Tips on Caravans and Markets, Docks and Merchant Transports
Page last updated on 2011 / 21 / 09Caravans and merchant transport ships are an excellent source of gold, and indeed an infinite one. In long games of attrition you can safely rely on the fact that when gold deposits on the map have been depleted, you can continue to train men with gold accumulated through trade.
Caravans can be created at a market, and traverse between the market and town centers. When returning to the market they bring gold, the amount of gold depends on the distance they have traveled.
The same concept applies with merchant transports, though because they are sea-based, can only trade between docks.
Here are some handy tips to make the most of your trade routes and maximize the amount of gold you can earn
- You will almost always want to create a market for trade. Maps do not always have a sizable area of water, but always have land. The small investment in wood & food to create a market and caravans will pay for itself.
- The amount of gold each caravan/transport creates depends on the distance traveled. So even if there's a small distance (in a straight line) between its two travel points, if the caravan/merchant had to swerve a few obstacles, that increases in distance matters for the gold earned.
- Study the map and look to where it would be safe to have a trade route, the longer the better. Typically I would prefer the market to be no closer to the enemy than my town center is, and ideally behind defenses.
- Short trade routes result in your caravans/ships having to swerve round each other more often, which is inefficient as they stop for a brief moment to decide where to go.
- Watch out for bottlenecks in the journey. With a number of merchants/caravans on a route, a traffic jam can result.
- I usually go for between 5-8 caravans, ensuring an appreciable amount of gold but not sacrificing too much population which I'll need for an army.
- Watch out for caravans gaining the attention of the AI, they'll happily chase your caravans up and down the trade route until they're all gone, also the trade route is a useful/awkward scent trail to your town center, depending on whether you have an army there to wipe out the nuisances.
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