Does anyone EVER use the colony or fortification functions?

[.Shane.]

Just getting my feet back into this game....

Was toying w/ turning workers into colonies, forts, etc... It struck me that most players probably never use these ancillary functions. Or do they? Are there unique situations you'd use them in?

In Civ2, from time to time I'd build forts at key chokepoints.

 

[vmxa]

I never use them, well I once make a colony about two years ago. Are there opportunities to use either, sure.

As you have figured out, Civ2 play does not carry ovr to III at all.

 

[whereagles]

Fortifications are good to put a few infantries in it and block the AI from entering your territory. I use them from time to time.

 

[Swiss Bezerker]

Colonies are great when youre high on workers(no pun intended)and low on settlers.Plus if their are gems on a mountain a colonie takes only 1 turn instead of 24/12/6

And welcome to the forums shane!

 

[BasketCase]

Colonies: rarely. Forts: all the time.

 

[mastertyguy]

I don't use colonies, but I do use forts.

 

[Turner]

I don't think I've used a colony since VC3.

However, I'll use forts occasionally.

 

[StavrosMelb]

Fort on a hill =

Colonies aren't worth it since you lose that worker when its built -- they are far more useful building roads and improving terrain and are too valuable to lose.

Who would agree they'd rather lose an offensive unit over a worker? their value is truly under-rated.

 

[aaglo]

I use colonies, if the resource I want/need is just in impossible location (like in the middle of a large jungle).

 

[Evie]

I build forts whenever I have nothing better for my workers to do (ie, entire territory roaded/mined/irrigated and no railroads available yet ; entire territory railroaded, etc).

 

[Rob (R8XFT)]

I use colonies quite a bit, especially with enslaved workers.

 

[namliaM]

Slave = free worker why waste that? If at all i would use a reg worker....

 

[ac196nataku]

Because if you are in democracy, have replacable parts, and are industrious, perhaps the 600% longer time it takes for slaves to do their duty just isnt worth the 1 gold you get it return?

I think i didd the math right.
democracy = *1.5
Replaceable parts = *2
Industrious = *2

maybe replacable parts is only *1.5, but still, sometimes i dont feel like waiting for ever. if for some god forsaken reason i'm in communism, sometimes i use the slaves for pop rushing... hehe

 

[namliaM]

Still free work = free work and as we dutch say "Gratis is altijd goed" => Something free is allways good
That would mean a free colony is good as well.... atleast better than one you shielded for....

I would rather keep my slaves if only to stack em together and emmulate a worker by (While in early depo) stacking 2 together. Later on stacking 3 or 4.

I had been joining slaves to city's ending up with "multi pop" citys, but then found that this increases changes of flips & that slaves are free. Now i keep em around for ever, for freeeeeeeeee! Even if the are (much) slower a mountain (20 or so) of free workers still saves of 10 (or so) worker at 10gpt... AND you dont have to build em AND they dont cost pop.

Does anyone ever join them to citys? Do slaves added into citys make actually productive pops?
If you take a slave from a commerce civ, join it to a city. It does not (IIRC) produce an extra commerce?

 

[Rambuchan]

I rarely use either. They are quite specialist functions which are only needed in very specific situations IMO, otherwise it's a waste of a worker.

Colony if it's gems on a mountain tucked away. Slave worker gets put on that. Only done this 2 or 3 times in about 10 years of playing civ. Settling the resource/lux is the safest way of securing a lux/resource.

Fortifications. In a previous thread about these I said NO! NEVER! Then the very next game I was faced with a run away civ right next to me. I built a thick clump of forts (and then turned them into barricades) to block up what was a 3 tile wide choke point on the continent. Without those forts I would have lost the game - but I didn't! woo!

When I built those forts I stuck 2 best defence in each one, with an artillery unit each and then knights in the line behind. The attacking enemy knights got bombarded soon as they attacked and invariably they would retreat with low health. Well they would get another bombardment to completely red line them and then my knights would run through, hack them to death and then scoot back behind the barricades for the next wave of attack. This went on until their attack dried up and I was able to just tap on the door of their cities. It was pretty cool as it goes but only happened once in 10 years .

 

[onedreamer]

Fortifications are very useful, both in the towns and as a worker improvement.
Colonies are a waste because of their fragility. Just building a colony means nothing, I don't get reasonings like "I will build a colony on a mountain because roading it takes to long". Well that makes me smile, unless you always play on Chieftain level you'll have to defend your colonies. Colonies will generally be in frontier land open for everyone to pillage, you will have to build a fort to defend it, which costs more than roading it, then you will have to send troops to defend the fort, which is more waste. On top of this, once any Civ builds a town -even the stupidest and most worthless of towns, be sure they will do it- near the colony or reaches it with its culture your colony is gone, *puff* no matter how well you defended it and how much efforts you put into it. Does all of this make more sense than building that stupid worthless town next to the colony ? My answer is definitely not.

 

[Abaddon]

Id rather settle another city than create a fort.. the city will be more useful in the end.
Colonys are fun.. i have tried to make mods so that they are more useful.. but en the end.. having a city is more useful.

 

[Lord Parkin]

Because if you are in democracy, have replacable parts, and are industrious, perhaps the 600% longer time it takes for slaves to do their duty just isnt worth the 1 gold you get it return?

I think i didd the math right.
democracy = *1.5
Replaceable parts = *2
Industrious = *2

maybe replacable parts is only *1.5, but still, sometimes i dont feel like waiting for ever. if for some god forsaken reason i'm in communism, sometimes i use the slaves for pop rushing... hehe

Actually, slave workers ALWAYS work at exactly 1/2 the rate of normal workers, no matter what your tech / govt / civ traits. So they're not THAT bad - two slave workers together work at exactly the same speed as one ordinary worker.

 

[onedreamer]

plus in Democracy unit support costs 2g or am I wrong ? I don't use Democracy from ages.

 

[DBear]

Forts I rarely build, only if my workers have nothing else to do... and they almost always have something else to do.

Colonies if a resource is in the middle of a mountain range and is otherwise inaccessible.