Does anyone know if this is a linear or square type of relationship? i.e. it a caravan travels twoce as far, does it gather twice as much gold? In this case, distance is not really beneficial, as it takes twice as long. Or, does twice the distance mean 3-4 times the gold, in which case, there is solid benefit. Also, about how much gold will be collected on a trip that is about 1/4 of the map?
I've not normally had to use caravans, so I've not really been able to get a feel for their efficiency, though I've seen posts that sugest it is not very good. Last night, I played a near-to 2 hour game against a Hades as Odin on the hole. He had an excelent defensive map advantave with only a narrow path into his main base that prevented any form of effective raiding without throwin my RC away, and he was playing very deffensively. This made the game drag on well into mythic. The big thing that lost me the game (aside from failing to properly build up a deffensive position when I initially held the center - BIG MISTAKE)was running out of gold. My caravans (I had about 20 going) were just not bringing in any real cash flow to keep my military pumping. At one point, I had 4 TC's, but couldn't muster enough men to hold them. I'd traded the market price down to the point where it was useless on both food and wood (though I kept doing it so I had SOMETHING).
So, how may caravans do you need to keep the game going strong, and what is the optimum distance for them to travel (assuming that the route is safe from the enemy)? Also, is the gold determined by the straight-line distance, or the distance travelled? i.e. if the caravan hs to traverse half the map to reach a TC that is right next to it, but across a river, does it get more gold than if it only traveled the straight-line distance?
Thanks for the help.