The resource drops all seem... kind of weaksauce. I don't think they're very useful for their opportunity cost except when you've already backed yourself into a corner by running out of something, and they're certainly not something I'd ever
plan on using.
Note, the costs listed below assume you're playing on Normal difficulty or below. At Hard+, the town specialization kicks in, and all basic resource producers have their base production rates halved.
- Logs drop, produces 2 logs per turn for 5 turns, at the cost of two AP. Woodcutter, produces 3 logs per turn forever at the cost of 1 AP, one tile, and 2 logs. I see no reason to ever place a logs drop unless you are completely out of logs.
- Rock drop, produces 5 rock per turn for 5 turns, at the cost of two AP. Rock quarry, produces 4 rock per turn forever at the cost of 1 AP, one tile, and 3 logs. Fractionally better value, but I only see this being used if you've run out of building spaces and need to build a new town centre to expand.
- Pig drop, produces 4 pigs per turn for 5 turns, at the cost of two AP. Pig farm, produces the same 4 pigs per turn forever at the cost of 1 AP, one tile, 2 lumber (1 log) and 1 wheat.
- Sheep drop, produces 3 sheep per turn for 5 turns, at the cost of two AP. Sheep farm, produces the same 3 sheep per turn forever at the cost of 1 AP, one tile, 2 lumber (1 log) and 1 wheat.
- Wheat drop, produces 4 wheat per turn for 5 turns, at the cost of two AP. Wheat farm, produces 9 wheat per turn forever at the cost of 1 AP, one tile, and only 2 lumber (1 log). You'd be mad to ever place a wheat drop.
- Iron drop, produces 10 iron per turn for 5 turns, at the cost of two AP. Iron mine, produces the same 10 iron per turn forever at the cost of 1 AP, one tile, and 8 cut stone (24 rocks). Might be worth it occasionally, given 8 cut stone is six turns work for a rock quarry.
- Clay drop, produces 10 clay per turn for 5 turns, at the cost of two AP. Clay pit, produces 7 clay per turn forever at the cost of 1 AP, one tile, and 4 lumber (2 logs).
- Horse drop, produces an inexplicable half a horse per turn for 5 turns, at the cost of two AP. Ranch, produces one whole horse per turn forever at the cost of 1 AP, one tile, and 4 lumber (2 logs). Again, this drop looks like madness.
Most of these look terrible to me. The only one I can see myself using is the iron drop, and maybe the log and rock drops if I completely screw up and run out of either wood or space. It seems they just don't give enough resources quickly enough compared to the basic production structures. If the logs drop was five logs per turn for two turns, or even ten logs for one turn, it might be more tempting to someone who needs a large pile of wood in a hurry.
Note, the iron drop feels different from the others - iron mines are one of the more expensive basic resource producers.
However, I've played very little of this game, and I am - so far - resoundingly terrible at it. Those of you who have more experience: am I missing something? Are these drops actually very useful when town space is at a premium? Do they become much more useful on Hard difficulty and above?
Or am I right, and these need buffing somehow? If so, do we want to just increase the rate of production, increase the duration of production, go with my first thoughts and make them produce about the same amount in a shorter space of time, or turn the AP cost down to one? Alternatively, might there be another clever way to improve these?
On a slightly related note, it seems that where you choose to place these items is utterly irrelevant. You don't benefit from putting them near your towns, and none of the units on the map interact with them. I'd expect bandits to steal them at the very least.
One possible change to these is quite drastic but might make them more interesting as well as more useful: Have them behave like the collectable token items. A resource drop isn't aligned to any faction, but human military units will move to it and collect it; at which point its entire resource amount is added to the faction that owns the unit*. So, location matters, and you can't use it to benefit a faction that has no appropriately-placed military units, and there's a slight extra opportunity cost to placing it (a huscarl going and picking up sheep isn't going and pummelling the enemy). On the other hand, you can use resource stockpiles to lure units around.
The biggest problem with this I can see is that it's yet another way to use one side's actions to benefit the other side, which might be too powerful.
*Or, in the case of bandits, spent on ale, wenches, and whatever the male equivalent of a wench is.
