Noob question

[Tim J]

Hey people,

I've recently started playing Medieval: Total War and I'm really getting into it, it's one of my favourite games. However, I really don't know how to use ships, or more specifically I don't know how to load troops onto them to take over island provinces and I don't know how to set up trade routes. I tried to do what the manual said about setting up a trade route but this didn't seem to work. I know I'm doing something wrong, can anyone tell me how to do these things?

[amir]

a) build several ships
b)link 'em from a province with a port to an enemy(or friendly) province
c)if its to your province make sure their is no enemy ships on the way if do destroy them
d)the target province must have no ships on the sea route, and also no any other enemy ships on the route
e)just move the units from the province to the other

conclusion: ships are not really ships they are teleporters

[melvinio]

I had exactly the same problem, but this is what i've learnt:

1)Transporting troops
You don't load troops onto the ships. You must have a port in the province which you want to attack FROM, and a chain of ships linking to a border of the province/island you want to invade. Now when you select your stack of troops, that province, and any others you can transport to are highlighted.

2)Trade
You must have a port and trading post in the province/s you want to trade from, and a chain of ships linking to one or several ports of OTHER factions - you cannot trade with your own provinces.

I hope this helps you get started.
For more advanced trading some of the veterans should be able to help.

[amir]

oh several more things about ships

a) if you fight make sure you have a stronger ships
b) dont be surprised if you will try to fight a ship and you wont be able: if the enemy has a faster speed and he moved his ship to a different sea part you wont be able to destroy it (he run away)
c)make sure you have ships covering all of your coasts or the enemy could use the same way to attack you

[TonkaToys]

Welcome to the Org Tim J http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/wave.gif


Just to add that your trade routes and invasion routes will be blockaded if they pass through a sea region that has ships in it from an enemy faction (one that you are at war with).

[melvinio]

sorry amir
i didnt mean to dis you, i must have posted at the same time.

[amir]

never mind it happens to me alot (but on others forums)

anyway i hoped i helped

[Imperial Buffoon]

Quote[/b] (melvinio @ June 24 2004,03:59)]2)Trade
You must have a port and trading post in the province/s you want to trade from, and a chain of ships linking to one or several ports of OTHER factions - you cannot trade with your own provinces.
Actually, you do get some trade income from your own province (for internal trade only) but I don't think it's ever enough to justify large infrastructure.

[amir]

Just build a lot of ships and scatter them, income and military will come by itself

[Game Over!!!]

And remember you can only receive trade income from a province if it has trade goods available in that province. Also u can only trade with provinces that have ports in them. Trading can really bring in the cash for those large armies you'll need later on. So knowing how to construct and maintain a trade empire is crucial in this game. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

[SirGonkSevenT3]

There are some great guides in the Guides forum right below the Entrance Hall here. I recommend reading the ones by Lady Froggy. There's also a great economics guides in there that might answer some of your questions.

[amir]

there are also a LOT of gameguides in the internet, i found some good ones atgamefaqs (http://www.gamefaqs.com/computer/doswin/game/14073.html)

[Ulair]

Quote[/b] (TonkaToys @ June 24 2004,10:02)]
Welcome to the Org Tim J http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/wave.gif


Seconded http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif


Quote[/b] (TonkaToys @ June 24 2004,10:02)]
Just to add that your trade routes and invasion routes will be blockaded if they pass through a sea region that has ships in it from an enemy faction (one that you are at war with).

If you have VI or the vanilla MTW 1.1 patch, hold down the 'v' key on the strategic map. If a sea region is highlighted green it means you own it (ie. you have ships there with no enemies present); if it's red, it's blockaded (ie. there are enemy ships present). If it's amber, I think it means neutrals are present but you're not (haven't looked too closely at this one).

Also, very important: if you're invading an island province by sea don't use your king - he'll be cut off from the rest of the empire until you can build a port there, and that causes all sorts of loyalty woes http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/bigthumb.gif

[Rufus]

Also, you can only profit from exports when the destination foreign province doesn't already have the good you're trying to sell them. In other words, if you have fish, furs and whalebone, you can trade with Province A which only has wine, but you won't make any money exporting to Province B whose only trade good is fish.