Enterprises

[ubernotnoob]

Hi all

Just recently got back into warband and what i've noticed is that enterprises no longer give consistent profits. Dyeworks seems to be particularly affected, with profits ranging from  +500 to -1200 denars from week to week. I believe this is due to the rehaul of the economic system, but thats not relevant.

My real question is, is there any way to create a stable economic base to support my army without either A) having to enslave large numbers of bandits (which is what i did at the beginning, but I think that sort of behaviour is below a lord of the vaegir) or B) buying large amounts of land in towns as i tend to raid deep into enemy territory, and i would rather not have to trek across the map to ensure i do not go bankrupt?

Thanks

[Katar]

Apart from Jelkala, Veluca, and Suno (I think those are the three) I found that Dyeworks made a decent profit of 400-600 in every other town. At least every week when the profits weren't confiscated.

Edit: I should say that I don't touch any of the economic options. I don't know, or care, what any of them do.

[tunaisafish]

Yep I saw huge losses some weeks too when I had the economic setting on medium.
I now play on low, as the huge losses didn't make sense to me.

I liked the idea of raw materials availability, and it certainly made me think about what enterprise to open in different towns.  I had a very varied port-folio when I tried that

The huge losses come about as the enterprise manager decides to source the raw materials elsewhere when they are not available, even though the finished product will be sold a close to the standard cost.  If the enterprise were to not produce anything that week, so that losses were limited to the wage/upkeep part, then it would make more sense to me.

I did try to source the raw materials myself for a while too, but I ended up closing most of the enterprises down in the end.
My brewery in Dhirim did OK though, AFAIR.

Edit:
To answer your question, you'll still be able to find enterprises that turn a regular profit in most of the towns.
Go through the entire list before automatically deciding on building a dyeworks everywhere.  Let it run for a few weeks and be prepared to go back and close it to build something else if there are too many lossy weeks.

[anoddhermit]

I make a reasonable amount per week, probably around 7-10k, with an enterprise in almost every city. I wish it was more but it's more than enough to keep my army of ~140 tier 4, 5, 6 troops paid and fed. I sieged Dhirim recently too, but was pretty disappointed to see it only make around 3k per week(I remember it giving a ton in native).

I personally just tried to make whatever made the most per cost. For example if I can get ~200 per week for an enterprise that costs 2500, or 400 per week for one that costs 10000, I go for the former. I also tried not to make too many of any one thing in places that are close together. So I didn't make a dyeworks in curaw, reyvadin, khudan even if it might've seemed like the max profit at the time. I'm not sure if this even matters, I just assumed you wouldn't want to flood the area with one good(and also you'd theoretically also be using more of the good needed to make that good, driving its price up and lower profitability).

[Hanakoganei]

I play on high and therefore can't really afford to use the enterprises effectively lol. I may switch back to low too, as I'm really going broke without a steady source of income for my kingdom that isn't reliant on my own efforts.

[ruralvirginian]

It has become my playing standard to develop a secure source of funding for my army before I become a vassal.  Creating enterprises throughout the cities of Calradia has become the major source of this secure cash-flow.   With dye works in 18 of the 22 cities and a combination of iron works and oil presses in Suno, Dhirim, Veluca and Jelkela I generate 10,000-12,000 denars a week on an investment of some 200,000 denars.   The weakness in this system is that if I happen to be at war with any kingdom (as a mercenary, a vassal, or independent kingdom) I lose the income from my enemy’s cities for the duration of the conflict.  This is the reason to spread out to all the cities in the hope that the remaining enterprises will be able to subsidize the majority of your army’s expenses.

To gather the necessary cash to fund enterprise creation (I need a little over 200,000) I will build a force of some 60-80 horsemen consisting of companions, horse archers and (40+) man-hunters.  With this force extensive forays against bandit groups will result with many prisoners (and replacements for the inevitable man-hunter casualties) and the prisoners equal a solid cash-flow (40 Forest Bandits will generate around 4,800 denars.)  A few weeks of heavy campaigning against bandits will provide enough income for developing all your enterprises plus increase you and your companions’ stats.  Now with a steady cash-flow you can begin building the army of your dreams for the conquest of Calradia.

[anoddhermit]

Personally I think they should make some economic changes to make things more balanced with prisoner taking, I've got no good ideas though. I do pretty much the same thing - take a ton of manhunters, knock tons of bandits out and sell them as prisoners, use denars made to buy enterprises. Prisoner management on top of manhunters seems either too good, or other options aren't good enough - that or I'm  missing something because it's become my default approach to every new game.

[Hanakoganei]

That's a good point. As it is now, I don't even use enterprises. I've lost too much money from it, from some businesses failing, and prisoner sale + looting is certainly paying for my troops and then some.

[JaM1977]

btw, what exact income is given by owning a land in the city? it is quite a costly thing to buy (if I remember correctly about a 1K per acre), and i'm not sure about benefits.. is it worth it to invest my money into it,especially in the early stages?

[Hanakoganei]

Early stages, maybe not. It only pays off later in the game, after a few weeks. I think it's a minimum of 2 weeks to break even in most cases (?).

The income isn't exact and differs from city to city. Same is true about the price of land. There seems to be a lot of factors that affect this, including current population and the city's prosperity.

[JaM1977]

OK, so let say i'm a Freelancing within Lord's army, so there is a possibility i get captured so there is no point keeping all money with me, because i won some tournaments, i have about 6-10k, If i buy those lands let say in Praven, are those money at this point thrown away, or i should only buy a land when i have more money so i can buy more?

[Hanakoganei]

Hmm. If you can't put the money to better use (like say, hiring better troops or getting better equipment for yourself and your companions, to reduce the odds of you getting captured in the first place), then it wouldn't be a waste at all. You can buy a little land at a time, and it typically earns just as much anyway. No need to spend a lot of money in one burst, unless you want to.

In the long run, it's going to end up as a gain even if you only invested in a little land. But don't expect to receive any income from it for another few weeks.

[JaM1977]

because i'm freelancing, i dont have any companions or soldiers right now, i plan to rise my own army once i'm top level within the ranks, which might take some time.. so practically, i have money i cant spend to anything, therefore looking for something where they could work for me, instead of just laying about..

[Aziyk]

Early stages, maybe not. It only pays off later in the game, after a few weeks. I think it's a minimum of 2 weeks to break even in most cases (?).

You're the resident Warband scientist Hanakoganei, so I'm sure that was a typo

It's usually more like 20 weeks to break even.  Roughly, land at 1000/acre pays out at 100/acre every two weeks. Still well worth it in my opinion because a wealthy town can generate 3-4k per week.

To maximize profitability I'll keep an eye out on which towns are getting sieged and will go in and swoop up cheap land after the sieges have wrecked the cities' economy. This works really well if you can buy 100 acres at 50-70/per, then take the city and raise it's prosperity.  You have to be careful, though, that you don't get greedy and buy more land than the town needs.  Low prosperity cities tend to lose population. Any land over what the city needs to feed itself will cost upkeep but generate no profit.  I took Khudan once after the Vaegir  and Khergit armies exchanged it several times and the population dropped from 22k to under 10k before I could right it.

[Hanakoganei]

Heheh. I'm no expert on land. Not a feature I really use, since all of my income is generated from demanding money from enemy caravans and selling loot and prisoners. Way faster and more profitable. But I did notice that after buying some land in a town, after the two weeks I still owe them some money (negative balance) and don't get paid anything until the next month.