Phase II - Building the Base

Our goals during this phase will be:

1. Get exports going. By the end of the first game year we must have sold something or have goods sitting in an operational warehouse waiting for the caravans.
2. Get Farm Island housing block established and build it up to small casa level.
3. Provide farms, granaries and markets necessary to feed folks.
   

Exports

This is always my first priority. The first thing I do when starting a new city is check to see what I can export. I open the trade route right then, before I've built one tent.

My next step is to figure out how many mines, workshops, or whatever I need, and where to put them.

Then I build roads to connect industies with warehouses. ( Still haven't put up any tents or industry!)

Next, I figure out where to put my housing block and build the roads and reservoirs necessary to support them. (Still haven't put up those tents!)

Now I put on the tents, starting at the mine, next the workshop site, then the warehouse site, and finally the housing block. (The tents will be settled in the order in which they are built - so build most important tents first. (mines, warehouses, workshops, etc then do the housing block. You can get industry going months sooner than otherwise doing this.)

As the workers come in, I build the the industry first - one building at a time. ( Wait until you have enough workers, build a mine. Wait until you have enough workers, build a workshop, etc)

Do not use the Chief Advisor's employment figures. Instead go to Labor Allocation Advisor (key "1") and use actual numbers of unemployed.

DO NOT BUILD ANYTHING EXCEPT HOUSING UNTIL YOU HAVE THE BODIES ON THE GROUND!!

DO NOT PROVIDE SERVICES THAT HAVE NOT BEEN ASKED FOR BY BLDGS CONCERNED!! (Piss on the education, culture, and entertainment advisors! They will always whine.)

Only after industry is going do I worry about the housing block ( I do put in engineers early).
Now they get fountains, and as labor is available and not needed by industry, farms, granaries, and markets.

My goal with exports is to have sold something by the end of the first game year. ( This was not possibile in Lugdunum because the first caravans didn't get to the warehouse until April of the 2nd year. When they did get there I had five cartloads of weapons waiting for them.)

After the second year, the boundries of the Empire change and it becomes possibile to export pottery and marble. These industries should be developed to the max, and also located on Middle Island.

Here's a look at Middle Island at this point:

You will notice that each export industry has it's own dedicated warehouse. Also each industry has slightly more capacity than is needed. So this is what happens:

• The warehouse gradually fills up to capacity.
• When warehouse is full, cart pushers have nowhere to go and so production stops.
• Caravan comes, picks up goods and opens space in warehouse.
• Cart pushers and industry resume.

This means that, once this is set up, I can go away and forget about exports. They will always be maxed out. Also there are goods stashed away in case Caesar calls. Full warehouses can be useful in the endgame too, because those industries can be turned off, freeing up manpower for culture or other requirements.

You can see the "Wolfkillers" Javelin Legion has been established. Build this when you have the money to spare.

Here is a look at Farm Island at this point:

Please notice that every house is small casa. They cannot evolve further until I provide a bathhouse. I will not do this until every housing block has been developed to this level.

This completes phase II. The base is built. You can download a saved game here.

Next, we will kill wolves, pacify natives, (the easy way) and build our city.

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