Building a fort on a resource outside of your border...

[Bast]

... gives you access to that resource? I didn't know this. This makes forts really useful for those resources that are just outside of your borders.

But I was under the impression that you can only build forts in your borders? No?

 

[Jedoc]

Well, you can build forts on resources outside your borders, but you won't have access to the resource until it's inside your borders. It can save a few turns if your borders are going to pop soon and you're really desperate for the resource (oil, I'm looking at you) but otherwise it's not that useful an ability, in my experience.

 

[bonafide11]

Is it a bug that you can build forts in someone else's land? My workers are able to build forts over my vassals towns, which destroys their towns. This certainly has to be a bug...

 

[ThWolf]

Building a fort on a resource (inside your borders) gives you access to that resource? I saw the AI does that but I never understood why.

 

[Bast]

Well, you can build forts on resources outside your borders, but you won't have access to the resource until it's inside your borders.

Thanks. Because I could build it, I thought I automatically had access. But this is still good because as soon as your culture goes over, you get access.

 

[KrikkitTwo]

Is it a bug that you can build forts in someone else's land? My workers are able to build forts over my vassals towns, which destroys their towns. This certainly has to be a bug...

Yes, one that may be fixed

 

[Spearthrower]

... gives you access to that resource? I didn't know this. This makes forts really useful for those resources that are just outside of your borders.

I was definitely one of the people who was misinformed about this - I assumed from a pre-BtS write up that this was going to be the case and then made a couple of mentions about it in the first days after release (while I was still waiting to get the game).... so I am sure I helped to spread this misinformation!!

As explained by others:

You only get resources in your territory.

You can use forts to get resources within your borders, but if they are in the city radius, you don't get the bonus associated with building the right type of improvement on it.

If there's a resource outside of a city radius but inside your territory - always use a fort instead of an improvement. 1, it is harder to bomb, 2 you can use it for stashing more planes later on.

Some buggage allows you to build over AI's improvements - just don't do it!

 

[Lord_Zath]

Forts are also useful on isthmus tiles and/or coastal tiles within your cultural borders, since they can also act like cities, allowing your ships to pass through them.

 

[meatwad4289]

forts are a little to overpowered, I liek that the ycan be used as Canals. But My workers constantly turn resources into forts instead of what they should be, so I get the resource but I don't get the benefit of having a mine. Idk if it does or not but forts should severly limit what they give you compared to other improvements on resources. so if its +1 health +1 food, then it should only be like +1 food or something. I wish there was a button tellign workers not to build forts. Because I hate it when they build forts everywhere, and i have to manually replace them, and if i turn off the "leave old improvements" they redo EVERYTHING into forts. my economy became crippled more than once because Workers replaced towns with forts. I iwsh forts was a Manual command only

 

[Spearthrower]

forts are a little to overpowered, I liek that the ycan be used as Canals. But My workers constantly turn resources into forts instead of what they should be, so I get the resource but I don't get the benefit of having a mine. Idk if it does or not but forts should severly limit what they give you compared to other improvements on resources. so if its +1 health +1 food, then it should only be like +1 food or something. I wish there was a button tellign workers not to build forts. Because I hate it when they build forts everywhere, and i have to manually replace them, and if i turn off the "leave old improvements" they redo EVERYTHING into forts. my economy became crippled more than once because Workers replaced towns with forts. I iwsh forts was a Manual command only

That's odd.... it seems you must have a bug because I haven't seen that on mine and I haven't heard anyone else say that! Were these towns built on resources by any chance?

If I put workers on auto (with the "leave old improvements") the only forts they build are on resources outside of my city radius.

 

[Jedoc]

forts are a little to overpowered, I liek that the ycan be used as Canals. But My workers constantly turn resources into forts instead of what they should be, so I get the resource but I don't get the benefit of having a mine. Idk if it does or not but forts should severly limit what they give you compared to other improvements on resources. so if its +1 health +1 food, then it should only be like +1 food or something. I wish there was a button tellign workers not to build forts. Because I hate it when they build forts everywhere, and i have to manually replace them, and if i turn off the "leave old improvements" they redo EVERYTHING into forts. my economy became crippled more than once because Workers replaced towns with forts. I iwsh forts was a Manual command only

Forts don't give you any bonus from resources, they just give you access. So there shouldn't be any forts inside your city radius. If your workers are building forts inside a city radius (which they apparently are, if they're paving over towns) that's a rather serious AI bug. However, if you don't tell them to leave old improvements, they're still going to burn down your towns to build oil pumps and mines when new resources reveal themselves. I don't automate my workers anymore, but even when I did I never really found a situation where disabling the "leave old improvements" option would do any good at all.

 

[Lord_Zath]

yeah I also don't get forts inside my city radii.

 

[meatwad4289]

I mean when I have Leave old improvements off, they build mines over towns, mines, farms, ect. When I have it on, as soon as a Resource is in my territory the workers come out of no where build a road, and drop a fort on it, Any resources in my land that have no improvement get a fort instead of the improvement. I've yet to upgrade to the next patch tho, because I found the problem can be solved by waking the unit and reautomating them works but only if leave old improvements is on.