At the time, there were 8 shields in the box towards the settler and we are pumping 5 more each turn into the box. The settler would be completed in 5 turns, but the city will not grow for 10, effectively wasting 25 shields of production before the settler would be recruited. So, what should we produce instead?
All total, by the time we grow to size 3, we will have contributed 58 shields to the production box (10 turns x 5 shields per turn + 8 shields already inside). The settler will account for 30 of those shields, leaving 28 shields for other items.
Of course, we could produce 3 warriors or a warrior and a barracks or we could scrap the settler and build a granary by the time we grow. If, however, we are to take advantage of the warrior-swordsmen rush strategy, we will need lots of warriors and at least one barracks. Conveniently, we can produce one barracks and one warrior with essentially the remaining shields from our total.
Building the warrior first would have allowed us to have another scout roaming around, but as it seems that we are somewhat bordered by water on two sides, we should have sufficient scouts for the immediate future. Building the barracks first will allow all future warriors produced to emerge as veteran units, which is nice.
This was essentially the conversation that took place during the chat and it seems to be the logical choice. Of course, my logic is often fuzzy.
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T-minus 8 and counting...
