Hello,
Recently, There have been several posts by folks concerned about the economic challenges of APE:TI.
I have played several campaigns. Yet in the very beginning I actually read the manual that the developers put out there for us, (where to find that now I dunno). Basically it gave you various options, to be considered successful even though you do not meet the vanilla version of goals to basically conquer the entire world. (When Alpaca gets bored he may revisit his Prestige win...cmon babe..you can do it...we know you want to.. hehehe)
However, the one thing that stuck with me reading the manual, was that if you develope your infrastructure (namely Government buildings, farms, roads, ports etc etc) you will see a significant per turn bonus to Region, or town wealth. This wealth snow balls, and eventually you will be so wealthy, that it no longer becomes the challenge, in spite of education costs, that few people take into account.
(I reccomend to research, all economic bonuses, then research rate techs, as soon as feasible)
No, indeed, the challenge then is to have enough infrastructure, and region supply to enable population growth, and therefore manpower, to sustain a war. The real challenge becomes manpower, and supply.
You will run out of things to spend money on, other than troops.
The cool part, is with all your wealth, you can recruit as many naval ship as your wealth can withstand, with no effect on your manpower. So, go enjoy some epic naval battles.
As you take each region, you will have rebellion, count on it, and plan for it. that said, each region you capture will soon increase your supply, and manpower, and wealth.
You will be challenged throughout your campaign, in one aspect or another, and you will not steam roll the AI. ( I have literally came across 20 stacks of Polish troops, and had to whup'em all).
So i leave you with an couple screen shots to show you the possibilities, to give you the anticipation
and excitement to stay the course, even if you have to restart your campaign 3 times to get the hang of it. I will say without reservation, my toughest campaign, and most glorious was as great britian, even though I prefer Prussia to them all. (alot of folks think the starting empire of GB is a benefit...hahaha)
This first one is an early prussian campaign, different campaign, (currently 1724), (my Desktop computer that I play to get away... hide out in my office, lol) with graphics mods and AUM ( has no effect on economic aspects),
Not many regions, not alot of gold, yet enough to exceed the cost of education, and still get 3000 gold per turn, after education costs.
The second is on my laptop, which has only APE:TI ver 1.1.0, no other mods. the year is 1775, many regions, and mucho money. Thats right 4 million, 512 thousand 371 gold. with an per turn income of 190 thousand. (in spite of very low trade values of spices ivory tea etc etc.) And 4 schools operating.
So before anyone gets real excited and says the economics is too challenging, or that the education cost is too much, I can only say that the Mod as a Whole is challenging. And that is what I paid for when I bought Empire total War, yet only got when I played this wonderful mod.
I challenge you all to let us see a campaign screen shot in the year 1730 or 1740. I really look forward to it, as I know you will be excited.
good luck, and cheers to everyone.