Income problem

[DragonSabre]

Hey all, I'm assuming this is a common problem for beginners lol : Negative income! I know you have to buy mines, farms etc to generate income, but my army is putting me in negs ( and increasing as population grows) Do I have to cut down on my army? or increase it? its getting me confused. Please advise.

[Archer of Sparta]

Okay the first thing you must think about when you first start a faction is economy over power. In the first few turns take surrounding settlements with your spawned army you get at the begigning, while you're doing that you have to increase all your settlements tax rate to very high (note: if it makes your population unhappy below yellow make sure to set it ti high tax rate instead of very high). After that make sure you build traders and farms in your cities too. Maybe if your in need of some baracks in one settlement build it but in the begining your main priority is economy. Check the finantial tab in your faction overview scroll and if you're earning more than you're spending thats good (duh). Check it whenever you feel that you are loosing money or not making enough then raise taxes or build traders.

That should get you some positive cash flow.

[DragonSabre]

Thanks for your help, lol looks like I will have to restart the game. Gone abit power happy and bought crap loads of soldiers!

[Lord Romanus III]

Focus on roads, ports, traders, farms, then military.

Cordially, Lord Romanus III

[Archer of Sparta]

You don't have to re-start,because if its not in the negatives yet, disbanding units, and raising tax rates can still help you if you can handle it. But if you want a fresh good start go ahead if you want.

[KarlC]

Hi. I hope it's not too much of a necro-bump to an old thread, but this seems like the perfect thread for my question. I just started a new Julii campaign on Hard/Hard setting (I did one before a long time ago, but quit early and don't remember anything). I was wondering if any of the more number-crunching or just plain experienced players could tell me, what's the best sequence of building to promote income (especially very early in the game). I'm wondering what the best order is to build my Roads, Trader, and Port. I guess farming uprades as well, but I've heard so many players pooh-pooh them that I'm hesitant to even mention them.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[movemove]

that order is wideley accedepted, although many would prioirtixe ports before traders, although it hardly matters since they take hardly any time to build anyway.

[Joul Ironhand]

Played as Brutii a little while back, and built ports, then traders, and barely focused on farms.

If you can handle it, build a decent force and take the colossus which will boost income from trade by a substantial amount. Thats always a target for me.

[Ephialtes The Dog]

My usuall series of moves is to blitz and get as many settlements as it takes to get my cities profits in the positive and then I focus on my economy.

Also if you open up your settlement details scroll then look at "Settlement Income" and that should show you what you need to build to get maximum income.

[NobleNick]

...I just started a new Julii campaign on Hard/Hard setting ... what's the best sequence of building to promote income (especially very early in the game). I'm wondering what the best order is to build my Roads, Trader, and Port. I guess farming uprades as well, but I've heard so many players pooh-pooh them that I'm hesitant to even mention them...

Farms are important, and should be the first thing you build. However, upgrading to the third upgrade or above should done with caution. The only exception to this rule is the settlement at the very top east corner of the Italian "boot," which should get ZERO or at the most one farm upgrade. The reason that farms are so GOOD IN THE EARLY game is the same thing which makes them BAD IN THE LATE game: They increase population growth rate. Increased population gives you more taxes and men to use in armies; but too many people gives you problems. And people forget that the necessary market upgrades add further to pop growth. So, go for the farms; but do NOT over do it.

Ports, markets and roads are all ROUGHLY of the same value. My suggestion is to focus more on doing ALL of them than to worry about which to do first. Take a balanced and AGGRESSIVE approach to economy: Build all of the first level economic buildings before upgrading any of them; with the exception of farms and mines (do the first 2 farm levels immediately; and do not do the mines until the other buildings are done). Do without most military buildings, so that you can build ALL available economic buildings in ALL towns, quickly. Use your starting military to take rebel towns, then keep your military at the lowest level possible and still get a payoff (yet another town to capture). This will get your economy off to a booming start.

[Domitius]

Ports must be the most important economy building in the game. Building ports is a main priority for me, even when I have a strong economy. Farming generates some income, but isn't close to as effective as ports. Farming is an important building though. The farms increase the population growth, and therefore you never should build more than communal farming in towns which easily get overpopulated (for example Patavium, Alexandria and Carthage). Farms are very good in small Germanic/Gallic/British villages because they both gather money and raise the population.

It's easy to check which building that generates the most income. Just enter the town information scroll in the bottom left corner of the town management scroll (where you build stuff). I don't know in which order they are, but you will find out, just hold the mouse over it. Getting a strong economy isn't that difficult. A big tip is to conquer Greece or Egypt/Selucids. If you have all of the Greek cities you will earn many thousand denarii's and you will also have an advantage in troop recruitment.

Hope this helped.