sabo
My Ancestors were Vikings
I usually build 6 to 8 cities and build the Pyramids, after I get the Pyramids I start building alot of workers, depending on the terrain I like a ratio of 1 to 2 workers for each city, roads = trade = $$$$$
Workers
- Thread starter Michael York
- Start date
cracker
Gil Favor's Sidekick
Strategic worker tasking is probably the number one most neglected skill in the game.
Fixed formulas for the number of workers and number of military units per city are absolutely the wrong approach to the game in almost every case.
Civs with the industrious trait have a powerful weapon in the increased productivity of their worker. This what makes France, America, China, and Egypt such productive forces in the game.
The tactic of buying workers early is also very valuable depending on the strategy you choose. 1 industrious worker + 1 purchased worker completes many tasks in the same time as 2 industrious workers. Buying a worker from your enemies for 27 gold pieces speeds up your progression at the same time it slows down theirs.
If the games I play last into the industrial age I will often have 80 to 120 workers in the era of Replaceable parts and steam power.
The reason fixed ratios of workers to city numbers is bad game play is that it fails to take into account the terrain layout and position of your opponents. In the days before caravels, choke points on the map can free up many units from your core cities where it may not be possible for any threats to even reach you.
The pop growth rate from 1 to 6 is at 20 grain per person (10 with granary), the pop growth rate from 7 to 12 is at 40 grain per person (20 with granary). Keeping your population below 6 in almost every city while you continue to expand and build new cities and more workers will put you 2 to 3 time ahead of the positions where you race to have pop 12 cities. One or two pop twelve cities after you have marketplaces and kuxuries is all you need to compete in the wonder races.
Gangs of workers can put you in position to use forestry to rush improvements and units on the frontier where these items would not other wise be possible.
In short, pick one or two key cities in each core area that may go up towards pop 12, but hold all other cities at 6 or below by building settlers and workers as often as possible/necessary. You can join these workers back into cities to take them form 6 to 12 after railroading and forestry has been completed.
As a side note: ALMOST NEVER should you automate workers. I have tested my worker tasking vs the AI's worker automation and after 100 turns the AI has always made at least 4 or 5 wasted moves. In despotism, the AI may have wasted as many as 25 of the first 100 moves of its early workers. The proximity and ganging algorithms do not consider the increased short term value of using every move. My best example of bad function is to have 2 big areas of jungle that are 20 squares apart. Take 10 workers and place them in the middle of each of the jungles and use the automated clear jungle function. The AI will first spray the workers all over the place in the jungle squares and will not integrate road building into the progressions. After the first Jungle squares begin to clear, some of the workers will load up and starting hiking across the map to the other pile of jungle even though it is 20 squares away. This is because the AI does not include proximity and the wasted cost of movement in its value calculation that determines the next task assignment.
Fixed formulas for the number of workers and number of military units per city are absolutely the wrong approach to the game in almost every case.
Civs with the industrious trait have a powerful weapon in the increased productivity of their worker. This what makes France, America, China, and Egypt such productive forces in the game.
The tactic of buying workers early is also very valuable depending on the strategy you choose. 1 industrious worker + 1 purchased worker completes many tasks in the same time as 2 industrious workers. Buying a worker from your enemies for 27 gold pieces speeds up your progression at the same time it slows down theirs.
If the games I play last into the industrial age I will often have 80 to 120 workers in the era of Replaceable parts and steam power.
The reason fixed ratios of workers to city numbers is bad game play is that it fails to take into account the terrain layout and position of your opponents. In the days before caravels, choke points on the map can free up many units from your core cities where it may not be possible for any threats to even reach you.
The pop growth rate from 1 to 6 is at 20 grain per person (10 with granary), the pop growth rate from 7 to 12 is at 40 grain per person (20 with granary). Keeping your population below 6 in almost every city while you continue to expand and build new cities and more workers will put you 2 to 3 time ahead of the positions where you race to have pop 12 cities. One or two pop twelve cities after you have marketplaces and kuxuries is all you need to compete in the wonder races.
Gangs of workers can put you in position to use forestry to rush improvements and units on the frontier where these items would not other wise be possible.
In short, pick one or two key cities in each core area that may go up towards pop 12, but hold all other cities at 6 or below by building settlers and workers as often as possible/necessary. You can join these workers back into cities to take them form 6 to 12 after railroading and forestry has been completed.
