Workers and the early game

[THE WIZ]

I read the online lesson about improving early terrain, but I am still needing lots more information. I have learned that putting my workers on auto gets some really stupid results.

What are the worker's priorities for you? How are each bonus area improved most? I know what the lesson says, but what do you people think is the key to workers?

 

[Masquerouge]

Roads. Then roads. My first priority is to road all worked city squares and connect all my cities to luxuries and strategic resources. That will improve your gpt a lot, bosst your science, your happiness, cure diseases, bring your loved one back, succes for exams, and maybe I got a bit carried away on the last examples but build roads.
Now when that is done, I think of mines and irrigations.

 

[Padma]

Rule of thumb: Never move a worker out of a tile until a road has been built there.

But also, only mine/irrigate and road tiles that are being worked, or are likely to be worked soon. Plan ahead. Know which tiles will be most beneficial for you to work, and in what order they should have citizens assigned.

As for what tiles should be mined, and what tiles should be irrigated, well, that really depends on the situation of each individual city. cracker's article is excellent in teaching you how to make those decisions, though.

 

[kb2tvl]

Yea, food bonus tiles need irrigation first and then other bonus tiles like iron in hills. I shoot for 3 or 4 food per turn until the city gets to a desired size which is usually size 6 in the ancient age.

 

[MadScot]

Additional: it's a lot easier to get the local terrain improved with extra workers. Many people get focused on building settlers, then suddenly it's 1000BC and they have 10 or 12 cities and still just the one over-worked worker trying to keep up.

Insert a few workers into the build sequence; it really makes a huge difference to have more than one early worker. Also, keep an eye on the AIs; in the early game the Ai often ends up with workers in the capital, due to babrb threats or just on their way somewhere. If you can, buy these workers from the Ai. It cripples the AI from improving its terrain while boosting your ability to improve your terrain.

 

[CIVPhilzilla]

One major note early on mine grassland and irrigate planes as despositism doesn't allow bonuses for irrigated grassland and mined planes.

 

[MadScot]

Originally posted by CIVPhilzilla
One major note early on mine grassland and irrigate planes as despositism doesn't allow bonuses for irrigated grassland and mined planes.

To correct that.

Don't irrigate grasslands which have no food bonuses in the early game, because the despotism penalty wipes out the irrigation benefit.

You can mine plains, though - their basic shield is one, plus one for mine gives two. Often very useful. But that's a basic forest, so if you have forests and plains it's simpler just to have the citizen work the forest and have the worker do something more useful.

 

[Globetrotter]

Originally posted by MadScot
Insert a few workers into the build sequence; it really makes a huge difference to have more than one early worker. Also, keep an eye on the AIs; in the early game the Ai often ends up with workers in the capital, due to babrb threats or just on their way somewhere. If you can, buy these workers from the Ai. It cripples the AI from improving its terrain while boosting your ability to improve your terrain.

So true
The more workers you have, the better it is.
It will slow you down first regarding city expansion and settler building, but on the long run, you will find it pretty benefical.

 

[Moonsinger]

My rule of thumb: The total number of worker must always be equal or greater than the total number of cities under my control (before I take over the world).

 

[kb2tvl]

Depending on the game, I will build warrior, worker, warrior in a new city. This is where I send a settler out ungaurded. The worker will build a road toward my capitol. The down side is losing that pop point but I gain extra cities due to my capitol staying on settler production.

 

[Ankka]

Roads, then irrigations/mines. I usually first build a road to a luxury, if there is one in my city radius. If there isn't, I imrove the best squares first.

BTW, don't try to steal my nick.

 

[Mano3]

Originally posted by Moonsinger
My rule of thumb: The total number of worker must always be equal or greater than the total number of cities under my control (before I take over the world).

I agree. When I build a new city, I first build a defensive unit, then a worker. Each city has it's own worker. If a city is about to 'boil over' (# turns yellow or red), I build a worker.

 

[sabo]

In Despo I mine unless it's a food bonus or flood plain, once you get into monarchy it doesn't matter much, but I irrigate unless a tile has a shield bonus. THen I mine

 

[CIVPhilzilla]

Originally posted by MadScot


To correct that.

Don't irrigate grasslands which have no food bonuses in the early game, because the despotism penalty wipes out the irrigation benefit.

You can mine plains, though - their basic shield is one, plus one for mine gives two. Often very useful. But that's a basic forest, so if you have forests and plains it's simpler just to have the citizen work the forest and have the worker do something more useful.

Oh Mad Scot if you read what I said you would of seen I said the same thing, irrigate planes and mine grassland. The thing ur correcting is what I was saying saying depositism doesn't allow.

 

[MadScot]

Originally posted by CIVPhilzilla
Oh Mad Scot if you read what I said you would of seen I said the same thing, irrigate planes and mine grassland. The thing ur correcting is what I was saying saying depositism doesn't allow.

No, I was agreeing with half of what you said - mining grassland.

To blindly irrigate plains without considering whether a mined plains might be more beneficial is wrong. Plains can be profitably mined or irrigated, and you need to look at what that city needs most; if it has, for example, a lot of flood plains then a mined plains will be a better option in many cases.

 

[Startaff]

Originally posted by MadScot
... Also, keep an eye on the AIs; in the early game the Ai often ends up with workers in the capital, due to babrb threats or just on their way somewhere. If you can, buy these workers from the Ai. It cripples the AI from improving its terrain while boosting your ability to improve your terrain.

Never thought about this. Thanks a lot!

One question: are "bought" workers like yours, efficiency-wise, or they're like captured ones?

 

[MadScot]

Same as captured ones - not as efficient, but free of maintenance.

 

[anarres]

One thing you really should try (if you don't already) is to have at least one worker factory and possibly 2 or 3.

These cities should get 5 food per turn surplus, and should have a granary, and should get 10 shields over 2 turns. Then you can pump just workers and nothing else (keep them below size 7). After 30 or 40 turns doing this with 2 cities you should have enought workers.

Seriously - take the pop from the dedicated cities, make sure all worked tiles are improved, and you will see a marked increase in your empires overall production and commercial income.