Rookie MTW Question

[GoldenEagle]

I can not for the life of me figure out how to build ships...

I have ports.

I am the English and I have some resources to trade.

But I can't build the ships, and my economy could be much better.

[GoldenEagle]

Bump

[Anthony]

you gotta build the dockyards. they make the ships.

[Tarkus]

Here, this should help with a lot of questions. Sorry, but this isn't edited and I pulled it from various posts.

Definitely want to build your own buildings and units, try specializing province unit production - missle units in one province, infantry in another, ships in a coastal province. If you have a province which has a high base farm income or 2+ trade goods develop it economically, look for iron deposits or valour bonuses when choosing unit production provinces, a metalsmith can only be built in a province that has iron deposits.

Setting the tax rate is fairly simple, your "home" provinces should be set to high or very high depending on how large a garrison you want to keep (use peasants or urban militia for garrison units, at least 100 men), any conquered province should initially be set to very low, increase the tax rate gradually as the loyalty rate increases, keep it up above 120% at all times, that's the magic number for a potential rebellion/revolt.

Remember, you MUST have, as a minimum, a port AND a trading post in order to generate trade. Merchants, and master merchants will increase trade.

Look at the individual provinces to see if that province has trade goods...most do, some don't.

Develop those provinces with 2, or 3 trade goods first.

You must also have an UNBROKEN string if ships in all the sea zones from your province to another province---not your own, and not an enemy--- in order to trade.

The individual sea zones cannot be blockaded...as this will also stop trade.

All right - here's the way you make a lot of money with trade nad keep your expenses low. Listen up!

All sea zones between your province (with the trading post and port) and the computer's province must be occupied by at least one of your ships. IF your province shares a sea zone with that computer province, then you only need one ship.

INLAND provinces (non-coastal) can produce trade goods, but since they cannot buld ports, they will only get "local" trade, which isn't very much. They can never trade with any other provinces, so don't bother to build them up.

Eventually, you will want ships in EVERY SEA ZONE ON THE MAP. Actually, you'll want 2 in each sea zone since storms sink them randomly.

Also, you will NOT GET INCOME UNLESS THE FOLLOWING CONDITIONS APPLY:

-the computer province must have a port, too.

-you cannot be at war with that country. As soon as a country goes to war with you, they no longer buy your trade goods. Excommunication doesn't matter, only war.

-if the computer province produces the same good as the one you're trading, then they will not buy it.

-the chain of ships between your countries must not have any blockaded sea zones. Just one little enemy ship can stop your trade from going to another country's provinces. Press the "v" key, and the sea zones will turn green, yellow, or red. Green = not blockaded, yellow = you don't have ships there, red = blockaded!


Trade income takes 30 years or so to get going because the computer factions are slow to build ports (unless you start in the high or late periods.)

But it is absolutely worth it since you can easily make $30,000 and more a turn. As England, I have ships in every sea zone.

This is why you need to take Flanders, Antioch, Venice, Sweden, Lithuania, Kiev, and other countires that have 2 or 3 trade goods in them.

A good strategy is to make only one enemy at a time (if you can) and ONLY CONQUER COASTAL PROVINCES IN EUROPE. Since they are the only ones that give the big trade income, leave the inland provinces for last.

Also, build up trading posts to merchant, merchant guild, then master merchant. Each upgrade provides more trade income per province.



Another note for making lots of money: build spies and put them in your provinces (at least 3 spies) that do not border any other countries. That way, you don't need to keep garrisons there to keep the population happy. That means you can disband all the armies that cost you upkeep and only pay for armies that are on your borders.

Lose all those peasant armies and only keep high value units.


ALso, build buildings that keep the peace, like brothels and churches (mosques), monasteries, etc. And put priests in all your provinces so you keep the same religion. All these buildings and spies and priests DO NOT COST YOU ANY UPKEEP LIKE ARMIES DO.

(Of course, in the beginning of the game, you have to use peasant armies to keep your provinces from revolting until you can build up several provinces to crank out spies every turn.)

That way your expenses are lower and you get more profit per turn.

Also - PUT EVERY PROVINCE ON THE HIGHEST TAX POSSIBLE. If you autotax, it won't go as high, so do it manually. As you conquer new provinces, you have to start them with low taxes, but as you build them up and add spies, you can raies taxes. I have always done this and never had a problem with loyalty.

It takes time to build up all these provinces and trade routes, but if you do it this way, then eventually you'll have $1 million florins or more saved up and you can then attack everyone.


This is how I've been doing it.

