The Economy in Attila Total War - Questions, Ideas and Research

[Oleander Ardens]

Yep, I just hit that 3rd climate change. And I think the drops are related to the chapter milestones, all of which (so far) are defined by a "survive until XXX date" requirement. I guess there could be more coming, but at this point rather irrelevant to me, since the vast majority of my territory is already infertile.

The good news is that infertility isn't a disaster. The non-fertility-dependent food buildings keep my head above water. One other thing I noticed for the barbarian build line. Farms offer by far the largest fertility +food modifier, and therefore produce the most food even at Poor fertility. Goatherds, however, provide the largest base amount of food, making them slightly more productive at Meagre, and substantially so at Infertile. They also provide more income than farms. So for northern factions who aren't planning to migrate south, conversion from farms to goats at the Meagre level seems the way to go.
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So far I didn't hit fertility drop number 3 as I started a new campaign. My ERE one has become a bit too easy as I hit a budget surplus of 50000 pretty early and specific interest compounding made (obviously) an ever bigger impact. With such a financial strenght comes military might with many stacks which allow for quick and easy victories.

I'm having a blast with my peaceful hard Geat campaign in which I'm colonizing what others raze, enabled in part by my web of alliances. Didn't fight a single battle so far with all my settlements protected by defensive or military allies and lots of very cheap units. The gems of Germano-Sarmantia were grapped by me after a couple of turns. My fleet and expensive units were cut in turn 1 after getting trade agreements with my Nordic neighbours which gave me enough of a surplus to finance the first colonia.

Fishing jetties are a blessing for all those coastal settlements in times like those. With few building slots and the two drops in my faction area I'm certainly going for non-farm food buildings and those farms with the highest base. Maybe I should import camels from the Sassanids...