This can be critical. Going first allows you to move, combat, buy, sell and take control of ports prior to your opponents. However, it also prohibits you from immediately reacting to an opponents move who came after you. And, of course, you're bidding precious ducats for the privilege of selecting your order. A tough decision that must be made each turn.
Players can also expand their navy by purchasing new galleys.
However, to do this, the player must control a port which has both an iron and wood commodity in its warehouse, or produces the commodity. Sailors, too, can be recruited at any controlled port at a cost of 100 ducats apiece. However, one can only recruit as many sailors at a port each turn as their are commodities in its warehouse. Sailors can either be placed aboard galleys in that port, or left to defend the port against possible invasions. We played an option suggested by Doug Adams of Australia that at game's end, players get 1 point for each galley they own and 1 point for each group of ten sailors.