SHIP QUESTION

[jgp]

I am running the English Campaign. I have developed several Barques which are dispersed from the Spanish coast to the North Sea.

My question is, how do I get these boats to generate income, all they have been is an expense?

I have several merchants developed along these shores. But the income scrol keeps telling me these guys are a drain and not producing. What have I done wrong or what else do I nned to do to see a return on this investment?

THANX

[DemonArchangel]

you're gonna need to make a sucessive chain, i suggest 3-4 ships in every sea region leading to the shores of provinces you wish to trade with. By the way, welcome to the org.

[vodkafire]

Ships do not generate income, the linked provinces do

[Tony]

Trade is poorly explained in the manual IMHO. You need provinces with trade goods - then build merchants and ports in these provinces - then link these provinces via a chain of ships to friendly / neutral provinces that also have ports and merchants. Then watch the florins roll in.

2 ships per sea area works fine if you are not facing any naval threats (the occassional ship is lost to storms - the 2nd is a backup).

I think land locked provinces use land trade routes and nearby ports (not sure on this). Keep in mind that ANY hostile ships in the chain of sea areas BLOCK the trade route. Very inconvenient, and potentially very expensive.

Good luck.

[jgp]

Thanx for all of the answers. I have constructed the ports where I have trade goods available along with merchants.

So this leads me to the next question: Should I expect to see the ships actually generating income on the income scroll, I do see them generating expenses.

Thanx for the welcome, this is a great game which I have alot to learn.

JGP

[Oaty]

When you look at the income to expenses screen it shows that sea zones don't produce income. Theres 2 ways to see how much trade income you have rolling in

1 is to right click on the trading post, merchant or whatever level of trade building you have and it will tell the total amount that province is bringin in on trade.

The second is to go to the income to expense screen and right click on a territories name that is doing trading. It will tell you the exact amount you are making locally how much money you are making from each province you are exporting to and the same goes for imports

The key point is ships never make income directly. The income comes from the trade goods that are taxed when they are sold or bought at that port

[jgp]

AHHH, thankyou sir, now I COMPLETELY understand.

I had my trade routes and merchants set up correctly, I just could not understand why my ships were not showing a profit.

Now I know where to look.
THANNX

[nutshell42]

AFAIK the foreign province doesn't need a merchant just a port that you can sell goods there

You should never rely on trade alone, it can earn you ridiculous amounts of money (for the English Flanders would be a nice province which can reach 3000-4000 Florins/yr) but one AI suicide attack on your ships and the ensuing war can bring everything down right on top of you http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif