Economic Domination

**Jong** · 03-20-2009, 12:07

Some have suggested that it is possible to get rich on trade. It wasn't clear at first just how rich you could get.

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

Behold the fruition of my masterplan.

I rushed the pirates and the cherokee and bought New France for the astronomical sum of 3 Caribbean islands, Ceylon (traded for Moose Factory) and 28000, thus absorbing 13 colonies on turn 11.

I also rushed farming techs and kept taxes low to grow my towns so I could school spam. I am already on the penultimate tier of all techs and almost finished all enlightenment techs.

All towns have already spawned at this point so I have started taxing the lower classes to earn more money. Current income growth is estimated at 1000 a turn (from the long term trade partner boost and town wealth growth)

I have constructed ALL upgrades and am running out of techs to research, leading to the demolition of a number of universities

My current plan is use my stupendous wealth to buy out the AI. I recently purchased Ceylon from the frenchies for a cool 125000. I also plan to make war in a small way so as not to annoy all my trade partners.

Isn't it spectacular?

**Grumfoss** · 03-20-2009, 12:22

Oh my god how much money!!

Very nice... I'm struggling to get a quarter of that nice one

**Ishmael** · 03-20-2009, 12:28

tch...as the maratha i have about 100k income, 80k profit (give or take a bit)
I am trading with nearly all the major european powers, i control all of india and i have a heck of a lot of workshops.
So much cash...*drools*

**Vlad Tzepes** · 03-20-2009, 12:44

As GB I make around 50K per turn (it's 1765) but I still want more...more... MORE!

Lessons:
Trade rules. War with any faction that gets naval access will block trade routes. Bad move.
Long trade partners have to be kept happy, never start a war with them.
Wars are costly. Better buy provinces from friends than get them by force from enemies.
South America provinces have nice gold mines. Must.Have.Gold.
Keep armies low, army upkeep is the biggest burden on your budget.
Check ministers often, fire bad managers.
Research production techs and social techs. If you don't have to fight with guns, win with money.

Bought Egypt from Ottomans for 125K + Trinidad Tobago. The Turks absolutely love me now

I just bought Bengal (GB province mission) from Maratha for a whopping 200K + Tripolitania.

I'm at 300K right now and plan to buy everything left to win the game (New France, Hindustan and another Indian province).
Or maybe I'll kick some French ass just for fun, after all.

Next campaign I plan to go over 1 Mil. I'm Uncle Scrooge Total War

**littlejames** · 03-20-2009, 12:45

How can you have so many trade partners?

Whenever I attempt to trade I get the message "The other country's ports are full - you can't trade".

How do I get around that?

**Darth Venom** · 03-20-2009, 13:21

Simple: Build more trade ports/upgrade existing ones. Torch fishing ports in provinces that can't develop any more towns.

Edit: Didn't read your post properly, sorry. If their ports are full, there's nothing you can do exept wait until they upgrade them/ build more. Checking the diplomacy screen regularly helps, to prevent AI factions from beating you to trade agreements.

On the matter of buying provinces for > 100k:
I found that this can lead to great advantages for the selling AI faction versus their AI adversaries. I bought upper Canada as Sweden from the French for ~120.000 and a few turns later they dominated the seas around Europe, completely sealing of the British Isles. Before the Brits hat complete Naval domination...

**Jong** · 03-20-2009, 13:33

On the matter of buying provinces for > 100k:
I found that this can lead to great advantages for the selling AI faction versus their AI adversaries. I bought upper Canada as Sweden from the French for ~120.000 and a few turns later they dominated the seas around Europe, completely sealing of the British Isles. Before the Brits hat complete Naval domination...

This is quite a big concern for me. I am already starting to see exponential growth in french forces. They have just destroyed Savoy. They don't seem to be selling the provinces I want to buy though

tch...as the maratha i have about 100k income, 80k profit (give or take a bit)
I am trading with nearly all the major european powers, i control all of india and i have a heck of a lot of workshops.
So much cash...*drools*

Ah but as the maratha, you can go on a conquest spree and even on VH, the territorial expansion penalty won't hit outside your home theatre. That means that your European friends are still willing to trade with you. A European country that wants to have friends needs to be a lot more restrained.

Hmm... maybe I should have picked maratha instead. More action

I picked GB for my experiment because I thought could get the biggest territorial gains for the least amount of conquering. That was before I found that territorial expansion penalty was confined to the home theatre.

I wonder if indian provinces start out a lot richer than the horribly undeveloped american ones. Did you know that the 13 colonies start off with ZERO towns?

**Darth Venom** · 03-20-2009, 13:45

Originally Posted by Jong

This is quite a big concern for me. I am already starting to see exponential growth in french forces. They have just destroyed Savoy. They don't seem to be selling the provinces I want to buy though

Nothing one can do afterwards. I assume the AI love to blow all its money on unit queues.

**Liberator** · 03-20-2009, 13:38

Originally Posted by Ishmael

tch...as the maratha i have about 100k income, 80k profit (give or take a bit)
I am trading with nearly all the major european powers, i control all of india and i have a heck of a lot of workshops.
So much cash...*drools*

I am in war with maratha and gain 20k every round just by raiding their trade routes to europe

if I would trade with them, I would get only 7k and they 11k

**Dayve** · 03-23-2009, 08:22

That it?

I had hundreds of thousands on my GB campaign, it's the easiest faction of all time in any TW game, and i was playing on VH/H. The AI is extremely reluctant to go to war with GB, except for France, Spain and the Huron, it seems.

Just tech up so you can build sugar/coffee/tea/spice warehouses, the largest farms and mines and weavers and smithies, and conquer the small islands off the east coast of America. You don't even need to conquer anything on mainland America or absorb the colonies, you just need to keep Ruperts Land for the two fur traders and the farm.

Once you have the whole of Britain, Ruperts Land and all the small islands off the east coast of America with every farm and plantation upgraded to max, you will rake in money so fast you literally won't know what to do with it.

You don't even need to send trade fleets to the trade theatres. I got to around 1740, 2 navies both with 10 3rd rates and various smaller supporting ships, and 3 full stack land armies, and was still pulling 40k a turn.

I had to quit playing. There was no way i could be challenged anymore. My prestige was at 740, the next highest was less than 300.