Merchant Republic

Major Bonus: +10% gold in all cities with an established Governor

Minor Bonus: +15% production toward Districts

Merchant Republic Rundown:

Likely the best T2 Government type, very well rounded with the extra Wildcard slot and extremely powerful major and minor bonuses. Strong for Sim-Citying

Merchant Republic Strengths:

• Versatile: Extra wildcard slot
• Strong "minor" bonus

Merchant Republic Weaknesses:

• Takes about 10 turns longer to get to Merchant Republic than Monarchy so that's 10 turns where you could be building your government district building and getting your tier 2 government district building online (usually meaning a spy)
• Legacy bonus is lackluster

Militaristic Policy Card Slot: 1

It's pretty obvious that you're going to be running conscription to maintain the armies you've made at this point

Economic Policy Card Slot: 2

Usually you're going to be running some of the following:

• Serfdom/Urban Planning
• Natural Philosophy
• Town Charters
• Naval Infrastructure

Diplomatic Policy Card Slot: 1

At this point of the game I hear often that players tend to gravitate towards running Merchant Confederation however I do not tend to touch this civic card much at all due to my complete infatuation with spies -- and there's some examples of why included. The diplomatic card that I tend to use is Machiavellianism because of this though there are always exceptions to this -- it's a standard for me, not a rule.

Wildcard Policy Card Slot: 2

Having two wildcard policy slots is one of the major boons of running with Merchant Republic. You can choose to run the legacy card of Oligarchy to buff your Pike and Shot or Musketmen, you can use it to buff your sim-city capabilities or better control city states or simply to produce more military. Depending on the stage of the game and your goals here's what I tend to use my wildcard policy cards in Merchant Republic for:

• Logistics
• Naval Infrastructure
• Retainers
• Professional Armies
• Wars of Religion (if applicable)
• Maritime Industries/Press Gangs/Feudal Contract/Grand Armée/Maneuver/Chivalry/National Identity
• Legacy Policy Cards such as Oligarchic legacy
• Dark Age policy cards: Specifically Elite Forces is extremely powerful here for your Ranged Naval, Land, air, and Siege units
• Bastions/Limes

End