Grand Campaign 1.0 to 1.5

[peacemaker]

This was a huge issue in my game for me. I could never generate more than 8000 a turn I did set up trade and grabbed some trade nodes but I found my cash was either, to spend it on an army or infrastructure but not both. It was a vicious cycle and I could not increase the income, in fact it was reduced when the trade routes were lost or blocked. Any military success could not be followed up because the army would be decimated and require time to rebuild. I would skip a turn just to build some cash flow and go on a spending spree.

This is my biggest annoyance about the game (BAI aside). The beginning cash flow is EXTREMELY weak, even with your taxes set to 'high' or 'normal'. Trade route income from trade fleets, trade with other nations, nothing seems to help you gain a profit large enough where you can spend it on more than one or two buildings at a time.

Later in the game (I would estimate 1720's), your economy has raised substantially and now can just carry you through the entire game. Once you have a decent trade fleet going, or are a large nation, you can pull in easily 20k+ profit every turn. It allows you to gain more and more and more money until you decide you could conquer the world pretty easily. At this point (Maybe 1740's) I decde I'm bored with that campaign and start a new one.

[Megas Methuselah]

The tight budget is part of the fun. And bored with a campaign? Geez. I'm at 1815, and I know that I'll make it well into the 1850's and probably even further.