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Imperialism
II's civilian units
These
are the guys you use to explore and develop your territories. The
descriptions that follow are from the Official
Strategy Guide.
 The
Explorer is arguably the most important civilian unit in the
opening stages of the game. The Explorer's priorities include
locating sources of iron ore closest to the capital; finding copper
and tin; prospecting for riches in the New World; and finding Tribal
capitals. You also need an Explorer to conquer landlocked New World provinces.
You're
given a free Explorer to start with. Acquiring the second is a wise
move but may be difficult at one of the higher difficulty levels.
Ideally, you should have one Explorer uncovering the New World as the
other continues to look for minerals on your home ground. Don't
neglect the hills and mountains of Minor Nations; sometimes a mousy
little Minor turns out to be a valuable trading partner following a discovery.
At
some point in time, there may be no more work for your Explorers.
Don't dismiss them all, though -- set the to work on any New World
territories newly won from other Great Powers. Chances are you'll
find plenty of hidden treasures, often including riches that the
computer missed.
 The
Engineer is responsible for building roads, forts and ports. In
the opening stages of the game, one Engineer is more than sufficient.
As soon as you've acquired a few New World Provinces, you need two.
If you have a big colonial empire, three is the minimum -- set one to
continue improving your homeland, one to fortify your newly acquired
provinces, and one to build roads in the New World. Don't keep your
Engineers busy just for the sake of it, though; they're using
valuable materials.
Do
not dismiss any Engineers -- they're particularly badly needed in
wartime. Whether you lose a fort or destroy an enemy's, you'd be wise
to instantly rebuild the fortifications. Having three or more
Engineers means you can attack several provinces in a single turn,
and have them all fortified and connected a few turns later.
Multiple
Engineers are also urgently needed whenever a Minor Nation joins
your empire. They must immediately set about building a road network
to bring in more food. The Engineers takes one turn to build a
section road through plains, forest or river. Swamps and hills take
two turns; mountains, three. Forts and ports always take two turns.
 The
Builder is the unit responsible for all land tile upgrades. It's
the Builder who opens up the natural wealth of your empire, enabling
you to exploit it. Of course, you should have more than one.
On
the Normal or Easier levels, you should get a second Builder right
away. On Hard and Nigh On Impossible, priorities are a little
different; you build a Spy first, but a second Builder follows
immediately afterwards (if you an afford it).
Each
section of the road built by your Engineer connects the tile it's on
and all surrounding tiles. That means that there is much more work
for a Builder than for an Engineer. In fact, after connecting roads
to selected spots, your Engineer can probably take a break while two
Builders labor away on the freshly connected tiles.
In
spite of all this, don't go overboard with new Builders. Your
economy won't ever be able to support more than three Engineers and
four Builders; they'll be using enormous amounts of lumber and cast
iron. In any case, three Engineers and four Builders are more than
enough to quickly develop your empire.
The
only time when you might consider adding even more Builders is when
a Minor Nation joins your empire. You'll be racing to develop food-producing
tiles in the shortest possible time, as you'll inherit the Minor
Nations armed forces and thus be responsible for their upkeep.
 The
Railroad Builder is one the two civilian units that aren't
available right from the start of the game (on higher difficulty
settings, the Merchant is the other). You can recruit Railroad
Builders once you've researched Early Steam Engine.
In
contrast to the Engineer and the ordinary, soft-hatted Builder, the
Railroad Builder does only one thing: he builds railways with great
abandon until you tell him to stop or there's no way to build any
more. Because each section of rail is expensive, it's a good idea to
check on his progress every turn.
If
you're playing at Normal level or higher, the very fact that you got
to see a Railroad Builder in action means that you've having a good
game. It doesn't tend to happen before the early 18th century. It's a
very turbulent time, with plenty of new developments taking place, so
make sure you give your proposed new railway the attention it
deserves. Remember that a railway can only be built on top of an
existing road.
 Treat
the Merchant with reverence: this unit makes you money. It
also greatly, though indirectly, help you in the execution of your
diplomatic policies.
The
Merchant demands a sizable investment to make things worthwhile.
Take this into account! It's unproductive to spend $1,000 on an
embassy and then $500 on a Merchant, then find out you have only
enough cash left for a single land purchase.
If
you use the Merchant wisely, you can expect to recoup your
investment in land within twenty turns, possibly quicker if relations
between you and the original owner of the purchased land are fairly
cordial. Try to complete all purchases within one territory before
moving the Merchant to another Tribe or Minor Nation. It's a good
idea to purchase several different types of resource producing land.
If, turn after turn, you buy three commodities from someone, that's
three trades, and a threefold improvement in your diplomatic
relationship. If you buy three units of a single commodity, it only
counts as a single trade, and it will take three times as long to
assimilate this particular trading partner into your empire.
Once
all the Minor Nations are gone and you've bought all the interesting
plots of land in your colonies, there is no further use for the
Merchant. However, civilian units don't require upkeep, so don't
disband a unit until you're absolutely sure there's nothing more for
him to do.
 The
Spy is likely to become your favorite civilian unit, especially
once you notice that he releases carrier pigeons from time to time.
The
Spy is a very powerful unit; using him well will let you win wars,
cut research costs, and prevent other Great Powers from stealing your
scientific secrets.
While
engaging in scientific espionage, remember that exposure of your Spy
will affect your diplomatic relations in a negative way. On the
higher difficulty levels, this may be all it takes to put you at war
with someone who already doesn't like you too much.
The
three factors that affect the chances of your Spy getting caught
when engaging in espionage on enemy territory are as follows:
1) The
presence of an enemy garrison: the larger the garrison in the
province your Spy is in, the greater the chance he'll be caught.
2) The
Presence of an enemy Spy: Obviously, strong enemy counter-intelligence
increases the danger.
3) The status
of your diplomatic relations: if you're at war with someone, they'll
be looking out for your Spies.
Of course, all
the above applies to your chances of catching an enemy Spy, too. When
you do, there's a chance the enemy Spy will change sides, and you'll
gain a Spy for free.
If
you're ahead of others in research, don't neglect to put a Spy in
your own backyard, assigning him to counter-intelligence duty. You
need just one -- your Spy works on an empire-wide basis, and
assigning more than one to counter-intelligence has no effect. The
computer players are masters of espionage, and you'll be capturing
quite a few of their spies as the game goes on! You should have at
least one Spy active at all times. If you're at war, get more.
They're invaluable when planning attacks on enemy provinces.
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