Either that or eventually I end up going to war with one of them anyway, in which case I can just send a fleet to take it. Usually because a war has broken out between two of the neutrals and they either withdraw their trade fleet or one destroys the other.

What I normally do then is just camp the trade lane through the zone with an unimportant vessel (like a frigate or sloop) and use it to ninja a trade port as soon as one is left unoccupied. So, like you I find unless I time it perfectly I arrive at a trade zone with all of the trade ports already occupied by random neutral nations. I personally like to let the other nations deal with the pirates occupying the trade zones, as i rarely have either the naval technology or the money to create fleets capable of taking on the pirate galleon's early in the game. I always end up going to a trade node to late and some randomcountry like Georgie has everything for some reason. That way at least your allies and friends get to make some money, only your enemies starve to death. Originally posted by Didz:This is such a powerful strategy that I hamper myself with a house rule that says I'm not allowed to occupy more than one trade zone in each trade theatre.