Thank you, Vic.

As an aside, many rounds later it's still taking place, and for the first time I tried to embark on their coast. Didn't go so well for me either, but at least I know when to stop lol... or do I?

Nevermind, found the answer to this in the manual after another look (FYI it's by having the MTH built a makeshift port via the strategem).

Is there some particular requirement before constructing assets on islands? I notice it says "Zone in Conquest", but having conquested the entire islands with no enemies present, and also entirely within a single sea zone, there doesn't seem to be a way construct some assets.

I've encountered an unfair situation for the AI when it comes to unbarking. For some reason, the AI is sending thousands troops to be slaughtered every round. I recently conquered a city of theirs that was on my continent, and maybe 2 rounds later I noticed they'd embarked in an area nearby right ...