Industry and Wealth

[Papewaio]

the obvious solution to this is to use a smaller tax for the rich and a higher for the poor, while using ministers who give bonuses to lower class happiness.

That is stage 2.

Stage 1, minimal tax to the lower class. Proceed to stage 2 when no more villages are available.

[Prussian to the Iron]

That is stage 2.

Stage 1, minimal tax to the lower class. Proceed to stage 2 when no more villages are available.

not if you are trying to get a solid economy and win 40 regions before 1799.

even without any taxes, villages still sometimes take 20 turns to develop! that means 20 turns of no income watsoever from any developing regions.

just think of it like this:

building X produces 1,000 a turn. with a tax rate of 30 percent, you will make 300 a turn off the taxes. which means that you will have, lets say, -75 to town wealth growth per turn. that means that you can make 300 on turn 1, then town income is reduced to 925, giving you 277 on turn 2, then town income is reduced to 850, making 255 on turn 3. so you just made 832 dollars as opposed to 0. make that into al the towns in a given region, and you now have a large amount of lost money.

[al Roumi]

This might help:

https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showthread.php?t=117672

To grow your population and 'pop' the towns, it's as important to research agricultural techs and develop your farms as it is to run with low taxes.

Focusing on agricultural research in the early game is vital for states without much opportunity to trade (Prussia, Austria, Poland, Russia). It's more important for them than others simply because they don't really have an option of alternative income, but even GB, France, Spain & Marathas benefit from such a focus as farming is the only (non-trade) instantly available source of income to them too.

Personally, I only focus on Iron & textile research once I've done 75-80% of farming techs or when a significant number of towns have appeared that can be turned into industrial sites.

[anweRU]

not if you are trying to get a solid economy and win 40 regions before 1799.

Huh? So by your reasoning I shouldn't be winning at least 50 regions by 1740 using 3 for rich & 1 tax for poor, which I regularly do?

Keep the tax rate lowest on the poor, and in the middle for the rich.

[Prussian to the Iron]

Huh? So by your reasoning I shouldn't be winning at least 50 regions by 1740 using 3 for rich & 1 tax for poor, which I regularly do?

no. when you blitz/steamroll everyone early/ early-mid game, economy doesnt matter. so, by my reasoning, a fair and non-blitzer with a large country(like russia) who focuses only on town growth, will fail. all those factories dont count for $**& if you have barely any taxes.

[al Roumi]

no. when you blitz/steamroll everyone early/ early-mid game, economy doesnt matter.

Er, how exactly does your economy "not matter" early-mid game, let alone at any stage of the game? You can't do anything until you've got a decent income from your economy.

so, by my reasoning, a fair and non-blitzer with a large country(like russia) who focuses only on town growth, will fail. all those factories dont count for $**& if you have barely any taxes.

Not sure what you mean by this. It's not like a game would last long at all if you were to play with *no* taxes anywhere (except maybe a UP campaign). But so what?

Russia IS a hard campaign to play, economicaly speaking, compared to a UP or GB campaign.

As has been mentioned before in this thread, farms and factories contribute to your "town wealth" (GNI or Gross National Income is the closest real analogy), a cake from which you take a slice every turn as tax income. You have to grow the cake for your slice to get bigger, as such it's fair to say that tax income is not quite as clear a mechanism to tweak as trade, where you instantly see the benefits of plonking another Indiaman on a trade node.

[Prussian to the Iron]

Er, how exactly does your economy "not matter" early-mid game, let alone at any stage of the game? You can't do anything until you've got a decent income from your economy.

i meant people wo blitz. you know, build up an army and just attack everyone on turn 3? yah, they dont have to worry because the taxes from the new regions will be more than enough to support an army.

Not sure what you mean by this. It's not like a game would last long at all if you were to play with *no* taxes anywhere (except maybe a UP campaign). But so what?

Russia IS a hard campaign to play, economicaly speaking, compared to a UP or GB campaign.

the point is that most regions are developed enough to not have to worry about growing towns. i suppose minor or smaller factions (like sweden) could have to worry about growing towns, but going too many turns with little tax income is not a good thing to do.

[Papewaio]

I'm playing Russia on VH/VH.

I'm purposely not relying on trade as my main income source. Sure I take it when I can get it and I still upgrade Furs whenever possible too. But my aim is to be able to grow my economy even if all trade routes are exhausted.

As for blitzing, I'm trying a very slow expansion. Economy 9 years then in year 10 start a war with a nation to completion.

[anweRU]

i meant people wo blitz. you know, build up an army and just attack everyone on turn 3? yah, they dont have to worry because the taxes from the new regions will be more than enough to support an army.

It depends on where you are doing your expansion. It might work in parts of Europe, but post 1.2 your tax income is more likely to go down for several turns when you begin a blitz.

Again, for a long term game, I don't see why you would want to strangle your town growth. New towns = new industries = more tax income.