P.S. Increase agricultural output in all provinces that have $300 or more in farm income.

OK got one of our producers (thanks Chris) to put this together. This should answer all questions regarding unit availability in early - late periods, in the patched version of Medieval.


Golden Horde Heavy Cavalry - High and Late period only. See below:
Golden Horde Warriors - High and Late period only. The Mongols didn't arrive in Europe until 1220/1230.

Sipahi of the Porte - Late period only. Replaces Late Ghulam Bodyguards in Turkish forces. See below:
Ottoman Sipahi - Late period only. See below:
Ottoman Infantry - Late period only. See below:
Janissary Heavy Infantry - High and Late period only. These units are specific to the Ottoman Turk dynasty, as opposed to the Seljuk Turk dynasty that ruled in the Early period.

Abyssinian Guard - High and Late period only.
Mamluk Cavalry - High and Late period only. This unit is specific to the Egyptians and appears in the High period onwards as this is when the Mamluk's seized power (they were a slave class until this time).

Varangian Guard - Early and High period only. The Varangian guards were mainly northlanders and as the Vikings ceased to be active and the Byzantine empire started to fall apart (by the end of the high period) the unit became redundant.

Caravels, Firegalleys, Wargalleys - High and Late period. Technology for these boat types was available only from the High period onwards.

Cog, Boom, Gungalley, Carrack - Late period only. Technology for these boat types was available only from the Late period onwards.

Longboats - Early and High period only. Longboats were a Viking development that were superceded and phased out by the end of the High period.

Pikemen - Late period only. See below:
Billmen - High and Late period only. See below:
Swiss Halbardiers, Halbardiers - High and Late period only. See below:
Swiss Pikemen, Swiss Armoured Pikemen - Late period only. Available in the specified periods due to polearms coming into common usage from the High period onwards.

Chivalric Knights, Chivalric Foot Knights, Chivalric Sergeants, Chivalric Men at Arms - High and Late period only, as Chivalry as a concept arose around the beginning of the High period.

Gothic Knights, Gothic Foot Knights, Gothic Sergeants - Late period only. These units became available with the advent of highly ornate and stylised Italian armour.

Gendarmes - Late period only. See below:
Lancers, Lithuanian Cavalry, Polish Retainers - High and Late period only. These units became available as a class of wealthy gentlemen warriors arose, due to the end of feudalism and the growth of mercantilisim.

Crossbows, Arbaslesters, Pavise Crossbows, Pavise Arbalesters, Longbows - High and Late period only. These units appeared in the High period onwards due to the advanced development of missile technology during this time.

Tarkus

[GoldenEagle]

Thanks. How do I transport soilders? I want to conquer Ireland but I cant get troups over there? Also, can I change govereners of provinces, and if so how?

[Aardvark]

Another comment on trade:
If you have a lot of trade due to ships all over the board, try to bank up your money. I was making 40K per year (as the Byzantines) when the English attacked. I'm now running a 5K deficit and having to disband most of my armies soon.

[Tarkus]

Originally posted by GoldenEagle
Thanks. How do I transport soilders? I want to conquer Ireland but I cant get troups over there? Also, can I change govereners of provinces, and if so how?
You don't need to physically place the soldiers on ships. You just need ships linking the port from which you have your soldiers to the port of the country you want to attack. If Ireland does not have a port you need to send an emmisary to bribe the rebels since you won't be able to attack with soldiers. I believe that's right. It's been a little while since I've played. :)

Tarkus

[dacman]

No, Tarkus, you can attack another province via the sea with no port as long as you have one in the province your soldiers start in and an unbroken chain of ships to the province you wish to attack. Make sure you use a LARGE army if you do this as they will be stuck (assuming you win the province) until you can build a port (minumum 4 years).

If you have the extra icon (rolled-up scroll) you can drop it on your generals to give them titles, mainly governerships. I usually seperate the general-in-question's unit all by itself to avoid accidentaly giving the title to some other general I hadn't intended. A general can also have a 2nd non-governer title. These come with certain special buildings. The chancellory is a good early one.

Try to give governerships to generals with at least 4 acumen, especially in your big trade provinces. Early on you may have to settle for 3 or even 2 acumen. Once a general has a title, its his until he's killed or you remove the title yourself. Drop an emissary on a general to strip him of his title(s). Princes cannot have titles bestowed on them. I can't remember if royal generals (princes who are removed from the line of sucession and thus aren't really considered princes anymore for game purposes) can hold titles or not.

[Tarkus]

dacman, thanks for clearing that up. I was a little shaky on that one.

Tarkus