How to trade realistically

[Titus Marcellus Scato]

How would I establish trade in a realistic fashion in EB?

My usual strategy is to send my first diplomat round the map making trade agreements with everyone.

With my Casse campaign this has made me the richest faction with over 200,000 mnai in the treasury, continous construction in all cities, full farming upgrades, large ports, and I have only just finished conquering the British Isles by 216 BC and only hold 7 cities.

It seems unrealistic that the Casse could be that rich compared to a giant Ptolemaic Empire that has just finished conquering every territory the Selucids held in 272 (nearly 50 cities!) Granted, I don't have a huge army to support like they do, I only have about 20 units in my entire army (excluding family members) but still, it feels very strange indeed to be rolling in gold like this.

What have I done wrong?

Should I only be trading with near neighbours and not with distant factions?

What about trading with the Carthaginians and Greeks, they are sea powers so their ships could reach Britain for trade, couldn't they? Or should I not trade with them until they send a diplomat to ask ME for trade rights? Instead of me asking them?

Or have I upgraded my farms and ports too quickly?

I feel like I've messed up my campaign, I'm so rich I could raise a huge army and overrun all of Gaul easily, that makes me feel guilty as it would be so easy!

Grateful for any thoughts on this.

[Paul d]

hey thats not "wrong" thats great! that means you are ready for the "grand muster" i call it. make 6stacks and invade gaul and germania simultaneously


or make a large army of your most expensive units and have em stand round doing nothing.


personally, i wouldnt complain about a bursting treasury.

[Leão magno]

Time passes by, you will see that many turns will have elapsed before you reach that ammount of money. If you want a sloer pace, build up your military and civic first, your economical after, do notmake trade with historical enimies, or with enimies you choose not to.

[Renegen]

Casse is insanely rich in my campaign too Must be a problem with them. I think it's great you're sitting on such money. But build a huge Gaul invasion force. Not too many turns ago I was making about 8K per turn. (with an empire of about 9 provinces)My empire was strong and I was going great. What I did instead of piling up the money is build a whole new army. Now because my ports are blockaded I have money problems and Triremes either cost too much or take too long to build

[konny]

Should I only be trading with near neighbours and not with distant factions?

When you take a look at the trading details in your city screens you will see that you are not trading with far away factions but mainly with yourself and the close neighbours across the Channel. Casse/Britain is the same as Rome/Italy in this sense: all your cities are ports and therefore you will make a lot of money from the trade they make with each other.

I take this into account when I go for conquest, and try to conquer towns that are potiential (when rebell held) or actual (when faction held) important trading partners of my towns. Or I try to avoid war with factions that my towns trade a lot with.