Convoy system

[Gareth_Perkins]

Do folks here use the convoy system in place of trade / transport fleets?

Which do you find easier to handle?

I've always used the basic system, but the complexity can get quite high (especially when operating a lot of transport ships to construct a supply depot two or three (or more!) jumps away from a supply point using the extended base construction rules...),

The ability to use "throw-away" convoy fleets is fairly appealing on that basis,

My only worry is that it won't work with the existing trade rules (especially poor for races with pro-trade traits),

[mwaschak]

I use it, but as one of the original authors of the rule that is not terribly surprising.

What it does it allow you to keep track of a number of convoy points in a system, instead of fleets and routes. I personally don't think it is more complicated but find I only use it in certain sources. I believe it is actually cheaper overall to use convoy points, because you have one convoy unit that can move anything and make trade when it is not doing that.

-Jay

[Gareth_Perkins]

What do you do for races with traits like Mercantile and anti / pro-trade governments?

It had occurred to me that one way of dealing with them might be to increase or decrease the cost of convoys according to the perk,

(So a race with the mercantile trait might get 2 convoys per EP, and a race with trade barriers might have 1 convoy per 1.5EP),

Alternately I suppose a race might receive a bonus to EP recieved from another party.

I take it with this system "Trade Treaties" are really only there to make it easy to efficiently utilise RAW? (In other words, if it's more efficient for me to ship RAW to my capital than your own from one of your planets we may wish to negotiate?)

Can I place convoys in the systems of parties I have a peace (or trade) treaty with? Or do I need to negotiate with my ally to set these up for me?

Finally (I hope!) is there a limit to how much RAW I can ship to a system? If I have a capacity 12 system with RAW 6 can I ship-in more than 6 more RAW using convoys, or is 12 the limit?

[mwaschak]

Hello!

For the special traits in the Menagerie, it should be pretty straight forward. Any trade route built with convoy points, instead of a trade fleet, would generate an extra 10% per level. Since the convoy points are creating the trade the bonus should remain the same in that case. The end result is the free and open trade governments are prone to profit from their trade networks more. You are thinking along the right track that you can adjust cost, or ROI, to show this too!
You can basically trade with any government you have a trade treaty with. Otherwise the systems in that empire simply won't trade with you, or worse, open fire.
You also see one of strange quirks of the convoy system, which is the ability to move RAW. This is actually part of a Byron relic from almost ten years ago now. I typically ignore that ability in my games, or like you said, add a limit to how much can be moved. I will say this though, if the map is built right, and there is risk with moving RAW due to raiders or distance, it can be a lot of fun to use. So you could have a string of low RAW worlds hauling material back to a good system for processing, but the cost of escorts barely makes it worthwhile.

-Jay

[Gareth_Perkins]

Ah - I see,

My understanding was that the ability to move RAW about replaced the trade rules as printed in the main rulebook (because the outcomes should be similar - additional income),

But if you can also use convoys to build trade routes then that makes a lot more sense (*click*)

The problem with the high-RAW worlds supplying better worlds is that it's often easier to just relocate the population and manufacturing you need to the high-RAW world (unless its capacity is very low anyway). This may cost you in the short term, but in the long term things will be better,

[mwaschak]

The problem with the high-RAW worlds supplying better worlds is that it's often easier to just relocate the population and manufacturing you need to the high-RAW world (unless its capacity is very low anyway). This may cost you in the short term, but in the long term things will be better,

Oh, for sure! That is usually why I reign in the RAW portion of the rule when I play it. There are some times like the Dilgar hauling material back home over ten jumps that things can get pretty fun.

-Jay

[Gareth_Perkins]

'Nother question on convoys,

How do convoys interact with the chances of piracy? Does each convoy count as a civilian fleet for piracy? Or does the presence of one or more convoys in-system count as one civilian fleet?

[mwaschak]

'Nother question on convoys,

How do convoys interact with the chances of piracy? Does each convoy count as a civilian fleet for piracy? Or does the presence of one or more convoys in-system count as one civilian fleet?

Hi Gareth,

Each location with a convoy counts as one civilian fleet for piracy checks. You can make it nastier if you like and make each convoy point count as a civilian fleet, which makes escorts much more important.

-Jay