Question about workers
- Thread starter uanmi
- Start date
Mark / uanmi,
Welcome to CivFanatics!
One Worker per city is often considered to be adequate as a general rule, but circumstances may dictate more.
You'll often capture Workers as you capture cities, which makes it less oenerous to produce your own. 'Worker theft' - attacking enemy Workers in the field when declaring war - is a popular strategy, although with Warlords the AI can be particularly unforgiving when pulling such a stunt.
Welcome to CivFanatics!
One Worker per city is often considered to be adequate as a general rule, but circumstances may dictate more.
You'll often capture Workers as you capture cities, which makes it less oenerous to produce your own. 'Worker theft' - attacking enemy Workers in the field when declaring war - is a popular strategy, although with Warlords the AI can be particularly unforgiving when pulling such a stunt.
In my own games I try to have about one per city and I'd rather have more, especially when I start near the jungle-belt. A good indicator that you have too few workers is when your cities are working unimproved tiles.
Demand for workers tends to peak at three points in my games: When calendar ressources become available (provided there are lots of them), when transitioning to a cottage economy (printing press/constitution/democracy path) and when railroads become available.
After that, you may be able to disband some of your workers, unless you are expecting late-game warfare.
Demand for workers tends to peak at three points in my games: When calendar ressources become available (provided there are lots of them), when transitioning to a cottage economy (printing press/constitution/democracy path) and when railroads become available.
After that, you may be able to disband some of your workers, unless you are expecting late-game warfare.
strategygamer
Chieftain
If you are playing as the Indians, you could always get away with less workers since they will be working much faster as "super workers".
It's important to remember that, as others have reported from testing, the Indian "fast worker" does not perform worker tasks any faster than any other worker; he just has movement 3 instead of movement 2.
This presents some advantage; for example he can enter an unroaded hill or forest square and start working that same turn. But the advantage shouldn't be overstated.
This presents some advantage; for example he can enter an unroaded hill or forest square and start working that same turn. But the advantage shouldn't be overstated.
strategygamer
Chieftain
Good point, though I imagine the extra movement advantage might be much more pronounced in the earlier stages of your game when there aren't roads on every tile.
Presents some advantage? Given the cumulative effect over the course of the game, I'd say Fast Workers are the best UU out of all of them.
When chop-rushing they are absolutely awesome - with a stack of them you can chop 1 forest per turn (assuming the forests are contiguous); a stack of normal workers can only work at half the speed.
And you'll always get to take advantage of them (Praets, for example, are useless if you're isolated or lacking in Iron), plus they last from the very earliest times right through to the endgame.
Of course, if you didn't stack them, normal workers could each move to a different forest square and only be one turn behind (the initial move), and in the long run you'd save as much from not stacking than from having fast workers.
Agreed, though, fast workers are great.
automator
King
My worker formula is similar to others.
1.5 per city at the start of the game. When I get more than 5 cities, I'll scale that back to 1 per city. By the time I have 10 cities, I don't need to produce any more workers (mostly from worker theft) and just have them run crazy or hole up in central cities waiting to lay rails when the time comes.
1.5 per city at the start of the game. When I get more than 5 cities, I'll scale that back to 1 per city. By the time I have 10 cities, I don't need to produce any more workers (mostly from worker theft) and just have them run crazy or hole up in central cities waiting to lay rails when the time comes.
Good point, though you'll only get the hammers several turns later. The beauty of stack-chopping, like whipping, is that you get the hammers now - very useful if you're in a wonder race or Monty's hordes are crossing the border (the two situations in which mass deforestation is most helpful; at other times I'd be inclined to chop conservatively, in the hope that some forests might grow back).
Hold The Onion
Chieftain
I like 2 per city early on so i can quit working unimproved tiles. As I add cities, I don't usually add workers. 1 per city, 1 road builder to connect cities, and all captured workers fixing the AI's horrible improvements in my newly acquired cities.
I find Fast Workers to be only slightly more useful than a 2nd belly button.
I find Fast Workers to be only slightly more useful than a 2nd belly button.
OTAKUjbski
TK421
I've found myself in many arguments of the useful(less)ness of Fast Workers.
I also tend to have 2 Workers per city unless in the Jungle, in which case I may have 3 per city.
Similarly, I tend to stop training Workers about the time I get to 10 / 12 of my own.
Like Jorunkun said, if I see a city working unimproved tiles, I'll usually take my #2
city (#1 is military-only) and churn out a Worker or two, depending on how many unimproved tiles have gotten away from me.The utility of fast workers varies greatly by game speed. At marathon, a fast worker will go onto a hill or forest square and build something in 9 turns when it would take a normal worker 10. Not that great. But, at fast the fast worker enters the square builds something in 2 turns that would take a normal worker 3. Much better.
I usually have two/city until one worker can stay ahead of the city so I don't have unimproved tiles being worked. As others have said, I usually end up with a work force of about 8 to 10. That number usually keeps them busy probably 90 to 95% of the game and at the same time I am not usually waiting for what I need. I could probably get by with a few less, but I like to road up my fronts during peace time and build cottages on the front, so that takes a few extra.
I tend to agree. While not useless, especially if you have a lot of jungle, the one or two turns you might save in them may not be worth giving up a more suitable trait.
