yes i can make them... but with out way points then i must manually move them each turn... thats a little more micromanagement then i want..

another possible solution for caravans is to allow us to up grade them with weapons and armor to simulate caravan guards ..

mind you I am not looking for a simple solution that kills anything on the roads just something that eliminates the need to continually move a unit through woods surrounding a roads manually...  I still think that patrol way points and my #1 suggestion adds a similar layer to kingdom management to what caravans did while being different..

I like the idea of being able to guard trade routes or send random patrols through my land. I think I saw a similar idea elsewhere for having patrols that detect bandits and random monsters because the territories could become large and move past your range of vision.

Ok tried more in 3c to deal with this.. now I have 8 unit stack stationed along my roads just so i can attempt to keep trade flowing... add to this that I can't put them in a guard mode  (stationed with aggressive response to enemy units in sight then back to guard spot unless defeated or similar) so I keep accidentally moving them... I still manage to lose caravan units.. heck for the measly 10% bonus to income i am beginning  think i am done worrying about them.. I don't need the trade that much. this is really not a fun mechanic ... I still think we really need something to circumvent this.

still like this idea best of all

1) special unit much like caravan but for guarding caravans/ patrolling roads.. this should be city structure that sends out guards with caravans and have several levels of this improvement much like adventure level.. ability to raise it equal to current world creature spawn level... these advancements in level can be done through research or simple gold investment option (say a slide bar in city detail screen denoting cost and current patrol/guard level....