Horses and what they do

Convict · Sep 7, 2014

Horses are fine- they help you build knights and horsemen etc. However, do you think their should be some recognition earlier for their contribution to farming or agriculture?

I have no real idea how it could work- possibly increase from farmed land when you discover horses as in dragging ploughs and harvesters.

At the moment their usage seems confined to warlike purposes and a one increase of a hammer, but I believe the increase food output would be useful.

Thoughts? I don't worry if I am howled down.

zagosya · Sep 7, 2014

There are other techs for increasing food output

TheMarshmallowBear · Sep 7, 2014

Building stables and building pasture increases production on the tile, not to mention the fact that the tile if on Grassland or Plains increase it's food output AND production yield.

Convict · Sep 7, 2014

zagosya said:
There are other techs for increasing food output

I think you are missing my point. It is not that there are other means but it seems (to me at least) that a valuable farming asset is not gathering bonus production.

TheKingOfBigOz said:
Building stables and building pasture increases production on the tile, not to mention the fact that the tile if on Grassland or Plains increase it's food output AND production yield.

Quite true, but I don't think it should be confined to a tile. You have a mechanism (horses) to increase output of your land. Why confine it to a tile? Shouldn't all your farms get an increase in productivity.

It may be apples and oranges but fertiliser gives a boost to food on farmed tiles. Why not horses (they do indeed produce fertiliser in vast quantities).

Vitruvius · Sep 7, 2014

Convict said:
Horses are fine- they help you build knights and horsemen etc. However, do you think their should be some recognition earlier for their contribution to farming or agriculture?

I have no real idea how it could work- possibly increase from farmed land when you discover horses as in dragging ploughs and harvesters.

At the moment their usage seems confined to warlike purposes and a one increase of a hammer, but I believe the increase food output would be useful.

Thoughts? I don't worry if I am howled down.

Was horse ever popular for dragging farming equipment? I thought its the ox.

Browd · Sep 7, 2014

You are also eligible to build a circus in a city where you have horses (even an unimproved horse tile) and can trade horses for 2 gpt per horse, so they don't just have military purposes.

Since, as you note, you also get an extra hammer from a horse tile just for discovering horses, are you suggesting that the extra hammer or the circus or some other horse-related bonus (pasture or stable?) be removed in favor of some boost to farm yields? Or do you want to keep the circus, the hammer, the trade value, and the pasture and stable boosts, and just want more? How game changing do you want horses to be?

DarkestOnion · Sep 8, 2014

For me Horses are for allowing Circuses, and for Trading for GPT or occasionally Open Borders in the Early Game. In the Mid to Late Game Horses are useful if I have a decent Horse Dependent UU. However, I understand that other players swear that Horses are OP for high mobility units throughout the game.

Kirin Rider · Sep 13, 2014

Vitruvius said:
Was horse ever popular for dragging farming equipment? I thought its the ox.

Somebody in early medieval China invented a horse collar that let horses pull plows or wagons with their full strength. Earlier designs were less efficient and may have interfered with the horse's windpipe. With the improved collar draft horses became roughly 50% more efficient than oxen at the same tasks. Once the invention reached Europe later in the Middle Ages, it really made a difference to productivity.

m15a · Sep 13, 2014

The way I see it, not having a horse resource does not mean your civ doesn't have horses or other animals to aid in farming. It just means you do not have enough excess to maintain a horse riding military.

Animal husbandry is required to have animals aid in farming, and that tech is on the path to the food bonus techs, plus giving a small potential bonus through pastures.

Vitruvius · Sep 13, 2014

m15a said:
The way I see it, not having a horse resource does not mean your civ doesn't have horses or other animals to aid in farming. It just means you do not have enough excess to maintain a horse riding military.

Animal husbandry is required to have animals aid in farming, and that tech is on the path to the food bonus techs, plus giving a small potential bonus through pastures.

I heard each Mongolian warrior brings at least 3 horses with them to rotate on the battlefield.

Anthropoid · Sep 14, 2014

Vitruvius said:
I heard each Mongolian warrior brings at least 3 horses with them to rotate on the battlefield.

Both ideas sound quite reasonable.

comatosedragon · Oct 11, 2014

If I don't have any 2 :c5food:

1

tiles near my starting city, I will research AH first and hope for grassland horses. I am starting to value early horses and sheep more than early mining or calendar luxes, in most situations.

Acken · Oct 11, 2014

Convict said:
Quite true, but I don't think it should be confined to a tile. You have a mechanism (horses) to increase output of your land. Why confine it to a tile? Shouldn't all your farms get an increase in productivity.

It may be apples and oranges but fertiliser gives a boost to food on farmed tiles. Why not horses (they do indeed produce fertiliser in vast quantities).

Give a ressource too much benefits and it makes every start without it look like crap.

Look at salts already.

Trackmaster · Oct 14, 2014

I thought that it may have been smart to transfer horses over from a strategic resource to a luxury resource (for rich people who like having stables in their country house) maybe in the Atomic era. I guess that you kind of see this as implied because you can sell horses to stupid AI and CS's will still demand it occasionally.

Horses and what they do

Convict

Warlord

zagosya

Chieftain

TheMarshmallowBear

Benelovent Chieftain of the Ursu Kingdom

Convict

Warlord

Vitruvius

King

Browd

Dilettante

DarkestOnion

Prince

Kirin Rider

Chieftain

m15a

Emperor

Vitruvius

King

Anthropoid

Grognard fantome

comatosedragon

Emperor

Acken

Deity

Trackmaster

Warlord

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