Calling Col Oners...

[Öjevind Lång]

One time the Arawaks destroyed my very first colony after just a couple turns. Most of the time they would tie your Scout up for target practice as well, even if you didn't live near them.

LOL - yes, the Arawaks were something else again in Col I. Entering their villages was always a calculated risk, except with trade wagons.
Though saying that they killed your scout most of the time is overstating it.

 

[ZippyRiver]

Though saying that they killed your scout most of the time is overstating it.

Not by much .

However, just once in a while, one can feel good about the arrow wacks. (playing col1 currently). I have the Spanish comming down from the north, the Dutch encroaching from the south, and a couple of ship loads of English troops running around my area wreaking havock on the poor widdle injins. Help out my not so good trade neighbor? Moi? MOI? When pigs fly. . I bet they love the hell out of me now.

(My turn 2 landing area was smack in the middle of their territory)

 

[Öjevind Lång]

Not by much .

However, just once in a while, one can feel good about the arrow wacks. (playing col1 currently). I have the Spanish comming down from the north, the Dutch encroaching from the south, and a couple of ship loads of English troops running around my area wreaking havock on the poor widdle injins. Help out my not so good trade neighbor? Moi? MOI? When pigs fly. . I bet they love the hell out of me now.

(My turn 2 landing area was smack in the middle of their territory)

Heh. I remember when the Spaniards kindly exterminated all the Arowaks in my area. I took great care not to got to war with them before they had finished the job. (As you know, every Indian village destroyed counts against your final score.) Becoming friends with the Arowaks was possible, but it took missionaries in all their neighbouring villages, frequent trade expeditions, a little gift now and then; and even so, one had to be braced for the occasional attack on your colonies.

And of course, I can't count the number of times I got my very first scout, and when he rode into the first or second Arowak village, the smiling Arowak greeted him with the words: "You have insulted our gods! We we will tie you to a tree and use you for target practice!" Then there was a very realistic sound effect of an arrow hitting home and a death gurgle.

Still, if you were patient for two or three hundred years, they could become fanatically devoted to you and go to war not only against your rivals but also against the REF for a pittance. Sometimes a rival colonizer managed to achieve that with an Arowak village, and when that happened, a Scout who rode into that village did not receive the usual greeeting: "Welcome, stranger. We are a peaceful village of Arowaks bla bla bla". Instead, they said: "Welcome to the village. We want rum and train sugar planters". Well, what they wanted to buy and what they had already trained (once) was not the scary part; the scary part was that they did not consider themselves as Arowaks any longer; they were just "the village". There was any number of neat little tweaks like that in Col I.

Did I love the game? You bet. Like you, I still play it at times despite annoying distractions such as the dragoons surrounding your colonies, the 256units limit and the War for Independence. And the king was funny, even though he was a real pain.

 

[ZippyRiver]

Well, things were bound to change. The Spanish only had two dragoons outside my center colony (have 3 in a line along a conifer river ). And they just decided to declare on me. They lost the 2 attack initial wave . Looks like a couple of slaves to me. The other two European powers have pretty much taken the Arawak out, and using the ole' "follow right behind with settlers" trick I am snapping up a sweet island of moderate size. I have four Iroquois towns to the north and can pick up tobacconist, fisherman, farmer and ?.

It's been a slow start though, what with having my first couple of scouts invited over for a Cajun BBQ, but they had to (*ahem)"bring the bait for dem gaters" ("Those alligators", for the translation progs). Looks to be a good game. My goal is one coastal of course, and colony placement is going to be crucial. I also want to vassal the Arawak capitol, if the oppty presents itself. I have JOMT hooked hard.

*Ahem would be a good place to see the "Sitting Bull cough" in C4C that I have heard about. I'd post a SS but my ps/sr key appears to be hosed.

Speaking of that, does anyone get that kind of early excitement in C4C? (which is why the whole post really is on topic and for this forum, imo).

 

[Yashed To]

Because cigar-armed Indians aren't lethal.

Not if you'd consider passive smoking as a weapon.

In my opinion, the lack of a Fountain of Youth or One of the seven cities of gold is more detrimental to the atmosphere than people think. You can leave such things in and adjust the reward or the mechanics if necessary. The new world has to be a place of wonder and mystery. Without that imaginative aspect, it quickly becomes an algorithm.

Same goes for me. The mysteries of a new world are totally missing from the game.
Remember the "Discovered the pacific" sign? Or the signs when you discovered the Incas or the Aztecs? I still nowadays get this "wow, now I hit the mother lode!" feeling.
To me Colonization is more of a "Colonization light", and I would rather have spent ten Dollars more to get a complete game, not a 300 turn demo.

And, say, how much money do all these tribes store? With their financial power they could easily buy all of you colonies and throw you out of their continent ...

 

[Lord Shadow]

And, say, how much money do all these tribes store? With their financial power they could easily buy all of you colonies and throw you out of their continent ...

Not that much, really, but even if they had a lot, showing gold to conquistadores is like showing blood to sharks. They'd tear them apart in order to get the last bit of it. There's no reason to believe bribes would've worked: the natives would've simply revealed their wealth and made themselves a primary target.