Build times
 

Hello, this may be a n00b question, but I am mighty confused about this.

Is it helpful at all to help build forts and castles with multiple commanders? Does the building army contributes to the speed of construction? Common sense would indicate that a large army with multiple commanders should build significantly faster, while a lonely scrawny priest would need an eternity for the same task.

So does the number of "builders" matter, or is build time just fixed regardless on who is doing the work?

Re: Build times
 

Build times are fixed. The only purpose served by having multiple commanders build a fort is that you won't lose your investment if one of them gets magically sniped.

Troops do not help at all. Soldiers are paid to stick pointy bits of metal into other people, not lift heavy stuff. That's what God made peasants for :).

Re: Build times
 

Thank you kindly. It's not the most intuitive, but I guess having huge armies insta-building everything would break the balance of the game.

I still think that minimum build time (fort no sooner than 2 turns, for example), plus penalties for having small number of builders would make more sense. After all, all buildings required manpower in history, but I guess you can tell it's abstracted by having the commander force the local peasants into work.

Thanks for clarifying that up.

Re: Build times
 

Does having your fort-building commander get magically sniped really lose your investment?
I know losing the province does and I know you can swap out which commander is building, but I don't think I've ever lost a commander. Or even stopped him for a turn.
Easy enough to test, I suppose, but I don't have the game in front of me.

Re: Build times
 

I believe you lose the fort if there's nobody with a build order in the province for a full turn. I might be talking out of my arse though, I don't think it's ever come up.

Hold on, what am I talking about, it's a really quick check.

Huh, what do you know, I was wrong. Started a fort, moved the commander away, moved him back and he could still finish construction. So there's really no point in doubling up on building after all.

Re: Build times
 

I'm too lazy, too incompetent, or both to do a test, but I recall losing a priest who was set to build a temple to a remote attack spells. When it happened, my recollection was that I had to pay another 400 gold to try again.

If I had two priests building the temple, perhaps that would not have happened. Also, if it were a fort, while I may not lose my investment in gold an additional commander set to Build Fort may ensure that the build stays on schedule as ritual spells and assassinations both occur before buildings are constructed.

Re: Build times
 

I did a quick test, and you really don't want to double up on temples or labs. Since temples and labs are a 1 turn thing, they don't have a "continue" option that is free like forts. Further, if you do have 2 (or more) people both try to build a temple in the same prov on the same turn, you get no refund for the "extra" temples. I'm guessing it works the same for labs.

Re: Build times
 

But, what if one of the temple builders are killed via ritual spell or assassination? Am I correct that the cost of the temple (or lab) is then lost? If so, it would seem that having a second builder would make sense. It would help insure against the loss of the cost of the building as well as help ensure that the construction was completed on schedule.

Re: Build times
 

You pay for every temple/lab you make that turn upfront and lose it no matter what. So say you have 3 people all trying to build a temple in the same prov on the same turn, you lose 1200 gold (well maybe different depending on nation) and, at best, get 1 temple unless all 3 are killed. There's not really much of a benefit.

Re: Build times
 

a fort builder who is killed means the fort just sits idle waiting for you to send another builder, assuming you don't lose the province.

There is no cost for resuming construction.