Leader	Suggested Empire	Comments
Jakob Fugger*	Overland is your shortest path, so The Holy Roman Empire is your best bet by far. It has many caravans and most of them will stay inside the empire.	Bank is well-sited in the Augsburg of the Holy Roman Empire. Also controls a leader in Leiden, Holland. A very good choice.
Louis XI The Dauphin	Overland is indicated. Best would be France, second, Holy Roman Empire.	Bank is sited in Rouen, northern France, which has no port and is somewhat difficult to reach overland. Also controls a leader in Mons (pre-Belgium). A marginal choice.
Cosmo I Medici Medici Bankers	A naval route is much preferred. Suggest Papacy, or Aragón at a pinch.	Bank is in Florence which is not on the coast, but is only one space away. No secondary leader. A marginal choice.
Edward IV House of York	Overland is your shortest path, so The Holy Roman Empire is probably your best bet. It has many caravans and most of them will stay inside the empire. Second best would be France for similar reasons, but the route is longer.	Bank is in London which is difficult to reach. But at least it's a port. Also controls Bristol, but without a leader. A difficult to play choice.
Rene Duke of Anjou*	Papacy or Aragón	Bank is in Messina on Sicily. This is a port and relatively easy to reach. Also controls the leaderless city of Anjou in France which France will take if it's controlled by a different player. A good choice.
Uzum Hasan Turcomans	Papacy or Aragón. England at a pinch	Bank is in Granada, which is a non-port in southern Spain and in a mountainous region. Does not control any other leader. A difficult choice.
Philip the Good	Overland is your shortest path, so The Holy Roman Empire is probably your best bet. It has many caravans and most of them will stay inside the empire. Second best would be France for similar reasons, but the route is longer.	Bank is in Antwerp in pre-Belgium which is a port, but it's very far away from the silk action. Also controls leaderless nearby Bruges. A difficult choice.
Rodrigo Borgia*	Papacy or Aragón. Holy Roman Empire can work, but not best case.	Bank is in Genoa, an easy-to-reach port. Also receives the leaderless port of Caffa in the Crimea and more importantly an independent Genoese fleet. A good choice.
Francesco Sforza* Duke of Milan	Papacy or Aragón. Holy Roman Empire can work, but not best case.	Bank in Milan which is inland, but not especially difficult to reach. A reasonable choice.
Francesco Foscari* Doge of Venice	Papacy is best, another naval power otherwise, then Holy Roman Empire.	Bank is in the port of Venice. Also controls the leaderless town of Modon in southern Greece and an independent Venetian fleet. An excellent choice.
David Comnenos Byzantine Basileus	Ottoman Empire makes a wonderful choice, then Aragón, Papacy, England.	Bank is in Trebizond, Asia Minor, which is a port. Access to silk is quite easy, but unfortunately can't process silk and must get spice from either Beirut or Alexandria. A difficult choice.
Donato Acclajuoli* Prince of Athens	Ottoman Empire is the perfect choice, otherwise probably Aragón, Papacy or England.	Bank is just across the straits from Constantinople and is not a port, so is somewhat difficult, but not terribly so. A reasonable choice.
James de Lusignan* Cypriot Ruler	Papacy, Aragón, England	Bank is in Famagusta, a port on the isle of Cyprus, which is not so difficult to reach if one has fleets. A reasonable choice.
Henry the Navigator* Prince of Portugal	Papacy, Aragón, England	Bank is in Naples, a port in the Empire of Aragón, which is not difficult to reach. Also controls Cueta, Maghrib, a port opposite Gibraltar. A good choice.
Janos Hunyadi King of Hungary	Papacy, Aragón, England or for longer term, either Holy Roman Empire or Ottomans to protect the kingdom	Bank is in Lucca which is not a port and has mountains north of it, so is somewhat difficult. A difficult choice.
Ivan III the Great Prince of Muscovy	The controller of the Silk supply is probably best off with the Ottomans, second best with the Holy Roman Empire or France.	Has no bank and so depends on negotiating with others for income. An unusual choice which is not for everyone.
Khushcadam* Sultan of Egypt	The controller of the Spice supply is probably best off with naval powers, Papacy, England, Aragón.	Has no bank and depends on Egyptian taxes for income. A good choice.

Suggested starting positions for your first game:

2-player setup:

Players:

• Francesco Foscari, Doge of Venice - Papal States
• Rodrigo Borgia - Aragón

Trade Routes:

• Sea Routes: There are 10 fleets (4 Papal, 4 from Aragón, 1 Venetian and 1 Genoese). There are multiple ways to position them, but one way can be Genoa, Naples, Taranto, Venice, Athens, Gallipoli, Varna, Caffa, Azov (which leaves one fleet left over, perhaps to be placed in Modon as an alternate route).

3-player setup:

Players:

• as for 2 players, adding: Donato Acclajuoli - Ottoman Empire

Trade Routes:

• as for 2 players, adding: Ottoman caravan in Karassi.

4-player setup:

Players:

• as for 3 players, adding: Jakob Fugger - Holy Roman Empire

Trade Routes:

• As for 4 players, adding: HRE caravans in Republic of Venice, Duchy of Milan (walk through Constance to reach it), Constance and Augsburg

5-player setup:

Players:

• as for 4 players, adding: Louis XI, The Dauphin - France

Trade Routes:

• As for 4 players, adding: France caravans in Alsace, Duchy of Burgundy, County of Champagne, Ile de France, Rouen.

6-player setup:

Players:

• as for 5 players, adding: Edward IV, House of York - England

Trade Routes:

• As for 5 players, adding: France caravan in Picardy and England ships in Calais and London.