Money question

[www2]

I am geting close to the end of my campaign.

Just concquered Rome and need 13 more regions to finnish.

Now my question is this......all along the game my average income per turn was 10 to 15 k. Is this a OK number or is it suposed to be bigger,if so how much bigger.

What is your income avearge.

[Shottie]

This probably won't help you but I go into one of the RTW folders and change the starting money I have before I play a campaign because I have enough problems with keeping my provences and all. If you cant for some fun on your next campaign I can tell you how to do it.

[The_678]

I hear people saying all the time that they have hundreds of thousands of dollars, but I have never been able to make that much money. I usually average around 10-20k and spend most of it every turn as well. I think my problem is that I build too many units. I am producing units pretty much everywhere every turn, and if that city don't build good units, I'll build spie/assassins or even peasants. Maybe less unit production would be better, but I love haveing the massive armies.

[www2]

I hear people saying all the time that they have hundreds of thousands of dollars, but I have never been able to make that much money. I usually average around 10-20k and spend most of it every turn as well. I think my problem is that I build too many units. I am producing units pretty much everywhere every turn, and if that city don't build good units, I'll build spie/assassins or even peasants. Maybe less unit production would be better, but I love haveing the massive armies.

My exact situation.

[The_678]

In my current greek campaign I have all of greece, macedonia, the coastal provinces in asia minor and sicily and I am never seeing more than 10000 denarii ever. But I have the mightiest armies in the world by a long shot according to the faction ratings scroll.

[www2]

Another q?

Not directly to do with money,but with concquering Rome.

I just concquered it and imediatellly agrred cease fire with Scipii and Brutii but at the next turn I am again at war with them.

Does this mean that I am doomed to fight them till the end or can I make peace with them.

[Dutch_guy]

I once made peace with the Brutii after ending my alliance with the senate.
So yes it is possible.

As for the money thing, you really don't want to have to much money, if you get more then 50 K you will have an increased chance that your governors will get the corrupt trait ( 60% decreas in cost to bribe something like that ) and other negative traits.

Just spend it all if you can que up buildings etc,
so The_678 it really isn't as big problem as you might think it is, people who make more money a turn than you just have less standing army;s or they garrisson their city's with less troops

[Conqueror]

The Romans are just hardheads like that. They don't know what's good for them, especially if it has anything to do with peace. So you will have to kill them off, make them protectorates or suffer their attacks. If you don't have enough troops to garrison their provinces, or don't want to risk over extending, then you can sack and burn their cities to weaken them.

[The_678]

Yeah your probably right there Dutch_guy. I usually have all my borders secure and large enough garrisons/production that I can easily kill any rebel armies that pop up. The only time I have problems is when a new war starts or i have my ports blockaded. But I've been playing since the game first came out and being poor never really hurt me too much. Extra money is useless since I practically never bribe anything since they just disband.

[avatar]

Keep your diplomats busy offering cease-fires and trade rights with the other Roman factions. They will normally agree after you spank their armies. With the offer always demand large sums of money. How much? Look under your "Faction Ranking Scroll" to see how much they have. Ask for it all. They will normally ask for one of their cities back, tell them no, and ask for a slightly smaller amount. You will have your requests granted (grudingly) from time to time. I normally go to war and then peace many times with the other factions, while I patiently plot where I will move my armies next. The key is to be victorious in battle - this improves your chances of diplomacy. Spend your money do not horde unless you want bad traits. And yes, you are doomed to be in a continual war/peace situation with the other roman factions. There can be only one winner, and they will always strive to retake Rome while grinding you under their bootheels. Never take your eyes off a known enemy, keep draining their treasuries and decimating their armies and the game will be over. On to the next faction/game. Try one of the barbarian factions next. More challenging.

Personally I never screw around with "changing files" to give myself an advantage. (This does not include "modding" for a specific flavor of game.) You will become a much better manager of finances, armies, and city management if you learn from doing. This includes making mistakes. This is what seperates the Total War series from the other games and why some will never be able to be successful with the game. Have confidence in yourself.

[Spartiate]

In MTW i was never short a penny but i have never quite gotten the hang of managing my economy in RTW.After about 20 turns i find myself conquering cities and exterminating the populace just to stay ahead of the debt collectors.I have absolutely zero self restraint when it comes to building and unit production in my realm.

