settler factory

[serttech2003]

I understand the concept but was wondering if someone could give greater detail. I can usually get it down to every 6 turns but then I have to break to build warriors in order to build back up to size again.

Usually it goes: settler-settler-warrior-warrior-settler-warrior or something close to this.

If someone could post screen shots or a game that we could paint by nunbers on to see how it works that would be better.

 

[Chieftess]

Are you using granaries? Those help with increasing the city size quicker.

 

[civ2003]

hi,
what i think is that you need a granary ( 10 food = 1 growth ), you need to have 5 excess food each turn so it grows 2 people in 4 turns, for shields, the optimum is 8 , so you create a settler in 4 turns. and thats perfect. also, keep the pop size under 7.

this is how i use my capital as settler factory. hope this helps

 

[Ribannah]

For an optimal result, you need a size 5 city on a river or lake with a Granary that makes +5 food and 6 shields, 7 once it's size 6, with a forest available. In four turns you then get 2 pop and 6+8+7+9 = 30 shields exactly.

A variation is a city that alternates between +4 and +6 food (always in that order!) or even between +3 and +7.

If it's not on a river or lake you won't get the production from the seventh tile so in that case you need one shield more, but you also need to start at size 4 (1 turn) because when you fill the foodbox on the fourth turn the Settler leaves you with a size 4 city (full box) anyway.

 

[MadScot]

Here's an example of a settler factory in action.

Madrid's first builds were 2 warriors, I think, then a granary, since when it's been all settlers (or workers, don't forget those!):

You can see it's just built a settler - underlined in red as he marches off.

With a food surplus of 5 per turn (adjustable using the three wheats, in various combinations) the population will grow in 2 turns per point.

At size 3 it's generating 6 shields. At size 4 it's 8 (the blue circle is a bonus grassland tile) and size 5 it's also 8 (working a regular grassland). That gives 3*8+6=30, exactly the number for a settler.

That builds one settler every 4 turns.

 

[serttech2003]

Thanks to all who responded. I understand it in principle but it takes practice and remembering to micromamage the citizens. Just one more question.

Can you really pump settlers every 4 turns for as long as you want or do you need to build things in between to catch up on citizens?

 

[Bamspeedy]

Yes, if set up correctly and carefully micromanaged, you can get a settler every 4 turns forever.

Here's a step-by-step tutorial:

Babylon's Deity settlers

As long as you stay at +5 food every turn, you won't need to build anything in between settlers to wait for population to re-grow . The only way that would happen is if you had way more shields than food. And for that to happen with a +5 food city with granary would be if you averaged 10+ shields/turn, which just isn't going to happen except for maybe when railroads come into play (and having a golden age).

 

[civ2003]

Originally posted by serttech2003
Thanks to all who responded. I understand it in principle but it takes practice and remembering to micromamage the citizens. Just one more question.

Can you really pump settlers every 4 turns for as long as you want or do you need to build things in between to catch up on citizens?

for me i just use the capital to pump settler till i have 10-12 cities, then i start to build up. if you do it this way, you won't get to build some early wonders like pyramid which is very useful because your capital is tied up popping settlers, and your newly found cities will take like forever to build a wonder ( the AI will comlete it first )

 

[R3dKnight]

you can always try for workers instead if you found the build is too taxing for your city,