Economic guide to the Iceni

[Helikos]

I need some advice on making money with the Iceni. This is my first barbarian playthrough and I've no idea what to build in my settlements and it's affecting the course of the campaign.

I'm only a few turns in and I've managed to conquer all of the "UK" bar Cornwall province and the "Irish" have committed suicide by declaring war on me so I'll be taking them next.

Any advice with be helpful, really can't get the grips with Celtic building synergies

[IGX]

Research Public Order and Cultural conversion tech to alleviate the raze and sack objectives and public order. This negates the need for temples.

Each Province should have:

Bronze Forge (Infantry Recruitment)
Woodworker (Artillery)
Stables (Cavalry Recruitment)
Mead Hall or Military Wharf (Increased unit recruitment capacity plus other benefits)

You should only put a military port if :

A) You don't need food production.
B) Your coast is vulnerable to possible invasion.

Possible Province Planning:

City:
Bronze Forge
Woodworker
Stables
Mead Hall

Towns:
Coin Horde
Farm

Anything else is up to you but this is the method of keeping up income in your barbarian factions.

[Sebasta]

You don't need artillery. I'd recommend building some more economical building, e.g. industry.

[Salty Nobody]

The Iceni benefit from taking advantage of their faction bonuses and the bonuses their buildings provide to other buildings. To start with you should take advantage of their diplomacy buff to civilized factions by sending a young admiral down to the Med and Black Sea to start raking in trade income from the factions down there. As you expand and get more resources you will get more trade agreements and earn more money from them.

You don't need a full set of recruitment buildings in every province. Since barbarians have excellent on recruitment buffs from their warrior lodge building tree long term I would have only a few dedicated military provinces that takes full advantage of this and leave most of the rest of your territory with just a bronze workshop line building for general recruitment and stronger garrisons, with the occasional horse farm or artillery building as needed or as captured from the Gauls.

The Iceni also get a modest bonus to agriculture income. Unfortunately you also need your agricultural buildings to be providing food. An even split between cattle and fields will give enough food to support your empire while also giving you good income. I suggest one farm per minor settlement. Ports you want almost entirely fishing except for a few strategically placed military ports.

I would also highly advise beelining your tech research to unlock up to the Bardic Circle and building one in every major settlement. This will greatly increase research speeds so you can unlock everything else faster.

Here is where it gets interesting. The Horn Maker artisan building line gives industry income and a boost to entertainment income. The Toutatis religious buildings gives entertainment income and boost to income from industry. I'm sure you can see where this is going. They both also provide public order, so put at least one of each in every province for a nice boost to both money and happiness. If you have more space go for more Horn Makers.

The Rosmerta religious buildings give out about the largest public order boost you are going to get as the Iceni, and also as much as a 16% boost to income from all sources. Might want to put one of these in every province as as well especially if you decide to build different buildings than I suggest here and go heavily for something like subsistence income instead.

This is not the only combination of buildings that works, it is just the one I happen to use. The interesting thing about barbarians is that most of their buildings provide some sort of income and a few of them also provide a boost the the income generated by other buildings. And the game is bad at giving you the information you need.

[Helikos]

Thank you for advice, very helpful. Tbh i hate how dumbed down and arcade-like the settlement construction is. That and the deal with garrisons, rather lack there of.

Do any of you know how to get siege ships for the Iceni? They're available in custom battles not doesn't appear to have a build or tech unlock in campaign

[Salty Nobody]

You gotta capture a certain type of civilized port, which takes a long time and involves alot of rng. The iceni medium slinger ships make for one of the strongest navies in the game though, you should try it.

[Helikos]

Thanks, I'm getting the hang of it all now. It's different with the Hellenic and Latin build strategy. For them in a province I usually build farm, mine, temple and them what ever I need that province to do i.e. recruitment etc.

I have another question about the recruitment buff building. The mead hall, goldsmith and warrior lodge chain. Are those benefits faction wide or provincial? It's something I've wondered about in all my campaigns.
For example one of them gives a charge bonus, is that only applied to units recruited from that particular province?

[Salty Nobody]

Provincial. The way to tell is that factionwide effects have a "(factionwide)" tag on the end of them. Otherwise assume that an effect is just in a province.

[Alwyn]

The advice above is good. You can also use your abilities to liberate or loot settlements to improve your economy.

In my current Iceni campaign, I liberated most regions in Iberia instead of occupying them, creating a group of military allies who would trade with me. Creating a lot of allies has downsides (for example, when one ally another, your diplomatic reputation will be damaged temporarily because whichever side you choose, you're fighting an ally). Even so, it's worth it.

Looting enemy settlements generates money but the big increase in slaves can cause slave rebellions, so it may not be worth it.

[Plaak]

Originally posted by Alwyn:

Creating a lot of allies has downsides (for example, when one ally another, your diplomatic reputation will be damaged temporarily because whichever side you choose, you're fighting an ally).

As far as i know, you don't lose reputation if you choose the defender's side. That is because it's the attacker who is doing an act of treachery against an ally. I have never lost reputation by staying with the defenders.