In the games I've played of Civilization IV: Colonization so far, I played nice with the native Americans. They're invaluable trade partners, and with missionaries in place, they'll provide a steady stream of new colonists. Their settlements eat up a little bit of territory, but given enough time, they'll dissolve their settlements and give you their population in the form of converted natives.

Now it's time to explore the darker side of Colonization. It begins after the jump.

In a game of native American conquest, the choice of colonies is easy. The Dutch get better market prices, the English get faster immigration, and the French get along better with the natives. But the Spanish get a straight-up +25% bonus in any battle against natives. As I intend to fight the natives, that seals the deal. Spain it is.

Like the colonies, different natives have different traits. So when my caravel pulls into view of the New World in 1494 and spies an Incan settlement, I'm delighted. The Incans and Aztecs provide quadruple treasure when you capture their settlements.

Treasure (above) is distinct from gold. You earn gold mainly by selling goods. But "treasure" is actually a type of unit. You can find this unit among ancient ruins and burial grounds, but you're guaranteed a treasure when you conquer a native settlement. Every treasure has a value, ranging from a couple of hundred gold to a few thousand. But to cash in your treasure, you have to get it back to Europe. You can hand it over to the king to transport himself, in which case he'll take half its value. Or you can wait until you get a galleon, an expensive slow cargo ship with enough room for treasure. This lets you cash it in for full price.

New Madrid is founded in 1500 with access to corn, tobacco, and a river (which I name Rio Neuvo). It's missing a source of lumber, so farther north along the coast, I establish El Norte Piedra (so named because it'll also be a source of ore). Upriver from New Madrid, to the west along the Rio Neuvo, I found Beaver Dam among forests that will provide furs. These settlements are interspersed among Incan settlements. The Incans ask for gold in exchange for the land when I start a new city, but their prices are exorbitant. Besides, I have every intention of conquering the Incans as soon as I bring from Spain the two cannons I've purchased.

Within a few years of landfall, I've got a scout (above) gallivanting around the New World earning "exploration" points. In my main settlement, New Madrid, I've got an elder statesman in the town hall accumulating liberty bells. Soon I've got enough points to recruit de Quesada, a conquistador who squandered men and riches searching for El Dorado. If you recruit him as one of your Founding Fathers, the location of all the ancient ruins and burial grounds on the map is revealed. My scout makes a beeline for them each in succession. Within 50 years, I'll have 4000 gold worth of treasure in New Madrid, waiting on transport back to the Old World.

But then 1557 happens.

Up next: the Incan War.