Pottinger: For some people they swear that's the only way to play, and then there's some people who swear that you will lose every game if you don't send every shipment immediately. And the cool thing is, hopefully they're both right!
What do you think is the "better" strategy?
What do you think will be the most popular?
What do you think all of the experts will use?
What do you think will be better for you?
What do you think will be better for team games?
(I think you get the point now)...
Pros for Saving Shipments:
You can create an army nearly instantly that counters your opponent’s army.
(If your opponent sends over a horde of cavalry you can ship over a horde of pikemen to counter him.)
The longer you save a shipment of soldiers or resources the more you will get when you finally use it.
(If you use your shipment as soon as possible you might get 4 soldiers, but if you wait a while you might get 8.)
If you need a certain resource in a hurry you can immediately ship a bunch of it over from your home city.
(If you spend your shipments immediately you might not have any when you "really" need them or they wont be very big when you do ship them.)
Pros for Using Shipments:
If you use all your early shipments as soon as possible on military units you can perform a rush.
(You can get three shipments of Musketeers at 5 mins and use them rush your opponent.)
If you use your shipments as soon as possible on villagers you can have a better economy.
(Is it worth it to wait a while to gain one extra villager, when you can go ahead and ship the available ones over to get them working?)
If you use your shipments immediately you will have more resources early on and you will be able to advance your civilization along faster.
(The longer the game goes on in theory the more resources you should have in the "bank." Therefore resources are more valuable earlier on in the game.)