BC Economy

[Asparagus]

So I usually play SS, but I've decided to try this out and the economy is a lot harder. Any suggestions?

[tavix]

Recruit as much as you can in turn one , dont spend money on buildings and go sack some cities .

[rummtata]

If you care about your reputation, rather concentrate on developing your trade hubs ;-) Taxing and farming will only cover your basic expenses. Use your merchants wisely and negotiate trade agreements with (almost) everyone.

[trollface]

pretty much as tavix says, you gotta blitz alot of rebs if you want to make some decent money. Well unless you are the koj, take antioch and damascus and you are laughing. The best way is to make the enemy sally: in 2.3 most settlement garrisons subscribe to an archetype. 2 cavalry units (usually lancer or horse archer) and 6 infantry units. All you have to do is lay siege with a cavalry force superior in size and quality to their own, lure their cavalry from the infantry, surround and destroy it, then burst rout the infantry (infantry without cavalry support are little more than victims in BC). Usually the enemy will sally as long as they have some decent infantry. Just remember to have a superior amount of cavalry to their own and you should be able to speed sack your way to wealth in no time.

note: buildings are very expensive in BC, don't develop your economy until you are making lets say 7k a turn. Well actually you could pick your most wealthy regions and develop those with sacking money if you wish, just dont go crazy on all your settlements

[vasili]

pretty much as tavix says, you gotta blitz alot of rebs if you want to make some decent money. Well unless you are the koj, take antioch and damascus and you are laughing. The best way is to make the enemy sally: in 2.3 most settlement garrisons subscribe to an archetype. 2 cavalry units (usually lancer or horse archer) and 6 infantry units. All you have to do is lay siege with a cavalry force superior in size and quality to their own, lure their cavalry from the infantry, surround and destroy it, then burst rout the infantry (infantry without cavalry support are little more than victims in BC). Usually the enemy will sally as long as they have some decent infantry. Just remember to have a superior amount of cavalry to their own and you should be able to speed sack your way to wealth in no time.

note: buildings are very expensive in BC, don't develop your economy until you are making lets say 7k a turn. Well actually you could pick your most wealthy regions and develop those with sacking money if you wish, just dont go crazy on all your settlements

ever since i tried playing huns in barbarian invasion and scythians in RTW then turks and byzantines in medieval 2. this tactic with sallying meant that as the kypchaks i could do very well. unforunatel iusually avoid shock c avalry sincetheyre not as fast and cant avoid a chasing enemy as well.

often i find though that an enemy in BC 2.02 wont sally quickly unless the odds are supposedly in their favour, like at least 1-1, and preferably 3:5 their favour, theyll sally, and you do what trollface does and just send them on a wild goose chase futily chasing your men, then surounding them and once the hard spearmen and infantry are drawn away hit the archers since they will cause unwanted casualties chargethem from if you can two different sides of he formation, causing a morale cascade.

in these battles you DONT take infantry, often if you try the lure and divide n conqure method the few infantry you do have will often get torn apart they also slow down your movement on the campaign map.

[Phosphoricus]

Buy two merchants and bring them to Calula for the ivory. This makes a ton of money and does not seem to attract AI competition. You will need a boat on the Indian Ocean to do this, however, so this isn't immediately available to some factions.

I also (playing as Oman) prioritize construction of farms in the early game to maintain population growth later on. Otherwise, population growth will stall as the game progresses but your military expenditures and related construction priorities will prevent remedy.

You may also consider investing in 'low tax' governor chivalry training after taking initial rebel settlements so that this super nice governor can be later used to stimulate growth in otherwise stagnant military settlements.

Of course, if building roads, ports, or warehouses will immediately bring in hundreds of gold per turn, it is probably better to purchase these buildings first. Likewise, if one military building upgrade allows recruitment of a wide variety of otherwise unavailable units, go for it. I wouldn't recommend investing in the more subtle, layered building trees (such as slave markets) until you have a lot of spare money.

[Kabeloko]

seems logical, after u get about at least 10 regions, start building ur economy, u will be more prosperous by then...
wont post general tips, this can be found in the vanilla strategy guides...

[TheBromgrev]

Two words: Paved Roads. Yes, they're very expensive, but the trade income gained is more than worth it, and you'll likely get your investment back within 5 turns or so. However, until you get to that point, blitz rebels like suggested, then disband your most expensive units that you can't retrain. Elephants and heavy cavalry can be very expensive, so if you're not actively using them then you're better off disbanding them to save money.

[trollface]

That depends brom, have to build them in cities with alot of land trade...

I built paved roads in baghdad and they did not make any difference. Is this a bug? Wealth should have skyrocketed right?

[TheBromgrev]

That depends brom, have to build them in cities with alot of land trade...

I built paved roads in baghdad and they did not make any difference. Is this a bug? Wealth should have skyrocketed right?

It only works if the surrounding provinces have at least normal roads. In my latest Abbasid game, I focused on normal roads in every settlement, as well as expanding as quickly as I could. By the time I matched modern Iraq's borders, I had normal roads in every settlement and had started paved roads in Baghdad. Once the paved roads were done, my trade income from that city went from 4,000 to 7,500. Compare that to the 120 income bonus the trade buildings give me. That's not inconsequential, and while the normal roads don't give you any bonus income, they allow that big trade boost to occur plus make your troops move faster.

[karaislam]

in first turns.atleast 10 turn nonstop take rebel city.dont make any building.

[trollface]

I get a bigger bonus' from like vinyards and trading posts than building goddamned paved roads

[SoulBlade]

In my EDB I increased the trade bonus of roads.
Vineyards are quite expensive and give a minor trade bonus, I'll have to think which bonuses to add. Any thoughts?

[trollface]

I built a paved road in antioch, I was expecting a massive increase in wealth but got next to nothing, I build a vineyard and got an extra 700 a turn... this seems bugged

[wudang_clown]

Relation between trade and roads is not a simple matter of a displayed bonus, neither of a known formula, as far as I know. It's important how many provinces are in neighbourhood of your province, whether or not they have the same natural resources or not, if there are roads in those provinces.

In M2TW manual we can read that roads "allow trade goods to be carried to neighbouring settlements automatically. They also allow the faster movement of armies and agents as well". Also: "Trade routes are shown on the map as convoys of wagons moving along roads, or as dashed lines between ports".

In other words, you may not see an immediate effect of building roads, but certainly it's manifested via size of traffic on the roads - the more wagons on the road, the more money a settlement earns from trade.

[saglam2000]

Paved roads, if it worked for rome, it will work for you.

[Echbart]

Im playing as Oman and i like it very much...especially because there is constant lack of money despite my expanding practice

[Asparagus]

Just noticed that their are no free upkeep slots. Why were they removed? Also by using your guys' tips I have become very much in the green with the Abbasid Caliphate. I'm trying to get an alliance, but no one is accepting any of my offers. Has anyone else experienced that?

[wudang_clown]

Just noticed that their are no free upkeep slots. Why were they removed?

Because military things are never for free.

[trollface]

the increased unit mod gives you 4 free upkeep slots in forts and 2 in cities for levy/medium units