What is this for

[Candian.Gloworm]

There is a little icon beside the speed up your construction icon,
I think its draft???? What is this for, is it useful or can I do without

 

[eyrei]

Do not click it unless you want to mobilize your economy. It is the draft button. When your economy is mobilized, I believe you get a bonus to production, but you can only produce units, barracks, harbors, walls and airports. During mobilization, you also can draft 1 or 2 citizens per turn per city to serve as cannon fodder.

 

[Shaitan]

Yes, it is the Draft button. This will allow you to draft citizens from your city. Each citizen drafted becomes a conscript level unit. The unit type is your best defensive unit capable of being built in that city. The number that you can consricpt per city per turn is dependent upon your government type. Drafting pisses off the citizenry though. They'll be unhappy for 20 turns after a draft. A city must have a population of at least 6 (and include a barracks, I believe) before you can draft from it.

 

[Candian.Gloworm]

but is it neccesary, I usually have a big army to begin with.

 

[eyrei]

I have only ever had to use the draft once, when I was sneak attacked by the Chinese. I learned my lesson though, and will always have a big standing army.

 

[Shaitan]

Originally posted by eyrei
Do not click it unless you want to mobilize your economy...

You can draft without mobilizing. To mobilize you need to change the economy type in the Domestic Advisor screen (F1).

I agree with eyre on mobilization. Don't do that unless you absolutely have to build up a big army fast. Not being able to build anything except units and military buildings is a huge problem.

 

[Peteus]

I agree with eyre on mobilization. Don't do that unless you absolutely have to build up a big army fast. Not being able to build anything except units and military buildings is a huge problem.

I tend to disagree - I think mobilization is very useful in its place! I mobilize once or twice in pretty much every game, briefly.

I have had great success with it when I am blitzing an enemy, and trying to cripple/completely eliminate them ASAP. (Democracy/war weariness considerations, or to avoid city flipping.) In a modern war, I often find the cost of my lovely modern armour reinforcements going from 3 turns to 2, or mech inf from 2 to 1 - that speeds things up quite a bit! If the war is fairly quick, you'll hardly notice the negative effects of mobilization because you are allowed to complete whatever you were building - you just can't start anything non-military.

If you have any thought that you are going to be in a long, drawn-out war though, avoid mobilizing if possible! Not only can you not build cultural and economic buildings when you want to, you also suffer a penalty to your culture accumulation rate! That can put you behind the cultural 8-ball in a hurry, if you don't watch out...

I assume that mobilization would also be a very natural thing to do when you are subjected to a desperate defensive war (frontiers are starting to crumble.) You're naturally going to want to put everything into your military anyway!

 

[Candian.Gloworm]

If I mobalize my army can I turn it off just as quick and if so how do I do that?

 

[eyrei]

I think you have to be at peace with everyone to demobilize.

 

[Candian.Gloworm]

To me it sounds like a waste of time, to mobalize but I like the advice about being sneek attacked to use it then. but who knows as I learn more about the game.


Thanks guys

 

[Peteus]

Nope, you just have to go to peace with someone that you were at war with. You can mobilize while at peace with everyone - in that case you have to declare a war and then end it!
And you don't switch mobilization off - it happens automatically when you sign a peace treaty.