Can't wait to be reenacting stuff like this...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQIEr5ayBCM
And of course, this...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sDcDgSgZDp0
While listening to... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_voeDUF3xLE
VIVE L'EMPEREUR!
Can't wait to be reenacting stuff like this...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQIEr5ayBCM
And of course, this...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sDcDgSgZDp0
While listening to... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_voeDUF3xLE
VIVE L'EMPEREUR!
251 Votes in Poll
Below are thoughts on buildings in NTW, which are a good deal more complex and balanced than the ones in ETW.
Ok, swallowing my own words for just a second here: nothing balanced about this. Build colleges in regions that can handle the extra unrest. When you've researched everything you've wanted, replace them all with the member's clubs (happiness buildings). Simple.
Clamor for reform (at least, for the British, French, and Prussian campaigns) seems to be a very small issue compared to ETW, so there really is no excuse to have member's clubs in the early-mid game unless you really like spies.
This one's gotten me puzzled. You can either have Manufactuories, which are essentially factories from ETW: make lots of money, opens up the industry tech tree. As a bonus, they reduce artillery cost. Good, good. Then on the other hand you have...Gunsmiths, which just reduce infantry cost. In this specific region. Huh?
The highest level of the gun smith reduces infantry costs by 9%. Let's be generous and round that up to 10%. So if we're pumping out 8 militia each turn (the only infantry to train in one turn), you're saving...280 gold a turn. Are you blown away yet? On the other hand, the highest level manufactory makes 1,000 gold. With the highest level tax office it adds about 450 a turn. And that's not including the fact that training 8 militia a turn ad infinitem from a region's just ludicrous. What am I missing here?
One small use for gunsmiths I'll concede is that they give you more training slots in a region, which can be marginally useful if you find yourself short on troops and somehow lack enough training centers and simultaneously have too much money on your hands.
There are markets, which simply generate region wealth. I believe the highest levels increase region wealth for ALL regions, which is pretty damn powerful. Then there are supply posts, which add a pretty impressive chunk to your unit replenishment rate. The highest levels improve replenishment globally, again pretty useful--particularly in the early game when you don't have that many units to spare.
I'd say the most useful way to use these is to start off building markets in any safe region far away from the fighting, while keeping supply posts at the fronts. Switch them around as you push further into enemy territory.
In the late game, where you are presumably choking in more cash than you know what to do with, it may be worth it to switch markets over to supply posts to take advantage of that global replenishment rate. Of course, their utility is still best when used on the front lines, against factions that have not yet bent the knee. Then again, in the late game you probably have a lot of troops too, and can probably afford to wait a couple of extra turns for armies to replenish while fresh ones take the spearhead. But do you really need all that money you have nothing left to spend on?
These all *have* to be built in their slots, with no alternative options.
Pastures add a small, flat region wealth bonus, and decreases recruitment cost for cavalry. Prioritize these last. The returns of investment are small and don't grow. It's worth building these in the main recruiting hub for cavalry, though.
Farms are a mixture of supply posts and economic buildings. They add a fair sum of flat region wealth, and somewhat increases replenishment rate in the region. Build these at the front lines. If the option is far from the front lines, put them on low priority--just above pastures, as farms make more money.
Gold Mines add a huge amount of region wealth. The highest levels are ridiculously expensive (10k each) but also benefit ALL regions. The high payoff is further tempered by the 10-turn build time. Is it worth it? Probably, unless your campaign's about to end.
Iron Mines add a medium amount of wealth, and reduces all unit costs of the region. This means that regions with iron mines are good candidates for recruitment hubs. I'd prioritize these behind places that have increasing wealth growth, though. The highest levels aren't that expensive, and reduce unit costs globally. Could be useful, and there are no downsides.
Logging Camps add a small amount of flat wealth, and decreases building costs in a region, as well as ship costs globally. The highest levels decrease building costs in ALL regions. No-brainer--these are top priority. The reductions in price is huge and a single logging camp can save you potentially tens of thousands.
Roads add a not insignificant amount to your region wealth growth rate and make it easier for your units to travel through. The higher up roads are very costly and I don't think they're worth it unless you've got quite a few logging camps and/or have more money than you know what to do with. The cheaper ones are so cheap that you may as well upgrade them. I'd prioritize these just over farms and pastures.
Vineyards increase region wealth growth rate and happiness. Treat these like extra-useful members clubs--build them in regions of high unrest, and prioritize them when you no longer have buildings you can build that increase flat wealth.
Trade Ports increase trade income, partners, and global wealth growth (for all regions). These are very high priority, even if they're expensive and slow to build. Higher levels even give your merchant ships a boost in experience, as much good as that'd do them. Build these almost everywhere.
Military Ports build all military ships. Ships take considerably longer to build than in ETW (ironclads, for example, take a whopping 10 turns), so it may be worth it to have a two or three or even four--but the more you build, the more money you're missing out on. Build these near (but not in) hostile waters, and switch them out for trade ports when you have enough navies/the area is safe. The exception is if you're tangling with multiple enemies at sea and are taking heavy losses each turn.
One cool thing about NTW is that you can now builld any region capital building in any region, as opposed to ETW where you can only get most of the units in your roster from major regions while the minor ones had to make do with inferior recruiting.
That being said, it's still best to concentrate military buildings in one or two areas. I've heard rumors that having the buildings that recruit units in a region speeds up their replenishment rate--this might make military buildings worthwhile on the frontlines. Tax offices increase tax income and repression, and are the best buildings for safe regions. The highest level one may only be built in the faction capital and adds a global repression bonus. Tax offices also open up the civil tech tree so always have at least one on the highest level you can currently build (this is max priority). Museums increase happiness but also increase wealth growth substantially, and so are the second best buildings for safe regions. Each playable faction has a last-tier unique museum that adds global happiness, and all are identical in function if not name. Army buildings recruit infantry and cavalry. Some units are exclusive to certain regions so army buildings should be placed here. The highest level, only available in the faction capital, globally reduces training costs. Then there are ordnance factories, which recruit artillery. Put these in places with manufactories and iron mines. If carefully managed you should only need one (I guess more as France, which have unique artillery). The highest tier, again only available in the faction capital, gives a global recruitment cost reduction.
Finally there are the unique buildings for each faction, which in my opinion are of dubious worth, depending on the faction. Prussia's unique building reduces recruitment cost for all land units by 5%. Great, right? Well, the building costs a hefty 15,000. This means it'll only pay for itself when you dump a whopping 285,000 in your army in order to make this worthwhile. The Austrian unique building increases global tax rate by 3%, which I suppose can pay for itself fairly quickly if you've taken half of Europe or more. The Russian one increases global replenishment rate, which is useful considering how most of them are best in a melee and therefore inevitably take losses. The British one reduces naval upkeep by 10%. If you have a lot of trade fleets it might be worth it. I'll need to saturate each node with trade ships and figure out the upkeep costs to calculate if it's worth it. In my current file, my naval upkeep is 6,000...I will probably keep my military ships as is but expand my merchant fleet by 200%. So that means perhaps 10,000 a turn in the end game. So assuming 10% upkeep reduction the building should pay for itself in 15 turns or so. The French one increases movement range of all land units by 5%, which could be nice if you're up to your ears in cash anyway, and might save you a turn or two of avoiding winter in Russia. In the French campaign, building this gives all your land troops one more level of experience, so it's probably worth it.