If I don't have a family member in my city it'll automanage it. That's all good, however the default settings seem to not allow me to construct buildings or units. However... I can go into the city after the family member has left I can uncheck the mangage construction and units flags, and build stuff anway. The only thing that seems to be forced on automanage is the taxes (and games probably).

Is this how it is meant to work? Why does the default option not let you build stuff where it only takes two button presses to enable it again?

I usually leave construction in those cities on automanage to signify that I don't have immediate control over the city. Recruitment I turn off as otherwise I would have cities full of berber Javelinmen or whatever basic troops the city can produce. I guess it is meant to reduce micromanaging for the human player however it is usually useful to have control. It can be useful to have cities that will automatically start construction when you have spare money at the end of a turn.

I think there is an option at the game setup screen where you can turn off automanage as default.

You can also turn it off in-game :)

I manage all my cities personally, but there are times I set auto-taxes on, as I cannot be bothered micromanaging every cities rates.

I manage my important troop-producing high-tech cities only, and leave the rest to my advisors..

I have noticed while just playing around that, when I chose to "Automanage Everything" (not just "Taxes Only") one of my cities got an extra +300 in revenue, and most of my other cities turned an extra 100 in revenue.

I generally avoid the auto-manage abilities for my cities, I check the automanage button, but I uncheck the automange improvements and automange recruiting.

It can be a pain sometimes to rule an entire empire like my current Macedonian game has. I have a good 60+ territories, and going from city to city and telling them what to build is a pain.

It can be a pain sometimes to rule an entire empire like my current Macedonian game has.

Which is one of the reasons I now sit back in my homelands and don't go for conquests :P

Oh, and the occasional burning of nearby enemy cities for cash as well as subterfuge operations. And helping out my allies in war, but I never keep cities that I capture :lol:

I attack, capture, enslave (rarely execute), and fight continue as fast as possible. The quicker I move, the more the enemy has to react (and more of them get to die).

You need to be proactive, not reactive. Let your enemy be reactive.

I especially enjoy decimating a huge enemy army, then sending in some fast troops to quickly pillage nearby enemy cities.

Unless the population is 400.

I attack, capture, enslave (rarely execute), and fight continue as fast as possible. The quicker I move, the more the enemy has to react (and more of them get to die).

You need to be proactive, not reactive. Let your enemy be reactive.

You need to adapt to your current situation and your enemy situation, if he has an huge army you will prob be reactive, if other way around you´ll be proactive, the important thing is to mesure what will you gain towords the number of men you´ll lose.

Inital game - Take or enslave
Mid/Final game - Enslave or exterminate

Specialize cities - ones are for taxes, others for infantry, others for missile units and others for cavalry. Therefore only autmomanage on empire size. Note Farms are essential after a harbor/market/road, in many cases its even best to make it before everything else.

Build order - harbors gives more money then roads or markets. Barracks and infantry on your bigger population city, cavalry on secundary city (less pop) and skirmishers/archers on frontier cities.

Specialize armies - make horse/mercenary armies to snipe out the weaker far away provinces and move a garrison behind to ocupy new cities. Meanwhile build the best troops and prepare to go for the goodie cities, use best troops against rebelions and everything on the way to target in order to enhance experience. Try to make an army that can be retrained on the enemy´s bigger cities, spy to see if they have the necessary buildings for that, otherwise build them yourself.

Never play bellow the maximum difficulty level, less is just a pure joke.

Always conquer Rhodes :D, the extra money is just incredible.

IMHO roads should come first in the build priority. Your army moves that much faster to continue the assault or defend where necessary. Roads also increase trade. Next should be market, then port..

But then it's just my opinion

An early Port gives more money. What you need early is not speed of movement for your troops, its more cash too build more troops and markets and mor eports and to support your armies.

IMHO 1st - Port 2nd - Roads 3rd - Farm/Market

Example: start a vanilla campaign with Julli and micromanage a Port / Market on inital cities and see what gives more cash from starts.

If I don't have a family member in my city it'll automanage it.
I never automanage, but then I just don't "trust" game AI to do the "right" thing... even a good AI could not become aware of shifting game plans that I, the human, would have... and tradeoff what I needed when. I hardly know myself on some occasions, as things change turn to turn. :)

Example: start a vanilla campaign with Julli and micromanage a Port / Market on inital cities and see what gives more cash from starts.

I yield on that ;)

But I still stand by my opinion for newly conquered cities.

I just don't "trust" game AI

Well said! :goodjob:

Always conquer Rhodes , the extra money is just incredible.
Rhodes is OK, but Athens can -- and will -- crush Rhodes, if properly run. That's because of the way trade is conducted, and city/commodity proximity, plus roads. Rhodes ain't got no roads, hehe. At least trade-worthy roads. Get Athens, put a trade-specialist governor in it, and get the ports upgraded ASAP. :)

Rhodes is OK, but Athens can -- and will -- crush Rhodes, if properly run. That's because of the way trade is conducted, and city/commodity proximity, plus roads. Rhodes ain't got no roads, hehe. At least trade-worthy roads. Get Athens, put a trade-specialist governor in it, and get the ports upgraded ASAP. :)

Athens?? what does Athens gives? It doenst have a wonder....I´m soory, you lost me there...., i was giving Rhodes for all civs to take it, for example if you play Iberia, Gaul, Carthage, Rome´s factions, Seleucid, Greece, Egpyt, Seleucia, Sarmatia/Sycthia, Armenia, Pontus or any other faction that as a connection to the Mediterrenean sea, just built 1 boat, get half a pack on it and make your way to Rhodes, the income will increase by 30-40% in overall, thats a lot of money. And while your there way dont stop in Crete to get a couple Cretan Archers for the journey back? ;)

Athens?? what does Athens gives? It doenst have a wonder....I´m soory, you lost me there....,
Right, and that is just what I used to think at first. Rhodes has a 40% trade wonder, its a trade city, etc. But then a funny thing happened; in my first couple campaigns, it just did not give as much gold. So I did a bunch of tests with it, and lo and behold, Athens creams it.

The problem turns out to be 4 things:
1. It has no road trade; more pronounced if you get paved/highways.
2. Its physical distance to trade ports (chosen by AI, not human).
3. Its commodity exchange (again, human does not make the choices there).
4. The wonder does not do what it is advertised.

Try building a full city (cheat to do it, as a test) for both, and own the surrounded Agean. At any point, it lags. Athens is the best on the map, all things being equal. Better than even Rome.

However, I totally agree with your reasons for taking it, and how, and about picking up the Cretans in Crete along the way/way back. :)

Errmmm, i´ve played many games and the 40% bonus is real, you may feel it´s not due to corruption (distance between your cap to other cities), but thats another story.

You are comparing Rhodes to Athens in terms of income on short term, of course Athens is better, but Rhodes if a bonus for the empire in overalll, not just ony city, this meaning you´ll get more money in overall.