Hi, guys.
I was talking with [1x1]Road (aka. L_Clan_Road) and we made a some calculus upon the effects of the horse coallar research (first mill upgrade).
*for those who don't know, horse coallar makes your farms last longer, so instead of 175 foood, they have 250. But it does affect only new farms, not those who are already built.
I used to delay Horse Coallar upgrade, and not take it as soon as i hit feudal, but Road tryed to prove to me how important is to get it as soon as u can.
This is the calculus we made:
In my usual strat, i put 2 farms in dark, than + 9 farms in feudal, before I start gathering gold for archers and smith upgrades/bloodlines. And i used to take horse coallar after the 9+ farms. That means a loss of 75 food per each farm. 75*9=675 food, wich a little more than 4 unupgraded farms (175*4=600 food). That means that by taking horse coallar after building the 9 farms, you will lose 4*60 (60 wood=the cost of a farm) = 240 wood, which i think is a huge amount, for the early game.
Now, when I up with 22 population, i won't have a problem in taking double bit axe and horse coallar both as soon as reaching feudal age, and still be able to continuously create vills and scouts at the same time.
But I like to go 21 pop when I can delay loom till the 20th vill. And than I will struggle with that, cuase i will have -1 vill working on food (sheeps) during the 170seconds of the feudalising process (meaning a total loss of 50+ food...
The question that I have (and I forgot to ask Road) is wouldn't than be better to delay the double bit axe research but take horse coallar and still be able to sustain an efficient production of vills and scouts at the same time (due to the extra wood remaining from not researching the lumbercamp upgrade)?
I think that if we make a calculus, you lose more wood by delaying horse coallar for 2/3 minutes, than you gain with the help of double bit axe in the same time, considering only 10/11 vills on wood. That's why I don't understand why the experts prefer to take double bit axe first, when they have to chose between the lumbercamp and the mill upgrades...
Edit:
My initial calculus was made in a hurry, so, with the help of those who commented here, i give you my conclusion:
Double bit axe has an imidiate effect upon your economy, while horse coallar's effects can be seen only after many minutes in the game (8+ minutes). In those 8 minutes your 10/11 upgraded lumberjacks will clearly gather a bigger bonus of wood (due to double bit axe) than you gain by researching horse coallar. (just as Funito said)
So, as all the guys stated here, double bit axe would be the obvious choice when having to chose between the lumbercamp and mill upgrade (which are both wood bonus).
Also, the feudal upgrade takes 130 seconds, as Fayt attentioned me... it's been my mistake to rush and think that 2:10 minutes means 170 seconds ... i dont know how i did that 11..
I was talking with [1x1]Road (aka. L_Clan_Road) and we made a some calculus upon the effects of the horse coallar research (first mill upgrade).
*for those who don't know, horse coallar makes your farms last longer, so instead of 175 foood, they have 250. But it does affect only new farms, not those who are already built.
I used to delay Horse Coallar upgrade, and not take it as soon as i hit feudal, but Road tryed to prove to me how important is to get it as soon as u can.
This is the calculus we made:
In my usual strat, i put 2 farms in dark, than + 9 farms in feudal, before I start gathering gold for archers and smith upgrades/bloodlines. And i used to take horse coallar after the 9+ farms. That means a loss of 75 food per each farm. 75*9=675 food, wich a little more than 4 unupgraded farms (175*4=600 food). That means that by taking horse coallar after building the 9 farms, you will lose 4*60 (60 wood=the cost of a farm) = 240 wood, which i think is a huge amount, for the early game.
Now, when I up with 22 population, i won't have a problem in taking double bit axe and horse coallar both as soon as reaching feudal age, and still be able to continuously create vills and scouts at the same time.
But I like to go 21 pop when I can delay loom till the 20th vill. And than I will struggle with that, cuase i will have -1 vill working on food (sheeps) during the 170seconds of the feudalising process (meaning a total loss of 50+ food...
The question that I have (and I forgot to ask Road) is wouldn't than be better to delay the double bit axe research but take horse coallar and still be able to sustain an efficient production of vills and scouts at the same time (due to the extra wood remaining from not researching the lumbercamp upgrade)?
I think that if we make a calculus, you lose more wood by delaying horse coallar for 2/3 minutes, than you gain with the help of double bit axe in the same time, considering only 10/11 vills on wood. That's why I don't understand why the experts prefer to take double bit axe first, when they have to chose between the lumbercamp and the mill upgrades...
Edit:
My initial calculus was made in a hurry, so, with the help of those who commented here, i give you my conclusion:
Double bit axe has an imidiate effect upon your economy, while horse coallar's effects can be seen only after many minutes in the game (8+ minutes). In those 8 minutes your 10/11 upgraded lumberjacks will clearly gather a bigger bonus of wood (due to double bit axe) than you gain by researching horse coallar. (just as Funito said)
So, as all the guys stated here, double bit axe would be the obvious choice when having to chose between the lumbercamp and mill upgrade (which are both wood bonus).
Also, the feudal upgrade takes 130 seconds, as Fayt attentioned me... it's been my mistake to rush and think that 2:10 minutes means 170 seconds ... i dont know how i did that 11..