What to do with new Colonists,Workers etc.?

[ACEofHeart]

The one aspect of the game that for whatever reason I can't get a grasp on is what exactly to do with those people your ships start to bring back from your home country to your new growing colony.
The fact that almost any one of them can found a new settlement only confuses the issue for me.. If you have an experienced Scout and/or a Master Blacksmith waiting on the dock , what do you do with them..? Found new settlements right away ? Start building up your initial ones? Change their professions right away ? Put them into buildings ? Put them into resourse production ? Buy instead of waiting for certain ones ?
Just seems like early decisions on this could make or break a game by turn 100 and there is not much guidance in the manual.

 

[trytogrowupkid]

The manual isnt really a strategy guide though. Just see what your colonies need and assign the colonists accordingly. It isnt the end of the world if you have a weaver working farmland until you can get a farmer in there.

 

[Feannag]

Petty Criminal/ Indentured Servant : Send to natives immediately for training. Doesn't matter which, if it's a profession you don't need you can wipe it and get them to Free Colonist.

Specialists : Depends on what they are. If I can use them right away then they will be sent to do their particular job. If it's one I can afford not to use (rum distillers in a primarily tobacco area) then I wipe them to free colonist and either put them to work outside as pioneers, missionaries, etc. or I throw them in school and train them to do something more useful to my needs.

 

[Desert-Fox]

You may make them dragoons if you don't need them at all.

 

[dalgo]

The one aspect of the game that for whatever reason I can't get a grasp on is what exactly to do with those people your ships start to bring back from your home country to your new growing colony.
The fact that almost any one of them can found a new settlement only confuses the issue for me.. If you have an experienced Scout and/or a Master Blacksmith waiting on the dock , what do you do with them..? Found new settlements right away ? Start building up your initial ones? Change their professions right away ? Put them into buildings ? Put them into resourse production ? Buy instead of waiting for certain ones ?
Just seems like early decisions on this could make or break a game by turn 100 and there is not much guidance in the manual.

The specialists you get from the immigration queue early in the game can be really useful as it will be a while before you can afford to purchase any, so try and use them for what they are best at. Send the Scout off to explore, and if you have a colony producing ore then set the Blacksmith to making tools. It is also worth changing your building plans to include the new specialist too and if you get a Preacher then build your church early and get increased immigration.

In general I find it best to only buy immigrants if there is one standout guy in the queue. Then I wait until there is only one cross to go. The problem with buying immigrants is that it quickly ramps up the number of crosses needed each time.