Kampfinsel

Kampfinsel Handbook — How to Play & Wiki

Trade

I never say no to grog, and only conditionally to an honest trade.

TL;DR: Four trade routes, and each has its place. Pick the right one for the situation — it saves gold and ships.

Which trade route for which situation? #

Direct Trade — The trusted route #

When you trade with alliance members, friends or family, take this route. It is free. You load trade ships with resources and send them — in real time — to the target island.

You know who you're sending wood to — and the nautical mile makes no distinction between friend and stranger.

Marketplace — The bazaar for strangers #

The marketplace is for one-off trades with players you don't know. To create or accept an offer, you need a Trading Post on the island doing the trading. Your active offers are limited across your empire; the market tells you when you reach the limit. It has fees, because the harbormaster has his scribes to pay and the merchants' guild takes a cut of the tribute. When the broker is active, an additional brokerage fee applies on top (see below).

How a market trade unfolds:

Canceling: As long as nobody has accepted, you can cancel. Unloading takes time, and the setup fee is not refunded. If the brokerage fee is active, a minimum hold time also applies — see the section below.

Whoever throws their wares on the market pays the harbormaster's scribes.

Brokerage Fee — when the broker brokers #

The marketplace broker doesn't work for free. When the broker is active, every listing costs a small gold fee — non-refundable, even if you withdraw the listing. On top of that, he warehouses your goods for a minimum hold time: during this period the listing cannot be canceled. If you sell for gold, he keeps a small commission on completion.

Harbor-Master's Desk. Above the offer list, you can filter by offered and wanted resource and by minimum and maximum amount; on the open market, also by ocean. You can sort by age, exchange ratio, amount, expiry or convoy travel time. The list shows a limited selection of the newest matching offers. Narrower filters help you find other offers.

Trading Post — The quartermaster #

In your own Trading Post, the quartermaster is available and trades instantly — without moving ships. But his rates are poor. At level 1 you only get back a third, and at level 20 exactly half. He takes his cut.

For emergencies. Not suitable as a default trade route.

Phoenician Trader — The rare visitor #

A trader from distant realms sails the world oceans. His visits to your ocean follow a fixed rhythm; he only stays for a short time. His rates are better than the quartermaster's. Which island he docks at remains unpredictable.

How the visit works: When the Phoenician is visiting your ocean, you can trade with him from Main Building level 3 — even if another player is hosting him. The Phoenician page shows his location, his offers and your remaining trades for this visit. You can accept each offer only once per visit. The trade runs through your own island — your resources are debited and credited there.

The market also shows when the Phoenician is expected to visit your ocean next — to the hour and the same for every captain.

Tip: In settings, you can enable email for Phoenician in my ocean.

Automatic Trade Routes #

When your harbor reaches level 10 or higher, you can set up automatic routes. Up to three routes per island run automatically — for regular deliveries between your own islands. Routes to alliance members are not available at the moment. When creating a route, you choose the amount, interval and ship type. After an automatic delivery on a direct route, a delivery report appears in the Reports tab for both players, just like a manual trade. Circuit routes do not produce delivery reports. A marketplace delivery also leaves you a trade report — showing what was in transit and what arrived after deductions.

Three routes per island is the base value. Building the Shipping Office raises that limit level by level -- how far is explained in the "The Shipping Office" chapter.

What happens when things run short? A direct route delivers what is available when stock is low. It skips temporary obstacles and tries again at the next scheduled departure. If it stays blocked repeatedly, it stops and sends you a message with the reason. Circuit routes wait until the next scheduled departure if ships are missing, or if no outbound cargo goes along and no station has return freight set; this does not trigger an automatic pause or message. To create a route, enough trade ships of the chosen type must be docked at your own islands. For departure, they must be ready at the source island. Routes may pause automatically after prolonged inactivity — even without a Shipping Office. During your account deletion waiting period, trade routes stand still; "Sail now" is also unavailable.

Instead of fixed amounts you can choose "Load everything" for a route -- how that works is explained in the "The Shipping Office" chapter.

With "Load everything" you can also set the reserve as a percent of your storage: that share stays at home, everything above it sails.

