When do you clear forests?

[Thalassicus]

When do you usually clear forests? Select options you use very often:

• Rushing units
• Rushing buildings
• Rushing wonders
• Creating farmland
• Clearing land for military combat
• Hills
• Grass
• Plains
• Tundra
• Other strategy (explain below)
• I rarely clear forests.

You can choose multiple options in the poll.


(Edit: I left out clearing for resources, because we don't need a poll to know we always do that. )

 

[mystikx21]

I think the +3 on mills in the industrial era makes it too good to chop almost at all, barring a resource (everyone does that) or maybe some riverside farms if the city won't grow fast enough or early wonders.

 

[mitsho]

Yeah, I think ressource was so obvious it didn't need mentioning

I basically only chop for mines or the lonely farm in a very heavy forest region with a river.

And for military tactics of course, though there it sometimes is better to leave the forest around...

 

[Hawawaa]

Very rarely for farm land if needed. Rarely do I chop only for rushing wonders if I must have it.

 

[xInVicTuSx]

I do it only for rushing wonders as well.

As someone said in another thread I don't chop forests from habit because of the health penalty in Civ4.

 

[Anvari]

I chop them only at the start, if i need to rush the wonder i'm building.

If i could vote multiple times, i would also check military strategy and i rarely clear them. Except #1 and #2, or i can improve a resource but that's a given.

 

[Jorad]

If i could vote multiple times, i would also check military strategy and i rarely clear them. Except #1 and #2, or i can improve a resource but that's a given.

You can vote for multiple options in these polls.

 

[Anvari]

darn, didnt see that.

 

[Teaf]

Other strategy (explain below):

Luxuries!

Other than that, I clear them to rush a wonder, create farmland and military reasons

 

[GAGA Extrem]

I only chop to clear land for farms (mostly on river tiles) or to connect luxuries.

 

[Bridger]

It really depends on what's around. If my city is surrounded by mostly flatland I'll leave the forests so i can build lumber mills. If it's got enough hills to build mines I'll usually clear them for farms/TP. It really depends on the # of hills or the purpose of the city i'm founding.

 

[Volver]

I'll chop them down in the early game to speed an expensive build when I know it will get chopped down anyway (i.e. cotton or silk on forest before researching calendar, etc.)

 

[Drakir89]

I also clear when I want to build trading posts. The total yields are the same or comparable and the improvement time for clear forest -> trading post is about the same as just building the trading post on the forest. It's a neat way to earn extra hammers.

 

[Anastase Alex]

A thing I really would like to see is the ability to plant foprests with your workers relativelly late in the technology tree and random forest growing. The terrain of earth is not static, and forests tend to re-grow if the land is unworked.

Also, why is this poll important? What do you intend to do with this information, Thal?

 

[Thalassicus]

I'm checking each option has situational value (keep or clear). It's more interesting to vary our strategy than going with the same option every time. This means finding a balance between the value of the two choices.

 

[Endovior]

I mostly chop when rushing. Hammers are hammers, and since I tend to play on the slower speeds, I don't invest TOO much thought as to the precise timing. That said, where I chop tends to be the good farmland, ie: riverside.

 

[Ahriman]

Currently, lumbermills and mines are overpowered, because with full tech they give +3 yield rather than +2. [Villages, pastures, plantations, camps all only give +2.]

Otherwise, I think forests are fine.

I don't see a need for the +25% boost. In Civ4, forest-chopping was one of the biggest advantages the human player had over the AI, the AI didn't understand how to chop out key wonders or units. I think because of this experience, Civ5 was right to de-emphasize the production boost, and I don't think we need to head back in that direction again.

 

[agc28]

Aristocracy does not increase chop yield by +15%. Is this intended?

 

[Thalassicus]

I believe no modifiers affect the chop yield.

 

[Gothic_Empire]

I sometimes have "army engineers" -- workers that come with some melee units who have cover promotions. They clear problematic jungle and forest.