Kind of weird in that unlike said Anno 1404 you don't take over existing buildings, infrastracture etc anymore, you either take money or build everything from scratch. Once they're gone you can either claim ownership of the island which destroys everything on that island OR claim the shares of the island which gives you (some) profits from it. To take over a colony you need to take out its cannon emplacements and the main warehouse (technically it has a cannon too).
Yes, the game only has naval combat this time.
