Smartexception was running but didnt kick in. I had cheat mode enabled.
Open new game
Select first production tiles(s)
On opening screen go to main menu to restart a new game
Select new game
Select new set of production tile(s) for the new game
As it goes into the opening screen of the new game, it CTDs
It will also CTD when using Cntrl-N after opening any new game.
Regards
Zy