Fast worker question

[sabres77]

Do the fast workers do anything faster than the regular worker? or do they just get an extra movement?

 

[Nooble]

What? How do they get promotions? Do you need to build them with barracks?

 

[Phoenix_56721]

Do the fast workers do anything faster than the regular worker? or do they just get an extra movement?

As far as I know its just 3 movements instead of 2. I have never played India though so I could be wrong.

 

[History_Buff]

I know that the actual work rate is the same, and I doubt there is another bonus to be had.

 

[michael4000]

So, I've been wondering -- and perhaps I'm being a little thick here -- but does having a worker who can go a little further every turn actually, like, help? Significantly, that is?

 

[Older than Dirt]

If you have a plethora of such or have captured workers in a distant land, they could be used as suicide scouts to explore. They could be sent ahead of your mounted archers or tanks to warn the populace to run and hide. Just what do they have inside those turbans?

 

[Leifmk]

So, I've been wondering -- and perhaps I'm being a little thick here -- but does having a worker who can go a little further every turn actually, like, help? Significantly, that is?

Yes, big time. In effect, all terraforming operations in forest, hill or jungle take one less turn, because you can move into the tile and commence operations in the same turn. Over the lifespan of a worker this translates into the worker being able to perform many more operations, and you get the benefits from each sooner than you would otherwise.

 

[bonscott]

Yes, it's just one extra move and as stated above, you can move onto a hill or forest and start working it the same turn. I honestly thought this wasn't worth it as a UU until I played India once. It is quite nice. And the other thing, it's a UU that keeps working for you the whole game. The other military based UU are only good for a certain period of time and then they are obsolete. The extra move becomes obsolete in a way after rails but they help again get your improvements up and running faster if they've been pillaged so it still has it's use, even in the modern era.

I wouldn't choose Inida just for the Fast Worker over say a Cossack and the Russians but then I rarely play to get a certain UU anyway. Whatever UU comes along with the civ is fine by me.

 

[·Imhotep·]

I didn't fully understand the worth of the Fast Worker until I played a game as Gandhi. If you got a bunch of them at hand they are quite powerful. Chain 4 of them together, and they will build you whatever improvement you want in one or two turns. That means earlier food, earlier hammers or earlier resource access for your cities. That extra movement point is really nice. Giving 'em a 10% or 20 % bonus on working speed would habe overpowered the unit - it's quite perfect now. Play with India and you will love 'em. They are able to improve your land from one second to the other. Plus, they stay worthy the hole game - unlike the War Chariot or the Quecha.

Lord Timon

 

[Rad Chris]

In my experiments with Ghandi one of the best things about fast workers having an extra movement point is just that, the extra movement. If your chopping workers in your second city, or running around a fairly lose empire, then you can get to where you want much faster. If you have engineering then you can move NINE times. Thats just one less than a railroad.

 

[Reignking]

I started a random game the other day, and I got India, who I haven't played w/ in months. The Fast Worker might just be my favoriate UU now. I was able to get a huge early boost from them, connecting cities and resources very quickly.

 

[michael4000]

All right! This is an impressive pro-fast worker consensus. And I hadn't thought of this:

it's a UU that keeps working for you the whole game. The other military based UU are only good for a certain period of time and then they are obsolete.

Guess I need to take India out for a test drive....

 

[diablodelmar]

Their main strength is that they never become obsolete. Where as other UUs (i.e. Praetorians, Samurai) will, at some point in the game, inevitably become useless compared to their replacement (i.e. Infantry, Tanks).

 

[5cats]

If you have a plethora of such or have captured workers in a distant land, they could be used as suicide scouts to explore. They could be sent ahead of your mounted archers or tanks to warn the populace to run and hide. Just what do they have inside those turbans?

You're a sick little monkey! Lol!
But that was actually done during the Iran-Iraq war. Using civilians as minesweepers, the R-L equivilant of suicide scouts
MY question is, just how do they move so fast before the discovery of coffee?

 

[DraconisRex]

So, I've been wondering -- and perhaps I'm being a little thick here -- but does having a worker who can go a little further every turn actually, like, help? Significantly, that is?

Yes. You save a turn on entering everything but wooded hills. Over a long game, that's a lot of worker turns saved. Which can be flipped into building a few less workers to get the same improvement production and using those saved city turns to build something more useful. Like an army or a building.