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ok the thing i what are the key steps you do to make lots of money because i haer so many people making tons of money like 60,000. Just hearing that really amazes me because i bearly can reach up to about 20,000. i just find this really hard to do because if i was to concentrate on economy it mean upgrading all my lands which is time consuming as i need to build force's and workshops etc...and as there is a deadline of the year 1453...it seems too little time to get a nice economy and taking over all the lands...last night i managed to complete the game but i only managed to take about 85% of the lands and with very little money left over...please help me on a good approach to take when thinking about building my economy...if you can explain please tell me what are the first steps you take when starting a game...thanks. i hope this is not an annoying post.
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Hawk, I havn't got as far as you or the huge amounts of money 20K to 60K, but I do know that trade can be a huge money maker. Land like Norway that generate usually in the 60's can get up to 1000. Of course I am talking upgrades to get the larger Mercantile houses and probably a good chain of ships to reach the Med. The two major regions I like to trade with are the corner with Tripoli and the sea region with Venice, you can get allies with three or four ports in these and you can make some $$$$.
I know it is not a total answer but I hope it helps.
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the key to this game is too focus ALL your money in Key provinces and to NOT build everything everywhere
(1) only improve farmlands in rich farm provinces, and max those
(2) focus all your military building in a select few provinces
(3) if you have a province with trade items on the ocean build it up with a port, shipyard, and merchant quickly and ships of course
(4) maintain a medium but elite army to hold down maintenance costs
thats a good start
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also be selective about what provinces you conquer, there are some that just arent worth the cost of garrissoning, select rich farm or trade provinces to "acquire" not desert wastelands
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also....heh
make sure you assign your highest Accumen generals to your highest income provinces and give them your best accumen bonus titles
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edit- by the time I got done typing, there was already a wealth of info posted. Gees you guys are fast.
In now way am I an expert, but the 3 things needed IMHO for a good economy are:
1) generals with an accumen 4 | | > on each and every province. They definately bump up your cash. I usually see jumps ~25% when I give someone the title.
2) upgrading your farming when its prudent. Some provinces to me arent worth the investment early. If they dont increase the profit by more than 250 I only put money into them later in the game when the cash flow is steady.
3) Trade. The provinces that have the most items to trade do the best for your fledgling empire. Sweden, Khazar, Tripoli, Constantinople all have 3 items to trade. There are probably more but I cant think of them right now. Also, places that have furs, silk, anything out of the ordinary do extremely well. The sooner you get boats in the water the better. The downside to trade is that sometimes when you just hit your stride, there arent anymore ports left to trade in because of pillaging or you're fighting and your sea lanes are blocked. Then watch the money you've gotten used to pour in leave just as quickly.
Hope this helps.
[This message has been edited by moldndecay (edited 09-25-2002).]
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In addition to what's been written...
When it's early days and peaceful, have 2 or 3 ship-building facilities (the simplest will do) and put a ship in every coastal region in the game. This will cost you something, but the rewards you will reap will be immense.
In addition to this, in every coastal region that has at least one trade item (preferably more, if you're strapped start with those with several trade items), build a port and trade post.
With about 7-8 good coastal trade provinces with ports and trade posts and your ships connecting you to the entire game world, you can make insane amounts of money. Upgrade all the way to Citadels and Master Merchants and you will soon be owning several 100K of Florins.
Military development in the mean time should happen in non-trade provinces, and only a select few of them. Your trade network will allow you to deploy your armies anywhere you like, so as long as you keep your 'home' seas well protected (by many ships) you can make do with a much smaller army then you would need when every far out province needs a strong garrison.
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Trade is so, so important!
So get shipyards up and running ASAP, in my current game as Sicily, i had a second dedicated ship builder before my second serious troop producer! Now im established (~100 yrs in), any place where i build a port for trade also becomes a ship yard.
Develop multi, or rare trade resource regions first. You trade each item in each port-w-merchant of yours, with every allied or neutral port that (your navy reaches &) doesnt have that resource.
Rarity of resources (there may be some errors!)
1 - Glassware
1 - Honey
1 - Pottery
1 - Ivory
1 - Dyes
2 - Cotton
2 - Olive Oil
2 - Sugar
3 - Spices
3 - Butter
3 - Wine
3 - Wax
4 - Gems
4 - Fish
5 - Hides
5 - Furs
7 - Linen
9 - Wool
9 - Wood
14- Grain
16- Silk
You should be aiming to maximise the number of ports you can trade each resource with! Monopolys are something to aspire to, so obviously rare trade goods are a nice thing to have; BUT the guys who have some of them are also the best trading partners, IMO Egypt, Italy, & especially Byzantium! Not to mention that they are also the guys who are likely to have the most ships to impede your trade with others, should it come down to a fight!
In general though, before you go to war with someone it's worth looking at the sea, as well as the land! and if you're going to war over a trade province think about whether its worth it in terms of resources gained vs the cost both in units AND trade lost from ports that will become unreachable!
Tax each region appropriately. Think about whether a particular tax rate justifys the garrison required to keep it loyal. For example. In my game i'm taxing Portugal at Very High, because its a lovely little trade centre! OK, it's taking a garrison of about 1000 peasants to keep it at 200% loyalty, but even with the upkeep of 370Fl, i'm still netting about 1k from the region each year. Navarre, on the other hand is piss-poor, & not worth taxing at more than v low because the garrison required to tax it any higher would cost more than the rise in income.
IMO mines are ok but take a while to pay themselves back, so only buy them if you can afford to tie your money up for a few years. Farming is similar, personally, unless it's a very productive region i havent bothered upgrading yet, but you will need to think about it before you run out of trade partners towards the endgame.
Acumen 4+ governors - a must!
Hope this helps, its worked for me so far in my current game. As i said im only ~100yrs in as Sicily, & own less than 20 provinces, but am grossing ~17k/yr & netting ~7k! http://www.totalwar.org/ubb/biggrin.gif
[This message has been edited by Wart (edited 09-26-2002).]
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Power play, power play, and power play..
