Spec cities?

[Morgrad]

comments like this make me think I should actually start automating my workers since I only play Prince and sometimes Monarch. And building everything in every city.

I can't imagine winning a game with workers automated at any level above Chieftain so I'm confounded how this comment can be true. Or maybe I am just terrible at managing my workers.

Personally, I call BS on that comment. There is no way someone automates workers, builds everything, doesn't specialize, and wins at Monarch. I concede that it's possible they do 1 or 2 of these things and still win, but all three? Not a chance.

If the OP cares to post a 1500AD post at Monarch where we can see everything build in cities and traditional automated worker behavior around all his cities where he's in a winnable position, then i'll consider myself corrected.

The game plays very differently at Monarch than it does at Noble - and no one does themself a favor by asking how to beat Monarch when they haven't learned to beat Noble or Prince yet.

 

[theis81]

Well it's been awhile and I don't automate workers anymore or build everything either.

Still I did play monarch and I did win once in a while, more often I didn't, but still my preferred challenge was monarch and still is.

Often my wins was based on initial luck with map and ressources, now it's less, but I still tend to restart a bit after a bad start.

A factor might be that I play small maps so less opponents. I dunno how much that helps, but some I reckon.

Anyway here's a game I played with great succes and automated workers. I didn't have a 1500 AD save but 1866. I am on the way to victory here.

On this map I had the luck of a good starting position and I shared a continent with only one opponent, where they were 3 on the other.

Anyway my point is win is possible with monarch and automated workers. About every building there's offcourse exceptions, but my (though I did plan my national wonders as best suited, so there is some specialisation).

 

[JBossch]

I think this was pointed out in the midst of some other posts but just to clarify on the matter of ordering cities to build gold, science, or culture by converting hammers:
The output does not run through the city's modifiers, eg., building commerce in a city with a bank does not give +50% from the hammer conversion. The hammers do, of course, run through say, a forge's +25% modifier before being converted.
IMO, this makes building tech, gold, science a fairly weak choice in most cases. I have definitely used it when I really didn't have anything else to build or my army was already massive and burdening my economy. Unless, you are late game, however, it is usually better to slow-build that university or whatever until you get a chance to whip.