not enough colonists ?

[mops]

Hello.
A bit of background. I'm playing civ and col since version I - 15 years ago (or so)
Anyways, Now I'm playing civ4col, patch 1.01f.
I gave it a try before patch but i wasnt very successful.

I keep getting stuck in the same place over and over again. Basically I always seem to be short of colonists. I cant buy them cos no $$$. to make $$$ I need to make goods. to make goods you need colonists, and this is this loop i get stuck in. I cant even possibly see how and where to build army from if I'm always short of colonists...

Probably I'm doing something wrong...
I normally play with English (-25% crosses required to remigrate). First i build colony close to 'European water tiles' (so the ship can turn around quickly). I normally build docks and then church. I start pumping out crosses while building lumber mill. then for next while ship goes back and forth between England and new land hauling 2 new colonists at the time. But there comes a point after about 20 colonists that more and more crosses is necessary to get new colonists. I setup some production and trade to get some money. also try to explore with 1 scour and the soldier but normally i loose them to Indians or ruins which 'swallow' units. Hurrying immigrants eventually becomes as expensive as purchasing them. I get to this point where existing production creates some $$$ and it's enough for only purchasing 1 cheap colonist in couple of turns and it seems not enough.

I do understand that I would need more colonies to produce (and therefore sell) more, but more colonies require more colonists....
So basically i can easily get to ~ 20 colonists and then my growth is massively slowed down due to not enough colonists...
I tried sending missionaries but without major success.

I'm sorry i'm going on and on about the same thing, but it seems to me if i could get another 20 colonists i'd have enough for more colonies, and even couple of dragons to go around and kick butt...

I kinda dont want to to sell guns to indians because then they have guns and are much stronger... and selling them trade goods doesnt go very far...

Any hints/tips what am i doing wrong and at what stage ?

 

[dalgo]

Yes it is slow to get new colonists at first. The immigration queue is one source (especially for the English) and the other way is to grow your own by placing your initial colonies near good food resources and letting the native villages train your colonists as farmers or fishermen. Use a pioneer to clear the land and create farms. It is best not to hurry new colonists from the immigration queue as that quickly increases the number of crosses required. Instead buy the specialists you need from Europe when you have the cash available.

The fastest way to build up your cash at the start is to send out scouts. There is plenty of gold just waiting to be picked up but only if you get there first. Seasoned scouts are best as they get better results from villages and can visit ruins and burial grounds safely. If you don't get a seasoned scout from immigration then give horses to an ordinary colonist and he may be 'seasoned' when visiting a village. Also some villages specialise in training scouts so if you find one you can send all your scouts there for training.

Selling guns to the local indian tribe is very lucrative but you pay for it later if they attack you. However if your ship can reach one of the other tribes it is not as risky to trade guns with them.