NOTE: The game has 8 playable powers, and 2 more are being added (with requests for more in store). Mexico is not one of these countries (at least so far), so is not designed to be playable. I just wanted to check it out.
1850: A Year in Mexico
I thought I'd try out SwitchFaction and I often find interest in the challenges of "poor Mexico, so far from God, so near the United States." So I first booted up a listed country - the Ottomans - to take a brief look (lots of troops - rudimentary economy) and then switched to Mexico and hit End Turn. It turned out to have an even weaker economy and infrastructure, but with some long-term economic potential that is evident just looking at the resource map.
First thing, I looked at the top bar. Mexico's government finances were in good order - 200 State Funds on hand would pay troop maintenance for a very long time. Taxes were not collecting much and the people grumbled, so the first order of business was to slash taxes to near zero to try to keep the people from getting surly (below 50) and leave as much for Private Capital as possible (some people will complain about high taxes even if they are low). 75 Private Capital means a tiny economy. There was no steel, a few coal, and fewer Mfg Goods, which are the key to industrial development. This was even more so for Mexico, since the Collection Point Filter provided grim news - great swathes of the country were without access to the national market - including much of the extraction industry - that meant it was shut down since its products were wasted. Clearly a Collection Center would be needed in Aguascalientes north of the capital to serve San Luis Potosi, Guadalajara, and Zacatecas - but the key roadblocks would be the Private Capital and 22 Mfg Goods required.
Military Supplies reaching the troops from the city supply sources were adequate, so conversion of commodity General Supply and Ammo to field supplies was turned off - part would be sold for Private Capital, part kept in reserve. Gold conversion was turned off as well - State Funds were fine, and I thought gold sales (our only luxury good) could make a major contribution to raising Private Capital. With the UK in both the Gulf of Mexico and Pacific Maritime Trade Boxes and both the US and shortly France in the Gulf, the prospect for sales to those large economies seemed promising. But they did not trade aggressively as I did for a major power - there was only occasional demand on the market, and Gold piled up. Mexico tried putting just about everything on the market, but the result was for the most part just intermittent sales of minerals - from the trickle of 2 per turn from the one minerals mine from which we could collect.
The first year was all about Mfg Goods, with occasional diplomacy, and adjustment of sales and purchases of routine commodities. In the early years Mfg Goods are scarce and in high demand, and the only steady source of supply is the USA (10/turn) - and the player, if the player chooses to export them. Mexico got 10 of them over the course of the year, having to click on the 50% premium setting almost always in order to win the competition among buyers in the Chesapeake Maritime Trade Box (which the American trade fleet in the Gulf of Mexico accessed for Mexico).
The situation of many other countries is similar to Mexico. For the economy to get off the ground, for it to be able to produce goods for the domestic economy and to export and trade abroad with other countries (and the player), a small economy needs buyers of its products and sellers of critical items like Mfg Goods. Other than the US, which is set up to be the first provider (though arguably I'd expect that to be the UK), the player's overall activity in trade (and choice of products to buy) and his supply of Manufactured Goods is the key to jump-starting the world's many weak economies - a strong world economy also benefits the player. The ripple effect means countries can get existing facilities into the market and build new ones. Otherwise each country must seek to set up its own production - indeed, Mexico was thinking about a Canned Goods factory to provide some Manufactured Goods - it would depend on how supply conditions looked at the future date at which we topped 20 Manufactured Goods in stock.
Domestic national market demand in Mexico was small - only from 4 to 6 units in each of the three categories, but I tried to make the best of it and feed that demand - both for popular satisfaction and for profit. Other than importing a single Luxury Good from France at one point, which did sell, the upper glasses felt no need for our ample piles of Gold so that sold hardly at all (though piling up mountains of gold might pay off at some point - wink). Instead, we bought a variety of food and consumer goods and took full advantage of those segments of the domestic market by providing some variety to get the people to buy.
Commercial Agreements are worthwhile to assist trade, but all the efforts of Mexico's small portfolio of diplomats were ignored or rejected in Washington, London and Paris. Diplomacy to facilitate trade is about the scope of Mexico's potential international relations, since it has no colonial options (as is to be expected - there is certainly enough to work on at home) and there seems little advantage in a war against any of its land neighbors - the UK, the US, Guatemala, or the American Indians.
One thing I tried to stimulate the economy was to create inflation, but the economy was not large or sophisticated to achieve it more than once, for a pitiful increase of 14 Private Capital. The cost/benefit analysis is favorable to it when working with a small economy, though as a rule it is to be avoided as a large one.
You may ask whether I sent a merchant fleet out to broaden our markets. Well, there was no merchant fleet - and the cost of one dwarfed the entire Private Capital of the country. In addition, Mexico can't build any ships - at least at this point in time. Some naval technologies are in process - but I've no idea which might allow commercial shipping (and, as mentioned, the wealth to build would be lacking).
I also found, when trying to rearrange the army, that all its units, locked or unlocked, were bound to the province they were in - any movement generated a message that it could not move there. Horse, foot, guns, leaders and supply - all chained to the land like serfs. Is it a bug, or an event-driven restriction to keep the Mexican army from running rampant across the Americas? We can only guess. My suspicion is that there is a bug - and though this game had some useful lessons I'll save trying Mexico further for a later time.
