To mine or not to mine (the cattle)

[Spiffor]

I've just seen ZargonX ordered us to mine the cattle near Jackson. While I see the rationale behind it (more shields, and Jackson's growth is accelerated already), I wonder if we shouldn't irrigate it instead.

If we irrigate the cattle, we'll get 4 food from the tile, which will double the growth of the city (incredibly useful under despotism). It will turn Jackson in a settler farm you can only dream of, which creates a settler every ten turns

Here's the math.

Turn 0 : Jackson 1 pop, no food in reserve. 4 excess food, 2 shields produced (none in reserve)
Turn 1 : 4 food in stock, 2 shields in stock
Turn 2 : 8 food in stock, 4 shields in stock
Turn 3 : 12 food in stock, 6 shields in stock
Turn 4 : 16 food in stock, 8 shields in stock
Turn 5 : Jackson grows to size 2, 10 shields in stock. It now produces 4 shields (mined bonus grassland)
Turn 6 : 4 food in stock, 14 shields in stock
Turn 7 : 8 food in stock, 18 shields in stock
Turn 8 : 12 food in stock, 22 shields in stock
Turn 9 : 16 food in stock, 26 shields in stock
Turn 10 : Jackson grows to size 3. Settler produced. Jackson shrinks back to size 1.

Such an intense settler farm can be extremely interesting, and will virtually allow us to make something else in other cities like Isthmus City or Legopolis.
By being bigger than size 3, other cities will build Numidians more rapidly, or (gasp) wonders earlier. Basically, irrigating the cattle gives us the edge of an early granary in our second city, for almost free ! (we just don't mine it)

Any comments ?

[Spiffor]

Never mind, I completely forgot we don't have any fresh water nearby

But the same reasoning can be held for Legopolis. Shouldn't we irrigate this cattle, once Jackson's cattle has been mined ?

[vondrack]

Originally posted by Spiffor
Never mind, I completely forgot we don't have any fresh water nearby

But the same reasoning can be held for Legopolis. Shouldn't we irrigate this cattle, once Jackson's cattle has been mined ?

I have been thinking of the same, too, but after discovering the extremely food-rich area at the The Fork Rivers confluence, I would rather found a city down there ASAP and keep Legopolis and Jackson as production powerhouses.

[redstar1]

Sounds good, but what is the projected timescale for forming a city down there? Is this new settler going to be used there or to the west?

[vondrack]

Originally posted by redstar1
Sounds good, but what is the projected timescale for forming a city down there? Is this new settler going to be used there or to the west?

I'd wait few more turns (until the settler is finished, that is) for what Howard finds out. If there is no large landmass beyond the isthmus, I'd change our plan and send the new settler down to The Fork Rivers area, establishing a settler/worker farm there (as having a city block the isthmus would no longer be necessary).

However, if the isthmus is really a landbridge to a larger landmass, I would stick to our original plan, using only the Jackson settler to expand to The Fork Rivers area.

[Spiffor]

I wholeheartedly support VOndrack's plan