An Argument for Adventure
A) Lustria is not South America, despite how the map of the Warhammer world looks and all the neat Easter Eggs you can find all over the place the situation we find ourselves in is vastly different from what faced by European Colonists during the Age of Exploration. Not only is this particular continent inhabited by a superpower that could atomize any attempts at Old World Colonization with a flick of its scaled tail if only the Slann will wake and pay the least attention, but the nations of the Old World are far from the premier naval powers of the world. That title goes to the Asur and the Druchi the second of which want to make us all slaves and the first of which knows more about the continent we find ourselves on, its resources and its dangers than anyone else we are likely to meet.
In short elf-friend is very useful in the long run more so than the ability to rapidly expand and grow on a continent where thoughtless expansion could get us all killed by lizards.
B) There are things out there that no amount of logistical skill will help you with. So OK, we cannot really cut back large swaths of the jungle and grow large amounts of agricultural products or build an industrial base to compete with the Old Wold, they have plenty of forests to cut down in the Old World, closer to home. Then what is economically viable for us to get back to the Empire and justify this colony existing. I think it breaks down into three categories:
These are all things we are go on expeditions for, or plan them. It is not a matter of slow and steady wins the race. I do not think we are going to justify the existence of this colony on the other side of the Druchi-haunted Sea-monster infested ocean by developing land. If the Empire wanted to carve developed land out of forests, well it has plenty do forests right next door that are not filled with tropical diseases:
- New plants and animals
- Precious metals and similar mineral wealth
- The treasures of the Old Ones
We wouldn't grow food or chop down trees to supply the Old World with potatoes or softwood. It's to supply the Empire with resources it can't get in the Empire, not without importing it from another power. It's not about simply developing land. It's about securing a domestic supply of products for the Empire.
Modern Major General includes Botanist to explicitly investigate new plant species that we could grow, harvest, and ship back. In addition to special magical or alchemical herbs, there's also regular tropical crops that the Empire desires. Tropical hardwood is extremely important in building higher quality equipment, instruments, furniture, and ships. That's an immediate civilian and military function of logging and forest farms on Lustria.
There's the potential for tropical crops too, like citruses, bananas, coffee, sugar, tobacco, spices, etc. The Empire can grow sugar beets, honey, and fruits to produce sugar in lesser quantities, but sugar cane imported from Araby or Cathay would supply the colony with a tiddy income. The downside being the high demand for labour of course. Fruits and spices may be a better source of income. It's not as flashy as magical artifacts, but nutmeg and cinnamon is worth its weight in gold in the Empire.
Interpreter gives us a leg up in knowing other human cultures to a degree, including Tilean, Estalian, Bretonnian, and Arabyan. All of which have far more extensive knowledge of Lustria than the Empire does. It'd be easier to recruit them, deal with them, and possibly learn from them, especially since it unlocks Polyglot as a potential trait in the future. I agree that Elf Friend would be invaluable, so not including it is a bit of a hit I acknowledge.
However, by focusing on non-tomb raiding sources of income we can subvert the need, or rather desire, to raid tombs and inevitably piss off the locals. Trainer and Logistical Experts ensures that the local militia will be well trained and well supplied, which is vital in defending the colony. We can't rely on a core of a few gold hungry explorers to carry an expedition to success, especially when we have no native allies on the landmass to bolster our manpower, like Cortez did.
We're a colonial governor after all, not a conquistador led expedition. We need to set up a base of operations that can support expeditions and commercial interests in the region.
