what to build...

[Arcinatus]

i'm having some difficulty in knowing what buildings to create when, in what cities, and in what order.

in cities, what i usually do is build ALL trade buildings first, along with churches and land clearance. this can leave me open to attack though considering all i can use are a few spear militia and what nought.

for castles...i'm not sure what to do. is getting farms / churches first more important or should i build the armory building then focus on military buildings?

in general i feel like i get left behind a bit when it comes to military technology, which can be annoying when those d*mn frenchman come knocking at my door.

any tips or advice would be greatly appreciated.

and i mostly play as england / scotland / denmark.

and this is my first thread on these forums, so, hello!

[Isotopesam]

As your empire extends, your cities should be the ones located inside while the borders have castles. Cities generate money, castles military. So construct buildings accordingly. Farms and churches in castles can wait. If you have a religion problem, send a priest over from your city. Militia in your cities are good enough to keep order along with a couple of archer units. I've even had militia actually beat a rebel army once. I haven't played the english, scots, or the danes much, so I wouldn't know build order or unit types. I heard that english archers are really good.

[malcolm mcdowell]

build armory buildings first - maximise your army potential as soon as posisble, then try and boost up to the next level by building farms etc.
in cities, you want to build barracks fairly soon - generally i just do them first, get them out of the way. then trade, roads etc. then farms, and then whatever is left - town halls etc. it may mean that they wont upgrade to the next level as quick, but you will have a solid troop base to build your empire on, as well as (hopefully) an economical one as well

[BlackBart213]

It depends on the city, for me.

I try to anticipate the needs. If it has low approval/happiness rating, I go straight for the buildings that boost law, order, religion, health (and avoid brothels until I've got 98-100% of the populace following my religion).

If those aren't a problem, then I'll go with the trade buildings. Revenue is always good.

If I need troops, then I'll go with the unit producing buildings.

If I don't need troops right away, but the place is on a war zone, I'll boost the city's defenses. While I have confidence in my troops, it's much more fun to watch my ballista/cannon towers smash the enemy troops as they approach.

I don't usually build farms.

[Old Geezer]

Specialize.

To develop a citadel you will need population. To get the pop to grow you need farms and a good governor. Or you can go capture a good citadel somewhere late in the game.

To get lots of cash from a city build the warehouse line and increase population. Markets don't bring in a lot of immediate cash. Check the settlement details. You can see what income will be added when you put the building in the build slot by looking at the greyed out icon on the settlement detail chart on the left side of the screen. Keep in mind that lowering taxes causes the city to grow faster as does building farms. I try and grow one city to the max as fast as possible, if I want the advanced units needed. Otherwise I try and maximize the income. If I want to pump out high level priests, I recruit them all from the same city to get the theologian guilds there and grow the population so I can build a catherdral there. I do similarly to get high level merchants and spies or assassins. In castles I build swordsmen and knights to get the swordsmith guild. The castles which I believe to be unnecessary I convert to cities. For example, as the English, I convert Inverness and Caernavon to cities. I always keep Toulouse, Palermo, and Gaza (or Acre) fortresses. I keep either Hamburg or Magdeburg as a fortress (usually it is Hamburg because it is more advanced).

All this specialization just takes (it has me anyway) a lot of experience and depends on the type of game that I am currently playing, i.e., blitz or chivalrous.

[TzuDevil]

Specialize.

To develop a citadel you will need population. To get the pop to grow you need farms and a good governor. Or you can go capture a good citadel somewhere late in the game.

To get lots of cash from a city build the warehouse line and increase population. Markets don't bring in a lot of immediate cash. Check the settlement details. You can see what income will be added when you put the building in the build slot by looking at the greyed out icon on the settlement detail chart on the left side of the screen. Keep in mind that lowering taxes causes the city to grow faster as does building farms. I try and grow one city to the max as fast as possible, if I want the advanced units needed. Otherwise I try and maximize the income. If I want to pump out high level priests, I recruit them all from the same city to get the theologian guilds there and grow the population so I can build a catherdral there. I do similarly to get high level merchants and spies or assassins. In castles I build swordsmen and knights to get the swordsmith guild. The castles which I believe to be unnecessary I convert to cities. For example, as the English, I convert Inverness and Caernavon to cities. I always keep Toulouse, Palermo, and Gaza (or Acre) fortresses. I keep either Hamburg or Magdeburg as a fortress (usually it is Hamburg because it is more advanced).

All this specialization just takes (it has me anyway) a lot of experience and depends on the type of game that I am currently playing, i.e., blitz or chivalrous.

Good post. Agree completely.

Cheers!

[J@mes]

economy is key, no money no Empire your best place to start is with markets, roads, farms and ports.

[NobleNick]

economy is key, no money no Empire your best place to start is with markets, roads, farms and ports.

I agree. Of course, one method to get money is to build troops ad go wrest it from the enemy's twitching fingers; but I have always paid attention to economy, and have rarely been disappointed with the results.

Put priority on building/upgrading farms, roads, markets, ports, warehouses, and mines. I tend to build all the level 1 stuff, then move on to level 2, etc. I typically do not build farms past the second level, unless the population growth is below 1.5% and public order is yellow or better (on Very High tax).

Decide early on, which castles you will keep and which units they will produce. Keep them. Groom them to produce your super units. Convert enough of the other castles you acquire, to keep a balance of 4 cities for every castle.

[Volcan]

I noticed people said they would build farms last? Why? Building farms first is the best idea. Roads and farms. Farms give money and increase population, which gets you more money. Roads help trade and your armies. Building the actual trade buildings is quite worthless if you look at the $$ increase. Farms/Roads first... ALWAYS!

[masterbaker]

Farms should be built early in villages and towns and late in cities, as their income isn't dependant on population. Ie, in a town building the first farm will increase your income by around 60 per turn on average, but a grain exhange will probably increase it by about 20 per turn. But in a large city a farm will still only increase income by around 60 per turn, but a warehouse may give you 300 extra per turn.

[Arcinatus]

thx for the advice fellas, i'll test this stuff out when i start up my next campaign ( probably scots)