Help me understand river trade.

[sonicboom12345]

I don't understand river trade. Or coastal trade, for that matter. I never have. It seems incredibly fickle to me, like sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't.

Take the screenshot above, for instance. My capital (top left) is connected to the river by road. My second city (bottom right) is connected to the same river, and so are the horses. I need those horses in my capital so I can start work on a chariot army and kill off Montezuma, who's unfortunately my neighbor this game -- but I can't build mounted units in my capital because my capital doesn't have access to horses.

Why? I've got Fishing. That should enable river trade, shouldn't it? What am I doing wrong?

 

[Willem]

Why? I've got Fishing. That should enable river trade, shouldn't it?

You need Sailing, not just Fishing.

 

[Petek]

You need Sailing, not just Fishing.

To elaborate, you need sailing to enable river trade because the river is not entirely within your cultural boundaries. When your second city's border expands, your capital should be able to build chariots, regardless of whether you have researched sailing.

Petek

 

[sonicboom12345]

Gyah, thanks!

 

[Joshua368]

Also coastal trade works the same way, but keep in mind that if an enemy (or barbarian) ship or city's culture gets in the way of the coast, trade in that area is blocked. Sometimes I've lost coastal access and a barb galley in the fog was to blame.

 

[digitCruncher]

Barb galleys block trade!? Thats the first I heard of that!!

Can someone confirm??

 

[capnvonbaron]

confirmed.

I've had trade reps destroyed b/c of barbs