Why do AI mines cattle and grass and plains
Any reason in this??

I ve noticed that all ai nations are doing this

I do it.

To get the extra production. This is especially important at the beginning in a Despotism government, since mines on mountains and hills will only net you +1 to production.

Irrigating grass and cattle has no effect under Despotism, so mine those tiles for the time being.

also you don't always have access to freswater near your capital so building mines is the only way to maximize resource output right from the start.

I always have at least one city which ise totaly blocked from freshwater by hills/mountains and so I simply put mines on every square. better than nothing and you can always irrigate later.

Actually irrigating cattle will net you an extra food point. Cattle on grasslands produce 4 food (3 under depotism), irrigated cattle on grasslands produce 5 food (4 under depotism). Having a square produce 3 or even 4 food in the beginning the game is a huge bonus considering it takes 2 population points to build a settler.

if you have a floodplain and a cow, you have to mine the cow. The floodplain will not mine.

If you get a cow and a floodplain early on, you are doing well !

(I hope nobody reads this off topic - its sounds bizarre):lol:

Mine all the grassland you can find unless you need outstanding growth from a city. I only irrigate plains and desert. Most of my cities get stoped at the population cap well before I get the tech to make the hospital or aqueduct. Just mine all the grassland you find, the production, expec after railroad will make those cities powerhouses.

yeah, my first game I've been an irrigatin' fool, but all my cities are going to be capped for a LONG time before I get hospitals.

(sigh)

mines are so ugly on grassland.

ER