I know that frog beast has a good guide for newcomers. This post illustrates the economics of MTW.
The keys to your MTW economy are mines, agriculture, trade and governors. This is on the income side of the house.
Mines
If you invest in the mines, the first mine yields a return of about 10% (example: salt mines cost 250 florins, and yield an additional 26 in revenue). The upgrade results in a return of 5%. You have to spend more to get a smaller percent increase. In economics this is called diminishing returns. So prioritize your mines by building the first level in all provinces before you build the second in any.
Agriculture
Most people know that you should focus your agriculture investments on the most productive provinces. Most provinces are profitable to make the first 20% upgrade. Even so, since each investment costs more and gives you the same 20% increase, returns are diminishing.
Ex. Take a province with 300 florins from ag.
20% upgrade (costs 600) = 60 extra florins
40% upgrade (costs 1000) = +60 more
60% upgrade (costs 1500) = +60 more
80% upgrade (costs 2500) = +60 more
so the yields are:
20% upgrade = 10 percent
40% upgrade = 6 percent
60% upgrade = 4 percent
80% upgrade = 2.2 percent
You can figure out how many years your investment will pay off by dividing 100% by the the yield. An investment that yields 2% will take 50 years to pay off.
Another big fat law of diminishing returns for ag.
Trade
After that, there’s trade. Trade’s returns are not diminishing, but increasing. The more you invest in your trade network, the greater your returns. I recorded some information from a recent game as the Turks.
With 5 ships and 3 ports built in Antioch, Tripoli and Egypt, and 2 captured in Greece and Constantinople, I built a small trade network for:
2250 florins (3 ports)
3000 florins (5 ships)
2400 florins (3 trading posts – 2 others were captured)
1200 florins (2 docks)
And just like that my trade network is producing 1150 florins yearly. If I invest 8850 and get 1150, that is an annual yield of about 13%, even in its initial stages, far superior than most other economic investments.
Then after 5 more years, I have built 3 more ships. My total investment is now 10,650 but the increased network is now giving me an additional 2300, or a total annual yield of over 20%. (A little more complicated: look at the extra investment and the extra return. I added 1800 florins to my investment and increased my return by 1150 per year compared to the earlier first trade period. This is called the marginal return, and it exceeds 60 percent.)
By the time I reach Portugal, I now have 23,450 florins invested in my trade network, which totals 19 ships (and new ports/trading posts in conquered Crimea, Khazar, Nicea and Bulgaria). My profits from trade are now 12,300 annually. This is a 50% return on my initial investment. It pays me back every other year. And then again. And agan.
Then after building enough ships to reach the Baltic, I have spent 30,650 on my trade network. It gives me 26,500 in florins per year. This return is almost 90 percent. Though it took me 20 years to build, my entire network nearly pays for its cost every year.
I did not add the costs of the fort and keep, as they are not direct costs of trade and I’d build them even if trade did not exist.
The advantages of trade?
Besides the profits for continual upgrades and more units, it:
Secures your coasts from invasion, letting you mass your armies on the frontier
Allows you to move troops from production areas to trouble areas quickly (side benefit of ports)
Captures some benefit from the trade of others in the form of import taxes
Do wars break out between you and your trading partners? Unless it breaks out right at the beginning of your construction, you have likely come out ahead.
Note: this analysis does not include the costs of maintaining ships. Such costs are quite small compared to the cost of the ships themselves. It would reduce the returns, but not enough to displace trade from being the easiest way to accumulate huge amounts of florins. OTOH the taxes I get from trade were also not included, which would increase the returns.
Governors
Since govs add 10 percent to your florin income per year per accumen hash mark they have, govs can be a decisive impact on your economy.
Since I tend to try to put my richest provinces under a high accumen gov, I checked and I was getting a 66% bonus from governors for their accumen. This is often the difference between adding profit and loss when you have huge expensive armies.
Investments
I was struck by the poor returns in most of the economic investments in MTW. Besides the first ag, mines and trade (which I feel is very unbalancing for the AI -- the trading player ends up with Spanish lancers fighting against mounted sergeants), the investments mostly stink and might take 50 years to payback.
That's OK, though. If you have sufficient florins to see you through a long period, make the investment. While the returns are low, the return on unspent florins is even lower -- zero. If you have the money to see you through rough patches and trade wars, make even the low-yielding investment.
Costs
Every king should be sensitive to costs, and trying to get the best bang for your florins. Disband or use recklessly your low quality troops -- the upkeep on them is usually just as high as more modern units. I tend to use my lower quality (outdated spearmen, UM, whatever) troops to storm castles. The upkeep on these guys is very expensive.
Also expensive past a turn or two are mercenaries. Use them as cannon fodder or in the most dangerous assault. Or disband.
Also, get to know how much the troop types cost. Remember that the life cycle cost of a unit includes the upkeep you pay in periods of peace. Let's say that your units last an average of 20 years (it obviously depends on how aggressive you are with that unit). A jinete will cost 1050 florins (250 acquisition cost and upkeep for 20 years). A steppe cavalry would cost 925. The jinette gives you better value for the money than the steppe cav.
Here are some units with REALLY low upkeep costs (compared to their substitute)
(compare with 53 for CMAA, 45 for FMAA)
gallowglasses 22 florins
highland clansmen 22 florins
militia sergeants 30 florins
crusading knights 50 florins (compare to 85 florins for CK upkeep)
Tucroman foot/Genoese archers 30 florins (compare at 37 for regular archers
Gothic knights 60 florins (vs 85 for CK)
arbs/crossbows 22 florins (vs 37 for archers)
Gothic sergeants 37 florins (compare to 63 for CS)
Units with high upkeep??
Porno cav 125 florins
Katanks, boyars 105 florins
RKs 62 florins
trebizond archers 53 florins (compare to 30 florins for bulgarian brigands)
Obviously, just because JHI's upkeep is higher than saracen infantry does not mean you won't use them. And the byz player who does NOT use TAs is not wise. But avoid getting crushed by the numbers. Too many troops can be a great hindrance in the early/mid game, as you are fighting off rivals, building a trading network and making investments that have not yet paid off and trying to squeeze enough to invest in modern facilities.
Lastly, be aware of the discounts that your faction receives. Most people knows where billmen should be built (Mercia). But many people do not know the discounts that each faction gets in the troops it buys. The discount is 25 percent.
Turks
discount on Ghazi infantry and Khwarazmian cav
Italians
discount on HGs and arqs
France
discount in CS, CMAA, CK and xbow/pavise xbow
Egypt
discount on Bedou camel
Germany
discount on GK Turcopoles and Gothic Sergeants
Russia
discount on HA and woodsmen
Danes
discount on vikings
Byzantine
discount on Genoese archers and naptha throwers
English
discount on plain archers and gallowglasses
Don't get hung up on these discounts -- the Germans are usually a long way from Antioch's high quality turcopoles, but they get a discount if they get there.
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