A simple noob economic guide for someone who doesn't understand math at all

[HidekiTojo]

I'm giving this game another go, I understand how to do things (at the risk of sounding incredibly stupid) but I'm afraid after constantly re-reading the manual and forums I do not have any kind of grasp of the economy whatsoever.

It doesn't take me very long to get up to speed and understand the complexities of a given system in most cases, however that's predicated upon a good understanding of the fundamentals.


Can someone explain it to me in a very simple way? I barely managed to pass high school math so math is always over my head.

History im getting a degree lol.


I'm thinking of playing as Sardinia-Piedmont or Belgium.

I would really like to know how to strengthen my industrialize and therefore strengthen my economy.


Many thanks

[Kensai]

In a nutshell: don't be mercantilistic, point for open trade. Buy even resources you have in abundance only to resell them and make profit from taxation. Do not be afraid of inflation, even if it goes above 10% (there will be a F1 decision to decrease it). Do not try to be super-efficient, the game is so long, it is much better to focus on crunching turns quickly.

If you have the DLC, my suggestion is to start the 1880 campaign. You will have more fun there.

[HidekiTojo]

In a nutshell: don't be mercantilistic, point for open trade. Buy even resources you have in abundance only to resell them and make profit from taxation. Do not be afraid of inflation, even if it goes above 10% (there will be a F1 decision to decrease it). Do not try to be super-efficient, the game is so long, it is much better to focus on crunching turns quickly.

If you have the DLC, my suggestion is to start the 1880 campaign. You will have more fun there.

What about buildings? What should I build?

[loki100]

you need to plan on the basis of shortage goods. Coal will be a constraint all game, manufactures quite often. There is little point building things you can't keep open. For advice on what to build, especially early game the 'B' screen is a good guide - hover your mouse over the top right hand side and it will tell you what you need (shortages - may not be much you can do about this) and recommended builds.

Also suggest having a look at my Italy AAR - there is a lot in their about industrial planning and how to use the in-game information (link in my signature)

[Pocus]

The player 'innate' tendency is to think: 'screw open trade, I want to be self sufficient'. Don't think like that or you'll not do good. Accept that some merchandises will be sold by others to you.

[Jim-NC]

Beware coal shortages. Find a good partner and build mines in their territory (by good partner, I mean get a commercial agreement, and keep relations above 25). You may have to juggle the amount of coal you use each round (as all factories, and all level 2 farms use coal) by opening and closing factories as needed.

FYI - ships use coal (while in port), and for every 2 (I think it's 2) provinces with railroads, you consume 1 coal.

[HidekiTojo]

Are there any areas that you can colonize in game in order to acquire your own coal supply?

[loki100]

Are there any areas that you can colonize in game in order to acquire your own coal supply?

No

its all in other organised states, so trade is the solution. Try for commercial agreements (with S-P you should manage this with France) and build some mines there. But be careful, if there is a rebellion (& France has a lot up to 1870s), you run the risk of losing your mines

The advice to avoid mercantalism is vital - buy to sell, don't produce at home what you can trade for and so on.

[HidekiTojo]

It's really beginning to frustrate me, I have been playing as many different countries, Belgium and Sardinia-Piedmont in 1850, and France and now Germany in 1880.

I placed a bunch of colonial actions, and then built two factories that the 'b' window said to and then a few mines i think it was two or three. Some more colonial actions and then now I have tried to institute a national bank.

In general this is what I have been trying to do with all the countries. In every single case, I end up with state funds that remain static they don't go up or down except by single digits!

Then my private capital goes into a nosedive.

For instance as Sardinia-Piedmont....and god knows how but in 1851 the Great Depression hit the entire world starting from S-P! I had 0% inflation bc of an economic sunrise event perhaps thats the reason since a little bit of inflation is both healthy and necessary in reality.


Can you guys help me understand why both of my sources of funds are always drying up??

I do not get it, but its preventing me from going farther than a couple years in and I thought Germany in 1880 would be unstoppable.......

[loki100]

you have to manage what is open - quite substantially in the early game. PC, Coal, Mfgs, Steel at the least (and sometimes things like wood) are all going to be in short supply. So you need to review your stocks and thing of closing production for a while (so those valuable goods can be used elsewhere).

If your PC is going down then you need to minimise its use and set very clear priorities. Best advice is to keep an eye on stocks, anything that is going up turn after turn you can stop producing/importing for a while.

Early game a new factory is a major investment, playing S-P it could take me a couple of years of planning to build up the stocks needed for each expansion. Remember this game is a marathon, not a sprint.

I'm not claiming how I managed this was optimal, but have a look at my Italy AAR - you'll see it wasn't till the 1870s that I was really in a position to expand and even then I had to rebalance my entire economy a few times - the relevant posts are mostly marked in the index so you don't need to wade through the whole thing.

The economy side is the most complex part of this game, certainly I found it the barrier to getting into the game, but key, really, is to take it slow, don't over-expand, don't build if you can import. It will then come together.

[Q-Kee]

The advice to avoid mercantalism is vital - buy to sell, don't produce at home what you can trade for and so on.

