Daft questions from a beginner

[bazzabear]

Thanks everyone for the help, sorry it's taken me so long to get back.

The customer service were pretty helpful - got me to send a photo of my game box, manuals and the like to prove I wasn't trying it on, then sent me a game code for the extra units. Obviously leaves me without the campaign map, but not too bothered about that.

I have some other daft questions which I'd love answers too, although I'm still scanning through the forum to see if they exist anywhere else:

1) Why do some region capitals have 4 contruction sites, but others only one? Is it population based?

2) I have a fleet of ships stuck in port at London. Every time I try to order them out, a apatronising voice tells me that ships can't travel over land. I'm also unable to send another ship into the port. Just a bug?

3) What difference do bayonets make? Is it just a charge bonus? Or an increase in melee?

I have to say, the manual with this iteration of the series is pretty disappointing. Questions 1 and 3 above are things which I think would have been fully covered in previous game manuals. Another example is pikemen. I can guess what the different formations do, but there's nothing which actually tells you. Trade theatres you only find out about by seeing AI in them and looking into them yourself. That';s another wuestions actually:

4) Is it worthwhile making up trade fleets and anchoring them in the trade theatres? Make much money?

[Didz]

1) Why do some region capitals have 4 contruction sites, but others only one? Is it population based?

Not really sure what you mean. Region capitals all have the same potential build tree, which is limited primarily by technology, enlightenment and the money available to pay for buildings.

2) I have a fleet of ships stuck in port at London. Every time I try to order them out, a apatronising voice tells me that ships can't travel over land. I'm also unable to send another ship into the port. Just a bug?

Sounds like it. London is not a port, therefore there should not be any ships there at all. The nearest port to London is Greenwich, and it should be possible to construct and move ships in and out without any problems.

3) What difference do bayonets make? Is it just a charge bonus? Or an increase in melee?

Should be both, but personally I don't use melee tactic's so I haven't given it much attention.

4) Is it worthwhile making up trade fleets and anchoring them in the trade theatres? Make much money?

This is a complicated question to answer.

Moving a trade fleet to a trade port will provide your nation with the potential to import trade goods from that trade theatre. Whether you actually do so depends on whether can keep the trade lanes from that trade theatre to your home ports open. If you can you will receive a regular quantity of Ivory(a.k.a. Slaves), Sugar or Spices.

However, these are worth nothing unless you can sell them, and so importing them is pointless unless you also have trade partners willing to buy them. If you have trade partners and your trade lanes are open then the imported goods will be re-routed to them and you will receive a price for them equal to the current market rate, which varies according to the amount of goods being offered on the world market. The more of a commodity that is being imported the less money that commodity earns.

Generally, speaking this trade is very lucrative, provided you have the navy available to protect your trade routes. Madagascar is the best trade theatre to develop, Ivory coast comes a close second, followed by the East Indies and Brazil is the least lucrative of the four.

[Peasant Phill]

1)Some regions are 'richer' than others. Population has something to do with it but not everything. Some regions will never have as much cities as others.

2) A bug, sadly

3) Bayonets make a lot of difference. They provide, as you guessed, an increase in melee and charge stats. Think of it as giving your men short spears instead of clubs.

4) Yes, it's worth it but be prepared to spend a hefty amount on it to protect your investment.

[bazzabear]

Thanks guys - perhaps I didn't explain the region thing properly.
In the actual 'city' of each region, you have construction sites, right?
So, in London I have one site for a barracks type building, another for cannon foundry, another for a parliament and anothe for a pleasure type (I think), plus the 'walls' construction site.

But in Georgia, I only have the option for the barracks type, no others.

[bazzabear]

Oh, should have said, my ships aren't actually in London - just the port nearest to London (which I couldn't remember the name of)

[Fisherking]

The stuck ships are a bug. Check again in a turn or so and see if you can move them then, or reload to a previous save and see if they move. If that doesn’t fix it you may have to kill off the ships or restart the campaign.

As to regions and buildings...Large regions have more options for buildings than smaller ones. Some of the choices seem a little subjective on the part of the developers, but that is how it is. The lesser regions only build a government building and walls. The greater region have the barracks, arsenal, maybe the admiralty, and so on. It can’t be changed and they never grow into a more developed region.

[bazzabear]

Cheers Boohugh and Fisherking, that makes sense.
I thought it might be the case, but wanted to make sure I wasn't missing a way of expanding.

The ships do show a coloured surround, but it's the paler green which I think denotes a 'zone of control'. The brighter movement zone doesn't seem to exist. Now I just need to decide whether to leave the ships there (as they occasionally get to intercept fleets using the Channel) or if it's not cost effective.

[bazzabear]

Can anyone give me a quick quide to naval battles? I've started just autoresolving all of them, as I haven't a clue what I'm doing - but if past experience of autoresolving normal battles is anything to go by, I bet that costs me a load of damage.

Do people self-control all their ships in a big fleet? Is there a way of getting most of them AI controlled and just doing one or two yourself?
Is it just a case of giving all your ships a target and leaving them to it?

[Boohugh]

Thanks guys - perhaps I didn't explain the region thing properly.
In the actual 'city' of each region, you have construction sites, right?
So, in London I have one site for a barracks type building, another for cannon foundry, another for a parliament and anothe for a pleasure type (I think), plus the 'walls' construction site.

But in Georgia, I only have the option for the barracks type, no others.

Regions are basically split into 2 types, those that can build the full range of buildings (usually a nations capital and a few others such as Scotland) and those where you can only build a Governer's Mansion/Barracks. There isn't any way to change them and other than the different icons on the map there doesn't seem to be any obvious way to tell the difference (they aren't labelled differently for example). It seems to be a sort of relic of the city/castle feature in M2TW but not as developed. If I had to guess, I'd say it was put in to highlight the historically more important regions and provide some gameplay balance (so you can't build the best units in every region).

Regarding not being able to move the ships, that sounds like a bug. When you click on the fleet, does the green movement range area show?