View Full Version : Bad Economys Of some factions.
I was wondering if anyone here has any strategy's for playing factions that start off with bad economys. I tried playing the saba(pre-islamic faction) and i was amazed at how negative their cash flow was. I quit playing i was so broke with the saba. More recently I tried playing the Averneri and I was dissapointed that every city started with more that -1000. What are your style for dealing with this massive deficit. I try to take over some citys and build as many economic buildings that i can with the 5000 mnari you start with.
I was wondering if anyone here has any strategy's for playing factions that start off with bad economys. I tried playing the saba(pre-islamic faction) and i was amazed at how negative their cash flow was. I quit playing i was so broke with the saba. More recently I tried playing the Averneri and I was dissapointed that every city started with more that -1000. What are your style for dealing with this massive deficit. I try to take over some citys and build as many economic buildings that i can with the 5000 mnari you start with.
With Saba, build troops on turn one. When you army is strong enough, take over your neighbor to the south. From there, you can either conquer more and/or build economic buildings.
Saba is a tough faction. You can't support to large an army or it will bankrupt you.
It depends...as Sweboz I just disbanded all my units except for generals and used them as a single army to conquer...ditto for Getei. As the Armenians I used horse archers to conquer Selucid cities and then I would slaughter all + destroy any building I could so that I could build mines...as Epirites or KH I disbanded all my ships/elephants/anything expensive and tried to conquer Greece asap to get the economy...
The other factions all have okish economies but in general, when in doubt conquer and pillage a big, civilized city...
Saba has a harder than usual start position, but the Aedui and Arverni factions have a lot of potential. As the Aedui I was able to destroy the Arverni with my starting forces in less than three years, which allowed me to sit around and get out of debt once I disbanded some forces. After a while I was rolling in money.
It all depends on how your situation is and what is around you. My general advice is to get to conquering something as fast as you can because you don't want to disband your forces too early and find yourself not able to defender your borders. Don't be afraid to be aggressive.
As the Aedui, by the time I got my income surpass the expenses, I was 75,000 mnai in the red. I believe it took me 15 years to get on my feet.
HopliteElite
08-09-2007, 03:52
I'm playing as the Saba and I haven't found any difficulty in building my economy. I started out with a quick invasion of my southern neighbor, followed soon by an invasion of my eastern, then northern neighbor, all the while having not built one military unit to deplete my funds. I think the key might be using your generals to their fullest. I prefer to play without loading so this is dangerous but those Sabean Nobles can deliver quite a knock-out punch to light infantry and cavalry, especially after they've been softened up by my spear-archer infantry. With 6 cities and a small, but well placed army, I pull in about 3k a round, which is enough for me to build those necessary economic upgrades.
Saba seems easy though, as they are so isolated you don't have to worry much about early invasion, which can't be said for those crazy barbarians in Europe. I don't even know how people work with them under such conditions.
Saba seems easy though, as they are so isolated you don't have to worry much about early invasion, which can't be said for those crazy barbarians in Europe. I don't even know how people work with them under such conditions.
Until the silver death sends stack after stack after stack at you. :P
IPoseTheQuestionYouReturnTheAnswer
08-09-2007, 06:04
Some factions are easier than others to get out of debt. Saba is easy - you only start about -1000 in, and you only have to capture three or four cities before you start rolling in cash. Retrain your troops and keep capturing more cities in Arabia to alleviate your support costs from the bigger cities. The only tough thing about Saba is that all the nearby cities have the exact same units you do, so you really have to outplay your opponent and plain use your units better in order to win.
Some factions, however, are essentially unplayable because of their economic situation. These include Saka Rauka and Lusotana - the latter of which is utterly impossible to play as. -9000 with ONE settlement and a couple mediocre units? Kind of absurd. It's a shame, since Lusotana looks like a colorful faction. I'm sure there are other factions that are unfairly burdened monetarily, I haven't played all of them yet. It seems that all the barbarian factions start out screwed.
Others, like Karthadastim, just require you to disband starting units. Most cities start with an unnecessarily large garrison you can cut down on and some factions start with elephants (Carthage, Epirus), which should always be disbanded immediately. That alone improves your income by 3000. Also disband your starting fleets - those are a money killer too.
The single greatest thing for getting income is mining. Mines can improve a settlement's income by absolutely vast amounts. For example, as Baktria, I captured Kophen. I built a mine there - suddenly, the city's income went from 800 to 2500. I built the second level of mines and it went from 2500 to 6000. Mines are just incredible and are definitely worth the huge investment if you can afford it.
The Errant
08-09-2007, 08:34
I was wondering if anyone here has any strategy's for playing factions that start off with bad economys. I tried playing the saba(pre-islamic faction) and i was amazed at how negative their cash flow was. I quit playing i was so broke with the saba. More recently I tried playing the Averneri and I was dissapointed that every city started with more that -1000. What are your style for dealing with this massive deficit. I try to take over some citys and build as many economic buildings that i can with the 5000 mnari you start with.