[Aesculapius]

Personally, I think it's one of the marks of a good RTW player that they keep their treasury between 0 and 50 000. Not only does this reduce corruption, as Dutch Guy pointed out; but money in the bank is money wasted (Bank of RTW pays lousy interest rates!).

Basically, if you have too LITTLE money, your armies aren't working hard enough; and if you have too MUCH money, then your money isn't working hard enough. Use your spare cash to build more armies/fleets and develop a new campaign front, be it aggressive (preferably) or defensive.

Taking the argument further, I would suggest NOT stacking up long build queues. Money tied up in buildings that will only be built in 20 turns' time is just as wasted as money sitting in the treasury doing nothing. Your best investment (apart from immediate city improvements) is new armies that can go forth and conquer faster. Keep the long build-queue manouevre for when you have to park excess money in a hurry.

This probably won't help you but I go into one of the RTW folders and change the starting money I have before I play a campaign because I have enough problems with keeping my provences and all. If you cant for some fun on your next campaign I can tell you how to do it.

And honestly, why give yourself more money? Isn't the campaign easy enough already?

(Actually perhaps that's a bit unfair - I've not played any of the barbarian factions yet, and I'm sure they must struggle with their economy. And I only play on H/H, not VH).

[www2]

Keep your diplomats busy offering cease-fires and trade rights with the other Roman factions. They will normally agree after you spank their armies. With the offer always demand large sums of money. How much? Look under your "Faction Ranking Scroll" to see how much they have. Ask for it all. They will normally ask for one of their cities back, tell them no, and ask for a slightly smaller amount. You will have your requests granted (grudingly) from time to time. I normally go to war and then peace many times with the other factions, while I patiently plot where I will move my armies next. The key is to be victorious in battle - this improves your chances of diplomacy. Spend your money do not horde unless you want bad traits. And yes, you are doomed to be in a continual war/peace situation with the other roman factions. There can be only one winner, and they will always strive to retake Rome while grinding you under their bootheels. Never take your eyes off a known enemy, keep draining their treasuries and decimating their armies and the game will be over. On to the next faction/game. Try one of the barbarian factions next. More challenging.

Personally I never screw around with "changing files" to give myself an advantage. (This does not include "modding" for a specific flavor of game.) You will become a much better manager of finances, armies, and city management if you learn from doing. This includes making mistakes. This is what seperates the Total War series from the other games and why some will never be able to be successful with the game. Have confidence in yourself.

That is just what hapened. I kicked some Brutii arse in one fight just after concquering Rome and than i offerd ceasefire which they accepted.Imediatelly after that I did the same thing with Scipii.

Than clicked END TURN and the next turn I am back at war with them,although there were no fights or diplomatic meetings.

So I am thinking a BUG...or what?

[Revelation]

In my current campaign, playing as the Brutii, I was at one stage sitting on a bank of close to 400k. I had paced myself through to around 210bc, my construction tree was always busy and I had regular field armies patrolling all my major borders gaining exp from routing rebel forces and minor border skirmishes. I had a line of supply, from my outlying armies to my major retrain cities and kept the armies fresh with a constant supply of fresh troops. I saved a bucket load as I did not create new units ,(except when tech uprades became available or out of dire necessity)just retrained the old. This way I was constantly using hardened veterans. Very efficient.
Then came the time to move and place my bid for supreme power over Rome.
SPQR, as per usual had some very nice , veteran troops led by some extremely capable generals. Rome was hurled into a prolonged and bloody civil war.
My 400k bank was devoured very quickly. I used my polished diplomats well and where brawn was not the most efficient response, brains came in handy. My bribes were eaten up and within 5 years I had doubled my standing army and had a handfull of new loyal provincial rulers/generals. I expelled the Scipii from the mainland and they now hang by a fingernail onto their few provinces on the African coast.Egypt as an ally really helps, as I can count on them to chip away at the Scipii from the West while I lead lightning raids along the coast. As the ai just tends to play the mass production unit game, I find that slash and burn raids work well to halt the production. When I find them weakened sufficiently I will move in for the kill.
The Julii hold half of Spain but are fighting a defensive war, desperately trying to hold what they own. I am allied with the Barbarians from Gaul who with the help of a steady cash wage from myself, are more than happy to harass the Julii whenever they have the opportunity.
Thrace is mine along with most of Scythia.
Anyway, after that long and drawn out speech, my point is, is that with a little conservative play, tight troop management and polished diplomats, you can build your bank up as high as you like, but when push comes to shove, if you wan't to rule the known world you'll need to part with huge amounts to keep yourself on top of the pile.

