For other uses, see Trading Port (disambiguation).
The Trading Port is a type of port in Napoleon: Total War.
Description[]
A port will improve a region's wealth and open up trade routes.
A port will improve a region's wealth and open up trade routes. Most roads are simply terrible, and bulky cargoes must go by ship: it is the only way of moving goods cheaply and relatively quickly. Trading ports improve a country's export capacity and increase trade value. They also make the whole world a marketplace, by allowing sea trade routes to be established.
Sometimes, customers were not sure what to make of the goods they were being sent: British merchants insisted on exporting heavy woollen cloth to India for years, even though there was no market for it! Coastal trade was also an easy way to turn a profit in Britain, the leading trade nation. A "cheese fleet" did nothing but sail back and forth between London and the northwest of England, bringing Cheshire cheeses to the London market. By a happy accident of geology, Cheshire had rock salt mines that provided the preservative needed for the local cheese to make the sea journey to London. Although salty, this was undoubtedly healthier than most food on a gentleman's table!
General Information[]
Trading ports pay for themselves after 17-24 turns, including build time. However, they are far more valuable than their region wealth and town wealth suggest: they allow factions to trade with other factions and build trade ships, potentially making thousands to tens of thousands more gold per turn. For factions that lack trading ports, constructing at least one greatly increases income. In addition, trading ports build merchantmen, which can fill up trade nodes and generating large amounts of income.
Trade ports can be upgraded to commercial ports, which generate more wealth and can host more trade routes.