Handel¶
There are two ways to move goods between realms: the Trading Market, and a trade deal. Both need a treaty with the other realm.
The Trading Market¶
You can put any of your goods on the market and set your own price.
In a single-board game, to buy from a realm you need one of these treaties with it:
- Terrorabwehr
- Geheimdienstbündnis
- Technologieabkommen
- Volles Verteidigungsbündnis
You see only the goods you could buy. A realm you have no treaty with does not appear on the market at all, and its goods are not counted in the totals. Your own listing is always shown to you.
Listing is open to everyone. Only buying is limited. So you choose who can take your goods, and who can even see them, by choosing who you sign a treaty with.
In a league game the market is open to every realm on your planet, because there your planet is your team.
Goods you list leave your hands at once. They are held for the buyer, and you are paid when someone buys them. You still pay upkeep on them while they wait, and pirates can raid them, so do not list more than you mean to sell.
Trade deals¶
A trade deal is an offer to one realm. You put goods and gold in it, and you may ask for goods and gold in return. The other realm reads the offer and accepts or refuses it.
A trade deal costs a fee, and it needs a spare carrier to move the goods. A Protective Trade treaty with that realm makes the fee cheaper.
Getting the most from trade¶
Trade matters most when several realms work together. A few ideas:
Specialise, then supply your partners. Your industry can favour one unit type, which makes that unit cheaper for you than for anyone else. If you build tanks and a partner builds turrets, each of you can sell to the other below the price they would pay to build it themselves. Both realms come out ahead.
Price for the realm you want to help. Because only your treaty partners can buy, a low price is a gift to them and not to a stranger. Some realms list goods very cheaply, or even for nothing, to arm a partner who is under attack.
Watch what your treaty is worth. You can hold only one treaty with a realm at a time. A Tariff or Free Trade Agreement pays you gold every turn. The four treaties above open that realm's market to you instead. Which is worth more depends on how much you plan to buy from them.
Trade is bigger between planets. In a league, whole planets specialise, and an ally's market is often the cheapest place to buy. See the Interplanetary Trading topic.