Im considering starting a game as Tokugawa, someone with particularly bad economic traits. I was wondering how well it would work going for caste system early and spamming merchants. The main reason being that I could get +1 food from all the great merchants I get and grow my cities quickly early on (it would offset some pollution). as well as swimming in cash. What do you think?
Great Merchant Economy
- Thread starter bowlie
- Start date
Bob The Average
Chieftain
- Joined
- Oct 29, 2012
- Messages
- 10
Interesting idea but i have to say i'm skeptical. 1 food per great merchant is kinda low. Pollution is going to impose a soft cap on how effective this strategy can really be. Once you grow past your heath limit you are going to get diminishing returns. Once you grow past your happy limit you are going to get NO returns.
My thought on how to counter these things is to get a big enough empire to pull in health and happy resources. Trading GPT for your neighbor's health and happy resources could bring you a considerable profit in the form of bigger cities. However neighbors can be fickle with trade deals. I would see this as a stopgap measure before I conquer them.
My thought on how to counter these things is to get a big enough empire to pull in health and happy resources. Trading GPT for your neighbor's health and happy resources could bring you a considerable profit in the form of bigger cities. However neighbors can be fickle with trade deals. I would see this as a stopgap measure before I conquer them.
The Oz-Man
Enter: The VAIKE!
The best use of Great Merchants I saw in my (admittedly unfinished) GM game was to build the Great Lighthouse with a Philosophical leader, then parlay an early GM into a Currency bulb. Having said that, you can accomplish ostensibly the same thing by building the Oracle. I just can't see a situation where working toward merchants is going to compensate for no real economic traits. Much better, I think, to skip heading to Caste System, tech toward Currency, and just build Wealth. Bam, who needs economic traits?
That's why i stopped playing lower diff. levels fast, you can do everything just doesn't matter
Anyways, GM economy does not exist. You can call many thingies an economy, but does not mean it makes sense.
The Oz-Man
Enter: The VAIKE!
That's why I don't play above Monarch and Emperor: I like doing everything and high blood pressure runs in my family. 
Zx Zero Zx
Deity
Why would you run GM when you can get 3 GS, and bulb Lib?
When going the GM route I think it's much better to use them later in the game for upgrading units to Rifles, Cuirs, or Cav. Imo one of the most powerful tools in the game. First to Economics? Yes please.....and thanks for the free GM. Add 3 more GM to that, find the TOA and that will bring you to over 7000 gold.
That's 50 CRII Mace upgraded to CRII Rifles (around 20 city attack), or 31 HAs to Cav (at least 18 strength and 30% withdrawal).
That's 50 CRII Mace upgraded to CRII Rifles (around 20 city attack), or 31 HAs to Cav (at least 18 strength and 30% withdrawal).
lindsay40k
Emperor
What's TOA?
lindsay40k
Emperor
Aha, gotcha. What's it got to do with GMs, though?
Manco Capac
Friday,13 June,I Collapse
- Joined
- Mar 1, 2010
- Messages
- 8,051
GM trade mission value is function of target city's trade routes. ToA doubles the power of trade routes, so...
lindsay40k
Emperor
I did not know this. So is the mission solely based on the target city's trade route yields? Or is there an element of distance from your own capital, or anything like that? I always assumed that the mission was best done with the city farthest from your own capital 
I did not know this. So is the mission solely based on the target city's trade route yields? Or is there an element of distance from your own capital, or anything like that? I always assumed that the mission was best done with the city farthest from your own capital
I think distance and size have an impact. I usually send it to the capital of the furthest civ.
Yudishtira
Spiritual/Creative
I did not know this. So is the mission solely based on the target city's trade route yields? Or is there an element of distance from your own capital, or anything like that? I always assumed that the mission was best done with the city farthest from your own capital
This is explicitly stated in the Civopedia. Mine says: "[to conduct a trade mission], First move the [GM] to a wealthy and powerful city as far away from your cities as possible... The value of the mission increases the further away and wealthier the target city is."
The Civopedia answers so few of my questions, I tend to believe it when it explicitly does answer one. Maybe that's where I'm going wrong...
Mec AntiKythera
King
- Joined
- Sep 24, 2010
- Messages
- 980
I have read about a technique that enables you to see ahead of time how much the trade mission would be worth without actually moving all the way to the city you think you might want to trade in. Is this still possible, how does one do that? I know I won't remember it or get it to work but someone else might. Something about selecting GM/shift/right click/cross toes/double click/select GM again because it failed to work the first time/toss coin and then just move to a big coastal city far away and take what it gives you.
+1 food isn't enough to be a difference maker IMO.
I have not seen an analysis of the numbers for this, but I'd imagine the best use for a GM economy would be to use them for establishing trade routes, then using that surplus cash to spend on research or military units. If you could farm GMs, say getting 7 over the course of 1AD-1300AD, you could yield >7000g, which would be a nice bump to any research slider, or allow for a large army.
If you're intent on making your cities food powerhouses, the best bet would be sid sushi, or cereal mills, although the bonuses come much later in the game.
I have not seen an analysis of the numbers for this, but I'd imagine the best use for a GM economy would be to use them for establishing trade routes, then using that surplus cash to spend on research or military units. If you could farm GMs, say getting 7 over the course of 1AD-1300AD, you could yield >7000g, which would be a nice bump to any research slider, or allow for a large army.
If you're intent on making your cities food powerhouses, the best bet would be sid sushi, or cereal mills, although the bonuses come much later in the game.
jarhead_leif
Civ2ToT Modder
I settle GM's where the WallStreet-SidSushi Corp. city is.
More food, more money. And more merchant specialists to hire. Then more GM's.
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cute^^
More food, more money. And more merchant specialists to hire. Then more GM's.
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