Why build caravans?

CivilizedPlayer

Warlord
Joined
Jan 26, 2012
Messages
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So this is a quick question as someone new to BNW, and for all I know I sound absurdly stupid. But why in the name of Shaka's leapord print underwear would I want to build caravans?

They're exactly half as good as a naval trade route, so unless I desperately need to send food/hammers to a landlocked city, why not just build cargo ships? I know the land routes are often a bit easier to defend, but even taking that into consideration, I'd rather an occasional pillaging than just settling for something half as good. Can anyone explain to me why my opinion is outrageously wrong (or not)?
 
If you are land locked and you only have 1 city on the coast you can use carvans to support food and production to the capital


Olso barbarians are a trouble.
 
Ok so early on when you lack options, it makes sense. But in the late game, when your cities are all set up and 5-6 food/hammers isn't all that much, I find myself switching to naval. Should that be the case?
 
So this is a quick question as someone new to BNW, and for all I know I sound absurdly stupid. But why in the name of Shaka's leapord print underwear would I want to build caravans?

They're exactly half as good as a naval trade route, so unless I desperately need to send food/hammers to a landlocked city, why not just build cargo ships? I know the land routes are often a bit easier to defend, but even taking that into consideration, I'd rather an occasional pillaging than just settling for something half as good. Can anyone explain to me why my opinion is outrageously wrong (or not)?

Being easier to defend is more than a minor perk - even for a high production city, a cargo ship usually takes 3 turns+ until the latest game stages where it's not that important, or 490 gold. 490 gold can be 20 turns-worth from a decent sea trade route; if you're having to buy new cargo ships but not caravans, your profit margin will fall substantially. All of that is lost gold you could be making on land trade. You also can't rely on the best accessible trade cities in rival civs being coastal - in one recent game I was earning 25 gold + from a land trade route with Rio, more than from any sea trade route. The "twice as good" is only true of international trade if you have exactly equivalent target cities.

There are also policy and tech considerations: Commerce is generally better than Exploration, and Wagon Trains unlocks much earlier (and due to its effects on road maintenance, is much better for economy on most maps) than Treasure Fleets. Similarly, you're going to be able to build a caravansery long before you can build a harbor. Sea trade generally is not that great or reliable for international trade until you hit Compass because trade distance is so short; with caravanseries and roads caravans can travel a very long way somewhat earlier. I'll quite often follow a pattern of domestic sea trade and international caravans until quite late in the game. This is to my mind one of the most interesting features of Civ V's trade system - the best approach (and whether certain things, such as caravanseries, are worthwhile) varies a lot between playthroughs.

Ok so early on when you lack options, it makes sense. But in the late game, when your cities are all set up and 5-6 food/hammers isn't all that much, I find myself switching to naval. Should that be the case?

Quite often, but again it will vary with context - late in the game, you have a much greater risk of ideological warfare breaking out, so while barbarians will probably mostly be gone you could still have high risks to your sea trade. You might still have better land than sea connections; there probably isn't a best general strategy, which is why the options exist. Even if you do switch, is that a big deal? You don't say that Crossbowmen are useless because eventually you'll be using machine guns instead.
 
Ok so early on when you lack options, it makes sense. But in the late game, when your cities are all set up and 5-6 food/hammers isn't all that much, I find myself switching to naval. Should that be the case?

I generally do the same thing. If you're a costal civ, or have a nice costal city, then cargo ships are better. Caravan/Cargo ship is not an overly difficult decision when the costs of each are relatively comparable, but landlocked cities have advantages of their own. These cities can work better tiles overall and should have better production. So, yes, if you have a good costal city that can act as a trading hub, or if all your cities are costal, go cargo ship every time. That isn't always the case though, as you won't always have this. Caravans can be a nice substitute in that case.
 
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