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Settlers are a worker unit in Civilization II. They are one of two Ancient-era units available from the start of the game, alongside Warriors.

Settlers are succeeded by Engineers with the advent of the Explosives advance.

Overview[]

Settlers can perform all standard worker functions, with the exception of transforming terrain. A standard game begins with the player in control of one, and sometimes two Settlers, intended to establish the player's capital city.

A city producing a worker unit loses 1 citizen upon completion; if this would disband the city, completion is postponed and Shield (Civ2) Shields will stockpile until the city grows.

Upkeep[]

Workers incur a Food (Civ2) Food upkeep in addition to any other support costs, the exact amount depending on the player's government: Anarchy Anarchy, Despotism Despotism and Monarchy Monarchy require 1 Food (Civ2), while Republic Republic, Communism Communism, Fundamentalism Fundamentalism and Democracy Democracy require 2Food (Civ2). A city facing famine will disband workers before sacrificing population.

Strategy[]

Civilizations may randomly receive an additional Settlers unit at the start of a standard game; this provides a considerable early advantage, as this unit has no home city, and so will not incur the normal food upkeep cost. It can be used to quickly enhance the capital's surrounding tiles, or establish a second city quickly.

Settlers are the only Ancient-era unit with two hitpoints, giving them an effective Defense strength of 2 against Ancient and early Renaissance units. While worker units cannot fortify in the field,[note 1] they can be assigned the Fortify order when selected in the city screen, offering a viable emergency garrison.

All worker units cost twice the Gold (currency) (Civ2) Gold to bribe. This is generally inefficient compared to the player building their own; however, settlers bribed closer to rival cities than the player's will not have a home city, and therefore incur no Food upkeep. If the player controls Leonardo's Workshop, these settlers can upgrade to engineers, which among other benefits are more efficient at combating on-map pollution in the industrial era. Thus, amassing a large number of "free" settlers early in the game can pay dividends later on.

Otherwise, Settlers should be replaced by the more efficient Engineers once the latter is available.

Nomads[]

Civilizations can receive settlers as a Village reward. Unlike mercenaries, they will always have a home city of NONE. Nomads require the player to possess at least one city, and can appear for every eight cities controlled. Nomads will not be granted to a civilization possessing Explosives.[1]

Civilopedia entry[]

When cities grew to a size where the resources were insufficient to adequately insure a decent standard of living for the populace, adventurous groups of citizens set out on their own in search of a place to build a new city. Once a suitable site was found, the settlers would build their new homes, and develop the land surrounding the city. Eventually, the whole process repeated, and the new city would send out settlers of its own. This process allowed civilizations to grow throughout history, from the empires of the ancient world to the discovery and settlement of the New World.

Modding[]

Settlers are defined in the first line of the @UNITS section of Rules.txt. In a standard game, Settlers are the starting unit for all players; in Test of Time, alternative starting units can be specified per individual civ under the @INITIAL_SETTINGS section. Food upkeep is defined in the @COSMIC section at lines 6 and 7 for "early" and "late" governments, respectively.

exclamation mark When using customized technology trees with a standard random start, be advised that computer players may disband their starting settlers before founding a city if the unit is already obsolete.[2] In game versions prior to Test of Time, it is therefore recommended to use a common settler unit for all civs in the early game.

Explosives disables the possessing player from receiving Settlers from villages, regardless of when Engineers become available.

Footnotes[]

  1. Through normal orders; Settlers can be fortified via the Cheat Menu.

References[]

  1. starlifter (13 September 2013). "RE: Anyone else did this?". Civilization Fanatics' Center. Retrieved 21 December 2023.
  2. Thorvald of Lym (18 July 2019). "RE: Want to design a scenario, I have questions". Civilization Fanatics' Center. Retrieved 21 December 2023.

See also[]

Civilization II Units
Ground

Alpine TroopsArchersArmorArtilleryCannonCaravanCatapultCavalryChariotCrusadersDiplomatDragoonsElephantEngineersExplorerFanaticsFreightHorsemenHowitzerKnightsLegionMarinesMech. Inf.MusketeersParatroopersPartisansPhalanxPikemenRiflemenSettlersSpyWarriors

Sea

AEGIS CruiserBattleshipCaravelCarrierCruiserDestroyerFrigateGalleonIroncladSubmarineTransportTrireme

Air

BomberCruise Msl.FighterHelicopterNuclear Msl.Stlth Bmbr.Stlth Ftr.

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