Micro blog 7 - Bandits on the trade routes
The Aegean Sea was criss-crossed with trading routes, galleys full of goods made port, which were then transferred by caravans overland to reach their inland destinations. As always where there are goods and money, there are bandits and marauders.
Yes, your precious caravans can be intercepted by pirates stealing your badly needed resources, on land or at sea. Sometimes it’s small independent groups of bandits working alone. More often than not however, it can be your opponents trying to disrupt you by attacking a soft spot.
If you rely on regular supplies of certain resources through trading and these are suddenly cut off, this can significantly hurt your position. Trade deals might be cancelled because losses are too high, crippling your economy and impairing the readiness of your army.
You don’t know where they might strike, but some precautions can be taken to safeguard your supplies. Try to use the shortest and safest trade routes available and keep military units garrisoned along them.
If you decide to employ these tactics yourself, be sure to use the best suited military units as bandits or pirates (look for high mobility and attack strength). To ensure the best possible odds of success, deploy them at locations where multiple trade routes congregate. Trade routes can be blocked by the deployment of units along borders or coastlines preventing traders from reaching their destination.
It’s not the most honorable warfare strategy but the end justifies the means, right?
Yes, your precious caravans can be intercepted by pirates stealing your badly needed resources, on land or at sea. Sometimes it’s small independent groups of bandits working alone. More often than not however, it can be your opponents trying to disrupt you by attacking a soft spot.
If you rely on regular supplies of certain resources through trading and these are suddenly cut off, this can significantly hurt your position. Trade deals might be cancelled because losses are too high, crippling your economy and impairing the readiness of your army.
You don’t know where they might strike, but some precautions can be taken to safeguard your supplies. Try to use the shortest and safest trade routes available and keep military units garrisoned along them.
If you decide to employ these tactics yourself, be sure to use the best suited military units as bandits or pirates (look for high mobility and attack strength). To ensure the best possible odds of success, deploy them at locations where multiple trade routes congregate. Trade routes can be blocked by the deployment of units along borders or coastlines preventing traders from reaching their destination.
It’s not the most honorable warfare strategy but the end justifies the means, right?