrived on the scene circa. 1250'ish so I will need to complexify SthEast Asia (Khmer & Srivijaya) as well. As for Europe, I think merging some provinces there would be a good thing - some powers there could include Varingians in the East, Byzantium and the Normans. Spain wouldn't exist as it does in the 901 variant - it would have to be considered part of a North African nation.

The Silk Road provinces will allow armies to move along it at the rate of 2.

So yeah, the map will be re-drawn to fit the era. What I'm actually concerned about at this moment is:
1. have I placed the rivers correctly onto the map.
2. do I need to place more rivers onto the map - if so, which ones & where?

Speaking of rivers, you could make the movement 2-territories downstream and 1 territory upstream.

O_O
I like that idea!

I would like to draft an European part of the map. If you would approve Obivously the map is yours to design and code but, it would give you some more ideas.

Please do! I'm thinking for the Siberian area of the map having SC-specific regions for Mongol only builds (kind-of like California in Zeus)

Oh, and starting at the year 1200.