Thank you for the reminder! Yes, the NPC regions can realign amongst themselves.
Also remember: Ships are permanent (unless they get wiped out by event-this happens depressingly often!) goods are one-use (unless they are guns) BUT you must have at least one ship per good when using the Sail action.
I’ll also suggest that ships are enduring and it might be worth basing the Company’s strategy on a sizable shipping infrastructure. Maybe allocate a bit more to shipping than goods.
EDIT: Ninja’d by @Cuthbert
Horace Sykes was elated! Thirty years of copying this, editing that, bowing and scraping, only to have Chombley go missing on a tiger hunt and then Smythe-Jones fall into a well (one presumes: the body has yet to be found, and the water has needed more whiskey than usual); ah, to be Chairman, after all this time! Sykes smiled broadly, but then his face froze…
…the money would have to come later, once it was clear what the other families had to offer. We are open for business!
He had first to satiate the mewlings of his own rapacious family; a supposed second cousin from Bristol and Mrs. Sykes’ truly feckless youngest brother. Two cubes in the Writer’s Box.
My dear Horace, you have a considerable sum of the Company’s money under your control. The shareholders won’t tolerate putting it under a mattress. The officers of the various Treasury departments are already trying to batter down your door.
(I believe you have to allocate the £20 we got from our initial Court of Directors elections to the company offices: ships, goods, guns, and the 3 Presidencies.)
Yes, that’s correct. You can still hire your nephews though.
I have not heard from our esteemed colleagues as to their plans for spending the accumulated capital of generations. The company is generating no cash, gentlefolk! How shall we make it rich? And who should get incidentally richer along the way?
I am your humble servant…I own no shipyards, or factories, nor are my barely literate relatives in such lofty positions as a presidency. If one were to offer a promise, or promises that me and mine were not to starve in the street, I would entertain the thought of additional funding to a worthy cause.
The Larkin family has just crawled out from under a mountain of debt accumulated by Grandfather Nathaniel during his misadventures in Siam. We are reluctant to climb back into the hole so soon. We trust the Chairman’s judgment as to the best allocation of Company funds.
not playing, just curious if anyone had called dibs on the Larry Craig role.
Gentlemen, I propose the princely sum of £1 be allocated to each office and presidency, gratis. This would leave the company with £14, of which £4 increments are available immediately for disbursement in return for a mere promise, or for those of a more pecuniary bent, £1 in family funds.
This is a miniscule investment and one which is likely to immediately pay dividends to those already owning ships, factories and presidencies, of which Sykes, I must again reiterate, has none.
We shall allocate Company funds in the aforementioned £4 increments as per your requests. For the outstanding £2, we shall endeavour to further reward investment by those who have acted most quickly in the Company’s interest.
We live only to serve.
Such self-serving sentiments will only bring the company quickly to ruin, given its weak financial footing as things stand. Surely we can all work together, without fear or favour, at least until the company has a solid foothold in India and such pecuniation matters little to its fortunes.
If I were worrying about such things in the current economic climate, I would say that despite control of two of the purchasing offices, I have no real way of directing money to my own family, so why should I care to offer the chairman anything for more money to disburse?
@Cuthbert a question about the rules: do the prizes ever change? I had assumed from my initial reading that a player claimed them and any left would be replaced at the end of the year. But looking at them now, and re-reading the rules, it looks as though each card can take multiple cubes, and we have precisely those options for the whole game.
Well said, noble Hastings! I, for one, heartily agree with your sentiments, while noting also that not all of us are so fortunate as to be to the manor-born, not once, not twice, but thrice-over.
It is to the Presidents and the ship captains I address my humble plea. Should we build more ships? I see many idle captains in port. Captain Fitzlarkin will get his ship, but what about the others?
Or facilitate a conquest? Or open a trade route? Fortune favors the bold! Madras and Bombay are economically depressed; we can invest Company funds to make them prosperous again! But would that be fair to poor Bengal? I leave it to you noble lords to decide, I shall only facilitate your choice.
Sadly any money we invest in these regions would just go to line the pockets of the Nayaka and princes. We would have to conquer the regions first in order to support their economy effectively.
While this process would bring riches to the company, I’m not sure we’re in a position to pay for an army of occupation just yet.
These are the options for the whole game, each one can have multiple cubes.
If you go the army of occupation route, please remember that guns and officers require upkeep (one pound of Revenue per turn each)
Finally, in response to a question, private negotiations will be permitted. Please CC me on any major communique. And remember, it may be better to negotiate in-thread in hopes of getting a better bid!
Ships are the foundation of any British enterprise, the very cornerstone of the empire.
And ships need captains.
@Kolbex @CF_Kane @Lantz Sirs, I must address you plainly. You have the most latitude in your actions, but the Company cannot support all three of you equally; there are not enough goods, ships and most importantly capital to share. Remember that if you make an attempt to Campaign, or Sail, or Open Trade you will need funds to ensure your success. Only you noble gentlemen can receive the presidential bonus, and since you have not yet declared your family action, the wise man can guarantee even more money into your coffers in the form of ships or goods.
I ask only that you make a tangible demonstration of your fitness to rule. I assure you, this can be repaid two or three-fold.
After consultation with the family accountant, we are willing to sign two promises to Sykes to facilitate the Company’s shipping operations. We ask that £3 be sent to the Shipping Office in addition to the £1 already promised.
Agreed!
~~
There is quite a large sum outstanding. I hope to hear from the Presidents soon. Without further instructions I would be inclined to further add to the stockpile of our esteemed Director of Trade.
While the value of the Company is important to us all, it stands to reason that Chairman Sykes (@Diddums) stands the most to gain from company dividends.
Recognizing that, I ask that the Chairman allocate two pounds to the Bombay presidency, to help ensure the success of the spice trade in that region. If the Chairman is willing to assign additional funds, I will endeavor to obtain goods and ships to ensure that the Bombay presidency can trade in both spices and lemanees (whatever those are), bringing in a healthy 9 pounds to the company’s stockpile.
Also, whose turn is it to take a family action?