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< Sid Meier's Colonization
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There's a major mistake in Colonizopedia - Farmers and Fishermen produce only +2 more, not +3 more food.

  • Tundra: 3 food, 2 ore
  • Desert: 2 food, 1 cotton, 2 ore
  • Plains: 5 food, 2 cotton, 1 ore
  • Prairie: 3 food, 3 cotton
  • Grassland: 3 food, 3 tobacco
  • Savannah: 4 food, 3 sugar
  • Marsh: 3 food, 2 tobacco, 2 ore
  • Swamp: 3 food, 2 sugar, 2 ore
  • Boreal Forest: 2 food, 3 furs, 4 lumber, 1 ore
  • Scrub Forest: 2 food, 1 cotton, 2 furs, 2 lumber, 1 ore
  • Mixed Forest: 3 food, 1 cotton, 3 furs, 6 lumber
  • Broadleaf Forest: 2 food, 1 cotton, 2 furs, 4 lumber
  • Conifer Forest: 2 food, 1 tobacco, 2 furs, 6 lumber
  • Tropical Forest: 3 food, 1 sugar, 2 furs, 4 lumber
  • Wetland Forest: 2 food, 1 tobacco, 2 furs, 4 lumber, 1 ore
  • Rain Forest: 2 food, 1 sugar, 1 furs, 4 lumber, 1 ore
  • Arctic: nothing
  • Ocean: 4 fish
  • Sea Lane: 4 fish
  • Mountains: 4 ore, 1 silver
  • Hills: 2 food, 4 ore

Remember that rivers give bonuses to almost everything, so seemingly inferior terrain with a river is usually better than otherwise superior but dry terrain.

Hills/Mountains are great for ore (12 ore with Expert Miner, road and 50% support) without any specials. It shouldn't be hard to find a place with 3-4 hills/mountains (and with some luck 5-8), and that's 36/48 ore per turn in each such colony. Unfortunately you can't build a colony on a mountain, but you can on hills.

Other terrains can be good for ore, but only with specials. You're not likely to find a place with 4+ specials, but 4+ hills/mountains are easy. Ore deposit on hills gives you +2 (16 ore with Expert Miner, road and 50% support, 18 ore with 100% support). That's just too great. Hills/Mountains also don't exhaust, unlike Swamp Ore deposits.

Such places usually need food supplies from outside.

Only Conifer and Mixed Forests get 6 lumber. Only Conifer and Tropical Forests can get the +4 Prime Timber special. Try putting your Lumberjacks only on Conifer/Mixed/Tropical+Prime Timber/Any Forest+River squares.

Road/river and revolutionary support gives you +2, not +1 bonus, to production of lumber (and furs). It's weird, but it seems the road bonus for lumber is not affected by the expert multiplier (but the support bonus and road bonus for furs is), so Expert Lumberjacks get less than 2x the production of a non-expert.

The best sources of lumber are conifer forests with specials. 2 Conifer+Prime Timber specials and 4 other Conifer/Mixed Forests will get you 2x26 + 4x18, that is 124 lumber.

You can get more lumber than you need even with a lot less optimal colonies. Because the forests, unlike hills, are everywhere, you probably won't need to build a lumber industrial center.

Food is everywhere - use Fishermen on Oceans (they produce satisfactory amounts without specials, and fishflood you with specials), Expert Farmers on either plowed lands or forests with specials (Game is a dual-use fur/food special, Beaver is a fur-only special). Food production can also be distributed; food transport is necessary mostly because some places have food deficits, not because you need a food-making center.

On the other hand, such a food center could be used for the creation of free colonists. You need 200 food for 1 free colonist, or 600 gold to get him in Europe. That makes food a 3 bid price good (or rather 3.5, transport both ways and taxes cost too). Food production requires relatively little terrain-wise compared to cash-crop production, no warehouses, transport or processing are needed and only basic education, some plowing and building of revolutionary support have to be done. Production in tons is slightly higher than that of most cash crops (except for the furs).

Overall it's not very impressive, but it may pay off if costs of goods in Europe are low and many are boycotted.