Nation Transport: Order No. 947
"My dear Gimli, it is Longbottom Leaf! There were the Horblower brandmarks on the barrales, as plain as plain. Howe it came here, I can't imagine." (II)
It is tough to put together a good army. Not necessarily the perfect army, just a good one. Maybe some bronze armor or steal weapons. Perhaps a few war machines. Or even amassing enough leather to make Heavy Cavalry. However, it is only the luckiest of nations that will have a population center ready to supply exactly what is needed. Typically, supplies trickle in at an astonishingly low rate. Purchasing resources from the marketplace is no long term solution as this can be very expensive. Metals always sell at a premium, and even buying enough food to support a 1000 Heavy Infantry army isn't cheap.
Fortunately, Nation Transport allows a nation to consolidate resources into just a few population centers. By issuing this Order, a nation can send any percentage of any one resource to one of its population centers. Therefor, Mounts and Leather can all be consolidated in a recruiting center. Timber can be sent to the front lines to build fortifications. As there is no distance limitations on this Order, it allows Nations like the Dwarves or Dragon Lord to function by massing resources where needed.
This Order can be issued by any character, making it simple to use. As it is a Miscellaneous Order with an Automatic success rate, no special skill is required. The Order comes nearly last in the turn sequence, allowing a character to Move to the Capital before issuing the Order to Nation Transport. Finally, as this Order comes off before Transport by Caravans (948), a nation could amass a resource and send it to an ally, all in one turn!
Yet this Order does have limitations. First, it is a Capital Order. A character must be at the nation's capital to issue it. Further, as mentioned above, a siege will stop the transport to or from a population center. Finally, the resources can ONLY be sent to one of THAT nation's population centers (for example, the Witch King can't send Bronze to the Fire King with this Order). Additionally, the caravan will attempt to take an additional 10% of the resources as its fee. The best way around this is to send 100% of the product instead of a lesser amount. Finally, it is important to remember this Order requires a player list the PERCENTAGE of resources to be shipped, not the number. If you ONLY want to send 100 Steel to the Woodmen, a calculation must be made to determine what percent of the nations stores 100 steel is (Remember that Production will come BEFORE Nation Transport).
Unlike Transport by Caravans, issuing Nation Transport does not result in other Nations learning where resources are being amassed. This is because no Nation Message is generated as a result of this Order.
Nation Transport is one of the most important Orders in the game. Careful study of this Order will definately result in increased success in the game.
Return to Firebrand's Order Analysis
Text Copyright 1999 by Jeffery A. Dobberpuhl. All game mechanics and terms are Copyright 1993 by Tolkien Enterprises, as produced, designed and distributed by Game Systems, Inc.