I actually had a captured dhow glut in my Maratha's game, thanks to Persia spamming dhows and using them to pirate my trade lanes!

Quote Originally Posted by Polemists View Post
Then again the Ai goes for quanitity over quality. That is how by the time you get to the trade spots they already own 92% of them.
The reverse in my latest game as GB - I own 4 out 5 spots in every trade theater. I simply sent as many sloops, brigs, even my Home Fleet (2 5th and 2 6th rates) to the trade theaters to occupy every single block, and then spammed Indiamen to start trading & releasing my ships for combat / privateer duty.

You can pretty much use the same approach as the Dutch. The French and Spanish might be able to do the same, I haven't played them yet.

Everybody else is out of luck. As the Maratha's I declared war on the Persians(!) to claim their trade fleets & spots. Even the pirates had ships in two spots, one of which was a single galleon (captured and put to use immediately).