As a side note: ALMOST NEVER should you automate workers. I have tested my worker tasking vs the AI's worker automation and after 100 turns the AI has always made at least 4 or 5 wasted moves. In despotism, the AI may have wasted as many as 25 of the first 100 moves of its early workers. The proximity and ganging algorithms do not consider the increased short term value of using every move. My best example of bad function is to have 2 big areas of jungle that are 20 squares apart. Take 10 workers and place them in the middle of each of the jungles and use the automated clear jungle function. The AI will first spray the workers all over the place in the jungle squares and will not integrate road building into the progressions. After the first Jungle squares begin to clear, some of the workers will load up and starting hiking across the map to the other pile of jungle even though it is 20 squares away. This is because the AI does not include proximity and the wasted cost of movement in its value calculation that determines the next task assignment.
I have automated in the past and won on emporer level. I did the same on diety and failed miserably... I have started to manually move workers.... One way to think of manually moving them is to realize you will need fewer workers to do the same job as if they were automated.
That said, im not exactly efficient either. I will place a lone worker on a square and have it clear/road/mine-irrigate. I do this to relieve myself of the sheer tedium of moving 20 billiion workers to the same square to complete the same task.
That said, im not exactly efficient either. I will place a lone worker on a square and have it clear/road/mine-irrigate. I do this to relieve myself of the sheer tedium of moving 20 billiion workers to the same square to complete the same task.
DaDoo
Prince
I've always automated workers (shift-I first till the radius is developed then just a). The AI always mine unshielded grassland and irrigate plains unless it has cattle or wheat(it'd mine both). I find those would be the same decisions I'd do myself. It'd make sure I have a shield production in every square. The only thing one of the patch "fixed" that I wish wasn't is now the most the AI will stack is 2 worker for any given task on the same square unless it's cleaning pollution.
I know there has been pages upon pages of argument on to-automate-or-not-to-automate. I still find automating the worker makes the game flow a bit smoother if not faster. That's just me tho
btw, I usually have 2 workers per city until around middle ages. That's when I stop building workers and start conquering.
I know there has been pages upon pages of argument on to-automate-or-not-to-automate. I still find automating the worker makes the game flow a bit smoother if not faster. That's just me tho
btw, I usually have 2 workers per city until around middle ages. That's when I stop building workers and start conquering.
Then it mean you dont care about your budget, income are pretty low into despotism, but your town support 4 units for free. If you built too much units then your income can be cut down very fast.
If you have an income of 30 gold per turn but need to pay 15 to support unit ( while in despotism ) then you start to suck ( research or $$$).
Qitai
.
Workers are key to sucess. Build as many worker as you have need to them. Cities at size 6, 12 are ideal for worker generation.
Just look at it this way. A worker cost 20 food, 10 shield.
It gives 1 shield per turn for a grassland mine.
1 food per turn for an irrigation.
You earn back what you invest easily. Talking about good ROI!
So, just build as many as there is work for them.
Just look at it this way. A worker cost 20 food, 10 shield.
It gives 1 shield per turn for a grassland mine.
1 food per turn for an irrigation.
You earn back what you invest easily. Talking about good ROI!
So, just build as many as there is work for them.
Shaitan
der Besucher
And stick them back into cities when there's nothing for them to do. This gives more production and income and reduces upkeep costs.
Michael York
On Sabatical from Civ
I think it is interesting, i always built massive worker armies in the ancient era and then let them sit untill steam power (after i have built my massive road network and irrigation tiles). i find it interesting i do this backwards of most. i see automation as the devil. granted, this cost me a lot of time. i tried automation once, the automated workers messed up my core cities and i quickly de-automated them. I always mine size 12 cities to get surplus food near or at 0 (untill sanitation or if they are building wonders).
Reboot
Privateer
I build a worker for every City in the beginning, then gradually stop following this policy when workers from the core cities start having nothing to do. In which case these workers move outwards, so my external cities don't build workers.
I don't automatic workers.
My general policy is to network my cities and the capital and resources first, then mine where it is most productive to (hills with Gold, grasslands with shields, especially when next to rivers, etc.), then irrigate if necessary (to reach pop 12), then go beyond to improve other cities.
When I can build railways, I'll build workers where needed and started building rails everywhere.
When pollution starts, I normally have an extensive railways system so most of the workers merged into the outlying cities and the remainder go on "pollution watch".
I don't automatic workers.
My general policy is to network my cities and the capital and resources first, then mine where it is most productive to (hills with Gold, grasslands with shields, especially when next to rivers, etc.), then irrigate if necessary (to reach pop 12), then go beyond to improve other cities.
When I can build railways, I'll build workers where needed and started building rails everywhere.
When pollution starts, I normally have an extensive railways system so most of the workers merged into the outlying cities and the remainder go on "pollution watch".
