![empire total war trade ships empire total war trade ships](https://wiki.totalwar.com/images/5/5f/Etw_dsh_006.jpg)
Supplies generate income by themselves, and generate additional income through trade. Instead of providing various goods, trading nodes in the Peninsular Campaign simply provide "supplies". The amount gained usually isn't large, but it's the most useful way to occupy otherwise idle ships, and can help offset their upkeep costs somewhat. The amount of money gained depends on the number of ships raiding the route and the value of the trade using the route moving the cursor over the route indicates how much of each. Therefore, a faction with many trade partners does not need to fear being cut off from any one trading partner as much because the loss of trade income isn't as large.Īs in previous Total War games, trade routes of hostile nations may be raided for money. However, as the number of trade partners grow, the amount of money made from each individual faction decreases (though the overall amount usually still increases). Factions with only a few trading partners can expect large profits from each trading partner if they have lots of goods to export.
![empire total war trade ships empire total war trade ships](https://wiki.totalwar.com/images/9/90/Etw_dsh_012.jpg)
This is particularly true for factions that have a good trading fleet holding many trading nodes, and for protectorates holding richer regions: the richer a faction is, the more profit they generate through trade. In some circumstances, trade is so profitable that it is better to make protectorates and trade with them instead of outright annexing regions. Taxation is more profitable in the long term, as town wealth growth means that regions become wealthier over time trade profits, on the other hand, remain largely static assuming the same number and quality of trade partners. However, trade is riskier than investing in buildings, as trade fleets may easily be destroyed or chased away from trade nodes. Whereas most buildings only pay for themselves dozens of turns after they are built, trade ships can pay for themselves in just a turn or two after reaching trade nodes in most cases. Trade repesents the most lucrative short term method of making money. There are no pirates, either, so the danger of potential raiders is smaller. Exploiting them is easier as they are much closer to the playable factions' regions than trade theatres were in Empire: Total War. There are no trade theatres, and instead trade nodes dot the borders of the world map. Trade remains largely unchanged in Napoleon: Total War. Ivory cannot be obtained from plantations and are only available from trade nodes, allowing powerful seafaring factions to easily create a monopoly. Tea, for example, is available only in India. Certain goods are produced in only specific regions. Trade goods can also be produced by plantations. As a general rule, each node can support around five ships. A balance can be fairly easily figured out by adding or subtracting ships from trade nodes one by one until income is maximized. While more ships on a node produces more resources, they always produce fewer resources per ship. Having too few ships, on the other hand, may not generate enough goods to adequately supply high demand. Having too many trading ships on nodes producing a type of good floods the market, driving down prices. The price of trade goods are impacted by supply. On the downside, reaching these trade nodes may take dozens of turns, and they are under threat from Pirates and hostile factions. Accessing trade nodes in these theatres with merchant ships such as indiamen and dhows can generate substantial amounts of income depending on the quantity and quality of trading partners, to the point of making tens of thousands of gold per turn with a substantial enough trade fleet. Trade in Empire: Total War functions similarly to previous iterations with one major exception: the introduction of trading theatres and trade nodes.