[The Stranger]

the most money i've got per turn was 100 million a turn. but i had 3 protectorates that came up with about 80 million

[lilljonas]

If you play anything but a barbarian faction, you are seriously doing something wrong if you are not rolling in cash at the beginning of every turn. Now, for the barbarians, especially those without easy access to greece, it's a completely different story, so there you'll have to manage your economy. But when it comes to the mediteranian factions, all you have to do is open some ports and make some trade agreements, and the money comes in faster than you can spend it.

If you still have problems with your cash flow, conquer carthago, italy, greece, the coast from southern turkey to jerusalem or egypt. Any of these regions will give you more money than you can ever spend.

[katank]

People, you are building way too many units. Keep only 2-3 peasants in every city is usually more than sufficient as a garrison.

I keep a few mobile response forces of cavalry or chariots to mop up random rebels and bandits.

Other than that, 3-5 armies is more than enough to maintain octopus expansion in all directions.

By the time I get 20 regions, I'm usually rolling in dough. When I have trouble keeping the treasury below 50k to avoid corruption since I get almost that much every turn, I either bribe like crazy or donate to a poor AI faction. The latter tends to produce a challenge.

For example, as a western faction, donations to Seleucids and bribing away of Egyptian forces help the Seleucids become a superpower for you to take on in end game.

I always prioritize the trader line, ports, roads, and mines in my building.

I rarely build military buildings and prefer to capture those facilities from the enemy.

[IliaDN]

I always prioritize the trader line, ports, roads, and mines in my building.

First of all I build temples and gov. buildings.

I rarely build military buildings and prefer to capture those facilities from the enemy.

Agreed.

[Dutch_guy]

What also makes for a good game is - when you have to much money - spending money on your other side of the map friend ,
This is what I mean;
when I was playing the Romans - rolling in cash - I decided to help the Seleucid Empire versus the Egyptians ( Who I really hate.. ) so I sent in a diplomat and gave them all the money I had left when I was about to end my turn.

The fun part is that you cna now hope for great battles if you - in the end game - decide to end your alliance , an alliance isn't necessary , just makes it a little more fun and real , in my opinion

[lilljonas]

The "give an opponent 40 K/turn" doesn't always work, though. As the Greeks, I tried to make the Numidians a force to reckon with, through giving them hundreds upon hundreds of dinarii throughout the campaign. Didn't help, they still got majorly screwed by the Scipii. Damn, they're truly a sucky faction in the hands of the AI! :)

[The Stranger]

People, you are building way too many units. Keep only 2-3 peasants in every city is usually more than sufficient as a garrison.

I keep a few mobile response forces of cavalry or chariots to mop up random rebels and bandits.

Other than that, 3-5 armies is more than enough to maintain octopus expansion in all directions.

By the time I get 20 regions, I'm usually rolling in dough. When I have trouble keeping the treasury below 50k to avoid corruption since I get almost that much every turn, I either bribe like crazy or donate to a poor AI faction. The latter tends to produce a challenge.

For example, as a western faction, donations to Seleucids and bribing away of Egyptian forces help the Seleucids become a superpower for you to take on in end game.

I always prioritize the trader line, ports, roads, and mines in my building.

I rarely build military buildings and prefer to capture those facilities from the enemy.

you'll be having a hard time in RTR with that policy. you'll never get more than humple peasants if you only capture military buildings from the enemy

[Viking]

I always prioritize the trader line, ports, roads, and mines in my building.

Farms should always get the first priority as they increase the tax money by boosting the population, also you earn more denari on the harvest then you do on the trade income + that you still earn money on them while you`re besieged.

Priority list:

1.farms
2.ports
3.mines
4.traders
5.roads