Choosing ships automatically. When you create a route, "Choose ships automatically" is pre-selected: on every departure the route takes as many trade ships of the chosen type as its cargo needs -- at most the ones docked in the harbor right now, and never the ones a route with a fixed ship count needs at the same hour. If ships are missing, the route waits as before and only stops after several missed trips. Existing routes keep their fixed ship count until you edit them; circuit routes with intermediate stations do not choose their ships automatically.

All routes at a glance #

Above the route list sits an empire bar: it names the number of all trade routes in your empire and offers two switches — "Pause all" stops every active route, "Resume all" wakes exactly the ones you paused yourself. Routes the harbor stopped on its own — full storage at the destination, missing ships, a change of ownership — you restart individually once the cause is fixed. If you resume a paused route, it delivers again at its next regular slot. On direct routes, a delivery already in progress is completed first: a deleted route shows "Being completed" in the meantime, and the harbor accepts a new time only afterwards. A deleted circuit route disappears from the list immediately, and a time change is accepted immediately; a fleet already at sea completes its circuit. Next to them a link leads to the Empire overview: a table of every route on every one of your islands, filterable by active and paused, with no island switching.

Coastal Drop #

A freshly founded colony has no harbor yet — and without a harbor no trade ship can dock. That is exactly what the coastal drop is for: a trade run to one of your own islands without a harbor sails anyway, the boats beach on the shore and unload the cargo there.

The beach has its price. A fixed share of every resource goes overboard in the surf — always the same share, no dice and no luck, and neither research nor ship type pushes it down. What really arrives is shown before you send, in a line below the trade form, and again afterwards in the trade report.

If a harbor is standing when the boats arrive — because you finished it in the meantime — they dock as usual and the loss is waived. The reverse does not hold: a run to an island that has a harbor never turns into a coastal drop on the way, even if the harbor falls before it arrives. Recall the fleet before it lands and the coastal drop costs nothing at all.

Whatever the target island's warehouse cannot hold sails back with the ships — as with an ordinary trade. On their return, the source island's warehouse also needs room: whatever does not fit there is lost without an additional message. Each target island only takes a few landings a day; once the day's allowance is used up, the harbor tells you as you send, and the next day it continues.

You cannot reach other captains' islands this way. Comrades, alliance partners, care packages and automatic trade routes still need a harbor. The coastal drop is a leg-up for your own young colony, not a substitute for building the harbor.

FAQ #

I play with my partner or my alliance and we regularly exchange resources. Which route?

Direct Trade, the Trade tab. It's free. The marketplace would be needlessly expensive for you — it's designed for trade with strangers.

Can I cancel?

Yes — but only while nobody has accepted your offer and any minimum hold time has passed. After unloading, a later market run returns the ships. The goods wait until they fit entirely into your warehouse; the ships may already be back before then. The setup fee is not refunded.

Will my resources on the marketplace get plundered?

No. Listed resources sit protected in the harbor on your bound trade ships. They are not part of your storehouse balance.

Are trade fleets attackable?

Currently no. Market fleets are invulnerable — just like existing direct-trade fleets.

What happens if my storage is full on arrival?

It depends on the trade path: with direct trades and automatic trade routes, whatever no longer fits sails back to the sender — your trade report says so. In a marketplace exchange, the overflow is lost. Upgrade your storehouse or plan more carefully what you want to trade.

Why isn't the Phoenician visiting me?

The Phoenician visits your ocean in a fixed rhythm. The Phoenician page shows where he is and whether you can trade. You can enable email notifications in settings. On the Phoenician page, this option only appears while he is in your ocean at an island other than the one you currently have selected, your email is verified and the alert is not yet active. As soon as the Phoenician visits an ocean, a rumor in your Logbook draws your attention to it.

The Logbook has its own menu entry. It shows recent events, including trader rumors, and lets you hide individual groups. Your selection is saved for your account.

How many trade ships do I need?

It depends on the amount. A small trade ship carries 500 units, a large one 2000. The game works out how many ships an offer binds only when you create it — the form doesn't show it beforehand; if you lack ships, the offer is rejected.

Why are there fees at all?

The marketplace is intended for strangers — there, the harbormaster, the scribes and the guild elders all want their share. For trusted trades, direct trade is free.

Tips #

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