When to purchase or buy from the dock?

[Flash1]

Okay assuming the English is being played on Marathon...

When is it better to either purchase specific units or to either wait for free random unit or to buy one of the three available?

 

[Refar]

Well quite obviously, you pay if you want a specific profession Right Now (and not waiting for the 1/3 chance if you get it) - like for examply a early Explorer (these tend to be quite cheap too - because it's early).

Professions i really need (and don't want to take the chance) i will sometimes hurry for 200~60 gols on the last turn (it's cheap, you don't loose lots of crosses and get for sure what you want).

 

[SerriaFox]

I say never hurry even if it is cheaper than purchasing. The value of each cross losses value so quickly that hurry just cost you more every time (in lost future cost), even if it is just the last one each time.

exception as Refar noted, scout early, because getting the scout can bring a lot of gold if you beat other nations to a village.

 

[Lord Chambers]

When is it better to either purchase specific units or to either wait for free random unit or to buy one of the three available?

Both.

Firstly you should buy every unit from the recruitment pool, because then you can choose which appears at the dock. If you're saving money you can wait unitil the turn before they would appear naturallly, but the ability to pick the most useful of three is always more valuable than the 85+ cost.

Secondly, the bulk of all your money should go to recruiting at the docks. Crosses then, are directly equivalent to money. You shouldn't look at a Church or Cathedral as something that helps you recruit colonists, you should look at them like something which produces cash, same as cigars or rum. Crosses don't devalue as your generate more, but a colonist producing cigars or rum will produce more cash for the majority of the game.

As such, producing crosses is frequently inefficiant. I still end up with three Firebrand Preachers in my production center by the end of the game because those crosses turn into hammers after declaration, but crosses and religious points aren't very important.

 

[vampy420]

In beginning of game I buy pretty much every thing I can afford off the dock, until the price starts approaching the purchase price of the specialists. I especially grab early scouts, preachers, statesmen, carpenters. Dont forget to save enough early cash to buy guns/horses to trade with natives. The proceeds of which funds my first galleon.

 

[VLGoldenJew]

I tend to rush the strategically important units (hardy pioneers, seasoned scouts, jesuits) that make a huge difference early on. Otherwise I try to get my church with firebrands up ASAP because the immigration crosses generated are just insane and the rush value pops up quickly as you immigrate a horde of disgruntled colonists.

 

[Babibo]

I think purchasing at the docks is always a good idea.

In my games, my first objective is to get a lot of money, which can be obtained by trading with the natives, exploring villages, producing goods, and then raze every Incan settlement on the continent.

It appears to be much easier to get money than to get crosses at start (for example, you'll have to build a church). However, crosses are worth 10 gold each until rushing at the docks gets more expensive than simply purchasing the cheap lumberjacks. So the net value of a preacherman in a church is 60 gold (6 crosses *10). While a tobacco planter on a tobacco tile is something around 50 gold (12 tobacco * 4 or 5).

So if I ever get a preacherman in the very start, I'll try a different strategy. In all other cases, I don't think it's worth investing in a church... Certainly debatable.

 

[tradewind]

I tend to rush the strategically important units (hardy pioneers, seasoned scouts, jesuits) that make a huge difference early on. .

I'm just not sold on Jesuits. I don't think they are better (in fact I think they are far worse) then a free colonist. You land in your port city. Your free colonist starts immediately producing ( at least 16 gold/turn, often more) while your jesuit has to wander for 5-10 turns to find an appropriate indian city to start. Already the free colonist is at least 80 gold ahead. 80 gold in the early game is worth an additional colonist back on the docks. Your jesuit then starts to preach. It takes a bloody long time to get one convert (I don't know exactly how long, but an early jesuit usually only gets one to two for the entire game before I declare independence). Meanwhile my good old free colonist is producing goods to ship to europe to get me more colonists.

I would much rather have an indentured servant producing goods than a jesuit converting.

If a jesuit appears on the docks, I let him go convert, since I like to play these games in a 'role-playing' sort of way, and assume he would be happier fulfilling his god chosen mission, but from a pure maths standpoint give me anyone (except the rancher, don't get me started about how useless those guys are) than a jesuit.

Cheers,
Tradewind.

 

[Desert-Fox]

I usually do not need a lot of Indian converts so I do not need Jesuits. Sometimes they convert so much people that I need to execute them because they are make it harder to get enough rebels.