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Imperialism I

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Imperialism II
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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.


IMPERIALISM 2

Full version (57Mb)*
Patch (1.03)
No CD patch (for 1.03)
Manual (pdf)

Tech Tree (pdf)


IMPERIALISM 1
Full version (41 Mb)*
Patch
Manual (pdf)


TRADE EMPIRES
Full version (130Mb)*
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* The full versions of
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and don't need
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