how does trading between regions work?

[MiguelCairo]

for example if my first region has no fertility so i need to import ale from another region, using only bartering posts seems too slow to keep up with ale demands. i read somewhere that trading posts will import from other regions first before importing from off the map but that doesnt mean it would be cheaper to import right? just closer? can someone explain this to clarify how it works

[Jabberwocky]

When importing from the global market, a 10 shilling tariff is on every imported good, making it too expensive to use trade as the sole method of getting rich (at least as of the current build).

That tariff is completely removed when trading locally. Once you uncheck the box for global trade in the trade post for a specific good, it will only be imported from one of your other region that already exports it (also, only locally, not globally).

As far as I know, you would need your production region to export the ale up to a certain limit, but only set the export to "local trade" and buy the trade route.

Then your other region on the receiving end would have to import ale, set to "local trade", and also buy the trade route. And then it should work, if both trading posts have horses and manpower.

An alternative method could be to use a pack station to barter barley from your production region to your other region in exchange for something equally valuable, like honey or apples maybe... ideally something consumable.

Then make the barley into malt in a malthouse and brew ale from the malt in a brewery backyard extension, and distribute it via a large upgraded tavern.

The bartering method requires no regional wealth to change hands, which can come in handy if your economy is not all too strong yet.

[MiguelCairo]

THANK YOU, great explanation

[bugritall]

Trade routes are wholly unnecessary for inter-regional trade. In fact, there is no need to buy any trade routes for foreign trade, either, if you're going to be content with irregular visits by passing traders buying up to 10 units of whatever you're selling. Buying a trade route attracts regular visits by horse-drawn carts which increases from 10 to 50 the maximum volume of goods a trader can carry. That's for all foreign trade, whoever is doing the trading. Inter-regional trade has the higher capacity right from the start but, again, you'll need horses.

Conclusion: Don't buy trade routes before you are over-producing large quantities and you're sure that your surpluses will continue. Buying a trade route to boost early sales of ale, for example, is probably just a waste of money.

Since game play benefits from developing roof tiles early on, they're often my first trade route purchase. Before then, I rely on foreign traders to buy my early food surpluses to provide the funds I need.

[Bello am Knie]

Originally posted by bugritall:

Trade routes are wholly unnecessary for inter-regional trade.

Yesterday, I would have agreed with that statement, but the routes actually seem to play a significant role even in interregional trade. It's like a minor trade: it works without a route but runs much more smoothly with one.

I have a scenario here with Eichenhau and Leidenfeld: Dye needs to be transported to Leidenfeld so that coats can be produced there. Export and import are set up correctly, checkmarks removed, but very little is happening. Sometimes, no demand is even displayed, as you can see in the screenshot.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3430064693

Now, I finally decided to spend the money on a route, and things are really moving!

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3430067146

[bugritall]

You make a very persuasive argument for buying trade routes, Bello am Knie, and the pic of your trading post setups deserves to be pinned so that rookies can readily understand how trading is done.

However, I have long been able to trade substantial quantities of any commodity between regions, without ever buying any trade routes.

Did your boost arrive when your traders started using horses, by any chance? Or after you maxed out your trading families? Did Leidenfeld suddenly acquire the schillings needed to buy all that dye? Had you recently disbanded some militia? There has to be some some reason other than buying trade routes that accounts for your boost to trade and here is why: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3430114614 https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3430115803 Although I can't match your individual trade of 50 dyes, I have many trades in the high 40s, including one of 49 helmets. I remain convinced, therefore, that trade routes bring no benefits to inter-regional trading.

The fact that foreign traders deal a maximum of 10 units serves to reinforce my belief that they're the sole beneficiaries of trade route purchase, especially since I have many examples of my own traders selling 30s and 40s of units to foreign trade points. I rest my case.

[Bello am Knie]

Legit doubts. I must admit, I’m not entirely sure if my conclusion was too hasty. With Manor Lords, you never know…

My snapshots don’t necessarily prove that trade routes directly impact interregional trade. The only certainty is that, at that moment, it gave trade a push. Nothing else had changed: all trade posts were fully staffed, each had four horses available. Money wasn’t an issue either, both cities were quite wealthy.

It's difficult to make conclusions. I miss proper data. And our game sessions are rarely comparable because of the well known performance issues: mine, with 2,000 people spread across eight large towns (so every region is built up), is pretty much at the limit but still running (>95% happiness).

Possible that my internal trade routes now just have low priority in the system. So if my trade issue was a size-related performance glitch, buying the trade route helped a bit. But in early game or a smaller playthrough, it might actually be unnecessary, as you said.

[bugritall]

Fair enough, time will tell, I suppose, although in the absence of a proper game manual, it would help if a dev could step in and help resolve matters like this one.