A worker's very first dilemma: mine or road?

[morchuflex]

Hello.

Each time I start a new game, I wonder: what should my worker do on the very first tile he's going to improve? A road or a mine? (to make things easier, we'll assume the city has nothing worth irrigating in its radius).

- A mine will improve production, helping the city building troops and settlers. However, it is a long task compared to a road.

- A road will be finished sooner and help me discover pottery ASAP, which in turn will help city growth.
It will also (though marginally) speed up exploration (my warriors will move 2 tiles instead of one the turn they leave the city).
However, it will delay the mine by 3 turns.

I've read (in some great war academy articles) that experienced players always build mines first; but, at least for the very first tile, I think a road is a better choice if your civ doesn't start with pottery.

Perhaps I should run some comparative tests... What do you think?

 

[man o' war]

I'd personaly go with road - at the very early stages of the game, one more commerce can make a collossal difference. As you said, you'll get pottery earlier - and one more production isnt really as useful as one more commerce (at that stage of the game certainly) and it's easier to build. I personally can't understand why people would build a mine first.

 

[thetrooper]

I used to do roads first, then mine/irrigation. Now it's the other way.

 

[IbnSina]

Mine!

 

[Zakharov]

It depends on my research strategy.

Max research = road first.
Min/Zero research = mine first.

 

[microbe]

I would go for mine. Shields are more important at early times.

 

[man o' war]

why is everybody saying mine? I honestly don't understand why, and it would be more helpful if you gave some sort of reason

 

[budweiser]

I think you can get a warrior out a few turns faster if you mine. You lose 6 gold though. So, I think its a few turns of exploration vs 6 gold. It's probably situational, but I'm not sure when to mine or when to explore either. Well, if you are expansionist, then you already have a scout, so maybe road if expansionits. Also, if you have a bunch of food for fast growth, maybe you want to make a warrior faster for MP, then mine. If you are industrious, I bet you should take the mine.

 

[Admiral8Q]

I used to do roads first, then mine/irrigation. Now it's the other way.

Why?

Mine!

Why?

I would go for mine. Shields are more important at early times.

Why?

It depends on my research strategy.

Max research = road first.
Min/Zero research = mine first.

Makes sense


I prefere a road first then mine. A road gives trade and better movement for new settlers/workers/units. A mine gives more production, but I build it second, the trade increase is well worth it early in the game. Then I alternate road, mine, road, mine, etc... Sometimes though when I don't need any more mines right away I'll build up a good road network. I find that fast movement of units can be important for rapid groth, like building a road to the spot where I want to found my next city.

 

[Tomoyo]

Mine. Gold does absolutely nothing except research in the beginning, while shields can make your expansion go faster. Those shields can be used to make a granary, or a warrior to explore. The gold is almost useless.

 

[budweiser]

Wow. I was just thinking. Whenever, I make new cities, I usually do road, then mine, then road then mine, etc. Unwittingly balancing the growth between shields and commerce. It might be better to just mine a few squares and get an early boost on production, then follow along later with another road crew. Assuming, as has been noted, that producing money for science is not an issue. I think this would work pretty well if you are trying to produce low shiled cost units.

 

[microbe]

It might be better to just mine a few squares and get an early boost on production, then follow along later with another road crew.

No no no.

You work on the same tile (irrigation/mine plus road) before you move on to the next tile, otherwise you waste worker turns.

There is not very big difference whether mine or road first, but mine everywhere and then road over again is a big no no.

 

[budweiser]

Sometimes you would waste turns, but i think sometimes you would not. If you just finish a mine on a size two city, you could just hop over to the next tile and begin mining right away. You are only wasting worker turns if you move more than one square. You'll get the mine three turns faster at the expense of the commerce, which if you are on minimum research, you dont need. It's all situational, but I think the biggest thing is to recognise the potential waste of time you incur if you always build a road and vise-versa.

 

[IbnSina]

Why?

In my mind, the most important thing in the beginning of the game is food. Thus, I lied: if I have a cow or a wheat tile, then the first thing to do is irrigate. After food, the most critical thing is putting out some units and infrastructure - the granary (food again!) or barracks. Finally, when the road is built it gives some gold; which helps movement a little, helps happiness a little when you start to use the luxury slider, and helps research a little. The research issue is only critical for pottery, and I can always research pottery faster than I can build my granary, so it doesn't matter if it comes in one turn later. The happiness issue is not a worry until a little later in the game, when I have plenty of roads. As for the movement, it is no use if I can't produce those units quickly (shields->mine).

In a simpler way of looking at it, it is a choice of whether you want three extra shields (mine->road), or six extra gold (road->mine). One shield is worth four gold, according to the editor. 'nuff said.

 

[CrackedCrystal]

You are only wasting worker turns if you move more than one square.

Not really, because its going to take one turn to move back to the original square to road it.

 

[soul_warrior]

mine first, road later.
i like exploration alot, and 2 warriors will explore twice as fast. so i want them quicker.
roads will be handy for the settlers later on and science.

 

[Tank_Guy#3]

Irrigation 1st, Road 2nd, Mine 3rd, and if need be fort 4th. I change them around upon need.

 

[jst666]

I usuallu go for road if there is lux or resource near the city, so that I'm sure that I have that thing when I need it. But, that's just me. Plus I like to connect all my cities asap.