Well then my game is fucked - I just don't see it yet Actually I am quite self sufficient in most things, especially coal and manufactures, although I keep buying stuff to improve/keep good relations (preferably what I cannot produce myself). I'll let you know in about 1000 turns if it worked out in the end

[loki100]

Well then my game is fucked - I just don't see it yet Actually I am quite self sufficient in most things, especially coal and manufactures, although I keep buying stuff to improve/keep good relations (preferably what I cannot produce myself). I'll let you know in about 1000 turns if it worked out in the end

sounds pretty sensible to me.

Only produce what you can't buy, the extra step is to buy stuff you don't need and then sell it on - remember minors are often limited in their potential range of trading options.

PoN forces a mindset that I think is unique in most 'wargames' - today's enemy is tomorrow's trading partner. So while you may have a particular country you really want to do bad things to, most enemies come and go. You'll do better if you float your own economy on a reasonably prosperous world economy.

[hansen]

some times ago I intended to buy the game and tried a demo version. and stumbled over economic. the first thougt was "this is hell, I will not handle it!". that is even not the point of complexity, but not everybody loves tradind, farming, building, especially when all this is an everyturn routine. for me the fun is in the military and wars and so on.
it will be more nice if in the game shall be some kind of automatic decisions, like there will be a minister or a councilor, and each turn he propose me list of actions, and if I liked I approve them.
I remember an old game "imperialism", and it had some possibility of automatic actions about economic, and the gameplay was much easier, you could learn by watching the process.

[Kensai]

It is not that difficult to understand. It is difficult to master in the most efficient way. But hi efficiency is usually if you play in a "gamey" way (no pun intended), taking advantage of the limitations of the economic system.

Give it a try!

[hansen]

for me an economic is something boring, especially such turn-to-turn. "I'm an old soldier and don't know any words of love". all right, I can do it sometimes, but no more frequently than once a halfyear. I want to have the ministers.

[Kensai]

You really don't need to do it turn-to-turn. I play with the economics panel every 12 turns (6 months in game) or so. In this case, you simply need to set everything from the beginning to less aggressive: lower taxes, low orders of sale/buy, etc. Yes, it will slow down your economic progress but it will make it more realistic.

I think the most importance aspect in such a long game is to crunch many turns per session and have fun where it counts, in the grand strategy of prevailing.

[hansen]

there was one more thing about colonisation or something. when you became confused in your own country, plus you must do actions in other part of the world... this is really overworking. ah, and the most confusing thing is trade ships wihch you must send over there an over here...and no help...

[Kensai]

Hehe. It is not that hard. Yes, if you become obsessed you might micromanage, but other than that the game has three essentially three aspects: economic game, war game, colonial game

The war game is where AGEOD games shine, no doubt about this. And especially in a continental war (try Russia against Germany) you will have tons of fun. The economic game is your lifeblood, but you should not worry too much, just make sure you are trading and each turn you will be richer than the one before. Then there is the colonial game which is quite easy, actually. It is mostly playing cards to the right regions.

Just give it one more chance and shoot your questions here. Check out my AARs for inspiration.

[Jim-NC]

there was one more thing about colonisation or something. when you became confused in your own country, plus you must do actions in other part of the world... this is really overworking. ah, and the most confusing thing is trade ships wihch you must send over there an over here...and no help...

As to the ships. In simplest terms, in order to trade with someone, you need to have ships that can reach their capital (there are some other rules about if their ships will trade or not, but the simplest is to have ships that can reach their capital). To reach their capital, you need to have trade ships in the MTB (trade boxes). For example, America's capital is Washington DC. It connects to the world via the MTB just off shore (North American Trade Box I believe it is called). If you want to trade with America, you need ships in that box. You will need at least 1 trade fleet there. The trade ships can be built, and depending on the country you choose to play, you may or may not have trade ships at the start.

Hope this is what you are looking for.

[Christophe.Barot]

oh, and don't forget to sell enough goods to your population, even more (and safer) than exports, it's the primary source of income - and you NEED to keep your populatiion satisfied to keep her productive - have a look at price of goods, when you need too much coal (for example) for building low profit goods you could import, switch towards other activities

profitability you'll find in F10, take care that it is net profit profitability - if you have an even keel or a marginal loss to build goods you USE (not stockpile) or need and are in short supply, build them ! previous stages give you some profit

goods you import and sell to your population (not stockpile) don't deplete your capital

keep strategic materials you need, but don't overstock, when your stockpile atre too important, they just deplete

stockpiles and new facilities are an investment, when you build too much of them it depletes your capital, strike a balance, usually, capital depletes especially if you increase your stockpiles too fast (you buy or build more than you sell)

railway are crucial for your productivity, but use coal, build them in provinces where you have high concentration of goods production or vital resopurces (coal especially) - it is an investment too, but one year after, you won't regret it

when you're in short supply rebalance your production, some factories can become less or more productive than others as bonus due to population contentment vary

have always some supply (and reasonable stockpiles when you can afford) of strategic materials : COAL, goods, minerals, mechanic parts, steel, endgame electric parts (you may need some others depending of what your industry consume, iron is usually not in short supply, you may need wood, sulphur for chemicals, dye and cotton/wool for textile - you'll need an array of semi finished goods for very profitable goods

if necessary close unprofitable industries, or some building goods in excess, reopen them when you need them - use F4 - it's an information mine gold