by gameon3948
steveg700 wrote:
gameon3948 wrote:
Steel and Coke are the most expensive goods, so OF COURSE the end game is about capitalizing on them. You should be fighting to build or buy the Wharf, the Ironworks and the Colliery EVERY GAME.
So, let's get back to leather for a minute. Some resources can act as food, some can act as energy, and steel and coke are for actually winning the game. Where does that leave leather?
A few parts to this answer
- Making leather is usually a waste of an action
- There are a couple special buildings that can increase its value, but the special buildings available are random each game, so usually they are not in the game
- Rarely, if you don't have enough goods to fill yours ships for end game shipping (usually you fill the extra spots after steel and coke with cattle or baked bread or coal), and you have some hides left over from cattle you slaughtered during the course of the game, and you have one action to spare, then making 4 4-value leather is nominally better than getting 4 3-value coal, since your only concern is shipping them. Maybe I will do this 1 game in 10 and only ever once.
- Finally, that's ok. Hides are basically an afterthought after slaughtering cattle. They don't have to be worth anything. Buildings don't have to be balanced. You don't build the Tannery because you want to make a bunch of leather (that would be silly since the Tannery has no entry cost). You build it because you need an extra building of that type for the town hall bonus or because it's 12 points for a cheap 1 wood/1 brick cost.
