Albertan Civfanatic
Albertan Nationalist
How do trade routes work? I have my trade route in a green area in a foreign city but cant seem to activate a trade route.
Trade Routes
- Thread starter Albertan Civfanatic
- Start date
Black Gate
Warlord
- Joined
- Sep 9, 2010
- Messages
- 226
Also, if you already have a trade route with a civ you have to use influence to expand the number of routes you can send to them.
How do I "activate it?"
tedhebert
Emperor
Once it gets to the destination settlement, you have a button option on your trader unit to actually start the trade route
NM I see now once I am able to click on my caravan peeking behind any stationed garrison troops and buried in the city access hex, and get the unit's screen up, there's an previously helpfully hidden (not helpfully grayed out) icon to "make trade route." This is so freaking obvious that should not even be memorializing how to do this.
Pfeffersack
Deity
Has someone figured out what exactly happens to your trade routes to a civ when war breaks out?
My ingame experience is inconclsuive so far, but I this might be just bad observations. Basically I have four possible scenarios in mind:
A) Already operating trade routes continue to work...however, you can't do new ones and if your enemy plunders one of your carawans/trade ships (? - in case thats possible...) the route is lost and you need to create a new trade unit to reestablished after peace has made
B) All active trade routes cease to work, but transform back into a usueable merchant unit as soon as peace is made
C) All active trade routes are destroyed and you have to built new merchant units after peace is restored
D) All active trade routes are destroyed, you have to built new merchant units after peace is restored...and also new influence needs to be spend to extend trade relations past the one trade route being always possible
My ingame experience is inconclsuive so far, but I this might be just bad observations. Basically I have four possible scenarios in mind:
A) Already operating trade routes continue to work...however, you can't do new ones and if your enemy plunders one of your carawans/trade ships (? - in case thats possible...) the route is lost and you need to create a new trade unit to reestablished after peace has made
B) All active trade routes cease to work, but transform back into a usueable merchant unit as soon as peace is made
C) All active trade routes are destroyed and you have to built new merchant units after peace is restored
D) All active trade routes are destroyed, you have to built new merchant units after peace is restored...and also new influence needs to be spend to extend trade relations past the one trade route being always possible
stealth_nsk
Deity
It's either C or D, I never tried to invest into additional trade slots with civs I have bad relations with.
Just a note, Prussia has a really cool policy which lets you keep and create trade routes while at war, but I believe you still can't increase number of trade routes while at war.
Yzman
Deity
Routes are cancelled during war, the merchant is lost.
Pfeffersack
Deity
Thanks for the replies, @stealth_nsk and @Yzman . So I can focus now on seeing if investments in expanded trade capacity go up in smoke, too.
Taefin
King
- Joined
- Nov 28, 2020
- Messages
- 821
I had a game where I got declared by an alliance on the turn transition into exploration, dropped my legacy reward for 60 to 10 gold.
Yzman
Deity
That was because the trades were cancelled. It doesn't tell you if the additional trade route capacity were eliminated. I've never increased capacity then went to war and then tried multiple again so I am not sure the answer personally.
The trade capacity remains, so you only need to replace the merchants
Boris Gudenuf
Deity
Just a couple of comments:
IF you have a merchant on the way to establish a Trade Route when war is declared, the merchant is not lost, but the trade route cannot be established. You can redirect the Merchant to a 'neutral' partner if you have the route capacity established already.
Being at war with a third party does not seem to affect trade routes. That is, trade routes can be traced right through Enemy Territory to a neutral partner regardless of hostile armies in between. Despite much talk of trade routes being attackable in the game, I have never seen the AI actually do it, at least in Antiquity or Exploration (I don't think I've played enough wars in Modern to be able to definitely say for that Age).
Lesson Learned: When/If you plan to start a war, DO NOT start a trade route with that Civ: no matter how lucrative the target city appears, your route will vanish at the start of the war and you will have to start over after the war ends with a new Merchant. Waste of Merchant and time.
Related Lesson: Even if you have good/neutral relations with an AI Civ, they may declare war on you if they have an alliance with your new opponent. That means almost any Trade Route is at risk when a war starts, unless the partner in the Route is an Ally or at the max level of Friendliness.
Frankly, I think this is a neat mechanic: it makes the 'cost' of a War instantly obvious when, as @Taefin posted above, your trade route/imported resources tank as soon as the war starts.
MutilationWave
IDDQD
Prussia has a cool ability to continue trading even during war. So it's best to get trade capacity up before you denounce the enemy. If they denounce you, you should still be able to get a trade limit increase or two, depending on your influence, before relations totally deteriorate.
I agree, l don't think it's possible for AI to pillage trade routes even in modern. I grab theirs whenever I get the chance though. I haven't done this with treasure fleets yet. I think it would be great fun to set up some lookout tower scouts on island corners and play pirate to get the legacy.
Boris Gudenuf
Deity
Something like that might give me a chance to use the mysterious 'Corsair" unit that some IPs offer when they become my City State. Haven't tried it yet nor, I believe, have I ever seen it in a game, but it looks like just the thing for piratical play.
Yzman
Deity
I honestly have never tried piracy. When you attack treasure fleets do you destroy them or take them? If destroy then may need a corsair to take it?
Boris Gudenuf
Deity
As posted, I have never actually seen a 'Corsair' in the game, but the description says it can 'capture' units, which implies that ordinary units can only destroy the targets. As soon as I finish my current game, Im going to experiment with it with one of my old Exploration Saves.
Yzman
Deity
I've used them. They capture the enemy unit once defeated, but it has low health. My question is regarding treasure fleets and if they are sacked like a trade unit or if they are captured.
Pfeffersack
Deity
I doubt that they will capture them; I did not specifically try, but a troop transport doesn't get captured, so I assume everything except a miliatry ship is excluded. And even a 'normal' ship isn't captured, if it shaes the tile with another vessel:
Title.
My Coersar units worked reliably in any battle so far and took defeated ships as price - which technically works the way that the defeated ship doesn't get sunk, but remains heavily damaged on its tile with changed ownership. The Corsar in that case stays on the tile it attacked from here.
Here however the Egyptian cog is accompanied by a unit transport and that seems to block the capturing:
Not sure if this is WAD; I would have expected that the prize ship gets booted to an adjacent tile in this case. If being the special not working in...
My Coersar units worked reliably in any battle so far and took defeated ships as price - which technically works the way that the defeated ship doesn't get sunk, but remains heavily damaged on its tile with changed ownership. The Corsar in that case stays on the tile it attacked from here.
Here however the Egyptian cog is accompanied by a unit transport and that seems to block the capturing:
Not sure if this is WAD; I would have expected that the prize ship gets booted to an adjacent tile in this case. If being the special not working in...
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