A few questions

[First_creation]

1) On some port buildings it says Trade Fleets Available: X
Are these trade fleets built by the player or just within the game and can't be seen?

2) If you put artillery onto shops, ballista, catapult etc, does it help out with the ships in a battle and effectively help towards a victory?

Thanks to all that helps me out!

[Cleitanious]

1) On some port buildings it says Trade Fleets Available: X
Are these trade fleets built by the player or just within the game and can't be seen?

2) If you put artillery onto shops, ballista, catapult etc, does it help out with the ships in a battle and effectively help towards a victory?

Thanks to all that helps me out!

1: Those trade fleets are represented as the green lines connecting your port to other ports. The more trade fleets your port has the more money it generates through sea trade.

2: None of the units on ships do anything except die in sea battles.

[vonKrysiak]

1 Trade fleets are not visible to you they just add trade routes and trade money
2 the answer is no

[Lost Crusader]

1) On some port buildings it says Trade Fleets Available: X
Are these trade fleets built by the player or just within the game and can't be seen?

The CA messed up something. It's the port that adds a trade fleet (export trade routes), not the merchant wharf buildings, as is written in the description.

They fixed it in Kingdoms, where Merchant wharf buildings add more trade fleets with each new level (up to 4), and ports only "increase trade goods", as written.

[Georgy Zhukov]

What are you guys talking about, you can see trade fleets, there those tiny ships that sale on the trade routes,

And only more ships and experience can increase the military might of a navy.

[Lost Crusader]

What are you guys talking about, you can see trade fleets, there those tiny ships that sale on the trade routes,

You can't see the actual trade fleets, only the trade routes. The tiny ships indicate the income a route produces, as well as direction (import or export, or both).