All trading stopped and another question:

**YK69** · March 10, 2012, 09:51 AM

Hey guys,

for some reason, all my trading stopped. It went down from 10000 to 800

I don't know why it happened and I can't continue playing because my 'bank' account just keeps going downwards(6000 per turn).
If it matters, it happened the same time the plague started.
The saddest thing is that it started just after I started to have a very good cash flow

Another question is' at what level do you set your taxes?
I saw some guides that recommended keeping it at low as possible.
I tried that and went to my default strategy, which is keeping it at low until the city reaches 12000
and it seems better imho. So is it good or are you recommending something else?

and last but not least, I play this game a lot(since it was released) and I almost never able to finish the long campaign in time but I still keep on playing because it's so much

fun

I tried to follow all the guides of making good economy and not waging wars in more then 1 max 2 frontiers but it just does not work for me. any other tips? btw, I do keep all garrisoned troops that are free upkeep and have only 3-4 castles in the front lines.

Thanks in advance guys!!!

**eXistenZ** · March 10, 2012, 09:59 AM

when the plague hits, all trading between your cities stop. You will have to disband some armies to not go bankrupt.

**.L.** · March 10, 2012, 10:04 AM

Originally Posted by eXistenZ

when the plague hits, all trading between your cities stop. You will have to disband some armies to not go bankrupt.

Not really, since so many soldiers are dying.

**Sweger** · March 10, 2012, 10:08 AM

Well, despite of the guides, I honestly always keep the taxes as high as possible, and the plague does strike your economy significantly. When your overall populktaion sinks, you do not only get fewer tax-payers but also fewer people to trade with and consumers of trade goods, so it is natural. Avoiding two-front-wars is hard due to the habit of backstabbing of the AI, so sometimes you just cannot avoid war, however, if you end up with two fronts, choose only one of them to expand on, where you play offensve, and at the other front you just fend off any enemy atatkcs. That way, your relations with that faction won't get that bad, and it will be easier to get a truce eith them when they decid they've had enough.

**Macunaíma** · March 10, 2012, 11:22 AM

Just wait until the plague ends. Don't move any army/character from affected cities and don't mind if soldiers and family members die. If I'm not mistaken, the plague lasts something like 4/5 turns (depends, of course, of the size of your territory).

**YK69** · March 10, 2012, 11:49 AM

Thank you all guys, it's weird how I never noticed that the trade stop when the plague hits.

mindOverdrive, don't think it's important if I move armies since the plague keeps spreading by itself and from what I remember the plague will last a lot more turns even after you get the massage that the plague has passed.

Ohh!! one last thing

with which faction you guys think it is the hardest to play?

**Avatar** · March 10, 2012, 02:46 PM

Originally Posted by YK69

Ohh!! one last thing

with which faction you guys think it is the hardest to play?

Given that in your opening post you state that you run out of time in long campaigns, then for you it's surely Byzantium.

**Macunaíma** · March 10, 2012, 05:34 PM

Originally Posted by YK69

Thank you all guys, it's weird how I never noticed that the trade stop when the plague hits.

mindOverdrive, don't think it's important if I move armies since the plague keeps spreading by itself and from what I remember the plague will last a lot more turns even after you get the massage that the plague has passed.

Moving troops help it to spread. I remember a campaign in which my finances didn't even get to negative because I just stopped everything I was doing during the plague, and waited.

**YK69** · March 11, 2012, 01:36 AM

Avatar, I am playing with them right now and I think it's the first time I am going to complete the campaign in time. Maybe Scotland?

mindOverdrive, OK, I'll try to do that, thanks!!

**Drachos** · March 10, 2012, 12:42 PM

Depends. For some it's the Holy Roman Empire. For some it's the Byzantine Empire. For some it's the Ottoman Empire (Turks XD).

**eXistenZ** · March 11, 2012, 03:22 AM

they get more fiancial bonussess (they cheat basicly). so they can produce more stacks

**Sitalkes** · March 11, 2012, 05:30 PM

Originally Posted by YK69

Another question is' at what level do you set your taxes?
I saw some guides that recommended keeping it at low as possible.
I tried that and went to my default strategy, which is keeping it at low until the city reaches 12000
and it seems better imho. So is it good or are you recommending something else?

