how to use commercial ships?

[PROMETHEUS ts]

Ok I am playing on legendary now and Imanaged o have a peacefull small kingdom of 5 provinces , all in peace and I am caring for businness , how do I use the comercial ships ? What shoudl I do with them?

[bbad89]

Send them to trade posts, mostly on the western side of the map. If someone else is there, destroy them.

[tarvu]

Western ports are mainly silk and incense, and the Northern port by Date is Iron which might be useful to you. Each trade port can hold a stack.

[PROMETHEUS ts]

but how many I need to make and use of those ships? one is enough or I need more?

then I need to make a set of army ships to patrol them?

[tarvu]

but how many I need to make and use of those ships? one is enough or I need more?

then I need to make a set of army ships to patrol them?

Each ship in the port gives a bonus, so 10 would give you the maximum bonus. In empire the AI would often attack your trade ports though and for this reason I would put some other ships in the stack to defend them. I haven't had my trade ports attacked in this game yet, but I haven't tried it on legendary. How much you invest in supporting them is up to you. They can bring a couple thousand or more income per port though so you have some room to invest in their defense.

Also there is diminishing returns the more of a certain resource you have. For example there are several incense ports so if they are all taken they may be worth more, it also depends who you are trading with or if you yourself are well stocked on that resource already in determining how much income you get from the port.

[dutch81]

I tend to spam small warships as soon as I can build then and sit on every trade port I can capture ... if a trade port is occupied just park a ship next to it, factions tend to get destroyed quickly and why start a war if waiting a few turns gets it to you w/out a fight. So with as many secure as you can get start churning out as many trade ships 1 to each one to get the trade going and then as many more as you can muster. Four or five years into the game you should start building a better navy if you intend to be a trade faction to secure the sea lanes from wako pirates or rival clans.

[PROMETHEUS ts]

Yeh I did that I used to have 4 ports I think in myOda campaign , but they suffered a lot from attrition , is there a ay to prevent that?

[dutch81]

Yeh I did that I used to have 4 ports I think in myOda campaign , but they suffered a lot from attrition , is there a ay to prevent that?

The only place I suffered from attrition was near the Korean port for some reason I was considered in deep waters there despite being next to the harbor ... my compromise was to stay on the trade rout it makes in between the two Japanese Islands where I could see if the trade stopped (for this to work there must be a trade ship there). In my current Mori campaign I control; every trade route but this one ... but I am lurking around it and will take it as well ... with only 6 provinces I am the richest most beloved faction in the game and enjoyed years of peace. I just got requested to join my allies in a war against Shimazu which I accepted because no one hates me so I had a hard time fighting anyone ... the only draw back is it will divide my realm.

[Gulatr]

My fleet combo for early - mid game: 4 war ships and 6 traders, thiis is a good mix to get lots of income and you still got enough pawning power for the Wako Pirates.