by Becq
Others have given good general advice. One thing I'd like to check on:
It sounds to me as though you got the same exact event twice in a single year. In general, this shouldn't happen. Each time you flip over a new event, you "dismiss" the old one (put it at the bottom of the deck). So most of the time, you shouldn't get that event back until one of two things happens:
1) The year ends -- during winter, the event deck is shuffled.
2) A milestone introduces a new event -- the new event is shuffled into the deck (which includes the events at the bottom of the deck).
Back to general advice:
There are events that punish accumulation of gold. The best way to combat this is to minimize selling for gold. Instead, consider converting goods directly into glory via treasures, upgrades, or structures -- each of which converts a good and 2 gold into a glory. This is often more efficient than selling, since it allows you to get 8 gold worth of benefit per good rather than 6. You'll need to sell from time to time to get seed money, but try not to accumulate too much at a time, and make sure you have a plan to spend the cash soon after. Always keep in mind that money is worthless at the end of the game; trading is a tool that must be used to generate glory, not wealth.
As others have noted, milestones are fairly critical to winning the game (and not only due to glory; you've probably seen by now other benefits). Always look over the milestones for the next game, and pick out one (or two) that you think you can get faster than the others. You actually want to be doing this in the last few turns of the previous game, because you want to keep an advisor that will help you -- which might mean buying an advisor that you don't need at the time, but which you'll need early in the next game.
If you're behind, you have a pretty significant advantage in the first couple of turns of the game, because you and go first,
(Box 1 spoilers)
[o]and start the game with bonus money/rep/fortune.[/o]
You can accomplish things earlier in the turn than the others, and have first shot at the best advisors. Use that to make sure you get the milestone you're aiming for!
One thing to beware of is the other players. One *disadvantage* of going first is that you don't know where the other players are heading.
(Box 1 spoilers)
[o]Try to avoid being an easy target. Keeping your ships together is often a strong advantage for two reasons: first, you get a little extra defensive boost. And second, YOU control which of your ships is attacked. Which means that you can put your goods on one ship, then use the other as a sacrifice, if you're raided.[/o]
One last thing. I'm not sure where you are in the campaign, but if you look at the types of things that get unlocked with each box, you might see trends or themes. There are points in the campaign where trade and/or exploration vary in importance, and you should try to adapt your chosen strategy to that. Don't lock yourself into a particular strategy exclusively.
I hope something in here helps!