Trade Cart

"Used to trade with other players by land."

- Age of Empires II description

The Trade Cart is a civilian unit in Age of Empires II that can be trained at the Market. It is used to trade and generate gold between two or more civilizations. Trade Carts do not actually engage in the exchanging of resources between two civilizations. Empty Trade Carts travel to another player's Market empty-handed and return with gold. They receive their gold from the Markets of other players and deposit them at the Markets of their owners. The amount of gold gained depends on the distance from one Market to another. The farther away the Market is, the more gold the Trade Carts generate. Trade Carts may engage in trade with allied, neutral, and enemy civilizations. However, trading with enemy civilizations is ill-advised unless the enemy has resigned, since the Trade Carts are likely to be slaughtered upon reaching the enemy Market.

Trade is an extremely important element in late games due to the limited amount of gold available from mines on most maps. Therefore, trade routes are a primary target for attacks and should be guarded accordingly.

Trade is also possible on the water between Docks with Trade Cogs.

Comparison to the Trade Cog
The Trade Cog is faster (1.32 to 1) and benefits from the upgrades at the Dock, Shipwright and Dry Dock. However, Docks at the same distance do generate less gold than Markets (around 6 to 7). When both units can move in a straight line and the safety of both routes is guaranteed, the Trade Cog is more efficient.

Civilization Bonuses

 * Celts: Herdables cannot be stolen within a Trade Cart's Line of Sight.
 * Chinese: Technologies that benefit Trade Carts are 15%/20% cheaper in the Castle/Imperial Age.
 * Portuguese: Trade Carts cost 15% less gold.

Team Bonuses

 * A team containing Spanish: Trade Carts generate 33% more gold.
 * A team containing Teutons: Trade Carts are more resistant to conversion.

Trivia

 * The Trade Cart is one of only two units (the other being the Monk) that have an alternative design for the Native American civilizations. Since they have no access to horses of any kind, their variant is not drawn by a horse.

History
''The trade cart represents the wagon, pack horses, and other means of land transport used for the overland trade of goods during the Middle Ages. One important land trade route was the movement of wool from England across the Channel into France. The wool was manufactured into cloth and this cloth was carried into Italy to exchange for spices and silk from the East. The most famous land trade route of the age was the Silk Road, from China to Constantinople and the Levant. Camel and horse trains carried silks across forbidding desert terrain in exchange for Western gold and silver.''