City setup

This guide is mainly for those with multiple cities, if you currently only have one city and no gems then your options are win one from merlin chance.  (Tip: get an extra token a day by going to Share, e-mail, save to draft, cancel - do this 10 times), or go cresting (more on this in another article).

Now, assuming you already have one city reasonably setup with lots of farms, as you discovered you needed lots of food to train, build and research... We will make this your resource city.  Your second city will be your troop city, so reassign all your troops to this second city, so that you maximise food production in your first city.

Go for a split resource method, so that you maximise wilds effect.  In other words go for farms and say sawmills in the first, with wilds captured that are grasslands or lakes (to increase food output) and forests (to increase wood output).  In the second build a split of quarries and mines, with wilds that are hills and mountains (for increased stone and ore).

Keep these two cities reasonably close together (but not next to each other), say 2 minutes apart (10 - 20 screens).

Also do not attack wilds around your cities.  Spread them out far and wide, so it is harder for wild-stealers to find.

Other buildings, depend on the stage of the game.  In the first couple of weeks build lots more cottages than barracks, and set tax to 45%. You will need the gold for research.  Later on deconstruct the cottages so that you have between 6-8 cottages.  Aim for at least 14 barracks.

You should build alchemist labs in both whilst researching.  Later deconstruct one of them.  You may decide to only build a watch tower in your attack city, as once built you cannot deconstruct it.

You only need one embassy, and you may decide to only have one relief station, in your resource city usually.  You can only build one round tower.

This should ensure your first two cities are setup well.  If you have 3rd and 4th cities, generally i recommend building no resource fields in order to maximise idle population which either enables less cottages and more barracks or build more troops in one go.  Make at least one a troop building city with 18 or more barracks.