It depends how much time you want to spend on micro-management. If you want to spend as little time as possible on micro-management, set your taxes to HIGH or LOW all the time. Otherwise, if you want to get the best traits for your governors, set your taxes to LOW all the time except when a building is constructed. Then you have to put your taxes on HIGH (preferable) or VERY HIGH and move troops in and out of your settlement until it shows a blue face. By keeping taxes low you get the fastest possible growth and extra chivalry bonuses for the governor. This will get the bad taxman trait though unless you put up the taxes and make your population unhappy (70- 80%) every time a building is constructed.

Regarding the difference between M and VH in battles - this you will notice most versus an enemy who has cavalry, you will see the cavalry behave much more aggressively and you may find the cavalry appearing behind your flanks without you knowing they were there! It's a much better battle also because the AI troops get better morale - it can be like a totally new game, although since bowmen still run away rather than shoot at you it is still easy to beat the AI with proper tactics. VH in strategic game means the AI will attack you with larger stacks and will be more agressive in strategic play - again, it makes the game much better. Also makes it harder to keep your settlements happy. So always play on VH/VH !!

**YK69** · March 11, 2012, 06:54 PM

Originally Posted by Sitalkes

It depends how much time you want to spend on micro-management. If you want to spend as little time as possible on micro-management, set your taxes to HIGH or LOW all the time. Otherwise, if you want to get the best traits for your governors, set your taxes to LOW all the time except when a building is constructed. Then you have to put your taxes on HIGH (preferable) or VERY HIGH and move troops in and out of your settlement until it shows a blue face. By keeping taxes low you get the fastest possible growth and extra chivalry bonuses for the governor. This will get the bad taxman trait though unless you put up the taxes and make your population unhappy (70- 80%) every time a building is constructed.

Regarding the difference between M and VH in battles - this you will notice most versus an enemy who has cavalry, you will see the cavalry behave much more aggressively and you may find the cavalry appearing behind your flanks without you knowing they were there! It's a much better battle also because the AI troops get better morale - it can be like a totally new game, although since bowmen still run away rather than shoot at you it is still easy to beat the AI with proper tactics. VH in strategic game means the AI will attack you with larger stacks and will be more agressive in strategic play - again, it makes the game much better. Also makes it harder to keep your settlements happy. So always play on VH/VH !!

Thanks for the reply. I'm not much into battles and I'm more interested in the micromanagement though what you offered feels like I'm cheating the game engine. Well, next gameplay will be vh/m for me and I'll try to keep taxes at low till turn 60 and see how it goes, if it's bad I'll try again with taxes at high

**Sitalkes** · March 11, 2012, 07:05 PM

Originally Posted by YK69

Thanks for the reply. I'm not much into battles and I'm more interested in the micromanagement though what you offered feels like I'm cheating the game engine. Well, next gameplay will be vh/m for me and I'll try to keep taxes at low till turn 60 and see how it goes, if it's bad I'll try again with taxes at high

No, it's not cheating, its what you would do if you were a professional governor who was told he was a "bad taxman" or "bad trader" - he would try to do better! You also have to move all your governors out of their settlements and back each turn, this stops various bad traits (especially the tavern type, but some others too). Don't play battles on medium, play on vh, try it, really they aren't much harder but are much more fun!!

Oh, yes, I forgot, in the Britannia campaign, putting taxes on low also gets you good management traits, too.

**YK69** · March 12, 2012, 04:21 AM

I'm playing MII:TW and not the expansion. lol I bought the gold edition and still have not played the expansion

**Silent Assassin** · March 13, 2012, 09:19 AM

Originally Posted by YK69

I'm playing MII:TW and not the expansion. lol I bought the gold edition and still have not played the expansion

You should try it the gameplay is different and refreshing IMO

**Sweger** · March 13, 2012, 12:08 PM

Another question regarding the H-VH levels on the campaign map. I know that the reputation of the player drops stepwise on VH level, but is that also true for the H-level?

**Silent Assassin** · March 13, 2012, 12:17 PM

Originally Posted by Sweger

Another question regarding the H-VH levels on the campaign map. I know that the reputation of the player drops stepwise on VH level, but is that also true for the H-level?

If I recall correctly yes but drops slower compared to VH. To have the best diplomatic experience IMO, I always play (while playing Vanilla) Medium for the campaign map and Very Hard for battles.