How to control workers?

[Guitarkalle]

I always hear that I shouldn't automate my workers.

But how do I know when to mine and when to irrigate etc?

 

[Pfeffersack]

There is a good article about this question in the strategy article section:

http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=68433

 

[SJ Frank]

Check out Cracker's opening play tutorial.

 

[Zakharov]

A good rule of thumb for the early game is: Mine green (grass) and irrigate brown (plains).

Work bonus grass before normal grass. Whilst in Despotism, avoid working hills and mountains where possible. Work forests instead if you need extra shields.

You should also road every tile that is being worked by a citizen.

 

[Turner]

And never let a worker leave a tile without it being roaded first.

 

[Peepers]

Try not to gang up your workers when roading tiles. It wastes worker turns.
For example: three workers moving separately to three different tiles (grass/plain/desert in this example) and roading takes a total of four worker turns for three roads. If those three workers moved as a group, it would take six turns for the three roads, though admittedly there are some cases where a road sooner is better. Once the best tiles are roaded, then you will be much more efficient in using worker gangs. The general rule is: avoid, as much as possible, ending a worker's turn by moving. A good example of efficiency is using 9 (non-industrious) turns by one worker to make a road on a mountain/jungle, then bringing in the gang to mine/clear it.

 

[namliaM]

Off topic (a bit)
Sometimes you can trade for a slave, and sometimes you cannot... Even if you know (thru recon) that they have as much as 4 or 5.

What is the prereq for being able to trade workers into slavery?

 

[Ginger_Ale]

IIRC, the civ has to be on your continent, but I'm not sure.

 

[catchsomezzz]

What is the prereq for being able to trade workers into slavery?

(1) You must have a viable trade route with that civ (just like trading luxuries, resources, etc.), and (2) the worker must be in the capital city to be available for trade.

Try using CivAssist - among other features, it has a nifty alert window will alert you everytime any civ has a worker that you can trade for, etc.

 

[robertoross24]

i do atcualy use automate.....only reason is the ai would use the same system so
i try to keep it equal and not use my better tatics to effectivaly beat the comp
i like a challange without the comp cheating you see...

 

[Tomoyo]

(1) You must have a viable trade route with that civ (just like trading luxuries, resources, etc.), and (2) the worker must be in the capital city to be available for trade.

Try using CivAssist - among other features, it has a nifty alert window will alert you everytime any civ has a worker that you can trade for, etc.

I don't think (1) is true. I've had the ability to trade workers in 3000BC before.

 

[Mathias]

A good example of efficiency is using 9 (non-industrious) turns by one worker to make a road on a mountain/jungle, then bringing in the gang to mine/clear it.

This is efficient on the mountain, but not most efficient on jungles. A team of three non-industrious workers can step, clear, and road the jungle in ten turns (30 worker-turns = 3 step, 24 clear, 3 road). With a single worker roading the jungle first, you will spend 34 worker-turns (1 step, 9 road, 24 clear). You should always clear jungle before road unless you only need to road through jungle to connect cities.

 

[namliaM]

(1) You must have a viable trade route with that civ (just like trading luxuries, resources, etc.), and (2) the worker must be in the capital city to be available for trade.

Try using CivAssist - among other features, it has a nifty alert window will alert you everytime any civ has a worker that you can trade for, etc.

I have never tried Civassist... guess i should... Trading in slaves is a nice extra, asspecially early in the game... (I think ) Thanks for the thought

I dont think you need a trade route... I have been able to trade for slaves real early... Even on the first trade... I allways get a slave if i can

 

[catchsomezzz]

Tomoyo & namliaM,

You guys are right. My mistake, I forgot about that.

But, I think the ability to trade slaves does require something more than simple contact though. For lack of a better word, it may have to do with whether there's the "ability" to travel between the two civ's capitals.

Basically, from my observation, I can buy slaves from other civs on the same continent early as soon I have contact with them. However, I don't remember being able to buy slaves from civs on other islands or continents until I have the necessary sea-travel techs to reach their territories (Astronomy & Navigation). Although I may have established contacts with them in the Ancient Ages.

Does anyone else have any additional thoughts on this?

Anyway, when you buy slaves, you set the other civs back. (1) That's one less worker to improve their land. (2) They'll have to build a replacement, which takes away their production turns and slow their population growth. And (3) slaves are completely undervalued by the AI for the cost to their growth and the benefit that you gain. So, unless I somehow miss the CivAssist alert message, I've always trade for slaves every time. I usually end up with a ratio of 4 or 5 slaves to every native worker that I actually built.

 

[fe3333au]

regarding trading workers ... If war is declared between two other civs ... I always open negotiations with them just in case they moved workers to capital for protection ...

 

[Peepers]

This is efficient on the mountain, but not most efficient on jungles. A team of three non-industrious workers can step, clear, and road the jungle in ten turns (30 worker-turns = 3 step, 24 clear, 3 road). With a single worker roading the jungle first, you will spend 34 worker-turns (1 step, 9 road, 24 clear). You should always clear jungle before road unless you only need to road through jungle to connect cities.

True, if you continue with the same workers, as you illustrate. What I suggest is to eliminate as many 'steps' as you can. Once one worker has stepped and roaded jungle (10 worker turns), many more workers can move in to clear, without having to step.

 

[Herrs]

Never automate early in the game, the worker actions is too importent then. Later, however, you have to automate unless you want to spend more than halv of the gaming time just moving workers.

 

[thetrooper]

I never automate my workers, except for pollution cleanup.

 

[eldar]

I'll automate (or more usually just fortify) my workers late on once I get bored with improving tiles for cities I don't care about. This will normally be non-core cities that aren't ever going to pump out military in a conquest/domination game.

If there's pollution, I'll Shift-A them, even then I keep a stack of a dozen handy to hit spots that are missed.

 

[Berenice]

On that note, I've had some situations where it was either not in the cards, or too difficult to expand my empire, so I had my workers do everything to the tiles that they could(except putting a road on every tile). I had all my cities connected, all grasslands and plains irrigated(O.K, maybe better to mine the grassland) all mountains and hills mined. I couldn't think of anything else for my workers to do, so I just automated them and they started putting roads everywhere. Bad idea? What would be better use of my workers, if I'm not able to expand and have them work on new territory?

Also, I had no iron and wasn't able to trade for it, so I couldn't build railroads either.

THX