Caravans

[Cyon]

how much gold do you get for plundering a trade route? (if you get any gold for it). is it depending in how much gold the trade route generates?

Is piracy an viable route for income, if it is that coulf be a buff to the Ottomans.

is it any promotion that gives you more gold from plunder? does Askia get more gold?

 

[blackcatatonic]

I really like that trade routes are so vulnerable. It'll be important to keep the area clear of barbarians to keep them safe. This feels very realistic.

 

[Buccaneer]

Apocalypse, I would guess that would make it too easy. You or the AI should have work at finding the unit, predict its stopping point in order to ambush it.

 

[adwcta]

I really like that trade routes are so vulnerable. It'll be important to keep the area clear of barbarians to keep them safe. This feels very realistic.

Makes that honor opener a lot more useful. Not that you had problems with barbs without it, but on higher difficulties, the +dmg will make you much faster so you can get to the next camp.

Covering distance (at least early on with the land trade routes) would also seem to make chariot archer or horses in general more useful... but I didn't realize that until much later, so I haven't tested it out.

It's a pretty big penalty to have to rebuild a trade route, especially now that hammers are at a premium.

 

[SamBC]

So I lose my gold (and everything else), and the enemy civ takes it?

I feel like there should be a graphical representation of the unit coming under attack. In real life the enemy would not just loot the caravan and let the people go. The people who were involved with the caravan would likely be killed or enslaved. So I think the caravan unit should be killed, or it should be turned into a worker and captured by the other civ.

Caravans usually travel armed too. They are not military units, but they should have some basic defensive capabilities. In ancient times caravans would travel with swords. Even today merchant ships have guns onboard to defend against pirates.

The unit is destroyed. The cargo ship or caravan unit disappears, and has to be built again.

 

[Ulthwithian]

Makes that honor opener a lot more useful. Not that you had problems with barbs without it, but on higher difficulties, the +dmg will make you much faster so you can get to the next camp.

Very much this. I do think that the Honor opener may be a stealth win option. There are SO many Barbs out now...

Also, Barbarian Horseman make your Caravans cry.

 

[Big J Money]

Yeah this doesn't seem like it has to be too difficult. You want to have military anyway to deter civs from attacking. Now you just send most of them on caravan guard duty instead of defending cities. Side benefit is that they function as scouts to see if any civs send armies your way.

 

[Ogrelord]

Now that the A.I settling cities near you isn't so bad now is it?? so you would have a destination city for your caravans.

 

[adwcta]

Now that the A.I settling cities near you isn't so bad now is it?? so you would have a destination city for your caravans.

Until they DOW you and you lose all your precious caravans.

 

[Knut_Are_M]

200 gold per cargo ship is alot of gold. So Yeah plundering those AI caravans is a way to get a lot of gold. no need to trade at all.
Also bullying City states is still a good Income, and useful for a nice boost when rushing.

War has become very profitable in the mid game. even raids on far away civs is really nice now.
The civs that do not go on a war heavy strategy will suffer alot. Since you need an army to get gold. it is a real buff to horsemen. Personally I think the risk is so high that i just trade internally and raid other players.
The AI is easy to raid. And 200 gold per cargo ship and x for caravan is alot of gold.

Truble is if you do that strategy you better be going domination, since half the world will hate you. Not a big problem anyway since war is the only real way to win the war of religion.

The Ai spreads there religion like a plague and act as if it is not a declaration of war.