Quick Answers / 'Newbie' Questions

[tjs282]

On one of my games, the byzantines are building the SoZ which I want but I have no ivory and it'll take me some time to gather some military to snatch it. For the time being, I was thinking of pillaging their ivory but I'm not sure if that'll stop them from being able to get the wonder. I have this doubt because after the SoZ is complete, even if ivory is lost, we still get culture but not ACs. So will I be able to stop the byzantines from getting the SoZ of I pillage their ivory?

If they've already begun it, you can't stop them from finishing it unless you can 'persuade' them to switch the build to something else, after you've pillaged their Ivory.

So maybe once you've got your (Swords+Horses?) attack-stack assembled, rush in and pillage on the way, then attack the SoZ-building city until the last defender is gone. Even if you don't manage to capture it (e.g. because there's an Archer at the bottom of the pile), they might buy a defender on the next IBT, wasting their Wonder-shields. And even if you can't kill all the defenders, so long as you've pillaged all their Ivory-sources, they won't get any ACavs from SoZ, so at least their having it won't be dangerous to you. And capturing it will still give you the ACavs (if you have Ivory) and the tourist-income later, if not the Culture-points.

Alternatively, depending on where the Ivory is, how many 'Dora has hooked up, and how far along they are with their build (don't forget that it will be cheaper for them at Monarch+ !), you could try starting a prebuild for the SoZ in a town which can beat them to it, then buying, colonising or Settler-stealing some of that Ivory yourself (the best method would ideally depend on what best suits your game-aims, but more likely on what's feasible and/or how desperate you are!).

Yes, actually planting towns on Byzzie turf will cause immediate war (and destroy your RoP-rep), but you only need the Ivory hooked for 1T to be able to switch the prebuild to SoZ, so long as you haven't been careless and rushed shields into the prebuild using forest-chops, unit-disbands, etc. (NB this might not even be a risk, if you're using another Wonder or your Palace as a prebuild, since AFAIK chopped/disbanded shields aren't added to Wonder-builds already in progress).

 

[Lord AJ]

If they've already begun it, you can't stop them from finishing it unless you can 'persuade' them to switch the build to something else, after you've pillaged their Ivory.

So maybe once you've got your (Swords+Horses?) attack-stack assembled, rush in and pillage on the way, then attack the SoZ-building city until the last defender is gone. Even if you don't manage to capture it (e.g. because there's an Archer at the bottom of the pile), they might buy a defender on the next IBT, wasting their Wonder-shields. And even if you can't kill all the defenders, so long as you've pillaged all their Ivory-sources, they won't get any ACavs from SoZ, so at least their having it won't be dangerous to you. And capturing it will still give you the ACavs (if you have Ivory) and the tourist-income later, if not the Culture-points.

Alternatively, depending on where the Ivory is, how many 'Dora has hooked up, and how far along they are with their build (don't forget that it will be cheaper for them at Monarch+ !), you could try starting a prebuild for the SoZ in a town which can beat them to it, then buying, colonising or Settler-stealing some of that Ivory yourself (the best method would ideally depend on what best suits your game-aims, but more likely on what's feasible and/or how desperate you are!).

Yes, actually planting towns on Byzzie turf will cause immediate war (and destroy your RoP-rep), but you only need the Ivory hooked for 1T to be able to switch the prebuild to SoZ, so long as you haven't been careless and rushed shields into the prebuild using forest-chops, unit-disbands, etc. (NB this might not even be a risk, if you're using another Wonder or your Palace as a prebuild, since AFAIK chopped/disbanded shields aren't added to Wonder-builds already in progress).

Your last tip would definitely work for me. I'll just get my hands on the ivory for one turn and finish the prebuild. This is actually a 20k game so all I need is culture. Also the byzantines are on the opposite side of the map with the only 3 visible ivory under their control. So I decided to send in a settler and the few exploring Warriors to somehow get me the ivory. This is also why waging a war with them won't be much of a trouble. Also I'm unable to inspect their SoZ city as it's not their capital even though I have an embassy with them. I didn't expect this but now I believe that some additional research is needed for that. Which one could you please tell me [emoji28] [emoji28] [emoji28]

 

[Lanzelot]

Also I'm unable to inspect their SoZ city as it's not their capital even though I have an embassy with them. I didn't expect this but now I believe that some additional research is needed for that. Which one could you please tell me [emoji28] [emoji28] [emoji28]

There is no technology needed for that. You can only inspect those cities, which you can see on the map. So if you haven't yet discovered their SoZ city on the map, you can't inspect it in the espionage screen...

