Corn v Indigo v Sugar v Tobacco v Coffee

[Santa Maria]

Intro: I play 4-player games exclusively, so it is meant for 4-player games

Note: 2, 3, 5 player games are different and the goods' value and their use is changing

Note: I play 'classical' games only, cause I am convinced that 'balanced' option breaks the strategic depth of the game



The strategic value of CORN v INDIGO v SUGAR v TOBACCO v COFFEE

The development of goods is essential so which goods are being developed in what order and mass is of utter importance.

There are 5 types of goods and they have 2 purposes:
- Scoring: to turn them into VP chips (points) through shipping
- Economic: to trade them in the Trading House for db; with Factory get db for produced types through crafting


As of which strategy is being pursuit the development of each type is valued

so to classify:

Cheap goods:
CORN
INDIGO

Middle good:
SUGAR

High end goods:
TOBACCO
COFFEE


As of such the cheap goods can be easier mass produced and shipped, while the high end goods are more difficult to obtain and have high end pay off in the Trading House and are so valued for building.



For obtaining goods a plantation of the type of the good with appropriate production building needs to be manned (for Corn, only the plantation).

For each good except Corn there is a Large production building (3x of each) and for Indigo and Sugar there is also a Small production building (4x of each).

As such it limits the mass of each type of good to be produced (with one Craft):

Corn - is limited only by the plantation count on your island and there are 10 Corn plantations with Seat 3 & Seat 4 starting with one, so there are at most 8 to be able to be obtained

Indigo - with both production buildings there are 4 slots so at most 4 Indigos may be mass produced (5 with choosing Craftsman)

Sugar - with both production buildings there are 4 slots so at most 4 Sugar may be mass produced (5 with choosing Craftsman)


Tobacco - there is only 3 slot production building so at most 3 Tobacco can be produced (4 with choosing Craftsman)

Coffee - there is only 2 slot production building so at most 2 Coffee can be produced (3 with choosing Craftsman)



So to produce beyond Corn the production building must be bought prior and then manned, so there is the economic entry barrier.

Also a plantation needs to be obtained and manned, there are in the draw (plantations):

11x Sugar

10x Indigo (with another 1+1 already on island of seat 1 and seat 2)

9x Tobacco

8x Corn (with another 1+1 already on island of seat 3 and seat 4)

8x Coffee

In the supply there are 11 Sugar and 11 Indigo barrels with 10 Corn and 9 Tobacco and 9 Coffee

So these put a great pressure on Craftsman, because if player seated after you crafts he produces first and you will be producing last so may not be able to produce goods because of barrel supply limit.


Cheap Goods

CORN

is the easy to produce cause there is only 1 colonist needed per 1 corn plantation, so in the early game is able to mass 1-2+ Corn fast, and therefore is suit for any shipper strategy

on the other hand the trade value is 0 db but can be enhanced with markets and trader bonus

INDIGO

is also very easy obtained cause the Small plant is the cheapest building in the game with 1 db and with manned Quarry (1x) is free
the large Indigo plant is also very accesible for 3 db,

to mass produce Indigo though 2 colonist are needed per barrel so to get it online fast, Hospice is needed otherwise it gets time to get enough colonists
and so the very early game shippment goes lost (unless also have 1+ Corn)

can be traded for 1 db though so the first Indigo trade can be very lucrative if also trading with selecting Trader which can power up the early game


Corn and Indigo are also very valued for Factory play cause can be cheaply obtained early and prove db from Factory Crafting


To beware is what goods are the other players developing (as of which plantations they have), cause if seat before you is massing Corn he will fill the Corn boat and you will have hard time shipping your Corn, so you want to mass produce different good then the seat before you (or get Warehouse).
The same goes for your trading good, developing a monopoly is very lucrative and makes easier trading opportunity which later can also secure a ship.


Middle good

SUGAR

- is very versatile as can be mass produced and also traded for solid value

- is obtained easily with small sugar mill and therefore is great for Factory as well as for trading, especially the first Sugar trade can be quite the deal

- but all players have an easy access to it as well, though they need to pick a sugar plantation first,
so it is very important what plantations are in the draw and what are being picked in the opening rounds


High end goods

TOBACCO

is the easier accesible of the two, so can be developed as soon as round 2 (with seat 2) or round 3 (with seat 3 or seat 4), which can prove a solid early trading advantage and in end game can be even mass produced (3x barrel production)


COFFEE

is the highest trade pay off in the game, but is also fairly expensive to obtain

very dangerous is when finally getting your Coffee online the player seated before you also gets a roaster and you will not trade which can be the game right there, on the other hand if able to get it early and trade it can prove a decisive builder advantage

also blocking the 7 barrel ship (or even any) with Coffee monopoly can kill the shippers or prove to your shipping advantage



