Carl v.
Chieftain
Economy and production capacity are vital elements to secure our Empires survival. In this post I will try to outline some principles about how to build economy and production capacity.
No unimproved tiles
First priority is that no worked tire should stay unimproved. The reason is more hammers and gold. So we give building of workers priority to keep up with both more cities and an increasing number of citizens. I have no figures on how much the production of hammers and gold grows (depends on tile and improvement), but it is significant compared to unimproved tiles.
Workers and micromanagement
In addition, a sufficient number of workers will give more flexibility. In the beginning, it means roads are almost immediately built between cities, giving both our forces and workers double speed compared to in the wilderness. Furthermore we have almost immediately access to resources. Later on, we have worker capacity to change improvements according to the citys specialized production.
It is no way to avoid micromanaging if we want to boost economy and production. Micromanagement gives us the possibility to exploit all the possibilities of the fat cross, and to optimize production in the city. We need money, all the time, and for this purpose cottage spamming is the alternative for most of our cities.
City growth
Production capacity might at be left behind in early gameplay, and the answer is slavery (this is a game, ok? sacrificing people is not nice or political correct, and so was history neither.). Unhappy citizens, who are not working, are dead weight. We sacrifice the unhappy, get a unit or a building, and bring the city down to its maximum people/production rate. Rinse and repeat.
City growth is important, and we let our cities grow to its limits. After all, we have made investments in temples, wonders or whatever to keep the good mood. We want the best revenue of our investments.
Techs
What techs to go for? In general we want production-related techs like animal husbandry, bronze working and agriculture, and after that alphabet and literacy so we can build libraries and trade techs. Early religion is no option in this scenario. As we do not have temples, happiness is probably the factor limiting city growth. So we go for monarchy to make people happier. If we have wine, we can also build winery.
Diplomacy
We try to get friendly connections to all our neighbours. To achieve this, we trade techs and sometimes give them gold, a few, for nothing but to keep them happy. With no state religion, we will at least not be dragged into a religious war. We trade techs when it is possible; Sometimes not very good deals, of different reasons. If we can sell the same tech to different nations, it is good. If we also can achieve political good-will, it is even better.
Buildings/wonders
It is our intention to keep the tech-slider above 50%; the main part of the gold goes to research. In most of the cities (dependent on distance from the capital) this means we better build library-courthouse-university first than marketplace-grocer-bank. Later on, most of the time at least, we must decide if we build Wall Street or Oxford University in our richest city. With a tech-slider above 50, Oxford University will give best effect.
Production
Also when a city produce few hammers, it is important to build a forge. This means production bonus, and the possibility of assigning a specialist. So we build forges in all our cities. Later on, towns accumulate hammers too, and factory and coal plant (or other electricity sources) can be a good idea in commercial/scientific cities.
A forge will have greatest impact in our production city/cities. In order to maximize output, the improvements in the fat cross of these cities are irrigation, wind mills, water mills, workshops and mines.
Units
As the spammed cottages grow, we get more money and can keep the tech-slider high. It makes it possible to have a small but upgraded army, and keep total units costs low. Two riflemen are better and cheaper than four swordsmen (upkeep costs).
When cities grow to their limit, we re-improve tiles to fit the citys production and population. This way we convert farm land to cottages when we want the city to stop the growth.
To conclude: Let no capacity stay idle.
No unimproved tiles
First priority is that no worked tire should stay unimproved. The reason is more hammers and gold. So we give building of workers priority to keep up with both more cities and an increasing number of citizens. I have no figures on how much the production of hammers and gold grows (depends on tile and improvement), but it is significant compared to unimproved tiles.
Workers and micromanagement
In addition, a sufficient number of workers will give more flexibility. In the beginning, it means roads are almost immediately built between cities, giving both our forces and workers double speed compared to in the wilderness. Furthermore we have almost immediately access to resources. Later on, we have worker capacity to change improvements according to the citys specialized production.
It is no way to avoid micromanaging if we want to boost economy and production. Micromanagement gives us the possibility to exploit all the possibilities of the fat cross, and to optimize production in the city. We need money, all the time, and for this purpose cottage spamming is the alternative for most of our cities.
City growth
Production capacity might at be left behind in early gameplay, and the answer is slavery (this is a game, ok? sacrificing people is not nice or political correct, and so was history neither.). Unhappy citizens, who are not working, are dead weight. We sacrifice the unhappy, get a unit or a building, and bring the city down to its maximum people/production rate. Rinse and repeat.
City growth is important, and we let our cities grow to its limits. After all, we have made investments in temples, wonders or whatever to keep the good mood. We want the best revenue of our investments.
Techs
What techs to go for? In general we want production-related techs like animal husbandry, bronze working and agriculture, and after that alphabet and literacy so we can build libraries and trade techs. Early religion is no option in this scenario. As we do not have temples, happiness is probably the factor limiting city growth. So we go for monarchy to make people happier. If we have wine, we can also build winery.
Diplomacy
We try to get friendly connections to all our neighbours. To achieve this, we trade techs and sometimes give them gold, a few, for nothing but to keep them happy. With no state religion, we will at least not be dragged into a religious war. We trade techs when it is possible; Sometimes not very good deals, of different reasons. If we can sell the same tech to different nations, it is good. If we also can achieve political good-will, it is even better.
Buildings/wonders
It is our intention to keep the tech-slider above 50%; the main part of the gold goes to research. In most of the cities (dependent on distance from the capital) this means we better build library-courthouse-university first than marketplace-grocer-bank. Later on, most of the time at least, we must decide if we build Wall Street or Oxford University in our richest city. With a tech-slider above 50, Oxford University will give best effect.
Production
Also when a city produce few hammers, it is important to build a forge. This means production bonus, and the possibility of assigning a specialist. So we build forges in all our cities. Later on, towns accumulate hammers too, and factory and coal plant (or other electricity sources) can be a good idea in commercial/scientific cities.
A forge will have greatest impact in our production city/cities. In order to maximize output, the improvements in the fat cross of these cities are irrigation, wind mills, water mills, workshops and mines.
Units
As the spammed cottages grow, we get more money and can keep the tech-slider high. It makes it possible to have a small but upgraded army, and keep total units costs low. Two riflemen are better and cheaper than four swordsmen (upkeep costs).
When cities grow to their limit, we re-improve tiles to fit the citys production and population. This way we convert farm land to cottages when we want the city to stop the growth.
To conclude: Let no capacity stay idle.
