Anno Fans - Anno 1503: Trading

You are not alone. In addition to foreign cultures and pirates, other players live with you. Eventually you will need to establish diplomatic ties with other civilisations, either for trade or to form an alliance against a common enemy.

Think ahead. Your settlement will eventually run out of one vital resource or another and trade will become a necessity instead of a distant goal. Start trading as early as possible.

Ships are the key means of transportation, trading goods, transporting troops and combat.
There are two different categories of ships: trading vessels and warships. The two types of ships differ in their cargo and troop capacities.
Trading Vessels: Large cargo capacity with little or no armour.
Warships: Heavily armed. Best suited to transport soldiers and war machines.

Ships can be constructed at a shipyard with money, wood, cloth and ropes. For warships you also need ship cannons. Building materials must be in stock before construction can begin.

Cannons must be installed in order to make a warship fully functional. This can happen either during the ship's construction or later.

To add or remove cannons on a ship, move to the shipyard, click the SHIP REPAIR tab, then click the START REPAIR icon.

Heavily loaded or danaged ships have a slower speed than lightly loaded or undamaged ships.

To scuttle a ship, click the BEHAVIOUS OF SHIP tab in the ship menu, and click SINK SHIP.

Flying a white flag indicates to other players that you are on a peaceful mission. Flying a white flag during an attack by pirates or enemies signals surrender. This can cause your attackers to board your ship instead of sinking it.
To fly a white flag, click the BEHAVIOUR OF SHIP tab in the ship menu and click the FLY FLAG button.

Diplomacy

You can establish diplomatic ties in the form of trade agreements, peace treaties and military alliances.

When you discover a city belonging to another player, the player is automatically entered into the list in the Diplomacy status submenu in the player menu. At this point you can sign treaties, demand tribute or send messages.
To offer a treaty, accept a treaty or break a treaty, access the diplomacy status list.
You can accept treaties at any time after they have been offered.
Native cultures and pirates are not entered into the diplomacy status list once they have been discovered. You cannot sign treaties or agreements with these civilisations.
The diplomacy status list displays the player's coat of arms and a bar indicates the player's feelings towards you. If the bar is empty, the player is neutral towards you. Green indicates a good relationship. Red indicates hostility.
Sometimes paying a tribute is necessary to entice another player to sign a treaty.
If you attack a settlement with which you have diplomatic ties, existing peace treaties and military allinces are voided. It is often harder to re-establish diplomatic ties to a former partner once you have broken treaties and alliances.

A trade agreement is a basic prerequisite to buying and selling goods to and from other players.
To offer a trade agreement to a player, click his name in the diplomacy status list and then click the OFFER TRADE AGREEMENT icon. If the agreement is accepted, the treaty icon changes.
To accept a trade agreement, click the ACCEPT TRADE AGREEMENT icon in the diplomacy status submenu.
A signed trade agreement allows you to see what another player wishes to buy o sell. in turn, a player you have signed am agreement with can see you goods.
To see what goods a player with whom you have a trade agreement is offering or requesting, click the player's warehouse or main market building.
You do not need a trade agreement to trade with the Venetians or pirates.
With the exception of the Venetians and pirates, all cultures engage only in barter.

At the beginning of a continuous game you are at peace with all other players. the only exceptions are the pirates, who may launch attacks on your ships and your settlement at any time.

To offer a peace treaty, click the OFFER PEACE TREATY icon in the diplomacy status submenu. To accept an offered peace treaty, click the ACCEPT PEACE TREATY icon.

To declare war, select a player in the diplomacy status list and click on the DECLARE WAR icon.
A player might accept a peace offer or reject it, depending on how hostile he is towards you. Check the pay tribute submenu to see whether you must pay a tribute before signing a peace treaty.
The colour markings around the peace treaty icon indicate the current treaty status. Green indicates peace, red indicates war and blue indicates a peace treaty has been offered.

You can establish military alliances between yourself and other players. Both parties agree to support their partner in case of war.
A trade agreement is the prerequisite for a military alliance. The more you have traded with the player you wish to form an alliance with, the better the chance of obtaining an alliance.

To offer a military treaty, select a player from the diplomacy status list and click the OFFER MILITARY ALLIANCE icon. If the offer is accepted, the icon changes.
To accept a military alliance, click the ACCEPT MILITARY ALLIANCE icon in the diplomacy status submenu.
Once a military alliance has been established, all of your ally's cities become visible on the game screen and overview map.
Basic treaty settings may differ between scenarios and the campaign.

Tributes

A tribute is a payment that can be demanded of or paid to another player. tributes forge good relationships with other players, which increase your chances of signing treaties with them.
To demand a tribute, select the player from the diplomacy status list. To demand money, set the top slider to the desired amount. To demand goods, click on an empty box to select the type of goods, then set the amount using the slider to the right of the box.
If you demand goods, the opponent must sail his ship to your warehouse and unload the cargo there.
Demanding tributes for no apparent reason may anger the other players.
to pay a monetary tribute, select the player's name in the diplomacy status list and click the PAY TRIBUTE icon.
To pay a goods tribute, select the player's name. the quantity of goods demanded is displayed. Sail to the players warehouseand unload the goods.
The ship delivering the tribute must be unarmed, free of soldiers and flying the white flag.

You can pay pirates protection money to prevent pirate attacks or hire pirates to attack fellow players.

To pay protection money:
1. sail your ship to a pirates stronghold and click the pirates warehouse.
2. Select the PROTECTION MONEY tab. A price appears.
3. If you agree to the amount demanded, click the PAY icon.

To hire pirates to attack another player:
1. Sail your ship to the pirates stronghold and click on the pirates warehouse.
2. Select the ASSIGNMENT tab, click the coat of arms of the player you wish to be attacked and pay the sum the pirates demand.