What part of the map do you prefer to land upon? Me, I prefer to land in Argentina. There, you can easily get tobacco and sugar, and set up cigar and rum factories. In addition, you're near the Incans, which means good trade. Only downside is you're near the natives in the Amazon, which means you can't expand very easily. I still end up with maybe a half-dozen decent starting spots. (After forcibly converting a village or two. :) )

there seems to be 4 standard starting locations; Cape Cod, the Carribean, Argentina and Brazil. I prefer Cape Cod for long games and Argentina For shorter ones. If I land in the Carribean I often go hunting a rival colony immediately and try to take it by force, after dropping off the settler on some island (usually haiti or cuba)

I usally go up north for my first settlemets you can get fast money with furs/coats ehich helps to get your colony on it's feet.

Is there any advantage to multiple starting locations? For instance, taking over Cape Cod, as well as Argentina? There's not much mutual support during the War of Independence, I'm guessing....

I seem to remember that one of the other powers ends up giving up their colonies to another power during the game. Has anyone ever benefited by this?

Pragmatic,
You are refering to the treaty of Utrecht. This seems to happen when 50% of your citizens want independance. This can happen very quickly in a game if you build colonies and immediately put the settler in to produce liberty bells as a statesman.
The biggest benefit is that it eliminates the weakest country from the game. This is great if they are spanish, because that means that there will be more natives for you to either trade with or exploit(I prefer trade)

I prefer southern South America- good for trading with the Incas and subsequently destroying them. :evil:

Also lots of raw materials like tabacco and sugar for making cigars and rum. And cotton for cloth.

Argentina is my favourite starting location. Close proximity to the Incas. Therefore, it is easier to trade with them as the Dutch or French, or to conquer them as the Spanish. And there is plenty of diversity of natural resources. The perfect place to build up wealth (if you can get around the Tupi)

Well since Becka turned me on, to Argentina that is, it's became my favorite spot! I used to just land to the nearest piece of land and go from there :P

Brazil...
sugar...
rum...
west for silver, lots of it... cool...

Brazil...
sugar...
rum...
west for silver, lots of it... cool...

I like the Argentina / Brazil area. Lots of sugar for Rum, furs for Coats and access to silver near the Incas. The Tupi can be a pain in the a$$, but nothing that a couple of Veteran Dragoons can't fix.

Its not that the Tupi's can be a pain in the A$$ it's that the Tupi's WILL be a pain in the A$$ lol every single time i'm around them they get pissed off, actually in my current game they actually allowed me to establish a mission, and approached with Curiosity.....wierd

Missions are very important, and should not be overlooked. especially if you want a long term relationship with the natives. I will often make any criminal a missionary and send them to all points to spread the word.

Usually I cull the Tupis when they start getting antsy. But I take up so little of the continent, I don't have to destroy them much before I have a barrier between their settlements and mine (in most games I only have three permenent colonies).

I usually turn my indentured servants and petty criminals into missionaries since they serve no other purpose. As for oh-so-fragile Indian relations...(shurgs) I don't play for score....;-)

Peferably in the US or Argentina. IMHO those 2 are best. The Caribbean is the worst, 'cause you'll have to go island hopping all the time and Brazil ain't much betterm 'cause the only thing to be found there is sugar (and silver in the rainforest)...

Did no play colonization for long time .play 2 game now .the first I discovered I land in Central America and have a lot of Privater fight . the second I am playing now after some turn land in argentina to found the spanish placed on a good spot with the 2 Coton Prairi . when the finish to destroy the Indian vilage and send a lone Soldier to another vilage ,north of my single colony I send a Dragon and Artillery to Capture theire Colony.
found there 3 indian convert ,Elder stateman and 2 colonist . some turn afterther veteran soldier was captured when he lose to the indian and build a new colony . I folow some advice and build only 1 permanent colony on the coast ,2 I have conquered from the spanish I build 3 other Permanent colony inside and 3 temporary colony of silver mininig .was very lucky twice found the Fountain of Youth and some tresor .no problem with native .the english sending soldier so at war with them .did no use any Privater . 3 G aleon 2 frigat and 3 merchant shipp and a caravel.
2 colege on the coast . Univercity building and custom house after finishing the Warehouse .Year 1588 hope to revolt before 1650

I try to go peaceful in some games and build my colonies on the west coast of NA. The comp never explores there and never builds settlements there when i play and its good for silver, ore, tobacco and cotton, plus excellent for food and i can build colonies all the way inland to the mississippi without the comp finding me til late.

I like landing on islands, It is easy to defend.

Originally posted by #1 Person
I like landing on islands, It is easy to defend.
Against AI nations yes, but a real problem when you declare Independence.

I've considered capital sites in Venezuela several times. You've got plenty of timber in the tropical forests, ore in the mountains, and food, and there's usually some silver and one Incan city pretty near in the west. It could be pretty decent spot for a quick rush to independence, using that conveniently placed mountain tile to ambush the tories with a minimal force. Haven't done it yet, though, since I like the economy-building aspects of the game and prefer to have all the resources available near a single port, and Venezuela is nowhere near any tobacco or cotton.

Ari!
Haven't seen/heard of you since when (propably at Apolyton).

On subject:
I like the northern parts of the world myself: they tend to be quieter, and the conifer forests are good for production :)

North, for the reasons above ^

I haven't played forever but I always liked the US east coast:

You can build a colony in the north to make Coats, the next one down is cloth, the next one down is cigars & the one below that is rum. Just keep repeating as you move across the continent.

I needed to do that since I always went straigh for Adam Smith & factories. You needed to produce everything in semi-equal amounts or prices would crash.

North America.

I haven't played forever but I always liked the US east coast:

You can build a colony in the north to make Coats, the next one down is cloth, the next one down is cigars & the one below that is rum. Just keep repeating as you move across the continent.

I needed to do that since I always went straigh for Adam Smith & factories. You needed to produce everything in semi-equal amounts or prices would crash.

Yup, North America FTW. Each colony can create its own hammers, Massive amounts of furs in the Canada region, the real money is in North America...

Against AI nations yes, but a real problem [defending islands arrives] when you declare Independence.
In the original Colonization, the King's forces land outside of the most poorly-defended port. If you don't mind exploiting this, running a maritime empire is a lot of fun and easy to keep organized. To prepare for the war, build identical artillery garrisons for all your ports, save one. Outside this single, poorly-defended port, deploy the bulk of your army. Attacking the King's forces as they land, outside of city limits, your forces will have the advantage in every battle.

Speaking of which, does anyone have a copy of the world map?

The Gulf Coast(Lousiana, Alabama) isn't a bad location either. Usually not many natives so lots of expansion room. Also you have Texas with plenty of cleared land and access to good cotton and tobacco lands to the North. Floridian swamps work well for ore production. I agree with Ebitdadada about the colder states also having a good variety.