A New Map...

[Borys]

"Gates" is a bit of an overstatment - hillocks, actually :), as the highest point is 14m or so asl.
I will e-mail you a map showing where it is.

Borys

[Borys]

http://www.worldenergy.ru/index.php?id=20_41_2133

The red line.

ADDED LATER
Hmm - the table puts the height of the "water divide" at 27m ...

Borys

[ctwaterman]

Excellent Edits...

However the pesky French while I was distracted helping them in Kolkata appear to have stolen Corsica back. :D ;D

[miketr]

I have done some searching around and found the Kuma-Manych Depression and the Eurasia Canal that would go along it to link the Caspian Sea to the Sea of Azov.  While doing some checking I found these two maps.


http://etc.usf.edu/maps/pages/000/42/42z.htm

Map of Caspian Sea with Stupidly long URL and yes its longer than this sentence...

The area of the Caspian sea below sea level is to the north and in no way includes the Aral Sea.  We can just ignore this fact as we have the current "Paratehys Sea" going east instead.  Know that I know where it is I could create a link to the Sea of Azor very easy. 

Two questions.

1) Should I do so?
2) If yes to one how wide should it be?  Thin connection like the Sea of Marmara (yes I know those straights are only a few hundred meters wide at the sea ends) or something more massive like the East Africa Rift Valley?

Michael

[miketr]

Version Changes

1.16: Fixed the Bonin Islands now Japanese
1.17: Found a nice outline map of Philippines and put it instead.
1.18: Marked location and size of all Iberian Naval Ports.

I plan on noting the location of other nations ports also but ts going to take some time to do that.  Perhaps look for some better outline maps of places like the Caribbean.

Michael

Map Location
http://www.freedrive.com/folder/223099

[Borys]

Great work!
The internet ate my reply to your previous post:
1 - yes. More fun!
2 - narrow connection

Borys

[miketr]

Here are my thoughts on the Paratethys Sea... Especially this expanded one.

1) While it opens up some options for the Russians it also creates problems.  In particular it cuts off the caucasus mountains.  It creates enough of a problem that I would suspect that if this was there in real life the area from the caucasus to the new sea would be Ottoman or perhaps independent.  At the least the Russians would have had to put way more effort into taking it over. 

2) Without a nation on the other side of it where is the challenge for the Russians for having this thing in their back yard?  Yah it looks neat but...

At anyrate here is the sea...

Down Load file...

http://www.freedrive.com/file/860172

[Borys]

Ahoj!
The Manych (lets use this name for the spillover channel) does not exactly have to be a raging river preventing any movement. Also, it would freeze up in winter. Note that the gigantic Volga (c.200 cubic kilometres per annum) rarely served as a boundry, and never impeded any wave of nomads from the East ...

Furthermore, with ample wood, Rus could easily field a riverine fleet on the Volga with which to - later - dominate the sea itself..

As the lands around the Caspain are mostly forestless (only small alpine forests in Caucasus or North Persia) -  the forest-steppe border running minimally to the north of its northern shores (more or less Kiev-Volgograd line) , only a state holding the Volga and/or Ural river(s) can maintain any sizeable fleet on the Caspian.

Borys

[ledeper]

One minor detail in the Baltic;Aaland belongs to Russia, not to the Esc
Map 5-15-1, upper island is Aaland

[miketr]

Ledeper correction made for the Island. 

I put the name in for the passage.  Also for it to be useful I would assume its been eroded to the point that water flows west to east from the Black Sea / Avoz Sea into the new body of water.  So its more like the Turkish Straits.  Otherwise I would assume that such a huge surface area with its evaporation rate would need most of that part of the world to drain into it.  All those rivers that drain into the artic for example and that some want to re-direct to refil the Aral Sea for example.

I have also put in the NUS and Peru naval bases.

All changes to be uploaded later tonight.

Michael

[miketr]

Version Changes

1.19: Expanded Paratehys Sea and added direct connection to Black Sea
1.20: Changed ownership on Aaland Island
1.21: Added Peru, NUS and Gran Columbia Naval Ports
1.22: Added Galapagos islands

I have found some better outline maps for the Caribbean I just need to figure how to fit them in.. 

http://www.freedrive.com/folder/223099

[Guinness]

Hey Mike: I think it best if you not tweak the Paratehys Sea more for the time being, while the Mods are discussing the idea.

[miketr]

Don't worry I kept a version of the map without the expanded sea and sea level connection that I can cut and paste back in on the master copy.

[P3D]

While the idea was around for a sea in the middle of Asia, honestly it does not have much effect.

[Blooded]

I had seen this in the first preliminary maps you folks had worked on. But, why did it get brought up now?

For what it is worth, I don't really mind having the new sea, but I don't understand the 'why' of it.

About the only major thing it would seem to change is to allow Russian Capital Ships to bombard then invade Persia.

As to ownership of the Caucausus, I'd have a hard time giving that up. Plus the Bosporus has not stopped the Ottomans.

Also, it looks like the Ukraines borders were increased quite a bit past the sea of Azov, and around a third to half of the Kursk region should be Russian.