Always have the following considerations in mind:
- Prefer a position, where there are a lot of mines adjacent to each other. Preferably Goldmines or woodmills. So usually (not always) the best positions are in the forest and sometimes in the snow! The forest allows you to build a road, whereas snow and desert don’t!
- Choose places with a high "city density". That is, having many cities packed together.
- In wreck packed maps, look for a spot that provides some of the above but also has a considerable amount of wrecks to offer!
- In water dominated maps, always consider setting your base near the water to allow cargoes to leave your base and help you expand.
(Unfortunately, I cannot provide you with visual examples!)
Expansion:
Good early expansion is usually the decider in a game. In order to maximize your expansion, you must first maximize your income! To do that you MUST implement the following Tax System (it is the most efficient tax system for turns 0 - 10):
100% for any cities with a population greater than 1130
88% for any cities between 1000 and 1120
75% for any cities between 1050 and 1090
63% for any cities between 1020 and 1040
50% for any cities lower than 1010
Note: the numbers shown are inclusive in each case!
Note2: Don’t waste money on farms!
Note3: Once a city runs out of food, bring it below the population of
1000!
Note4: Expected income for each city is:
100% - 8$
88% - 7$
75% - 6$
63% - 5$
50 - 4$ (when the population is 1000 and above)
50 - 3$ (when the population is below 1000)
*** Check that the actual income is so by viewing the Management
Window, sometimes you can make mistakes! ***
In addition, remember that no city can be taxed over 60% for more than
one CONSECUTIVE turn! That is, if it was on 100$, you must lower it
below 61%, in order to receive any income for at least one turn!
The actual expanding:
Stop-using Alphas in order to expand! Use soldiers, since they cost
less and perform exactly the same job! You can almost buy TWO soldiers
for the price of ONE alpha!
Use Transports in conjunction with soldiers. (NOTE: You can load your
units into a transport from WITHIN a city, thus saving precious
movements of your soldiers!)
If you are on the banks of a river (i.e. next to the sea), use at least
two soldiers at your initial expansion with each cargo. One is a waste
of resources (since it can only get 4 cities per turn at maximum).
Research the Panther (first ground technology) as soon as possible in
the game, since it boosts your ability to expand! The panther can be
used even without the use of transport, since it has 8 movements. In
wreck packed maps, go for the shark as soon as possible, instead. Since
the income it will provide you with, is much much greater! The herc will
also aid your expansion immensely, though, unless you get a huge income
you will only get in later on in the game!
If you are getting some new mines, use the Transport + Bulldozer +
Truck + soldier combination, amounting to $100.
If your base (or factory) is adjacent to a string of mines, it is more
advisable, to use a cargo with several bulldozers (1 for every 5
mines) a truck and a soldier, that will eventually lead you to a city
and unload the truck! You don’t need to take the truck off the cargo,
since it can load the resources, while ONBOARD the cargo. In the case
where there is no city nearby, you can assign ONE truck in one of the
mines and unload the goods in there. You collect the money on the very
next turn. (if you check your manager screen under resources, it shows
the amount of cash earned from routing)
This is all basic information and is aimed to help mostly those who
haven’t grasped the essence of MK yet! That includes a couple of "High
Rankers"!!!