I don't find the crime concept to be terrible. It adds an interesting concept as far as blockades are concerned. Again, I feel it needs a tweak. Where do the soldiers go?
There is no trade going on and the people are starving. They obviously turned cannibal.
And the sad thing about blockades is that they don't work unless people stare at their computers 24 hours a day. Just sit in a nearby village, wait until most people are asleep or drunk, then quick march in. "Hooray!" You are the hero who brought exotic zebra skins to the starving townsfolk. They put away their garrotes and butcher knives and dine merrily on the exotic zebra skins.