By the way: when you get the SoZ and then lose the ivory again, can you please report whether you still get ACs or not? Someone (I think justanick) reported that the SoZ only produces ACs, if you have ivory connected, but I'm not yet 100% convinced, because I believe to remember that once many years ago I captured SoZ from someone and still got ACs, even though I didn't have ivory. (But then it could be that at the same time I also captured ivory without noticing it...)

 

[Lord AJ]

There is no technology needed for that. You can only inspect those cities, which you can see on the map. So if you haven't yet discovered their SoZ city on the map, you can't inspect it in the espionage screen...

By the way: when you get the SoZ and then lose the ivory again, can you please report whether you still get ACs or not? Someone (I think justanick) reported that the SoZ only produces ACs, if you have ivory connected, but I'm not yet 100% convinced, because I believe to remember that once many years ago I captured SoZ from someone and still got ACs, even though I didn't have ivory. (But then it could be that at the same time I also captured ivory without noticing it...)

Thanks for the info.
Sadly I didn't manage to get the soz as I finished the hanging gardens in my capital and their capital, I believe switched to the soz which they completed two Turns before I could take some of their ivory. [emoji22] [emoji22] [emoji22]
Anyways I'm planning to attack them soon so I'll check it then.

 

[tjs282]

There is no technology needed for that. You can only inspect those cities, which you can see on the map. So if you haven't yet discovered their SoZ city on the map, you can't inspect it in the espionage screen...

By the way: when you get the SoZ and then lose the ivory again, can you please report whether you still get ACs or not? Someone (I think justanick) reported that the SoZ only produces ACs, if you have ivory connected, but I'm not yet 100% convinced, because I believe to remember that once many years ago I captured SoZ from someone and still got ACs, even though I didn't have ivory. (But then it could be that at the same time I also captured ivory without noticing it...)

Lanzelot, I complained, not very long ago, about not getting ACavs when I expected them right here in this very thread, and Justanick confirmed that they need Ivory to build. You can also check the Editor.

And if you need any more convincing of this, you are more than welcome to download savegames from my 'Aztecs1' Random-Emp game, in which the Zulus built SoZ in Bapedi (south of Zim), using Ivory they'd got from Ulundi (north of Zim -- the only Ivory on the map). I captured Bapedi on T197, 830AD (detailed in this post); it revolted in 910 AD, and was recaptured in 920 AD, but I didn't start getting any ACavs until I'd captured, razed and replaced Ulundi as well, in 1335 AD (T257: it took me a long time to get from Bapedi to Ulundi, because I was fighting three civs at once during the intervening turns, so my mil-units were very spread out...). I got my first ACav on the very next IBT.

 

[walletta]

Ultra-basic question about the best way to start the game assuming one intends to build a settler factory. I usually go warrior, warrior, warrior, settler, granary, etc but this means my capital is not very large when I start to build the granary and I only have one worker for wood chopping. Is it in fact more efficient to pump out, I dunno, 7 warriors, say, pay for their upkeep (perforce) and then make a granary more quickly due to larger city size? I suppose I could just test this for myself but I'm a newbie here and I therefore get to ask newbie questions!

 

[justanick]

It would probably be a lot better to skip all those warriors and build the granary directly before anything else. You should either build many settlers when growing to size 3 or build a granary before any settler. The earlier you have the granary the earlier you can use it.

 

[tjs282]

Ultra-basic question about the best way to start the game assuming one intends to build a settler factory. I usually go warrior, warrior, warrior, settler, granary, etc but this means my capital is not very large when I start to build the granary and I only have one worker for wood chopping. Is it in fact more efficient to pump out, I dunno, 7 warriors, say, pay for their upkeep (perforce) and then make a granary more quickly due to larger city size? I suppose I could just test this for myself but I'm a newbie here and I therefore get to ask newbie questions!

I agree with the first couple of Warrior builds (assuming you don't have Scouts), for exploration, but remember that only 2 "A/D>1" units in a city act as mil-pol under Despot (3 units under Monarchy) -- so building 7 of them won't help you keep order! If happiness is likely to be a problem, you'd be better off using the Lux-slider (if you want your town to grow) and/or spinning off the unhappy citizens as Workers to build roads (more trade-->more bang for your LUX%) and connect up Luxes, or Settlers (to colonise more sites).

