Cities and Ports

[Emperor Francis I]

Cities and Ports

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Cities and Ports are just what they would seem, cities and ports, scattered across the Earth's surface. Masses of the population gathered into a single place. They can include a ride range of ethnicities, and be fundamental to the wealth and military defence of a province.

Cities
When a province is invaded, each city (and port) must be captured (or made to surrender). Therefore, the more cities and ports in a province, the more protection it has. Cities may be built on borders and upgraded with fortifications to act as a first line of defence, or perhaps built in a rich province to accumulate wealth.

Ports
Ports are like cities, only they are on the seaside, with a dockyard built in. Ports benefit you both financially and militarily. Trade Companies are set up from ports, and ports bring revenue in the form of wealth. Also, the amount of ports, the size of which and other such factors also determine the maximum number of naval vessels you may own.

Capital Cities
Capital Cities may be either normal cities or ports. However, once the capital city is captured, the country will suffer severe losses including the possibly of utter defeat of your country. Losses are dependent on size and state of the country in question. Furthermore, every province has its own capital city, for more information about provinces visit this thread.

Cities vs Ports
Cities and ports both have benefits. Ports are more rewarding than cities, however, a port can be attacked straight off by any neighbour/colonial power with a navy, whereas a city can be built far inland.

Holy Cities
In the game, there are several 'Holy Cities'. Namely, Rome, Jerusalem and Mecca. They all have their own advantages. If you are a Catholic nation, and you own Rome, you will have the ability to plant a puppet Pope. This means you will be able to control the Pope, and thus excommunicate other Catholic nations, leading to a drop in their patriotism and rulership rating. You might also start rebellions in Catholic countries/provinces.

If you control Jerusalem, and are a Catholic, Muslim or Jewish state, you will receive 2 rulership points.

If you control Mecca as a Muslim nation, it makes no difference. However, if you control Mecca as a non-Muslim nation, it would result in all Muslim provinces of yours rebelling.

Building Ports and Cities
There are no limits to how many ports and cities you can build, and when doing so, you do this from the Reforms Board. When you create a port or city, be sure to supply the staff with its name and a map detailing its location so it is known where to place it on the map.

Due to their size and importance, cities and ports cost 200,000 Livre each to build and they take one Apoca Year to build (one real life week). If however, you have a large town which does already exist, you can turn it into a city (or port) for half the cost at 100,000 Livre; you will have to prove that the town did exist and was significant, however.