So will discuss various worth of goods and their build up in the future here, this intro was to outline the very basic thoughts

[esquitini]

Very good text, but I want to emphasize that "no balanced" games are not fair, and it's easily to be proven. If you take a look in % of wins, 3rd and 4th players win more than 75% of time in this format. It's ridiculous. I'm a already experienced player and I've tried to play in this format a lot of times, there was some play that EVEN making all best decidions I lost to 3rd or 4th. It's a statistical fact, and actually all Master players of this game agree with it and always play in balanced format. So I strongly defend all players to always set balanced. Nowadays, If it's not balanced, I refuse to play, But excellent analysis of the game.

[Santa Maria]

Very good text, but I want to emphasize that "no balanced" games are not fair, and it's easily to be proven. If you take a look in % of wins, 3rd and 4th players win more than 75% of time in this format. It's ridiculous. I'm a already experienced player and I've tried to play in this format a lot of times, there was some play that EVEN making all best decidions I lost to 3rd or 4th. It's a statistical fact, and actually all Master players of this game agree with it and always play in balanced format. So I strongly defend all players to always set balanced. Nowadays, If it's not balanced, I refuse to play, But excellent analysis of the game.

I will open a thread for 'classical' v 'balanced' discussion where I will state my arguments, this one is for goods development and with settings 4-er 'classical'.

I see you have a different opinion on the matter, I respect that but I never play 'balanced', I used to but found out it is a home made rule that ruins the strategic depth of the game and for me it is also proven.
Hope you can accept my opinion and we each continue to play true to our beliefs.

[esquitini]

Sure, I respect. Everyone has your own right to play the way consider to be the best. But one point is to analyze what the biggest players think about it. And I already noticed all highest rank players of PR in BGA prerfers balanced. When i mean highest rank is the top 10-20 players of PR. I think if all the masters consider it fair to be played this way (besides my experience that prove to me it's the best way), it means something. I guess we will never play together so hahaha

[Santa Maria]

Coffee

So what is being developed when matters a great deal, so the order in which goods are being aquired matters. These are related to plantation draws in early rounds, so taking Quarry is an advantage but hinders the plantation development and limits the very early options so is a trade off to consider.

As of Coffee, need to always be wary of what plantations are in the draft draw and consider what plantations the other seats will want to take.
So taking early Coffee can be dangerous, cause it has the highest entry cost so can be developed only a bit into the game and if seat before yours also suddenly takes Coffee plantation and then also goes for roaster can be game over for you as a Coffee player.

Otherwise the strategy is to develop Coffee, as when able and then have a strong trades, later is greatly enhanced by Markets (Small and or Large)
and Office can be considered as well.
As of is best paired with a stack of Corn to be able to ship 3-4 Corn and trade Coffee for powerful income, the aim is then going for Small Warehouse
(if you could get 3-4 Corn plantations) and Wharf into Customs House if you go for hybrid Coffee+Market for building and 3-4 Corn for shipping route.
Harbor can be considered aswell.

Can be also played only for the builder game to get Markets and even Office and then try for 2-3 Large buildings instead if did not go for the Corn play.
Then 2-4 Quarries can be of value, but probably should think about developing some other good as well, as if you start with Indigo the Small Indigo Plant is a no brainer, otherwise can go the Corn shipping route (if starting with Corn).

It can also be played only as a part of Factory play to have a ship blocker with solid trade option and develop the cheap goods for Factory and probably some Quarries.



The Coffee plays can be very powerful and fast in any aspect, but can be destroyed when being blocked from trading which can spell complete doom.

Which Large building is best depends on which route you go, if went with more Commercial buildings then City Hall is huge, if picking Coffee as an addition to goods variety Guild Hall is strong, Customs House when going for the Corn shipping, and the other ones depending on Hacienda or Hospice with University.

The difficult choice is always should you build the cheap buildings and delay Coffee, or hoard for roaster and pass on building.
The reward is strong but beware to being blocked to no recover.


So whatever the way,
Play Coffee to your own taste

[Seriq]

I thought buildings couldn't be cost reduced below 1 doubloon?

[Santa Maria]

I thought buildings couldn't be cost reduced below 1 doubloon?

You can build for zero doubloon (db), so if you have a manned Quarry you can build Small Indigo Plant for 0 db.


In expansions you can build many buildings for 0 db (for example with forests or Zoning Office).

The cost cant be reduced below zero db though.
But you still are able to build some buildings for 0 db, so they are being built for free.