Spreading Colonies or Populating them?

[unmerged(3474)]

A province with 100 colonists and a growth rate of 10% per year will gain 10 colonists per year. A colony with 700 colonists and a growth rate of 10% will gain 70 per year.

I don't experience this. The 10% growth rate appears to by 1%. A 700 population colony usually grows by 10 people per year maximum (probably at a 12% growth rate). The 100 population colony typically gains 1 or maybe 2 people per year.

 

[TKaz84]

This is true. I have never seen any evidence that the population growth rate comes close to representing the true annual rate. Which begs the question of what that percentage really means.

 

[Gothmog]

As far as I can see, level 1 colonies get the full stability cost and the full research cost. Having a bunch of level 1 colonies is a sure way to fall behind in technology. I think 2-3 colonies in development is the optimal, depending on how many colonists a year you have and how long it takes them to reach the colonies.

Hmmmmmm....thought about that one (then again, I'm not normally much for playing "by the system"), but it might be worth considering, especially when playing a nation that has stability problems right off the bat.

 

[unmerged(67849)]

Good point about the colonial expansion event. I hadn't realized how that event was triggered, but the advice of keeping at least one colony around 100 colonists is a good bit.

Unreliable - That's probably the case. I don't know the exact numbers I get but they are probably more similar to your numbers, but like your post said - more colonists in the colony = more expansion on their own vs paying and using colonists to send them there.

 

[Kelly Hrdina]

I thought that the % chance of success for establishing a new colony is far greater (emphasis from manual) if only a few colonies are being developed and expanded at one time.

I don't know whether this is still true, as I haven't explored this aspect of the game yet.

 

[unmerged(67452)]

Having a controlled province next to a colony really helps with the chance to colonize, too.

 

[unmerged(3474)]

I thought that the % chance of success for establishing a new colony is far greater (emphasis from manual) if only a few colonies are being developed and expanded at one time.

I don't know whether this is still true, as I haven't explored this aspect of the game yet.

I haven't experienced this. The colonization rollover tooltip doesn't indicate an adjustment for this, and in practice the %'s don't change (actually the chance improves as you gain prestige from colonizing ).

 

[unmerged(3474)]

Having a controlled province next to a colony really helps with the chance to colonize, too.

I'm pretty sure this is broken. I usually colonize provinces that are adjacent to other colonies, but I've never seen the penalty for "no adjacent controlled province" removed from the tooltip. Perhaps the penalty applies if the adjacent controlled province is a colony rather than city, but I'm pretty sure I still see the penalty in those cases.

 

[Mierin]

I prefer to focus on one colony at a time, so that it can get to core ASAP.

actually this is a reason to do more then one colony at a time- Core acquisition is determined from the time of first colonization not the time of city ascendancy (1000 pop). So sending out 9 colonists to 9 separate colonies which are then expanded over the next 25 years will net you 9 cores within 25-27 years whereas going it individually will stager your core acquisition.

 

[unmerged(73610)]

getting at least one port

I only have 1.5 colonist/year so they are rare.

Playing Burgundy, I put a claim (1 colonist) in the 5-6 good spots England, Portugal, Venezia and Castille had left open. THen I built up one (Cartegena) to 1000 so I would have a port in the New World for my boats & units to rest & repair. Now I use that as a base to explore Inca land.

My ships get weak when they cross the ocean and military units exploring with a Conquistador do attrit quickly so having one built up city early is important.

 

[JaxomCA]

This is true. I have never seen any evidence that the population growth rate comes close to representing the true annual rate. Which begs the question of what that percentage really means.

The growth rate is per 10 years.

 

[unmerged(67452)]

actually this is a reason to do more then one colony at a time- Core acquisition is determined from the time of first colonization not the time of city ascendancy (1000 pop). So sending out 9 colonists to 9 separate colonies which are then expanded over the next 25 years will net you 9 cores within 25-27 years whereas going it individually will stager your core acquisition.

Really? That's huge. Thanks.

As for the "controlled province" issue, I think it is broken, too -- it only seems to get removed after you land your first colonist.

 

[moloko]

i tend to grab all the ones i can get just to claim them and while doing so begin buiding up one or two favorites. i can't say i've had much trouble keeping up in tech research despite having many underdeveloped colonies

 

[Ofaloaf]

In my Tuscany/Italy game, I tend to have 3-6 colonies at a time that aren't fully developed and usually I will pick two or three per year to send colonists to. It's a slow process, but sometimes the only reason I get a specific colony is for a port for my ships to stop in. For the port-centric colonies, I usually develop them last out of all the colonies I currently have in development at a given time. Otherwise, focus on the colonies with the best tax returns and slowly develop the rest of your colonies until you finish with your poorest colony.

 

[Alerias]

I prefer to focus on one colony at a time, so that it can get to core ASAP.

Big mistake, because time spent as a level 1 colony DOES count towards making it core. As soon as it reaches the 1000 mark, itll immediately become core if it was a colony towards 25 years.

So, core-wise, its alot wiser to develop several colonies at the same time.

Edit. Nm. people have already written this in this thread, missed it somehow.

 

[unmerged(47003)]

I'm pretty sure this is broken. I usually colonize provinces that are adjacent to other colonies, but I've never seen the penalty for "no adjacent controlled province" removed from the tooltip. Perhaps the penalty applies if the adjacent controlled province is a colony rather than city, but I'm pretty sure I still see the penalty in those cases.

If there is an adjacent city, then you will not get the "-5% No Adjacent Controlled Province." If there is an adjacent colony, then you still get the "No Adjacent" penalty.

Remember to wait for the new month for colonizing chances to be updated in the tooltip.

...

Also, I usually send 9 colonists to a province, then let population growth carry it over to a full city. By the time the 9th colonist has arrived, the colony is usually up to 950 population or so, and so sending another colonist would "waste" half the colonist. Production only increases to 1.0.

And for the love of god, kill the natives. I don't care if they are only 3 aggressiveness. They reduce your colonization chance by 9% and they provide no economic benefit whatsoever. None, zilch, nada, zeeeeeeeeerooo. A 4000 pop colony produces exactly the same tax and production as a 1000 pop colony. And all you need is a single cavalry regiment to clear most of the good colonies in the Western Hemisphere. It may take a few months, but you've got plenty of time before the colonist arrives.