3 pop. whips & pop. 3 whips

[Olson]

I'm coming across a number of references to "3 pop. whips" and "pop. 3 whips". I think some are confusing the two (incl. me) but my question is about "pop. 3 whips" if that's when a city is at 3 population, whips a 1 pop. build (the max. at 3 pop.), resulting in losing 1 pop., and, therefore, becoming a 2 population city.

It seems popular to whip at pop. 3 and I can see why:
- A newly settled city has 1 pop. to store 22 food (F) in order to grow to 2 pop.
- A 2 pop. city has 2 pop. to store 24F (12F ea.) to grow to 3 pop.
- A 3 pop. city has 3 pop. to store 26F (8.66F ea.) to grow to 4 pop.
- A 4 pop. city has 4 pop. to store 28F (7F ea.) to grow to 5 pop.

The 4 pop. city's extra pop. over a 3 pop. city doesn't significantly decrease the F/pop. "quota" to grow to 5 pop. Therefore, one would conclude whipping at 3 pop., down to 2 pop., and quickly (via granary) getting back to 3 pop. is the way to go and I think that's what I'm hearing.

But, am I misunderstanding what a "pop. 3 whip" means? Is the reference for when a city is at 4 pop./pop. 4 and whipping *down to* 3 pop./pop.3?
Because it seems it would be better to be at 4 pop. and whipping because then my whip could be either a 2 pop. whip or a 1 pop. whip. and the pop. bounce-back would still be relatively quick.

 

[Abegweit]

I have always understood a 3 pop whip to refer a whip of three population. That is to go from size 10 to size 7 or from size 6 to size 3. Thus the example given of going from size 4 to size 3 would be a 1 pop whip.

 

[lymond]

I've honestly never seen the phrase "pop.3 whips". 3 pop whip is a common practice though to get out settlers fast at size 6 and put decent OF into something like another worker. You have to be Size 6 or higher to 3 pop whip. Size 4 or higher to 2 pop whip, which is also common practice.

1 pop whip is 1 pop whip regardless of the size your city is (min. of size 2).

I believe the person who mentioned "pop3whip" just meant "3 pop whip" or was confused themselves, but I've never seen mention of it myself.

That doesn't mean that 1 popping at size 3 like a granary at the right food fill point is not a good idea. I'd still call it a 1 pop whip.

 

[Olson]

I have always understood a 3 pop whip to refer a whip of three population. That is to go from size 10 to size 7 or from size 6 to size 3. Thus the example given of going from size 4 to size 3 would be a 1 pop whip.

That's how I define the two terms, also. Just wanted to be sure. Thanks.

 

[Olson]

I've honestly never seen the phrase "pop.3 whips". 3 pop whip is a common practice though to get out settlers fast at size 6 and put decent OF into something like another worker. You have to be Size 6 or higher to 3 pop whip. Size 4 or higher to 2 pop whip, which is also common practice.

1 pop whip is 1 pop whip regardless of the size your city is (min. of size 2).

I believe the person who mentioned "pop3whip" just meant "3 pop whip" or was confused themselves, but I've never seen mention of it myself.

That doesn't mean that 1 popping at size 3 like a granary at the right food fill point is not a good idea. I'd still call it a 1 pop whip.

I don't think I've *seen* it either but it's said frequently in YouTube games and what you wrote is what I have been thinking. The doubt came from hearing the commentary and I thought, maybe, I was missing a slightly diff. whip strategy.

In the YouTube vids and a couple WarAcademy articles, a Pop.3 city min. seems the most disireable (early game REX) and part of my OP was about maintaining a Pop.4 city during early whipping.