The Ivory Road screen, showing various caravan routes in Immortal Empires.
- For the province with a similar name, see Ivory Road. Caravans links here, for the Kislev building, see Caravans (building).
The Ivory Road is an campaign mechanic for Grand Cathay which boosts their economy. It is separate from the Trade mechanic.
Details[]
Grand Cathay factions dispatch Caravans in order to earn money from the Cargo investment it carries; the value of the Cargo can be raised or lowered depending on the amount of money invested. A destination settlement with which to trade is selected and the Caravan dispatched, with the number of turns required depending on the distance.
The further the distance and more valuable the Cargo, the higher the profit earned if it reaches its destination. Once the Caravan returns to their capital city, it can be replenished and available to dispatch again. Only one Caravan can be dispatched and active at a time, though another can be dispatched when the other is returning to the capital. Diplomatic relations will increase with the settlement's faction and the Caravan Master will be gifted a unique item, depending on the faction who owns the trade node, on the first completion of the route with that faction.
The route will be more dangerous the longer it is, the higher the value of the Cargo, and if hostile factions occupy the regions along the route. Ogre Camps will always extort Caravans for Cargo or Units, regardless on the player's diplomatic relations with that Ogre faction.
Hostile armies in the area can attack the Caravan independent of dilemmas. The Caravan cannot retreat from any battle, and will be permanently lost if they lose.
Caravans cannot be manually controlled on the campaign map, though they can be instructed to alter their course towards a new trade settlement while en route. Caravan units are fully controllable in battle. Caravan Masters rank up to acquire skills and can be equipped with Items. The army's starting composition is determined by the Caravan Master's specific trait, with additional units only obtainable via the dilemmas as noted above.
Caravan dilemmas[]
Caravans can face dilemmas along the way, which lead to battles, lost units or cargo, buffs, or new units to be recruited. These dilemmas are marked with a colored icon indicating their threat level along the Caravans' route on the campaign map.
- Caravan Encounter! A Gift from Ind
- Caravan Encounter! A Quicker Way
- Caravan Encounter! Daemonic Incursion
- Caravan Encounter! Found Cargo
- Caravan Encounter! Hungry Ogres
- Caravan Encounter! Hungry, Hungry Ogres
- Caravan Encounter! Inn-counter
- Caravan Encounter! Lost Patrol
- Caravan Encounter! The Shortcut
- Caravan Encounter! The Stranger
- Caravan Encounter! The Toll
- Caravan Encounter! Warriors Return
Caravan units[]
Dilemma units[]
These units can be recruited by choosing some options in dilemmas.
- Celestial Dragon Guard (x3)
- Jade Warrior Crossbowmen (x2)
- Jade Warrior Crossbowmen (Shields) (x2)
- Peasant Archers (x3)
- Peasant Long Spearmen (x2-3)
- Empire Captain (x1)
- Ogre Hunter (x1)
- Noble (x1)
In addition, Maneaters and Maneaters (Ironfists) can appear in a Caravan when it spawns, to represent the Caravan hiring Ogre mercenaries. Some non-Cathay units may also be gained depending on what factions the player is allied to. For example, if allied with a Kislev faction, the player may gain Streltsi (x2) when choosing the "Lost Ranger" option during Lost Patrol dilemma.
2x Streltsi unit in a Caravan belonging to The Northern Province
Reward units[]
The following units are offered as recruits for completing a caravan to each destination.
Destinations[]
There are a total of 10 different destinations Immortal Empires that a Caravan can travel to.
| Name | Distance | Reward | Campaign | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Altdorf | 8 | Luminark Lens | Immortal Empires | |
| Nuln | 8 | Experimental Explosive | Immortal Empires | |
| Marienburg | 8 | Warrant of Trade | Immortal Empires | |
| Gisoreaux | 9 | Mantle of Damsel Elena | Immortal Empires | |
| Castle Drakenhof | 5 | Von Carstein Blade | Immortal Empires | |
| Erengrad | 7 | Gryphon Legion Lance | Immortal Empires | |
| Frozen Landing | 5 | Frost Wyrm Skull | Immortal Empires | |
| Myrmidens | 4 | Grant of Land | Immortal Empires | |
| Barak Varr | 4 | Starmetal Plate | Immortal Empires | |
| Karaz-a-Karak | 4 | The Ankor Chain | Immortal Empires |
Rewards[]
There are unique rewards available when you send a Caravan to certain destination for the first time. Each item can only be gained once.
There are four items which aren't bound to a specific location. When you revisit a location, there is a 10% chance to randomly gain one of the four items.
Strategy[]
Using Caravans[]
- Where possible, avoid sacrificing units to the Ogres' ambushes and manually fight them off. You want to build your caravans into formidable armies in their own right so that ironically these ambushes become good earners for your campaign through loot! Manually resolving them is preferable because as tedious as they may be auto-resolve tends to cause more casualties for you, which given caravans must also bear attrition at various intervals will eventually leave them in tatters.
- Unlock the Caravan Master's Wayfinders perk as your first level up. Getting hit by an ambush by a large Ogre army is the most likely way you'll lose a caravan, and a 50% reduction in chance of that happening is huge.
- Make sure to visit every possible destination, even if the profit for doing so isn't amazing. The one-off items and ancillaries rewarded for completing each caravan are extremely good, and the units that are rewarded are also very helpful.
- Note that the chance of a hostile caravan encounter is based upon the friendliness of the faction controlling each node, not on your relationship with the Ogre factions as a whole. If Sylvania are hostile towards you, for instance, there will be a strong chance of meeting an Ogre ambush in their territory.
- Running multiple caravans during the early-mid game is a mild high risk, high reward strategy. You will generate profit quicker, but the caravans you are operating will be weaker as a result of splitting the reward units between them, and you will see the hostile encounters scale faster.
Caravans for non-Cathay factions[]
- With a couple of exceptions, destruction/chaotic factions should regard caravans that are passing through their territory as loot crates. It doesn't matter at all if the minor Cathay factions are at war with you, and it only matters if the major ones are if they manage to go very big. Goldtooth should consider leaving them be because being allies with The Western Provinces and having more trading partners more generally is favourable for you.
- Order factions and circumspect Vampire Counts factions should consider not attacking them for two reasons: the obvious benefit of eventually allying with the major Cathay factions, and secondly because caravans that make it to their destinations, which are all either Order or Vampire locations, provide the owner with free money. This is true regardless of who owns them, so long as they aren't at war with the caravan owner.
- Note that caravans can and will reinforce in battles if they are either at war or allied with one of the factions participating.
- Caravans can catch and spread plagues - something to note for Nurgle and Fecundites factions.
See also[]
- Military Convoys, the Chaos Dwarfs equivalent.