1850: A Year in Mexico
I thought I'd try out SwitchFaction and I often find interest in the challenges of "poor Mexico, so far from God, so near the United States." So I first booted up a listed country - the Ottomans - to take a brief look (lots of troops - rudimentary economy) and then switched to Mexico and hit End Turn. It turned out to have an even weaker economy and infrastructure, but with some long-term economic potential that is evident just looking at the resource map.
First thing, I looked at the top bar. Mexico's government finances were in good order - 200 State Funds on hand would pay troop maintenance for a very long time. Taxes were not collecting much and the people grumbled, so the first order of business was to slash taxes to near zero to try to keep the people from getting surly (below 50) and leave as much for Private Capital as possible (some people will complain about high taxes even if they are low). 75 Private Capital means a tiny economy. There was no steel, a few coal, and fewer Mfg Goods, which are the key to industrial development. This was even more so for Mexico, since the Collection Point Filter provided grim news - great swathes of the country were without access to the national market - including much of the extraction industry - that meant it was shut down since its products were wasted. Clearly a Collection Center would be needed in Aguascalientes north of the capital to serve San Luis Potosi, Guadalajara, and Zacatecas - but the key roadblocks would be the Private Capital and 22 Mfg Goods required.
Military Supplies reaching the troops from the city supply sources were adequate, so conversion of commodity General Supply and Ammo to field supplies was turned off - part would be sold for Private Capital, part kept in reserve. Gold conversion was turned off as well - State Funds were fine, and I thought gold sales (our only luxury good) could make a major contribution to raising Private Capital. With the UK in both the Gulf of Mexico and Pacific Maritime Trade Boxes and both the US and shortly France in the Gulf, the prospect for sales to those large economies seemed promising. But they did not trade aggressively as I did for a major power - there was only occasional demand on the market, and Gold piled up. Mexico tried putting just about everything on the market, but the result was for the most part just intermittent sales of minerals - from the trickle of 2 per turn from the one minerals mine from which we could collect.
The first year was all about Mfg Goods, with occasional diplomacy, and adjustment of sales and purchases of routine commodities. In the early years Mfg Goods are scarce and in high demand, and the only steady source of supply is the USA (10/turn) - and the player, if the player chooses to export them. Mexico got 10 of them over the course of the year, having to click on the 50% premium setting almost always in order to win the competition among buyers in the Chesapeake Maritime Trade Box (which the American trade fleet in the Gulf of Mexico accessed for Mexico).
The situation of many other countries is similar to Mexico. For the economy to get off the ground, for it to be able to produce goods for the domestic economy and to export and trade abroad with other countries (and the player), a small economy needs buyers of its products and sellers of critical items like Mfg Goods. Other than the US, which is set up to be the first provider (though arguably I'd expect that to be the UK), the player's overall activity in trade (and choice of products to buy) and his supply of Manufactured Goods is the key to jump-starting the world's many weak economies - a strong world economy also benefits the player. The ripple effect means countries can get existing facilities into the market and build new ones. Otherwise each country must seek to set up its own production - indeed, Mexico was thinking about a Canned Goods factory to provide some Manufactured Goods - it would depend on how supply conditions looked at the future date at which we topped 20 Manufactured Goods in stock.
Domestic national market demand in Mexico was small - only from 4 to 6 units in each of the three categories, but I tried to make the best of it and feed that demand - both for popular satisfaction and for profit. Other than importing a single Luxury Good from France at one point, which did sell, the upper glasses felt no need for our ample piles of Gold so that sold hardly at all (though piling up mountains of gold might pay off at some point - wink). Instead, we bought a variety of food and consumer goods and took full advantage of those segments of the domestic market by providing some variety to get the people to buy.
Commercial Agreements are worthwhile to assist trade, but all the efforts of Mexico's small portfolio of diplomats were ignored or rejected in Washington, London and Paris. Diplomacy to facilitate trade is about the scope of Mexico's potential international relations, since it has no colonial options (as is to be expected - there is certainly enough to work on at home) and there seems little advantage in a war against any of its land neighbors - the UK, the US, Guatemala, or the American Indians.
One thing I tried to stimulate the economy was to create inflation, but the economy was not large or sophisticated to achieve it more than once, for a pitiful increase of 14 Private Capital. The cost/benefit analysis is favorable to it when working with a small economy, though as a rule it is to be avoided as a large one.
You may ask whether I sent a merchant fleet out to broaden our markets. Well, there was no merchant fleet - and the cost of one dwarfed the entire Private Capital of the country. In addition, Mexico can't build any ships - at least at this point in time. Some naval technologies are in process - but I've no idea which might allow commercial shipping (and, as mentioned, the wealth to build would be lacking).
I also found, when trying to rearrange the army, that all its units, locked or unlocked, were bound to the province they were in - any movement generated a message that it could not move there. Horse, foot, guns, leaders and supply - all chained to the land like serfs. Is it a bug, or an event-driven restriction to keep the Mexican army from running rampant across the Americas? We can only guess. My suspicion is that there is a bug - and though this game had some useful lessons I'll save trying Mexico further for a later time.
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