Can I cancel trade routes?

I've got a simple question.
In pre-release materials it was said that trade routes can be rearranged at any time. If so, how do I do it? I cannot interact in any way with my trade routes until they "expire".

I was wondering much the same thing.

As far as I know you're committed to a trade route for 30 turns unless its pillaged by an enemy unit or barbarian, in which you case you have to rebuild the requisite trade unit and can at that point decide on a new route.

Nothing from Firaxis/2K ever said they could be rearranged at any time. They can only be reassigned when they expire.

In the same vein:

1) Are trade route values updated in real time, or not until you recommission the caravan to its next route?

2) Can you spread religion both by proximity and trade route to the city? I notice when picking trade routes that mysteriously some of my choices do not feature the 9 religious pressure benefit.

Big J Money said:

In the same vein:

1) Are trade route values updated in real time, or not until you recommission the caravan to its next route?

2) Can you spread religion both by proximity and trade route to the city? I notice when picking trade routes that mysteriously some of my choices do not feature the 9 religious pressure benefit.

Click to expand...

Not sure on #1, haven't tested. For #2 though trade routes only transfer religion if they're outside of normal pressure range.

I don't want trade routes to be changeable at any time. I like that you have to commit to them for a number of turns. The alternative would be micromanagement hell.

Thus you have to make a choice and commit to it. The game has to present some choices with consequences (however major or minor), just like an ill-advised declaration of war has to wait 10(?) turns usually before peace. A game where you can "undo" is not a game at all.

Big J Money said:

In the same vein:
1) Are trade route values updated in real time, or not until you recommission the caravan to its next route?
2) Can you spread religion both by proximity and trade route to the city? I notice when picking trade routes that mysteriously some of my choices do not feature the 9 religious pressure benefit.

Click to expand...

1) They are updated. I've just built a harbor in my trade hub and its trade value increased.
*EDIT*
I'm a little confused now, because, I've implemented the policy that grants additional gold for land trade routes and nothing happened to existing trade routes.


2) No. You can only use trade routes to spread religion to distant cities. Religion is just ignored in close proximity.
There's an interesting thing, though. You can spread the same religion both ways warding yourself and and cities religiously "conquered" by you from unwanted influence. Also, it's a great way to acquire additional beliefs for Indonesia and for managing your bonus pantheon belief form piety policies.

Cymsdale said:

I don't want trade routes to be changeable at any time. I like that you have to commit to them for a number of turns. The alternative would be micromanagement hell.

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1. I absolutely agree. The information about flexible management came from press. It seems that it was the case in press-build of the game. I doubt we'd really need to trouble ourselves with excessive micro management, nonetheless it would open multiple "cheating" opportunities.

Build a Privateer and pillage your own trade route...LOL if it works.

Along with micro-hell, it would be far too easy to keep your caravans/cargo ships out of the hands of enemies and barbarians if you could just cancel a route at any time. The opportunity cost associated with longer trade routes would be diminished, and that opportunity cost is a really important part of the mechanic.

^ That's, among other things, what I meant when I said that it would open opportunities to cheat game's mechanics

You should be able to redirect the trade route when it's in your own city. I find it really stupid when you have to helplessly watch that caravan leave your city towards certain doom.

I also find it annoying that TRs to a civ/CS at war with you just disappear. You should still be able to pillage them. (You can stand on that caravan and be not allowed to pillage it... then DoW, and it disappears... no pillage opportunity)

Cromagnus said:

You should be able to redirect the trade route when it's in your own city. I find it really stupid when you have to helplessly watch that caravan leave your city towards certain doom.

I also find it annoying that TRs to a civ/CS at war with you just disappear. You should still be able to pillage them. (You can stand on that caravan and be not allowed to pillage it... then DoW, and it disappears... no pillage opportunity)

Click to expand...

Actually, if you stand on top of a trade unit or it is inside one of your cities when the war declared you will pillage it automatically. It will say among the messages at the top of the screen that you have received X amount of gold for pillaging an enemy trade route.

The whole trade mechanic is really weak. You should be able to assign a naval unit to protect trade routes. That is pretty much exactly what the lighter units of the navy during the age of sail were built for! Right now you can have a dozen frigates on alert near the trade route, but if somehow a galley slips in undetected, you lose the cargo ship.

This is actually quite consistent with RL. Throughout history, even civs with world-ranging navies could not assure 100% protection of their merchant ships.

Agree with Browd to some extent, although assigning a ship to accompany a trade route should probably offer protection to that specific route, since it's essentially taking a "fleet" [as represented by that ship] and putting it to that specific use. However, whether one can protect trade routes or not, there should be the mechanic to reassign. No nation, in going to war with another nation, leaves its cargo ships going to cities of that nation to be pillaged when they get there. Similarly, I don't think the ability to click on a trade unit and "reassign" it (by cancelling the current route, whereby it should then return to its home port at its regular speed and then be reassigned) would be "cheating" the game [ship would still have to return to the home port safely to be reassigned] and would also echo RL in that this happens all the time. In the game it currently happens with other units every time someone cancels a previously assigned route or action for a unit (e.g. send a unit off on a 10-turn trip and then cancel part way through the trip or stop a unit from doing a certain action to do some other action) and with cities when one stops the production of one item to begin the production of another.