Merchants - Protected by Military

[Slaists]

So you rationalize the fort as a trading post? Cool. Though that's more investment so it'd better be a worthwhile resource.

Well, the key here is "a double resource" in a province. A double resource camped by your faction's merchants will allow them to raise their skill fast through the monopolist/market controller line. Once they are above skill 5/6, they become hunters themselves or can more or less safely travel to high-yield resources on their own (a level 10 merchant does not have a high success chance in a takeover of a level 6 merchant).

So, I would see a couple forts on a double resource a "merchant training school": a good investment in the long run. Well, it would be more fun if I didn't have that nagging feeling this was an exploit actually :)

[Kraxis]

Well, have anybody actually tried the 'trade post'? Can the merchant still trade from inside the fort?

Yeah, I know the AI seems to knock off merchants quite often, but generally this is where the resources are near roads that are welltravelled. I have accidentally done so myself a few times.

[Musashi]

Wow, this is a nice trick. I had considered surrounding a merchant competely with peasants but 9 units of peasants cost 810 in upkeep per turn which would take so much profit out of even a master merchant that it would be impractical.

ONE unit of peasants on the other hand...

You can argue it's an exploit but honestly, it makes sense in real world terms. You've simply provided a valuable agent with a military escort, or built a fort to guard a valuable resource and house a trading post (As was certainly done in real life).

[Shahed]

I hate those knocking merchants off the resource thing. Also when you set a long path to say Timbuktu, you sometimes have to replot the path coz of "path blocked. Well why not just go around ?!???

[Handel]

It cannot be an escort, because the merchant is not killed or harned in any way. He is just out out of business. No military can help with this.
So this is just an exploit.

[Shahed]

Just give him a guard dog instead, and maybe a black stallion would help on those long journeys to Timbuktu.

[sapi]

It cannot be an escort, because the merchant is not killed or harned in any way. He is just out out of business. No military can help with this.
So this is just an exploit.

Actually, the failure screen told me that my merchant was trying to hire thugs to destroy the other merchant's assets, and i think a full unit of military grade troops would discourage most thugs :P

I'm still not going to use it though ;)