Some Help With City Management Please

[LowEndUser]

I`m trying to get away from using the AI Governors in my cities as many have advised in my " Go`s Downhill " thread below.

Some suggest using high corruption cities as research centers, so I`ve posted two screen shots of Knossos from a current game. Any specific suggestion on how to proceed would be appreciated. I my have missed anything in the War Academy on City Management. Any other ideas welcome too

Thanks

 

[gmaharriet]

The first thing I noticed is that Knossos is not totally corrupt...it's producing 2 shields and 2 gold. To turn it into a tax/science farm, you'll need to irrigate all its tiles, and you'll lose the extra shield...you MAY find it worth it to do so. Bring in irrigation from either the river near Hakodate or from the irrigated fields near Delphi if you don't yet have Electricity.

The library will be of absolutely no value there as it multiplies only the science produced by the town and has no effect on the beakers produced by the scientists. I'd suggest building workers, settlers or artillery, but no infrastructure. Chop the forests to speed whatever you decide to build there, and then irrigate those tiles as well.

 

[Aabraxan]

Knossos is only "mostly corrupt," so it may have some limited value in producing cats or trebs, skimming the occasional worker or settler or the like. But gmaharriet's right about the library. The library won't have any effect on science generated by scientists, only on the science derived from commerce. In your screenshot, that's 1 beaker after corruption. Even if you complete the library after the 32 remaining turns, you then must pay maintenance (3gpt?) to have that 1 beaker multiplied. Better off skipping the library and hiring another scientist.

The terrain surrounding Knossos is good "farming" terrain. Lots of food means lots of specialists. Irrigate everything, road it and rail it. Then use a few citizens, placed on the highest-food tiles first, to support as many specialists as you can. You can switch them back and forth between taxmen and scientists, as necessary.

I'd even sell off the temple, provided that you've only got it for happiness reasons. (If you're going for a culture win, or facing serious culture pressure, that's different.)

 

[TheOverseer714]

The land needs developed further before it would make a good specialist farm. I would change production to artillery(cats. trebs, or cannons) at this point while irrigating to boost food production. I do see the culture of Avaris being a flip risk, supposing that thats not turned off. Keep the temple until you knock off Egypt. Once food production is boosted, you could have 3 taxmen or scientists there. Or you could slowly build things.

 

[civverguy]

You don't really need a temple in Knossos since you already have 6 luxes and irrigate the tiles around Knossos for faster growth.

 

[Norton II]

Here's what science farming looks like:

As you see, food production is maximized, everything else ignored--you won't get much production or commerce out of ultra-corrupt cities anyway.

Here's a science farm:

In this case, 4 citizens are supporting 4 scientists, and there's enough food for one more. Note that the town's on a river--you shouldn't build an aqueduct in a town this corrupt.

Here's what science farming can do:

I'm doing 20% research, but I'll still get steel in 4 turns. Steel costs a little over 4000 beakers, so I'm getting about 800 beakers from scientists. This is from an old save; I played this game out a little further and eventually got 4-turn research at 0% science once I'd improved all the terrain (plenty of workers, but a lot of land, so it took a little while).

 

[Mursi lives]

One of your citizens in knossos doesnt produce any food. Turn him into a scientist. Irrigate the cow and two other grassland tiles and you'll get 3 scientists into the city. Don't build library: it doesnt increase the beakers produced by scientists.
I agree with Overseer: dont ditch the temple until you capture Avaris. 1 gpt for some turns is acceptable for avoiding a flip.

But more important than all: build more cities. Many cities. Don't leave any tile unworked.

 

[PaperBeetle]

Here's what science farming looks like:

You missed a spot.

Just kidding. That's a beautiful beaker farm. And very well developed for 900ad.

 

[Fanny Brice]

You don't really need a temple in Knossos since you already have 6 luxes and irrigate the tiles around Knossos for faster growth.

There is some value to building up the culture points in the city, isn't there? Granted, that city is not exactly on the front line, but he is still near the line for the Koreans and that Egyptian city looks like it has a growing influence on the area. (Given how large is empire is, I think he is secure, but in general, some culture is always preferred.)

 

[civverguy]

There is some value to building up the culture points in the city, isn't there? Granted, that city is not exactly on the front line, but he is still near the line for the Koreans and that Egyptian city looks like it has a growing influence on the area. (Given how large is empire is, I think he is secure, but in general, some culture is always preferred.)

Given the number of units stationed in the city, I doubt it will flip.
You also don't need the library because Knossos is producing 1 science.

 

[Norton II]

You missed a spot.

Just kidding. That's a beautiful beaker farm. And very well developed for 900ad.

I figured some visual aids might help the OP understand how to use corrupt towns for science. Also, I think I did miss a spot, or just hadn't gotten to it yet--it's the plains tile north of Tambo Colorado 2. And for the record, I popped 2 settlers from huts early in that game and had plenty of food bonuses near the start.

There is some value to building up the culture points in the city, isn't there? Granted, that city is not exactly on the front line, but he is still near the line for the Koreans and that Egyptian city looks like it has a growing influence on the area. (Given how large is empire is, I think he is secure, but in general, some culture is always preferred.)

There's some benefit, yes, but only if he doesn't plan to move against the Egyptians. Generally, the best way to prevent culture flips is to conquer your neighbors.