I actually wrote a guide how to play the Sabaean faction. It's in the Gameplay Guides and AAR section of the forums. Here is a link: https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showthread.php?t=79417
Some factions that start out small can be very powerful in a short period of time. The Western Greek factions for one. Rome and Carthage are two others.
For nearly every other faction wealth comes trough mining. Yes it costs a fortune to set up a mining center but it brings in fortunes too. Always prioritize mines in provinces with large veins of precious metals. If a province has more than one vein of precious metals, it becomes very important you take it and build it up.
I actually wrote a guide how to play the Sabaean faction. It's in the Gameplay Guides and AAR section of the forums. Here is a link: https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showthread.php?t=79417
Some factions that start out small can be very powerful in a short period of time. The Western Greek factions for one. Rome and Carthage are two others.
For nearly every other faction wealth comes trough mining. Yes it costs a fortune to set up a mining center but it brings in fortunes too. Always prioritize mines in provinces with large veins of precious metals. If a province has more than one vein of precious metals, it becomes very important you take it and build it up.
Good guide. I tried Saba before and quit twice. I got tired of fight stack after stack of AS. It got annoying that the AS could simply waltz through the middle of the Arabian desert and siege one of my cities time after time.
Some factions, however, are essentially unplayable because of their economic situation. These include Saka Rauka and Lusotana - the latter of which is utterly impossible to play as. -9000 with ONE settlement and a couple mediocre units? Kind of absurd. It's a shame, since Lusotana looks like a colorful faction. I'm sure there are other factions that are unfairly burdened monetarily, I haven't played all of them yet. It seems that all the barbarian factions start out screwed.
I've played with both Saka and Lusotania, and while Lusotania seems hard, it's pretty easy, since it's not threatened by any faction. One would assume Carthage would be a pain, but they never attacked me. I believe I took one province, disbanded my armies and waited until I was in the green. Then I upgraded my barracks, waited until I had enough money to put a whole army in the recruitment queue and after that subdued some more tribes. But I agree that most factions are too poor in the beginning. Most settlements should have better infrastructure. For example it's weird that in 272 BCE there are almost no roads, but in 270 BCE there's an almost world wide road system.
I started playing saba after I mad this post, I control all of arabia now and i want to spread to africa and asian without starting a war with the 2 superpowers. The sabas dont have any ships ive noticed though. Isnt that kind of sad theres a faction that cant build ships?
I also thought playing the Saka wasnt that hard. you just have to expand fast. after you gain 3 citys. just wait the debt out. they have a poor selection of units.
I started playing saba after I mad this post, I control all of arabia now and i want to spread to africa and asian without starting a war with the 2 superpowers. The sabas dont have any ships ive noticed though. Isnt that kind of sad theres a faction that cant build ships?
They can build ships. You need to build a naval bay. Trust me, I've built ships with them.
The Errant
08-09-2007, 22:08
I started playing saba after I mad this post, I control all of arabia now and i want to spread to africa and asian without starting a war with the 2 superpowers. The sabas dont have any ships ive noticed though. Isnt that kind of sad theres a faction that cant build ships?
Saba can build ships. You just need to own a settlement that can build a military port. And if you control Tamane you already have one. Takes four turns to build the port. And another two to build the crappiest ship you can make. Upgrading the military port will give you access to better ships.
Found it right after i posted it. Having loads of fun as the saba now.
Rundownloser
08-11-2007, 00:12
I also thought playing the Saka wasnt that hard. you just have to expand fast. after you gain 3 citys. just wait the debt out. they have a poor selection of units.
They get some cool Greek units later:
https://www.europabarbarorum.com/factions_saka_units.html
They get some cool Greek units later:
https://www.europabarbarorum.com/factions_saka_units.html
...only if you do some editing, I believe.
Some factions, however, are essentially unplayable because of their economic situation. These include Saka Rauka and Lusotana - the latter of which is utterly impossible to play as. -9000 with ONE settlement and a couple mediocre units? Kind of absurd. It's a shame, since Lusotana looks like a colorful faction. I'm sure there are other factions that are unfairly burdened monetarily, I haven't played all of them yet. It seems that all the barbarian factions start out screwed.
No, not all get screwed... Getai and Lusotanna, if you spread out quickly in the beginning and get cities with mines or that can build mines and carefully disband certain units you will manage... though be weak for several turns...
as for Casse, you need lots of patience, I am playing them right now I and I keep clicking end turn to wait for buildings to finish. Good thing is those Eleutheroi aren't my enemies... yet
the Saka are awesome, but you gotta learn to play them right... you will never get anywhere trying to disband your armies and conquer the steppe... well, you won't get far... either kill Bactria or Pahlava quick...
and you better hope that the Ptolemaioi and the Hayasdan got the Seleucids tied up enough that you can take out Baktria and Pahlava and not face Seleucids just as you attempt to consolidate some sorta economy
Economy for Saka comes later after a hell of a lot of conquest... so keep ridin and beatin armies, but be careful, cause one defeat could be terrible since your economy sucks until you control like 20 good provinces :beam:
They get some cool Greek units later:
https://www.europabarbarorum.com/factions_saka_units.html
...only if you do some editing, I believe.
Yes and once you do it's loads of fun
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