Making your cap into your Settler-pump is OK, if it's got sufficient food-production. But assuming you're not reloading for a decent starting position, that's kind of unlikely for any given Random-start. Also, since your cap is the only non-corrupt city you'll have for nearly all of the early game, and possibly a good portion of the mid-game as well, you really want it to be able to grow as large as possible, as soon as possible, to most effectively further your game-aims -- but it can't do that if you're ripping 2 citizens out of it every 4-6T. So unless you're lucky enough to get a good pump-spot in immediate visual range, and/or are willing to spend some turns moving your first Settler around before founding (I really liked Theov's 'tribe' unit idea, BTW!), it may not be worth it.

If you end up having to plant your cap in a non-pumpable site, but you're still intent on making one, then your first two Warriors should be off scouting for a good pump-site, ideally in your first ring -- if they can find one, then there's a good argument for spinning off your first Settler when your cap reaches Pop3-4 (depending on happiness), making your second city into your pump, then letting it take over the RExing-duties, leaving your cap to grow and make the primary contribution to your game-aim(s) -- whether building up your military, culture and/or science. You can also spin Workers off your cap if you need to keep happiness under control.

(I did this in my Random-Emp Aztecs1 game, but did not do it -- possibly to my cost -- in my current Random-Emp Koreans1 game, which I am seriously considering replaying from the start...).

How do you know if you have a good Settler-pump site? At Pop1-6(7), a Settler 'costs' 20f (with a Gran) and 30s. Worst case is for a non-Agri civ, without freshwater/ before Construction (i.e. you will have to run a Pop4-6 pump): for an ideal 4-turner under those circumstances, you'll need +5FPT + 7SPT (on average, plus 2s on the growth-IBT), but that can be difficult to achieve under the Despot-penalty. Of the 4 tiles you can work during the first 2 turns of the cycle, in addition to the city tile (2FPT,1SPT -- or 2SPT if you can found on Furs!), you will need:

• all 4 tiles to give at least 2FPT+1SPT, on average
• 3 of 4 tiles to each give an additional +1FPT under Despot, e.g. Cow or Wheat on Grass, Wines on irrigated Plains, etc.
• 2 of 4 tiles to give an additional +1SPT, e.g. mined BGrass, mined Oasis
• a Forest or mined Hill (for the growth-IBT shields)

For the 2T at Pop5, what you'll need will depend on what you banked at Pop4:

• if you got 2*7SPT+2s = 16s, you can use any additional 2FPT tile
• if you got 2*6SPT+2s = 14s, you must use a 2FPT,2SPT-tile
  • (But if you had such a tile available, why weren't you using it already...?)

And if your Scouts/Warriors don't find a good 1st-ring pump-site, then while you're still stuck in Despot, you might instead have to settle for spinning off Workers/Settlers from each new city(s) in turn, as they start getting unmanageably unhappy at Pop4-6 (depending on the Lux-situation).

 

[walletta]

Thanks both. tjs282 won't your capital in fact grow faster if it has a granary?

 

[tjs282]

Thanks both. tjs282 won't your capital in fact grow faster if it has a granary?

It will, but assuming it can get at least +2FPT at every Pop-level, the Cap's going to grow to Pop6 pretty fast anyway (50T after founding, at most). So the question you need to ask yourself is "Do I feel lucky? Well, do ya -- punk?!" No, wait: "Do I need it to grow faster than that, before I've got improved tiles for those citizens to work, and/or sufficient Luxes or Trade --> LUX% to keep my people happy?"

If you start with a couple of Warrior-builds -- 1 explorer, 1 mil-pol for growth to Pop2 without unhappiness (at Emp+) -- assuming +2FPT, 2SPT at Pop1, those will take you 5T each, at which point your Cap grows to Pop2 and expands its borders. If you want a 3rd Warrior for exploration in the opposite direction, or a Curragh (if your Cap's coastal and you've got Alpha), that will take another 4-5T (assuming it's now getting 3-4 SPT), so the Cap's already partway to Pop3 -- and once that unit's built, you've reached your free-unit limit (1 Worker, 2 Warriors, 1 Warrior/Curragh).

