The Appian Way

Market Ladies

Market Ladies are a source of endless frustration, to beginners and advanced players alike. Their behaviour seems at times to defy all logic. But, believe it or not, there is some rationale in there somewhere, it just happens to be rather well hidden. The best part is, once you know how they work, it is much easier to control what they do. The first important thing to realise is that there are two different types of Market Ladies, each of which performs a wholly different function. These will now be discussed separately.

Market Buyers

The Market Buyer, as her name suggests, is responsible for going out and getting all the supplies the Market need to function. She is a destination walker (see this page for more on the different walker types), and will go halfway to Rome to get what she wants if she has to. The Market Buyer's first priority is food. She will endeavour to keep her market supplied with full stocks of every food type she has access to (i.e. any food type held in a Granary with a road connection to the market). She seems to be particularly keen to get hold of wheat. Only when the market is fully supplied with all the available food types, the Market Buyer will attempt to get hold of whatever non-food items the houses the market services require. Market Buyers will only buy non-food items required to maintain the current housing level or for evolution to the next level. If the only houses serviced by a market are small casa, the market buyer will buy pottery (required for evolution), but not furniture, oil or wine.

If the Market Buyer has to make a long trip to get an item that she is buying, then she may not be able to keep up with demand for all the goods sold by the market. The result will be housing instability, which is very, very, bad. There are two solutions to this problem, one or both of which may need to be implemented. The first is to simply build more markets. If one market runs out of a particular item, then the other markets may not have done. The other, more effective, method is to keep supplies of all available food types and all the items you are distributing to houses near the markets (2-3 tiles is good, but anywhere within 15 tiles is usually sufficient). If you are distributing a large number of non-food goods then I would recommend implementing both of these methods. I tend to build one market for every 30 tiles of housing at small insulae or below, one for every 20 at large insulae, and one market for every 2 palaces. These numbers are not hard-and-fast rules, but they have worked for me.

Market Traders

The Market Trader fulfils the role of distributing food and goods to the masses. She is a random walker, so will not pass through Gatehouses, and makes a random choice at every intersection. She will distribute every single item stocked in the Market to every house she passes (now I say that's a lot of baskets). If the market has any stocks at all she will make her normal patrol. She will continue to patrol until she reaches the end of her patrol limit, or the market runs out of everything, at which point she returns to the market to await the Market Buyer's return with fresh items.

When a new item is being distributed (especially the first food type), then the Market Trader may need to make several trips before all the houses in range have sufficient stocks. This is because houses stock a whole year's supply of food, and 4 months supply of all non-food items, at all times. It simply takes a little time to fill the pipeline. The solution is to wait (or add more markets, which should speed up the process).

The single greatest problem with Market Traders is caused by having a complex road network, which means that the route taken by the Market Trader is unpredictable and hence houses may run out of certain items. A simple (intersectionless) road network will improve the efficiency of your distribution system no end, and may help you keep your hair a bit longer....

This website was created by Mark Snow a.k.a. Caesar Alan. Most of the information presented here was gleaned from a number of other websites. Where possible I have credited my sources. You are free to use any of the information here, provided you acknowledge your source!