West Africa

[IronBrig4]

Do you think West Africa should at least be mentioned in the game? Spain and Portugal started to colonize Atlantic islands like the Canary Islands and the Azores in the 15th century. Prince Henry the Navigator patronized a lot of explorers, and it was largely due to his efforts that Portugal gained those valuable Atlantic colonies as well as Sao Tome. Batholomew Dias rounded the Cape of Good Hope in 1487, and Vasco da Gama sailed around the cape and even reached India by 1498.

Since European contact with the west coast of Africa largely consisted of trade, it probably shouldn't be on the map. The first real mainland African colony was in Angola, which is much further south than Senegal and Guinea. Maybe you can gain access to African trade (and just receive extra trade routes in the game) if you build enough advanced shipwrights.

[Tulius Hostilius]

Interesting Idea!

In fact I think that we can consider that the fist major Portuguese (and European) colony in Africa was “São Jorge da Mina” (St. George El Mina), in modern “Elmina” in Ghana, and was in Portuguese hands until 1637, when the Dutch took it. But the first trade post was Arguim mush more to the north (in modern Mauritania).

If M2TW will comprise all the XV century, and a big portion of the XVI, I think the West Africa (and the Atlantic Islands) should be also included. As you said, Portuguese Expansion was to the Atlantic, and without the West African Coast the Expansion will have no meaning or it will be completely ahistorical.

Also, in the first two decades of the XVI century, the Portuguese secure some parts of today’s Morocco (in the south, in the Kingdom of Maraquech), holding large portions of territory with the alliance of local Muslim warlords, known as the “Mouros de Pazes” (Peace Moors).

So, I would say that I would like to see a good portion of West Africa in M2TW.