Caravan convoy

[masaykh]

can something like convoy be assigned to trade-route?
i tried to convoy trade routes manualy (land\sea) and in both cases it is almost impossible.

now trade route can be pillaged almost with any combat unit...like something old and weak from classic age at modern age....

 

[ExpiredReign]

The only clear cut way to ensure your caravans/cargo ships reach their destinations is to remove ALL POSSIBLE threats from the route. This means being diligent in removing the fog-of-war and then returning frequently to check for barbarians.

A trade-route can be disrupted at any tile along its path, so if you have an unknown tile just a few spaces away from your route you are asking for trouble.

It is important to keep in mind that what we are defending is not just the actual unit that is sent, rather it is the steady source of income that it generates. Having that perspective means you can focus on the route, not the caravan.

 

[masaykh]

i`m talking about assigning unit to trade route. Something like patrol - so pillaging trade route wont be so easy task for ai or other player!

 

[ExpiredReign]

i`m talking about assigning unit to trade route. Something like patrol - so pillaging trade route wont be so easy task for ai or other player!

I know you are. The answer still stands. The best way to protect your trade-route is through ACTIVE control of your units.

 

[wolverine2112]

there is an escort mod, but it doesnt work with caravans

 

[JohnS]

A trade-route can be disrupted at any tile along its path, so if you have an unknown tile just a few spaces away from your route you are asking for trouble.

Is this really true? I'm attaching some images - the first has my warrior standing on an assyrian trade route, but not on the caravan itself. There's no option to plunder it. The second image shows my warrior standing on the trade unit - there's a plundering button, but it's greyed out with the slightly bewildering message "You must be able to declare war against the trade route owner". After declaring war on Assyria (which I was able to, contrary to the button message...), I could plunder the trade route, as shown in the last two images.

I kept reloading and replaying these turns, trying out different approaches - not standing on the caravan but declaring war, waiting until the caravan was outside assyrian territory and unprotected, but I was *never* able to plunder the trade route unless my warrior was on the same tile as the caravan. What was I doing wrong?

Edit: for the record, this was without any mods. Is it changed in cep?

 

[Hreat]

Is this really true? I'm attaching some images - the first has my warrior standing on an assyrian trade route, but not on the caravan itself. There's no option to plunder it.

If you are at war with he caravan owner, and place a unit on the caravan's path, when the caravan runs into your unit you will plunder it. This happens on the AI's turn when the caravan moves, so you don't get to actively press the "plunder caravan" button, but you still get the gold and the caravan still dies.

From those screenshots it looks like you wanted to plunder the route (not the caravan itself) when you weren't at war with the AI yet?

 

[JohnS]

If you are at war with he caravan owner, and place a unit on the caravan's path, when the caravan runs into your unit you will plunder it. This happens on the AI's turn when the caravan moves, so you don't get to actively press the "plunder caravan" button, but you still get the gold and the caravan still dies.

That is useful, but it still means the position of the trade unit matters, doesn't it? I still can't plunder the route from *any* tile along its path. It's possible to protect your trade routes by just protecting the unit, it seems.

From those screenshots it looks like you wanted to plunder the route (not the caravan itself) when you weren't at war with the AI yet?

Yes, I tried that and I tried declaring war beforehand and a buttload other ways, but it was never possible to just plunder any hex along the path - it was only when my warrior and their caravan occupied the same hex anything happened, that's my point.

 

[ExpiredReign]

The point of my comment was/is that to plunder a caravan all you have to do is be on the the trade route. As you can see when the caravan turns up it is taken.

As to the aspect of this comment:

if you have an unknown tile just a few spaces away from your route you are asking for trouble

It was to highlight the need to remove possible barbarian camps which might then spawn a unit and plunder your caravan.

I did not however know the caravan route differed from the sea route in the way it is disrupted. If what you say is true then caravan routes ARE a safer, but only marginally safer. Thanks, I will investigate that further myself in the future.

 

[jacktannery]

My understanding of the situation in Vanilla BNW (& thus presumably Communitas) is:

-The human player can only pillage enemy trade routes by finding and blocking/plundering the actual cargo ship or caravan unit.

-But barbarians can pillage all trade routes by being anywhere along the trade route, even away from the trade unit.

-I think AIs work the same way as the human (ie plundering requires finding the trade unit).