Request for a tutorial (kinda)

Hmm, let me see if I can help you here:

  • Food: Food serves a couple of purposes, and it is a little different than previous titles. Most important is that food is needed for your people to survive, so food has a large effect on public order in your province. A food surplus will give positive bonuses to provincial growth (population increase, which lets you build more buildings over time), army replenishment (how fast your troop numbers grow back from losses) and provincial wealth (how much money you make per turn from a province). Now, where it gets a bit confusing (and this is a new mechanic for Attila) is that you can have food shortages on both a Provincial level, and a faction-wide level. On the provincial level, it will induce some public order penalties, as well as a reduction in income (-25% from all sources). A faction-wide shortage (The sum total of all food produced and consumed) is much worse, it makes it so your armies will suffer attrition (reduction in numbers per turn) in provinces with famine as well as a big decrease to their integrity (their likeliness to mutiny and rebel against you), among other penalties. Note that you can have a faction-wide famine but still have provinces with surplus food. In short: Surplus = good, Provincial famine = ok, Faction-wide famine = bad. This article has a much more detailed explanation on how food works in Attila.

  • Currency: Currency is generated from several sources, primarily through your settlements. Think of currency as your tax income from your people and you make an amount equal to the sum of your income and expenses per turn. Each faction has economic buildings that can greatly improve your income in a specific province, and other non-economic buildings such as farms that also generate a modest revenue. Currency is directly spent each turn by recruiting units, researching certain technologies, and constructing buildings and upgrades in settlements. On top of this, currency is indirectly spent for army upkeep, meaning that the more troops you have, the more it will cost to maintain them. There's also other factors which can become significant such as corruption (a percent loss in income which becomes greater the with the more territories you control), raiding from enemy armies (soldiers rolling around the countryside stealing from your people), famine, and certain events outside your control such as bad harvests, time of year (Winter in particular), plague, etc. Research down the economic tree can help to alleviate some of the penalties. Other lucrative ways to get income are by making trade agreements with other factions, developing cities with luxury or industrial goods such as gems, wine, gold, silver, furs, lumber, etc., raiding your enemies territories, or by attacking and looting enemy settlements. There is also bonus income that can be earned by completing mission objectives.

  • Settlements: In Attila, there are 3 ways you can acquire a settlement: 1.) By conquering and occupying an enemy city. This is the primary way you will gain territory. 2.) By having a region gifted to you by another faction. I know you can gift regions to the AI but I have yet to see the AI do it for me. 3.) By resettling a destroyed region (One which has been razed and abandoned). This is usually a very expensive proposition as it costs a large amount of money and soldiers to do so. It will also take a long time for the settlement to develop into anything significant, but it may be a good choice for regions that are relatively safe from enemy invasion. Note that there is a sort of pseudo option which does not get you territory but can still be useful in getting extra money and military support: Tributary/Vassal states. When you are in a situation where an you have an enemy about to be destroyed by you, you may be able to convince them to become a vassal state. A vassal state will give you 50% of their income per turn, as well as they will become your ally (Will fight your enemies with you, allow you to march armies through their territory, and let you recruit units from their faction when your armies are in their territory). They will also give you trade income. This can be useful if you don't have the manpower to defend the extra territory, or if you are having high corruption and don't want to add to it. Another way to get vassals/tributaries is to offer regions to migrating tribes through your territory in exchange for vassal status. This can work on tribes that are severely reduced or weakened, and help you to shore up otherwise indefensible territories with some AI padding.

I know this is a lot to take in, and it really just takes some time playing the game to really understand it. If you need any clarification on any of the points above, let me know.

/r/totalwar Thread