A couple of more things. Don't want to mess with y'all, so just ignore me if you don't care for my comments here. I'm just a fan of Vinland - was once a real Norse history buff - and am real interested in what you're doing.
- I think someone posted the dp slider settings earlier, but frankly, rifling through 16 pages to find it is rather daunting. I'd just suggest that the Norse were not only known for their flamboyant viking expeditions, but also as the greatest traders in Europe prior to the rise of the Italian city-states. Furthermore, their complete lack of a centralized government (remember, the 'kings' of the Norse weren't kings as we think of them, but more a 'jarl of jarls', and only so long as the other jarls allowed them to be) means that tariffs and the like were virtually unknown prior to the rise of a strong centralized government.
Add to this that Vinland has no contact with any real 'nation' for 400 years and the idea of mercantilism would never develop. I believe that in this case the free trade slider should be maxed out simply because there's no one around to practice mercantilism against, nor would it be a concept familiar to Vinlanders. And the Vinlanders have nothing to fear in terms of trade competition with the Skraelings since the Skraelings can't really compete with them technologically (in fact, the freer the trade the more the Vinlanders would benefit - they could get raw materials from the Skraelings and concentrate on specialization in finished goods).
- a second point I'd make is that - and this is curious, given the fact that the Norse were consumate traders - the Vinlanders knew of the Skraelings but for whatever reason seemed to have no contact with them at all. No trading, no war, no interaction. This is just plain bizarre - not very Norse-like at all. Of course, they must have had *some* contact since the Skraelings eventually attacked and wiped them out but the attitude of the Vinlanders seems to be 'the Skraelings are there but it's barely worth the mention'.
In your scenario you're looking at a Vinland that actively made and fostered contact with the Skraelings (in this case, the Micmac). If this were true the Norse would trade with the Micmac - probably providing finished goods in return for raw materials like food, furs, and timber. What this means is that:
a) the Micmac, at least, would get steel weapons and armor, effectively raising their tech level and essentially wiping out their whiteman disadvantage. Four hundred years of trade, interaction, and exchange of knowledge - they should be pretty close to on par with the Vinlanders after all that time. And they might very well be more organized because of it. Also, given the warlike nature of the Micmac they most likely would've used their nifty armor and weapons to destroy and enslave their enemies. I doubt there'd be a Huron 'nation' in the area after this time. So when the Europeans arrive they'd have to deal with two relatively advanced nations, not just one - more if the secret of forging steel escaped the Micmac to other tribes, or if the Norse decided to trade with the Huron or Lenape or others.
b) this close contact with the Micmac would no doubt result in some blending of cultures, as well as intermarriage. The Norse were anything but racial purists and were happy to interbreed with anyone they came across, so much so they made a habit of packing home thralls wherever they went at the drop of a hat. Especially young, pretty female thralls. Which means you might want to rethink the religion of the Micmac in order to allow 'royal' marriages.
Max
