1.1  The Market : Incredibly important
                                                                                                        
 
Ever wondered how other players always have so much resources? Well,...new players may not realize this, but clicking 'trade' 5 times with 1000 resources is one of the worst things that can be done in the market. It is much better to specify 5000 resources and click 'trade' once.(On how to put quick 5000 resources, read chapter Hotkeys) This is because the buying price for the target resource is increased with each trade. The only exception to this rule is 'reverse trading' (Chapter 1.1.4). I will gradually try to explain the market.
 
1.1.1      There are 2 ways of playing Cossacks: with or without market. 
 

If you play without market, do make sure you mention this to everyone before the games starts. Because otherwise you will have decreased chances of winning the game.

If you do play with the market there are 2 possibility’s. Either you use the market with “fair trade”. Again this you will have to agree with the other players. This means that every time you use the market, you tell this to the other players. And when you are finished, you say this as well. Usually it’s enough to say M ( market) and say D (done) when you are finished.

So you might think why saying this?

 

Because the prices in the market are the same for everyone. This is a principle of the market.

 

When  someone increases the price of a resource ( read further) and you sell your resource at that high price, then the price decreases again and the other player loses the money he invested. Meanwhile you have, without doing any effort, lots of resources.

 

You can actually see it when someone is busy in the market or if prices change, by either going to the market and watching the prices or during the game by pressing I (i). With this you open a game info frame.
The first frame gives a general score with the occupied country and score.
The second are the number of units that died ( R.I.P.) REQUIEM IN PACE…
The third frame gives you the market prices. Beneficial trades are market in green.
The fourth tab gives the number of peasants you have in a fraction. ( still have to calculate how that exactly works). But it shows you how fast you are collecting a specific resource in a certain amount of time. It shows you as well how much gold certain units need for maintenance ( handy if you play with Victoria’s or lots of dragoons to avoid a mutiny).
 
NOTE:  While this frame runs, the game time doesn’t continue apparently for the one or other reason. So don’t look at it too long if you want an accurate peace time indication.

 

So: know what you want to sell and be quick.

 

1.1.2      Building the market : be the first. 
 
Market prices are the same for all players. If one player makes a trade, the prices are changed for everyone. Nearly every good start involves selling resources, so to get the best prices, you want to be the first player to build a market and start trading.
But when you continue further in game it gets interesting, because you have more resources to trade with. So its possible to maximize your profits by trading.
 In this chapter below you will find the maximum beneficial trades.  I’m well aware that you are not always at the liberty to achieve a maximum beneficial trade, due to lack of reserve resources to counter trade or peace time settings, etc…In any case, if you do have the opportunity to do the perfect trade , you should definitely take advantage of it.
  
If you start the game the prices are standard  set to this:
 

Per 1000 stone that you sell you get:

         163 gold

         330 iron/coal

         608 wood/stone

         959 food 

Per 1000 gold that you sell you get:

         578 gold (omg)

         1160 iron/coal

         2150 wood/stone

         3400 food 

Per 1000 iron/coal that you sell you get:

         285 gold

         570 iron/coal

         1050 wood/stone

         1680 food 

Per 1000 food that you sell you get:

         91 gold

         180 iron/coal

         341 wood/stone

         539 food 

Per 1000 wood that you sell you get:

         163 gold

         321 iron/coal

         608 wood/stone

         960 food

 

 

1.1.3 Each resource has a minimum selling price.

 

So what happens now. If you sell something now, then you will get that standard set price for it (see list on previous page 1.1.2)  For example, if you put 1000 stone on the left side ( sell)  and you select gold on the right side ( buy) then you will get 163 gold for that. The moment you sold, the price will drop down. So the next time you trade the same amount  of stone, you will get less gold then the last time, because the price has dropped. The more you sell in one time the more the price drops. So depending on the number of players and amount they sold , after everyone has sold something in the very early beginning of the game, the price will probably have dropped to the minimum level.

 

Below is the list with the minimum level prices for the resources. 
 

Gold per 1000:

  • Food - 20 : 1000 (1:48) -- terrible
  • Stone - 83 : 1000 (1:12)
  • Wood - 83 : 1000 (1:12)
  • Iron - 166 : 1000 (1:6)
  • Coal - 166 : 1000 (1:6)

Food per 1000:

  • Stone - 500 : 1000 (1:2)
  • Wood - 500 : 1000 (1:2)
  • Iron - 1000 : 1000 (1:1) -- excellent
  • Coal - 1000 : 1000 (1:1) -- excellent
  • Gold - 2000 : 1000 (2:1) -- best

Stone and Wood per 1000:

  • Food - 83 : 1000 (1:12)
  • Stone - 333 : 1000 (1:3)
  • Wood - 333 : 1000 (1:3)
  • Iron - 666 : 1000 (2:3) -- good
  • Coal - 666 : 1000 (2:3) -- good
  • Gold - 1333 : 1000 (4:3) -- excellent

Iron and Coal per 1000:

  • Food - 41 : 1000 (1:24) -- terrible
  • Stone - 166 : 1000 (1:6)
  • Wood - 166 : 1000 (1:6)
  • Iron - 333 : 1000 (1:3)
  • Coal - 333 : 1000 (1:3)
  • Gold - 666 : 1000 (2:3) -- good
So what can you do know? Read on further on the next page ( follow the links below)
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