If you then start a Gran, you'll continue banking 3-4SPT for another 5-7T (=15-28s) until the Cap reaches Pop3; assuming you're now getting 4-5SPT (and haven't chopped any Forests yet, because that lone Worker has been busy roading and irrigating/mining flatland tiles), you'll need another 6-9T to finish the Gran. That means anything between 26 and 31T in total to get the initial 3 units and Gran built, and if you still haven't got any Luxes hooked by this point, you'll need to build another mil-pol unit, or to raise LUX%, to be sure of keeping order when the Cap reaches Pop4 on Turn 30 -- either way, that's going to start costing you (1GPT for the Gran-maintenance, and 1GPT unit-maintenance or 10-20%LUX => 1-2 Happy-faces, if Trade=10).

Having the Gran will mean you now only need 10T to go from Pop4 to Pop6 (i.e. 36-41T since founding, saving ~10-12T of natural growth). This might well be worth doing if it turns out that you don't have a 4T pump-site in the 1st-ring (and may therefore need to pop Workers/ Settlers out of the Cap), and/or at high levels where the AIs are going to expand like mad anyway. If you're still only getting +2FPT, you then only need 3SPT to keep food+shield harvest balanced with growth and Settler-output -- so you could easily run a 10T 'Settler-trickle' at Pop3-5, Pop2-4 or possibly even Pop1-3 (using only mined Grass/ irrigated Plains). But it would make much more sense to run a military+Settler-pump at Pop4-6, or a Worker-pump at Pop5-6, to maximise income. At that size, since the Cap will already have reached its 2-unit mil-pol limit, this can only be done with more Lux(es) or LUX% (or WH, if you're willing to risk provoking someone into DoWing you!).

OTOH, if the Cap's not going to be any kind of pump, then the Gran represents 60s that you could instead have spent on Walls+Lib (60s if SCI, 50s if SCI+MIL), or Rax+Harbour (10s+30s if MIL, 20s+30s if SEA), or Walls+Duct (10+50s if MIL+AGRI); or 2 Settlers/ Swords/ Horses, or 3 Archers/ Chariots, or 6 Warriors/ Workers, or any combination thereof. Whereas, if you'd built a Settler at Pop3-4 instead, and sent it off to your (hopefully!) now-discovered 1st-ring 4T pump-site, that would instantly remove your Cap's unhappy citizens, giving your Worker(s) some breathing-space to improve more tiles before the next riot. And although you would be paying for the Settler (+Warrior to accompany it?) while in transit, as soon as it founded the next city, that would double your free-unit limit, allowing City2 to build e.g. a Warrior+Worker during its first 10T, and then a Gran for the pump.

So as always in Civ3, it's a matter of trade-offs: deciding what your game-aim is going to be, looking to see what you have available (assuming no restarts!), and then making a considered assessment to decide on your best course of action.

 

[walletta]

Well explained. Thanks.

 

[Lord AJ]

Can the forbidden Palace be rebuilt by a civ? For example let's say I build the FP in my capital early in the game when my empire is smaller. Later, after I've conquered some of the AI cities, I want to shift it to a more central location, by abandoning the previous city to get more commerce from my newly captured cities. Can that be done. And is it advisable to do that.
PS: this question refers to C3C so the FP can't be acting as a second core.

 

[justanick]

Can the forbidden Palace be rebuilt by a civ?

Yes. Any small wonder can be rebuilt. You would need to destroy the old one first and that is only possible by losing the city to the enemy or abandoning it.

For example let's say I build the FP in my capital early in the game when my empire is smaller.

Is it possible to build the VP in the capital itself? As i recall it it is possble only the other way around. If you lose your capital you risk that the new Palace will be located in the city of the VP. That is one of the worst possible outcomes.

Later, after I've conquered some of the AI cities, I want to shift it to a more central location, by abandoning the previous city to get more commerce from my newly captured cities. Can that be done. And is it advisable to do that.

It depends on circumstances. Simply changing the capital by rebuilding the Palace at a different city is also an option. Abandoning the capital to get a new Palace for free is relativly common strategy. But generally speaking you should not change either type of capital. The VP has 3 uses:

1. Reducing (global) rank corruption.
2. Reducing corruption in the city with the VP itself.
3. Reducing the distance corruption by working as secondary capital for distance corruption only.

