How Trade works

[MikeV]

A slightly different question: can anyone describe how trade routes work? In particular, how does it decide which ports get a trade route, and which ones don't?

Understanding this would help to decide how to develop regions that have 2 or 3 ports: whether to make them all trade, use one or more for fishing, etc.

[Kobal2fr]

A slightly different question: can anyone describe how trade routes work? In particular, how does it decided which ports get a trade route, and which ones don't?

Understanding this would help to decide how to develop regions that have 2 or 3 ports: whether to make them all trade, use one or more for fishing, etc.

It's a bit complicated.

For trade routes, this is how I've gathered it works : only trade ports in your capital region, and regions directly connected to it by land routes get to trade with other factions. Each trade port in the capital (and connected) regions gives you a certain number of available trade routes (I think it starts off at 2, and goes up to 4 with tech). So, if you are playing as, say, the French, only France works at first. If you capture say, the United Provinces, their starting port won't trade until you've also got Flanders from the Spaniards. On the other hand, the Ottoman Empire starts with god knows how many working trade routes (I think land bridges, such as the one in the Dardanelles straights, work as a connection).

An interesting side effect from this is that Britain starts with a useless trade port, the one in Ireland. Turn it into a shipyard ASAP, and convert the shipyard on the mainland into a trade port.

If a province is not directly linked to your capital, then a trade port there will not be useful at all (except maybe as a source of town wealth), unless the province also has a plantation (sugar, coffee, furs etc..., but not wood, weaver & smith). In that case, you *need* a trade port to import it back to the home theatre, where it will then be exported through trade (I don't think trade goods like sugar create money unless you sell them).

Meaning if you capture the pirate islands in the Carribean (Antigua & Trinidad), you'd better destroy their shipyards and convert them to trade ports.

Note also that these regions only need the one port to export, more won't help if I'm not mistaken. Any other port should be used as shipyards or fishing ports.

[Jason X]

nice post monsieur

So, if you are playing as, say, the French, only France works at first. If you capture say, the United Provinces, their starting port won't trade until you've also got Flanders from the Spaniards.

the fact that the goa port stopped working when i "liberated" it in my maratha campaign would be a bug by your explanation, correct?

[Kobal2fr]

nice post monsieur



the fact that the goa port stopped working when i "liberated" it in my maratha campaign would be a bug by your explanation, correct?

I think so, yes. But I'm not sure my understanding of things is 100% right, either :)

One thing I forgot to say : if you have two provinces with plantations/fur hunters, and they are connected to each other, then only one needs a trade port I believe, the other's goods will be transported to the first one by road, and then shipped.
At least that's what I gather from the French campaign in which both Montreal and Quebec have fur traders, only Quebec has a port and the imported fur total changes when Montreal's fur lodge is upgraded.

[nafod]

It's a bit complicated.

For trade routes, this is how I've gathered it works : only trade ports in your capital region, and regions directly connected to it by land routes get to trade with other factions. Each trade port in the capital (and connected) regions gives you a certain number of available trade routes (I think it starts off at 2, and goes up to 4 with tech). So, if you are playing as, say, the French, only France works at first. If you capture say, the United Provinces, their starting port won't trade until you've also got Flanders from the Spaniards. On the other hand, the Ottoman Empire starts with god knows how many working trade routes (I think land bridges, such as the one in the Dardanelles straights, work as a connection).

An interesting side effect from this is that Britain starts with a useless trade port, the one in Ireland. Turn it into a shipyard ASAP, and convert the shipyard on the mainland into a trade port.

If a province is not directly linked to your capital, then a trade port there will not be useful at all (except maybe as a source of town wealth), unless the province also has a plantation (sugar, coffee, furs etc..., but not wood, weaver & smith). In that case, you *need* a trade port to import it back to the home theatre, where it will then be exported through trade (I don't think trade goods like sugar create money unless you sell them).

Meaning if you capture the pirate islands in the Carribean (Antigua & Trinidad), you'd better destroy their shipyards and convert them to trade ports.

Note also that these regions only need the one port to export, more won't help if I'm not mistaken. Any other port should be used as shipyards or fishing ports.

I'm not sure this is entirely true. In my Prussia campaign, Finland, Sweden, Courland and Croatia all trade with my capital in Brandenburg. Sweden and Finland are not connected by a land bridge. Oddly enough Venice Konigsburg Rome and Latvia do not trade via port.

[Pelast]

It's a bit complicated.

For trade routes, this is how I've gathered it works : only trade ports in your capital region, and regions directly connected to it by land routes get to trade with other factions. Each trade port in the capital (and connected) regions gives you a certain number of available trade routes (I think it starts off at 2, and goes up to 4 with tech). So, if you are playing as, say, the French, only France works at first. If you capture say, the United Provinces, their starting port won't trade until you've also got Flanders from the Spaniards. On the other hand, the Ottoman Empire starts with god knows how many working trade routes (I think land bridges, such as the one in the Dardanelles straights, work as a connection).

An interesting side effect from this is that Britain starts with a useless trade port, the one in Ireland. Turn it into a shipyard ASAP, and convert the shipyard on the mainland into a trade port.

If a province is not directly linked to your capital, then a trade port there will not be useful at all (except maybe as a source of town wealth), unless the province also has a plantation (sugar, coffee, furs etc..., but not wood, weaver & smith). In that case, you *need* a trade port to import it back to the home theatre, where it will then be exported through trade (I don't think trade goods like sugar create money unless you sell them).

Meaning if you capture the pirate islands in the Carribean (Antigua & Trinidad), you'd better destroy their shipyards and convert them to trade ports.

Note also that these regions only need the one port to export, more won't help if I'm not mistaken. Any other port should be used as shipyards or fishing ports.

Thank you for a very good post.

I query the logic of the useless Irish port for the British though, as it is possible to 'walk' from Scotland to Ireland, though a land bridge does not show on the campaign map.

I have also noted a bug with the port on the smallest island (IIRC) going east from Cuba in that when it was blockaded by pirates the trade screen lost all the depictions of ivory, tea etc from ALL trading partners albeit the trade figures seemed to be ok.

[nafod]

So how does trade for the Russians work?

I ask as I captured the Crimea prior to Ingria and had routes blockaded by the Ottomans in the Med. I then torched the port in the Crimea and all trade routes (save the o0ne from the Maratha Confederacy) went through the baltic. Oddly the indian trade route continued to go to the defunct Crimean port.

[anweRU]

I query the logic of the useless Irish port for the British though, as it is possible to 'walk' from Scotland to Ireland, though a land bridge does not show on the campaign map.

The Irish port does not have a visual trade route going to it, but it does work.

Note that you start with one trade port in each GB province: 3 trade routes in England, 2 in Scotland and 2 in Ireland. As GB you can have up to 7 trade agreements in your first turn of the game. Ergo, the Irish trade port works. The trade route display is bugged.

But then, what's new?