Trade Blockages

[MKeogh]

I'm playing the Grand Campaign as France on H/H.

I control the Western Mediterranean included the trade nodes along the North African coastline and was making good money through my trading port at Genoa. I also had trading ports on the Atlantic coastline, but the British navy was blockading them. (For some reason the British AI has made no attempt to enter the Mediterranean with its powerful navy. That's nice on one hand, but disappointing on another.)

During the game, I decided to build a trading port in France on the Atlantic coast. A single British frigate blockaded it and there went all my overseas trade! Everything! My sea trading routes with the Italian states and all the income from my 5 controlled trade nodes. Genoa is still open for business, but for some reason a single frigate blockading the capital province's port shut down all my overseas trade.

So I just want to get this right: if you build a port in your home province then all your overseas trade will go there? And if that port is blockaded then your trade will not be redirected toward another open port, but will instead be completely blocked? So unless I want to fight costly sea battles with the Royal Navy in the Atlantic then my best option is simply to destroy the port I built in France with the assumption that Genoa will once again become my main port. Is it me or is this a rather silly way to depict trade? In RTW and M2TW, if you blockaded a port then you stopped the trade for that port only, not the entire opposing empire! So why isn't it that way with ETW and now NTW?

[Zetto]

sounds like a bug

[Monsieur Alphonse]

This bug was fixed in ETW. After the fix only the trade that went through the blockaded port was stopped. Strange that it reappeared in NTW.

[Narn]

its like deja-vu in that everything you described happened to me too. i'm also annoyed that britain hasnt attempted to sail to north africa because i have undefended trade ships just sitting there

[MKeogh]

its like deja-vu in that everything you described happened to me too. i'm also annoyed that britain hasnt attempted to sail to north africa because i have undefended trade ships just sitting there

Yep, the Brits sure don't seem to want to enter the Mediterranean. I've got 4-5 trade nodes with numerous undefended trade ships that would be easy meat for any British fleet that came upon them, but so far the British have been a no-show. As I said, on one hand it's nice to have a safe and steady stream of income, but it shows a weakness in the CAI and decreases the game's challenge. Has ANYONE seen an AI British fleet in the Mediterranean?

As for my other problem of a single British frigate blockading my capital province's trade port, I destroyed that port and now all my trade is once again flowing through Genoa. Yeah, I know it's a gamey tactic, but so is the ridiculous "feature" of having a single frigate stopping ALL my trade simply because that blockaded port was in my capital province.

[Mythman]

Has ANYONE seen an AI British fleet in the Mediterranean?

I have I was Russia and I had several trade ships along the North African coast. A British fleet sailed into the med, with a full stack army onboard, and sailed towards Palma. They were about to take it but they were sunk by the Spanish fleet