Amiga Games - The Settlers.
Know your buildings, their size and the
resources needed to build them. Also the
materials that they need to function.
Understand the purpose of your workers
and the availability to despatch into
the field. They are not an endless resource.
Rotate your armed forces to train regularly
and design your pathways so that they can
move freely without blocking trade routes.
You will need the symbols to play the game.
OK enter the code needed to start the game.
Choose your mission and level based on
a previous success or load a saved game.
This is a saved game and I have already
built quite an area of activity. Note that
all structures are connected by paths. The
management of roads/paths is essential to
keeping your game arteries open.
Note that the Castles and store houses serve
not only to house all that you make but also
are where solders and workers reside. If you
don't have a given Settler to undertake a
duty it is for you to free up a worker or
create another from resources. There is not
an endless supply. The numbers of the total
population are fixed. Your aim is to grow
faster than the opposition to secure Settlers.
All facts appertaining to your community
and their activities are managed from the
game interface. It all matters, so try to
understand what everything does.
The cyan line their shows my overall success
rate compared to the opposition. As your numbers
grow the oppositions number reduce. Your aim is
steadily grow to a point of total dominance.
Check constantly your production of various
materials. They all matter. When you see
resources drop off you need to go find
more and this may mean taking up arms to
obtain those resources.
Remember everything has a purpose and
understanding where it sits in the chain
helps structure roads/paths between buildings
and lets you order farms, mines and workshops
so that delays in moving stuff about don't
hinder your progress.
Not only manage production but also the
training of your soldiers and decide when
you need to increase your armies. Remember
creating a soldier takes away a Settler from
the production chain. You only have a limited
number of Settlers depending on your success
at growing in respect of your opponents.
Make sure you keep tabs on what the opposition
is doing. Try and pre-empt their activities and
structure defending armies against their attacks.
There is limited resources in the game so check
what the others have. In the end you are going
to have to take it by force as your mines
literally dry up.
And your opponents are always on the move.
Like I say never take your eye off the ball.
Do not spread your troops too thin. Measure
expansion with the generation of support
resources, food and gold. It is a balance.
The guards you place expand your territory
and not the building . It is no good building
stuff that cannot be occupied. And a small
guard room with one soldier inside can be
easy pickings from an invader. And if you cannot
send in reinforcements the loss of the position
could move the boundary and destroy other of
your buildings.
Make sure there is a ready supply of minerals
and resources. And keep effective pathways open
to production facilities. Once a mine goes dry
and resources run low send out the geologist and
close down the mine to free up the worker.
Always have a geologist searching for iron, coal
stone and gold. There is no need to build
endless mines. But if you have a resource
then defend the zone so that it is both
available for mining and preventing the
opposition from securing.
The management of transport routes is the
key to winning this game. The trick is to
monitor bottlenecks and always have two ways
around any obstacle.
Everything takes up space and farmers as
with foresters can place trees and plants
in the way of structures. Plan where you
are likely to build stuff and keep the
areas free from vegetation.
Adjust production to suit your needs. Work
out what you need and then make the stuff.
Avoiding transporting things around the map
will make the movement of soldiers and
building workers easier. So place warehouses
in convenient places. But protect them.
All building need so much material to
build so pace the building to suit the
resources you are gathering, mining and
or producing. Running out of materials
can be very frustrating and leave you
vulnerable to attack if guard rooms and
other military building go unbuilt.
Occupation of a building expands your territory.
But getting a soldier to undertake that duty
requires a sword and a shield. And you need to
manufacture those and have a spare Settler to
take up arms. Just make sure that you are
always growing and your population has the
capacity to man all your buildings.
Manage the front line and adjust your forces
to suit the likely threat.
Rotate your forces to train them and
increase the armed forces by reducing the
numbers of workers. The balance is so
important.
Pick your fights carefully. If you lose
you become weak and this may mean that the
opposition now grows in numbers and can
in turn counter attack.
You decide how many to attack with, what to
attack with and how far they are to travel.
And then fingers crossed with the battle.
And when you win you occupy the military
facility and any buildings caught behind the
new enemy line is burnt to the ground.
And remember to extend the roads/paths to
your newly acquired building.
And the aim is to be the only player on the
map so watch as your population grows. And when
you are strong enough you can literally march
across the whole map with your forces. And the
last battle will be between all your forces and
their castle. And that is one massive fire when
it goes up in flames.
So that was Settlers. A truly wonderful game.
