RobKohr's guide for beginners

Steps

1) Build up your resource gathers first (upgrading your storehouse when full). Aim for 20 before doing anything else. This may leave you open for plundering, but if that occurs, just start upping your stone wall.
2) Get your barracks and harbor going and start plundering 1 point islands like crazy. You need to use a no loss combo of 2 LWS 3 SMS 3 SF 3 ST. The goal again is to increase your resources.
3) Keep building spear fighters the whole time. You will need them for defence when you colonize.
4)When you hit 20000 resource, upgrade stuff to get colo ship.
5)Colonize (almost all people like to colonize close to their main, I prefer far) and have your main support the growth of the colony.
6) AVOID CONFLICT AT ALL COSTS. Think you can steal that island that has 300 spear fighters guarding it? Well it may cost you 600 spear fighters to take it and a load of LWS, thus cutting down how much plundering you can do. So even if you get it, and you don't have a backlash from someone's allies (you most likely will), you have severely crippled your economic growth. It is better to colonize a bunch of 1 point islands than 1 large island where you lose out on resource growth. Resources are the most important thing.