Merchant Escort Math Lesson

I'm trying to improve my use of merchants and I have some nice florins flowing in from amber across the Baltic region and from Our Man in Timbuktu (who has a colleague hiking across the desert right now).

I want to groom a couple of merchants for bigger and better things and I saw the suggestion to put a pair of merchants on matching resources in the same province with intent to pick up the monopolist traits. Two of my choices were amber in Stockholm and textiles in Milan. I already have a merchant pumping amber from the source nearest Stockholm, but it will take a while to get another merchant to the other amber, and the one I have already has the first level of monopolist.

Instead I chose to build merchants at my Merchants Guild in Genoa and to use military escorts to allow them to survive in the North Italian Free Fire Zone. I built one merchant while waiting for another fairground (or whatever) to complete and plopped him on one resource with a militia company for, er, company. Then I thought about the math. The merchant is returning 54 florins per turn. The upkeep of the militia company is 125 florins per turn. :wall: Hey, I'll just make it up in volume...

You don't need two merchants, you need two resources of the same type in the same region. Put a merchant on one of them, and he'll have trading monopoly, if there are none on the other resource(excluding your own, of course).

After 5 turns, he'll get the first level of the trait, another 5 turns(10 total), he'll get the second and he'll get the third level ten turns after that(20 total). This doesn't have to be consecutive though, if you have him on the resource for 6 turns, and an enemy merchant sits on the other resource for the next 2 turns, he'll still only need to sit on the resource for 4 more turns to get the second level. Also, the type of resource doesn't matter, ie. he can get 7 turns from Iron, 5 turns from silk and 8 turns on textiles to get the third level, for example. This is why it's a good idea to end their move on a resource he can monopolize when you are moving him towards the resource you want him to trade. For example, if you train a merchant in Rheims and you want him to trade silks in constantinople, you can stop by the iron in metz, the textiles in milan and venice and the iron in zagreb. He'll probably get to constantinople with the first level, which helps a lot in dealing with the merchants hanging around there...

Thanks for the clarification HT. I do stop for the night on resources unless something ominous is hanging around nearby (Things that go Clink in the Night).

Come to think of it, my man near Stockholm has been sitting on that amber for a long time (with the other one unoccupied). How do I distinguish the levels of the monopolistic trait?

Of course none of this helps the short-term ROI (Return On Investment) when the rate of return is about -200%. ;)

playing as Venice I used the textiles in N Italy (two provinces, four resources) to train merchants. I had forts controlling all the passes from europe into N Italy which created an "agent net" to protect them as they levelled up.

then when I had a few with decent skill i left one hanging around to protect the tadpoles against any decent merchants to come wandering by.

If you are aggressive enough with merchants you can send a wave of high-level traders out across europe and eat up all the good AI merchants within a couple of turns

then all the new ones the AI pumps out will be less skilled than your guys and can become training aids themselves

Here's some merchant advice: Send a general to Timbuktu and take it. Build a town hall and a grain market and start pumping out merchants into a fort you built on the gold. Next thing you know you've got 20 merchants in there pumping out 1000 florins + a turn all monopolists.

It is entirely possible using this method to make as much money with merchants as all other trade income.

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Originally Posted by Hermann the Lombard

Thanks for the clarification HT. I do stop for the night on resources unless something ominous is hanging around nearby (Things that go Clink in the Night).

Come to think of it, my man near Stockholm has been sitting on that amber for a long time (with the other one unoccupied). How do I distinguish the levels of the monopolistic trait?

Of course none of this helps the short-term ROI (Return On Investment) when the rate of return is about -200%. ;)

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1. level is capitalist, 2. level is market controller, 3. level is monopolist.

There is another good trait you'll get, WordlyMerchant. You have to be some way away from your capital to get this, and you have a 20% chance each turn your merchant is on a resource. The first level(knowledge of customs) needs one point, the second level needs 3 points. So, on average, it takes 5 turns to get the first level, and 15 turns to get the second.

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Originally Posted by Hermann the Lombard

Instead I chose to build merchants at my Merchants Guild in Genoa and to use military escorts to allow them to survive in the North Italian Free Fire Zone. I built one merchant while waiting for another fairground (or whatever) to complete and plopped him on one resource with a militia company for, er, company. Then I thought about the math. The merchant is returning 54 florins per turn. The upkeep of the militia company is 125 florins per turn. :wall: Hey, I'll just make it up in volume...

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By the way, your lone milita sitting on the resource outside a fort is quite likely to go rebel (often)...

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Originally Posted by Slaists

By the way, your lone milita sitting on the resource outside a fort is quite likely to go rebel (often)...

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That thought has occurred to me. Not quite worth putting a leader there. I guess I could start building some forts, then only the Papal States and Sicily will have easy land access.

Good to know about worldly merchant. I know I've seen the first level.

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Originally Posted by Hermann the Lombard

Good to know about worldly merchant. I know I've seen the first level.

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The distance to capital in the trigger file is 40, I assume that means 40 plots, but I'm not sure on that.

Paying for a full-size unit to ward your merchant is silly. Use a depleted unit leftover from some skirmish.

A single unit is toast if the AI attacks, regardless of whether it is at full health or down to 1 man.

I have not had any go rebel in Antioch, as of turn 95. No forts, just merchants stacked with leftovers. The Turks who run the joint don't seem to mind and my merchant trade income just passed 10K.

With merchants in a fort, does the fort need to be occupied by a combat unit? (I assume so, but when dealing with a bug--er, undocumented feature--I could be wrong.) Obviously I have to get a general down to Timbuktu if I want to use the fort exploit.

Regarding the full-size unit, that was stupid of me, but I also didn't have any cripples hanging around.

Oh, another thing, Slicendice wrote "start pumping out merchants" but I find that I can infrequently add a merchant. It's one merchant per town with a market, correct?

Nope, forts can stay up without combat units and only agents in.

And correct, one merchant per town with market, and I think Banks as well.