grim

I suppose it is a fantasized map. Nicely drawn, but not very accurate. I've never heard of Livestonia and Talmark nor have I ever heard of Finland referred to as Kalevala. Helsingfors was at best a fishing village at the time. Having Abo (Turku) or even Vyborg on the map would make much more sense. Also Dorpat was Yuryev only for a very brief time in the tenth century. Also it nor Narva were part of Nowgorod. Then I've never heard of Parni either, it should be either Pernau or Pärnu. Kronstadt was established by Peter the Great. In medieval times the area was inhabited by Finnic tribes. Finally Vormsi is a small island with Swedish population and has never been a city or town. I bought the Crusaders of the Amber Coast recently. Very impressive. I was a bit disappointed of the near exclusive concentration on the Balts and not that much stuff on us Finnic tribes up north. Still a very good read and I might even be inspired enough to set up a game in the setting. As to the crossbow thingie. I don't think the issue was that it was not understood. It might have had more to do with traditions and stubborness, but also with the fact that prior to the arrival of the crusaders local wars were about raiding (often in winter and also by sea) where crossbows were not at all the weapon of choice. Things did change though, I think in the chronicles of Henry in the later stages of the conquest of Estland there are examples of the Finnic tribes using German methods and weaponry (which would no doubt include crossbows) to lay siege on Danish keeps. I think there are also mentions of use of crossbows by defenders of Viljandi against the crusaders.