Are Barbarian factions coded to tank financially

[Vincent Butler]

I have done numerous barbarian campaigns, and it seems like all of a sudden, they tank for no apparent reason. Taking settlements does not do any good for alleviating the plummeting finances. They will be going fine, then all of a sudden, wham, I start losing money and nothing will stop the declining cash.

[ReluctantSamurai]

Are Barbarian factions coded to tank financially

I would say no:shrug:

Barbarian factions are up against the financial wall in several ways:

a) with mediocre (at best) law & order temples, corruption eats more and more at the treasury the further one expands; and as a corollary, one rarely gets a family member with management skills (nor does one get ancillaries that boost income) meaning no additional income due to family traits

b) barbarian factions are limited to shipwrights, which limits income, made worse by the upkeep on elite units

c) the majority of barbarian lands are rather poor agricultural areas, and with a max lvl 3 farming ability (IIRC), income from that resource hits a cap

d) cannot build paved roads thereby limiting land trade income (the largest jump in land trade income is from dirt roads to paved)

When I play a barbarian faction such as Germania or Scythia, I often break my non-extermination rule when capturing a large city, both for the immediate jolt of cash income, and to help with L & O because of the lack of good L & O temples. I build as many ports as possible, use fertility temples early on to boost population, and send useless family members on suicide missions to lessen payroll. I employ only one or two diplomats, and spies/assassins as needed.

It's a tight financial path to tread, for sure, but it's doable if you watch your upkeep costs vs income...and that definitely means doing more with less:dizzy2: