if you use the gallic restart, its almost impossible to get going, you dont have good enough weapons to fight to make money and gein rep, to make it possible to buy weapons to do it, so if you buy a cruiser or gunboat, you dont have any weapons.
solutions include:
1) better weapons on the CSV after using /restart gallia
2) lower rep requirement for gallic weapons
3)certain missions against lower difficulty ships
thanks guys!
hmm, that's an awful big ship ahead... I wonder if its a pirate... yes, definitely a pirate... damn, this is gonna cost me, wheres the damned navy when you need em? too busy scanning noobs in pensilvania to save me 15 mil.