Population Management

Managing your city’s population is critical. Lack of sufficient population limits what you can build and how much you can train. It also affects how much you collect in taxes. Every city should have about eight cottages to support building and training. You can see your population level by tapping the resources bar, as shown in Figure A. The population is the total residing in the city. It is a function of Happiness (red arrow) and Population Limit. In this case, it is equal to 0.65 * 34,200 = 22,230. (No geometry, Jess…) Happiness is calculated by subtracting Tax from 100. In this example, happiness is calculated by subtracting 35 from 100, resulting in 65. Tax is set using the slider in the castle, as shown in Figure B.

Idle Population represents the workers available for increasing resource production or training troops. In many cases, I’ve hit a training queue limit when I had plenty of resources because I ran out of workers. We increase the population available by building cottages or reducing taxes. Just make sure your taxes (gold production) equal or exceed salary cost. (See Managing your Knights…)

Figure A

Figure B

Gold Pumping

We usually have enough gold in the alliance for you to get what you need via sharing. However, there is another way if you find your knights unassigning themselves: something I call gold pumping. Gold pumping is manipulation of tax rate and population to maximize gold production. To begin the pumping process, reduce the tax rate to zero. This increases Happiness to 100%, and your population begins increasing. This is good since gold production increases with population increase. You will temporarily stop producing gold. Wait until your total city population (Population + Idle Population) equals your Population Limit. Now, increase your tax rate to 100%. Tax production jumps to its maximum level. Maintain this until your population reaches its original level. This should have been where your tax rate plus population just met your salary requirements. When you reach this point, set the tax rate back to the original level.

I am not a big fan of continuously producing high levels of gold. We, too, are subject to farming. I would rather maximize available population. Farming and sharing brings in all the gold I need.

Got additional recommendations about population management? Send them to me at ozfury@adventuresinsecurity.com

GOOD HUNTING!!