Today I wanted to share a neat application I found for a windmill block. Windmill blocks are fragile, tend to require a lot of space, and demand a lot of math and square counting. So I felt it would be interesting to share an example where they are actually useful.
In Middle Kingdom Thinis there are two sets of gold-bearing rocks separated by a very long dune. I wanted a way to provide labor for these gold mines, while also evolving those houses as much as possible. I hate crude huts! Brugle, in hisEgalitarian Thinis, wanted the same thing and ended up with two housing blocks, one on each side of the dune. But with a windmill, we can achieve a similar result using a single housing block, and a single scribal school!
The housing block I built is shown below and the save file is in the downloads section underThinis Windmill. As per convention, north is up left. The yellow desert tiles represent impassable sand dunes and rock formations. The road loops leading to the mines are cut short, in order to fit the picture in this block post. In the real city the mines are way off to the north-east (up) and the road loops are stretched as far as possible. The reason for the windmill are those houses at the top providing labor to the mines. They have to be way up there. It they were any further down the mine labor recruiter would not reach them. Conveniently, it's close enough to the end of the dune that we can build a windmill block that reaches into both sides.
Since I built this city, I learned a lot more about windmills and there are a couple of things I might have done differently if I were to play this scenario again. One thing is that I think it would be possible to make the entertainment coverage more reliable and to increase the entertainment level. I'm preparing a future post about that... But in the mean time here is the Thinis windmill, warts and all.
Legend
In Middle Kingdom Thinis there are two sets of gold-bearing rocks separated by a very long dune. I wanted a way to provide labor for these gold mines, while also evolving those houses as much as possible. I hate crude huts! Brugle, in his
The housing block I built is shown below and the save file is in the downloads section under
Since I built this city, I learned a lot more about windmills and there are a couple of things I might have done differently if I were to play this scenario again. One thing is that I think it would be possible to make the entertainment coverage more reliable and to increase the entertainment level. I'm preparing a future post about that... But in the mean time here is the Thinis windmill, warts and all.