In my opinion this list also implies an order of importance. The distance corruption is of low importance. You are lucky to get a long term corruption reduction of 50 percentage points in total. But to get such a high value you may easily have to pay unreasonable cost like not having a VP for many turns. Reducing the rank corruption as early as possible is the most important issue as this is easily worth a corruption reduction 100 to 200 percentage in total from the first turn on. As the corruption in the city with the VP can be reduced to zero it is important to have a high output before corruption, also (else) having some significant corruption without the VP will increase the total net gain from the VP.

In communism distance corruption does not depend on distance. Therefore there is no effect on distance corruption with the exception of the city with the VP itself. In the long run communism tends to be the best government in C3C.

 

[vorlon_mi]

Can the forbidden Palace be rebuilt by a civ? For example let's say I build the FP in my capital early in the game when my empire is smaller. Later, after I've conquered some of the AI cities, I want to shift it to a more central location, by abandoning the previous city to get more commerce from my newly captured cities. Can that be done. And is it advisable to do that.
PS: this question refers to C3C so the FP can't be acting as a second core.

Yes, he says, embarrassed. I had built my FP in a productive city, and then removed the city garrison after lots of expansion and switching to Republic. It was near -- but not on -- the coast, and my coastal cities all had defenders. An AI sneaked a galley in while I was fighting a different AI on the other side of the continent, and off-loaded 2 Crusaders. I was able to move pikes into the "soft underbelly" of my empire. One defeated the attacking AI Crusader, and one lost his battle, so my FP city fell.
All culture producing buildings (like the FP) are destroyed. So, I set about rebuilding it, and vowed to keep my "rapid deployment force" larger, and closer to my most valuable cities.

 

[Lord AJ]

Is it possible to build the VP in the capital itself? As i recall it it is possble only the other way around. If you lose your capital you risk that the new Palace will be located in the city of the VP. That is one of the worst possible outcomes.

Sorry. That was a HUGE TYPO on my part [emoji27] [emoji28] [emoji28] [emoji28] I meant to say near the capital. Thanks a lot for all the info. Really appreciate it.

 

[Skullsplitter]

I dusted off my CD and reinstalled 1.29f, and am trying to remember.

OK, I generally Ctrl-Shift-Q a dozen times or so to get a settler pump capital, continents, huge, 15 civ, emperor.

1. If my civ doesn't get Pottery, that's priority, right? Any exceptions?
2. Leave first Warrior as MP or use Lux slider?
3. First build at expansion cities Warrior(MP), unless worker possible?
4. How long do you delay settler to get warriors out exploring?
5. When do you barracks expansion cities which aren't possible worker/settler pumps?

Probably more, but this gets me started.

 

[justanick]

I dusted off my CD and reinstalled 1.29f,

I would advise to switch to C3C 1.22. The version you play is a bit like Civ3 0.5. Usually Civ gets best with the second expansion.

If my civ doesn't get Pottery, that's priority, right? Any exceptions?

I am one of those that thinks that pottery is not so important. You can make your settlers spurt out of your cities exactly when they grow to size 3. That often is a viable alternative to granaries.

Leave first Warrior as MP or use Lux slider?

Exploring would seem to be the very clear priority. So use the lux slider.

First build at expansion cities Warrior(MP), unless worker possible?

You can also build settler. Warrior is just an option to utilize production that exceed the 30 shields for settler till to the growth to size 3 or the 10 shields till the growth to size 2. Also wealth can be an option if there is slightly more than those 10 or 30 shields, but not enough "excess" for a warrior.

Once the most important cities are founded priorities change gradually and your cities need to grow. While you are still short on warriors they are good projekts to utilize shields without reducing the population of cities.

How long do you delay settler to get warriors out exploring?

It is probably better to not delay settlers. If required you can build temporary cities that will be abandoned when convenient.

When do you barracks expansion cities which aren't possible worker/settler pumps?

That very much depends. Barracks cost 40 shields and increase Hit Points from 3 to 4. So to pay off you need to build units worth more than 120 shields before you have your 40 shields for the barracks back. Usually granary for 60 shields for faster growth in cities with freshwater and aquedukt for 100 in cities without freshwater are more important. In despotism you need cheap 3/3 warrior for military police. Later you may need high quality troops like 4/4 knights.

