Making money from Wrecks is a very simple
process. However, on many maps, it is the greatest contributing factor in determining who
wins and who loses. Why is this? Well, each Wreck is worth a random amount ($25, $50, $75,
$100 or a Blueprint for a Naval advance) and it is gone for good once used. By any
standards, this is a considerable return. In fact, in early turns it can triple or
quadruple your income with ease. You can then expand at a much greater rate than other
players and capture vital strategic positions while still getting the same technological
growth as everyone else.
The mistake that many players make is in not
going after the Wrecks early enough. This slows down their own growth (as their cash flow
is lower than if they had), gives their opponents increased freedom of growth and
restricts the number of Wrecks that they can capture when they do go after them. On the
other hand, other players make the mistake of going after Wrecks too early in the game
(incredible, but true!). This is mostly in games where no Peace Treaties have been signed
and Wrecks are moderate in number. In this case, players often make the mistake of selling
off too many units to get the Shark University that one turn earlier. The effect of this
is that they will probably restrict their own growth as they are forced to buy their
expansion units all over again (cutting into the profits from Wrecks) and then get them
out to where they were before (cutting into the expansion rate).
So how do you go after Wrecks in the most
efficient manner? The trick here is to be able to grab as many Wrecks from as far abroad
as possible in the one turn. The best way to do this is with planning and Cargoes. If
there are enough players in the first turn that you can make peace with, you would
probably be wise to start on an "ocean" or "river" (small lakes are
not worth it). You can then expand enough to capture a few cities and resources and buy
the Destroyer and Shark Universities straight away... You then send some Cargoes in as
many directions as possible (2, 3 or 4. You usually won't need to send out more than 4 and
won't want to start anywhere that you need send out less than 1 cargo) and as far as you
can get them. On the next turn, you can capture the Wrecks near your Base and then send
out Cargoes with Sharks in them to the Cargoes you sent out last turn. These Cargoes can
then transport your Sharks out even further. Overall, you want to plan it so that you can
capture at least 90% of the Wrecks within 49 moves of your base by water in the first turn
with Sharks (To do this, you will probably need to be ready to sell some of your Sharks
that turn to raise the cash for more). Obviously, in practise, you won't be able to
achieve this all the time. Your opponents may be planning to do the same and one of you
has got to miss out. Make sure it isn't you!
In cases where the wrecks are in small
"lakes" (such as Lakeside and Lakeside 2) or it is not in your best interest to
start on the coastline (because it is too far away from where the cities and resources
are), then the plan outlined above should obviously not be implemented. In those cases, it
is much more efficient to start where you can reach the most "lakes" at once and
still get to all the resources and cities. Then, when you get to the "lakes" you
can plan it so that you can put a Shark in each lake and clear them all as cheaply as
possible.
One final point. When collecting Wrecks, think
Sharks AND Cargoes. It takes one movement point off a Shark to collect a wreck. It may
take more than 2 movement points to reach the next wreck tho. In this case, you conserve
the movement points of the Shark by moving it 1 square onto the Cargo, moving the Cargo
next to another wreck and then moving the Shark onto the wreck. In this way, one Shark and
one Cargo ($159) may be able to collect more wrecks then two Sharks ($198) in the one
turn. In fact, they probably will (Especially when you can reach Wrecks over 30 squares
away with the Shark/Cargo combo compared to 15 squares with the two Sharks).
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| Wrecks gained by use of Sharks alone = 17 (~$1000) Cost = $0 (Pre Wreck Turn) + $495 (Wreck Turn) Net Gain = ~$500 + $49 (Sale of Shark not required) |
Wrecks gained by use of Cargo/Shark = 66 (~$4000) Cost = $360 (Pre Wreck Turn) + $1467 (Wreck Turn) Net Gain = ~$2200 + $98 (sale of Sharks not required) |
| Proof that you get out what you put in! Click on the picture to the right if you want to see if at full size. It's bloody huge! :) | |