MTW economics 101 Summary:
Your economy in MTW and STW for that matter hinges on the 4 pillars of the economy. These are mines, agriculture, trade and if you’ve got them, good governors.
First off mines:
A salt mine gives you 26 florins a year and costs 250 florins.
A salt mine complex costs the same but only yields an additional 5%
The same goes for other mines. They give you 37 florins for silver and 52 for gold respectively.
Tactics: you should build the first level mines everywhere before the second level is even started. Obviously gold is a better investment than salt. So build the right mines first.
Courtesy of RedKnight, here is a more accurate figure for mine income:
There are four types of mines, each of which makes a multiple of the lowest level one (Salt's 26):
Salt - 26
Copper - 52
Silver - 78
Gold - 104
All the mine complexes double the income of the regular mine, but cost less than twice as much. Thus, the first-level mines pay for themself in 10-14 years, and the second levels pay for themself in 16-18 years. I generally consider anything less than 20 years to be pretty good (whether farms, mines, or trade). But because salt and copper produce so little income in real terms, I often delay them, especially in provinces that have something else important going on, like developing trade and farms in Sweden before its copper.
Might I also point out a simple mnemonic for figuring amortization (pay-off) time here, and a modelled listing of every province's income from all sources, here (an Excel spreadsheet).
Agriculture: this type of income differs greatly between provinces. Constantinople produces over 1000 florins a year with upgrades. Sinai doesn’t get you 100 florins a year with all upgrades IIRC
Ex. Take a province with 300 florins from agriculture
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
Table from Mbrasher1
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 yield. An investment that yields 2% will take 50 years to pay off.
Table from Mbrasher1
Trade: now we’re getting fat and greedy. This can both bankrupt you and make you a millionaire literally.
Big question how does this fantastic system work? To make the megabucks you need, a port, a merchant and a fleet. You also can’t be at war with your trading partners obviously.
If your ships link your merchant and port to their port, you have some money. With the no. of ports in places like the Nile cost etc, and the no. of provinces wit trade goods you see how great a source of income this is.
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.
Below are the prices obtainable for trade products courtesy of therother.
Thanks to Mbrasher1 for stats here.
glassware 40, wood 20, furs 40, wine 40, wool 30, silk 40, cotton 30, linen 30, wax 20, honey 40, salt 20, hides 30, butter 20, pottery 30, fish 20, spices 50, gems 50, sugar 40, dyes 50, ivory 40, olive oil 30, grain 30. This tells you why Antioch, with its gems, spices and silks, is so profitable
You may well need naval predominance to complete this however.
Edit: from Mfberg: you can trade with neutral rebels
Governors: each acumen plume a Governors has adds 10% to a provinces income. So a 9-acumen governor does wonders for a rich province.
Certain virtues can also increase production, namely the easily acquired steward and the harder to get but in the trading days more useful, trader.
To acquire either virtue is simple. To get steward, your general king or whatever must be present in the province when an agricultural upgrade is being built and finished. To acquire, the trader virtue, the man must be present during the building of a mine and it’s finish. Each virtue gives +10% production for each type respectively, so according to Katank, you should build and then destroy basic mines and agriculture upgrades to farm the virtue, I agree.
Also of note may be the fact that every one of your king’s acumen plumes gives your provs an extra 2% to monetary production.
Big NB though, once a king gets his steward virtue, the effect is permanent, at least according to Doug-Thompson.
Probably Just as important as many of the above is your support costs. Some units cost a lot in support. Good units include VI peasants celtic warriors, Gallowglasses and Bonnachts, below is list compiled of good garrison units by Davey baby.
men / unit = cost
100 Peasants/Muslim Peasants = 37
100 Viking Thralls = 37
100 Bonnachts = 22 (Very Cheap)
100 Nubian Spearmen = 37
100 Celtic Warriors = 25 (Very Cheap)
60 Golden Horde Warriors = 22
60 Irish Dartmen = 22
60 Crossbows / Pav Crossbows = 22
60 Arbalesters / Pav Arbs = 22
60 Arquebusiers = 22
60 Woodsmen = 22
60 Gallowglasses = 22
60 Highland clansmen = 22
60 Kerns = 22
60 Slav Javelin Men = 22
100 VI peasants =12
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