PS: What i said refers to C3C 1.22, the version you play might work slightly different in some ways.

 

[walletta]

Say I want to upgrade a bunch of cannon to artillery (as I do). I am cash poor but shield-rich. Should I:

1 save up and upgrade 1 or 2 units every couple of turns (I am still having to spend on research)
2 cannibalise the cannon into shields (how many do you get - half the initial cost?) and use the shields towards new artillery, or
3 keep the cannon without upgrading and just build artillery?

I'm a communist and intend to make all out war forever until I win or bust.

 

[tjs282]

Say I want to upgrade a bunch of cannon to artillery (as I do). I am cash poor but shield-rich. Should I:

1 save up and upgrade 1 or 2 units every couple of turns (I am still having to spend on research)
2 cannibalise the cannon into shields (how many do you get - half the initial cost?) and use the shields towards new artillery, or
3 keep the cannon without upgrading and just build artillery?

I'm a communist and intend to make all out war forever until I win or bust.

My usual instinct would be to upgrade units, but obviously you're going to be cash-short under Commie. So how big a stack are we talking here? And what are your free-unit limits looking like? And are you remembering to drop SCI% in the last 1-2T of every research-project, to bank the extra gold? (That can really help save up some.)

There's no point keeping the Cannon though, they won't be useful anymore in a world with Infs and Tanks. Basically, if you can build new Arty much faster than you can raise the cash to upgrade all your Cannon (120g per without Leos, 60g with), then it would probably be best to build new Arty from scratch and disband the Cannon (either into the new Arty, or into improvements, to get them off the ground). You get 1/4 of the shield-cost from disbanding units, rounded down, so disbanding Cannon (40s?) will give you 10s(?) into your current build. So if you want an Arty, send all your Cannon to be disbanded in towns getting 35-36 SPT or 70-72 SPT, for Arty-builds with minimal wastage. (Adjust as needed if I've got the price wrong!)

That said, what do you want the Arty for? Since they can't be airlifted (and I find ship-chaining tedious, to say the least), I'd probably also be inclined to keep any new Arty on my own rail network to ping incoming ships down to redline. I'd rather conduct late-game overseas ops with Tanks or better:

• Assemble a task-force:
  • 4-6 Transports full of Tanks, 1 defensive Army (e.g. 3*vInf) to cover them, and Workers and Settlers to rebuild
  • Battleships/ Carriers+Bombers/ Destroyers+Subs to taste
• Establish a beachhead, ideally on some defensive terrain (roaded Hills for preference), right next to a minor-but-conveniently-defendable enemy coastal town
• On the next turn, use naval bombardment and/or Carrier-based Bombers to weaken/kill the defenders, roll in the Tanks and capture it, raze it (refound on the following turn if you need a port) and use one of the Slaves to build an Army-protected Airfield on your Hill
• Use the Airports and Airfields on your home continent, to airlift in the next wave to your impregnable Airfield. And the next wave. And the wave after that (because although a single Airfield -- or Airport -- can only send 1 unit per turn, it can receive as many as you can send)

 

[justanick]

cannibalise the cannon into shields (how many do you get - half the initial cost?)

You only get a quarter of the shields back, so that is 10 shields per cannon. Still i rather prefer disbanding. One might very well argue about about the when and where. Keeping some cannons while you are still short on real artillery is reasonable. Once you have captured some cities those cities need new buildings like courthouses, libraries and factories. Disbanding the cannons where shields are needed the most is reasonable.

When you have a highly industrialized communist empire you have plenty production. The relative scarcity of shields is low and in the long run it is always low. Upgrading is an option when the relative scarcity of shields is high like in the early medieval age. Also upgrading can be required to utilize a tech advantage fast. That is usually the case with knight to cavalry, riflemen to infantry, infantry to mech inf and tank to modern armour. Having a superior army 2 or 3 turns earlier may make quite a difference. But generaly speaking upgrading is a short term strategy, a kind of desperation. With your highly industrialized communist empire you are not desperate. You need to think long term.

EDIT:

There's no point keeping the Cannon though, they won't be useful anymore in a world with Infs and Tanks.

Yes they will. Artillery is only 50% more shield efficient. As long as those cannons are within the free support limit and thus cost no maintenance there is no need to disband them. Disbanding has 2 purposes: Save unit support and get newly acquired cities up to specs.