Food

[Gibbo]

First of all really enjoying the game so if the haters could stick to the other posts that would be great.

Only just started playing and I like the treasury. Problem is how do I increase food? Well not just increase, but get it stable so i can build big armies because right now I'm getting my buttocks handed to me because I can only afford weak to no troops lol.

[Defmonkey]

I wrote some things to look out for in another thread. This isn't very organised but hopefully below might give you some ideas if you can make sense of it, ask any further questions if needed and i will help if i can.

"I'm basically running reserve stacks for free with all the bonuses. Currently using Bay and city of Gubla / byblos to keep things super cheap. So below is an example for Bay, different leaders will have different approaches so below is an example.

Two temples (Thoth & Asherah) in Gubla / byblos giving 25% upkeep reduction, 2x Irrigation networks in the small towns giving a further 20% upkeep reduction, the generals themselves if utilizing presence stat can give 10-20% upkeep reduction and use general titles or ancillary items, Royal decrees (Research) giving another 10-15% reduction depending on tier, trading outpost giving 20% upkeep reduction every 4 turns..... forts giving 50% upkeep reduction for 10 units stored....

Then there are all the food buffs, build all the food buildings where possible. Bay has good economic buildings too, Regional fare gives 35% resource bonus, Two temples (Thoth & Asherah) in Gubla / byblos giving 25% resource bonus, Not-Bays smugglers building give good resource bonuses that get even better if civilization gets worse. Chief scribes headquarters can be stacked for 10% bonuses in adjacent provinces. Also don't forget all the benefits from royal decrees (Bay can go up the research tree twice as fast as other characters as one of his special abilities)... and...there's also the completed provincial bonuses commandments as well. another 20% for food if you need it in exchange for wood.

Then there is trade. Use barter with trade partners for resources you need. Typically i do not use this for food. Usually bronze or stone, but can be done for anything you need, just make sure you get the best deals by trading things that are beneficial to you both for maximum gains.

Lastly, don't leave your armies standing around doing nothing. Either go on the warpath and make resources from fighting / raiding or in peace time locate them where you get all your army upkeep reductions."

[Gibbo]

Hmm thanks. I might start a new game as Bay lol. My current game is pretty much doomed I think. I managed to get an army of 12 units which was a struggle and then an enemy with 15 units just came along and now I have no army and my leader is injured lol.

When you say "locate them where you get all your army upkeep reductions." what does that mean? the outposts?

[Defmonkey]

Originally posted by Gibbo:

Hmm thanks. I might start a new game as Bay lol. My current game is pretty much doomed I think. I managed to get an army of 12 units which was a struggle and then an enemy with 15 units just came along and now I have no army and my leader is injured lol.

When you say "locate them where you get all your army upkeep reductions." what does that mean? the outposts?

Army upkeep reductions can be local provincial bonuses, army specific or they can be global.

Buildings upkeep bonuses typically only apply to armies in that province. So Gubla province i might have 60-80% army upkeep reduction but in Megiddo i might only have 10-20% army upkeep reduction. If your army is idle and you are not campaigning with it or i don't need it for removing a threat, station it in Gubla not megiddo to make maximum use of the bonuses. (Can be stationed anywhere in the province boundaries, it does not need to be in a city)

Also, for outposts you just need to send your army to interact with a trade outpost every 4 turns to get a 20% bonus. Build trade outposts to maximum benefits to your economy but also position them strategically so that any of your armies can make use of them with ease every 4 turns.

Lastly forts. Forts will give you 50% army upkeep reduction but can only store 10 units. I like to use these as storage or like batteries. Fill them up with good troops and take them out only when you need them. The only thing is you will need a general as a taxi to store them and then take them out again when you need them (which is a bit annoying so i hope CA decide to tweak this)

Forts also reinforce the city they are linked to so build them in towns you want to reinforce. You don't need to go mad and miss out on other outpost benefits, just the occasional strategically placed ones that help to reinforce the town you want to protect and/or in places that are easy to pick troops up from if you need to.

[Gibbo]

Cool thank you. One cool feature in this is you can choose a save and go back several turns (before it all goes wrong) and try again lol. I'm getting on top of the food. Now happiness is becoming a minor problem. Ah I do love the balancing act.

I need to get rid of this enemy stack, take Azzati then I will have my first complete province.

[Defmonkey]

Yeah its something you need to get a bit accustomed to and a bit of practice. You will get the hang of it.

[Defmonkey]

Oh one other thing if you decide to play Bay, try to keep your influence up as some of his buildings have penalties influence and happiness. Don't prioritize it over food but look to get the influence increases as side bonuses where feasible. High influence (80-100% range) also buffs your resource output in a province by a further 10%.

[Gibbo]

lol no I didn't start as Bay. they look quite difficult.

I must say this game is pretty cool. Loads of intrigue and espionage on the map. I got loads to learn. I started a new game as Amenmesse. So far so good. I nearly have 2 full provinces and this time I have gold coming in which helps a lot as I can barter for most thing now.

I really don't get all the hate for this game? It's like Rome 2 on steroids!

[Defmonkey]

Yeah, i'm also enjoying the game, its not bad at all. People will be people so i wouldn't pay much mind to that.

Oh, and one very last thing since you asked about food, grab any benefits to unit recruitment reductions too if they become available, these are typically general buffs / items, in the research royal decrees or you can build granaries in your main cities which are very good (for both food buffs and recruitment reduction - but i tend to want something else in their place for Bay) Some units can have quite an expensive initial cost to recruit, reducing this will take away some of the shock to the economy too.

Hopefully that covers just about everything for food now

[Lor]

Food has been a consistent issue for me in my campaigns as Suppuliuluma. Even with trade I am almost always in a deficit and when I conquer regions they are seemingly just never as productive. If I didn't consistently sack my neighbours I'd be starving.

[Defmonkey]

Originally posted by Naylor:

Food has been a consistent issue for me in my campaigns as Suppuliuluma. Even with trade I am almost always in a deficit and when I conquer regions they are seemingly just never as productive. If I didn't consistently sack my neighbours I'd be starving.

Hmm, i've not played Suppiluliuma yet but is on the to do list. I'm under the impression that he is one of the more difficult campaigns.