Log / Firewood Supply

[AOE2.GG | MattWithAHat]

I was wondering how some of you are handling the large amounts of logs and firewood that larger settlements consume. Atm I'm always on firewood shortage although I have 15 Woodcutters and 8 Foresters. In addition I just harvested wood of an area about 4x the size of a (normal zoomed) screen. But it just takes about a season and everything is gone again. I don't know if my people are eating firewood? I just can't seem to keep up with their hunger for firewood and there's just not enough space left to build as many foresters.
Do you build overlapping foresters? Does overlapping diminish their efficiency considerably or is it something to disregard?

Yes, I have stonehouses ;)

[Ben]

I tend not to overlap them, but dont forget you can trade for some extra wood. Maybe start placing some forest huts in bad places and limit the number of workers, every little helps. Are they all working at decent efficiency? 200 Logs per season or so?

[Freedom]

I do not overlap at all. I place one ASAP, as soon as I have blacksmith,tailor and school. I clear it out 100%, right down to the berries. Set it up, add 2 workers to plant only. After a year or 2 I go back and look how she is doing. You can tell right away if it is ready for cut and plant. If ready, I add a stockpile right outside ring, add 2 wood cutters right across from stock pile.

Then as I expand, I add 3 more ASAP!!. Always do setup stockpile outside ring. Try to always place 2 wood cutters by each forrester hut stockpile. I then stop all expanding, wait until I know for sure i have a good setup. This stage can last for up to 10 years or more. :) This is when I also open my trade post.

Having just did a final check last night before logging off. 1 hut does 278 logs per season, 2nd does 271 logs per season, 3rd one does 243 logs per season and 4th does 256 per season. Each wood cutter I setup does 572 firewood per season. I have never got above 572 fire wood logs per season, I think that is max. I also think 300 logs of lumber is max for a forrester.

It is critical that you clear out stone and iron. Do not listen to suggestion that your forresters will do it. They will of course do it, if you do not mind waiting for decades.

[Skyte100]

If you dont already then upgrade to stone houses. They take a lot less firewood. A single woodcutter for me can maintain a population of 50 with a surplus.

[Onyx]

You have 15 woodcutters? How large is your population? I have 4 woodcutters serving a population of about 320 citizens with no shortages.

Sounds like you don't have enough foresters though, especially if their locations are not the best.

[Playbahnosh]

How large is your population?
I have 4 woodcutters and 5 foresters serving a population of 300 with a good amount of surplus. If you have less pop than me and still losing the wood battle, you are obviously not doing something right.

Important thing is not to encroach on your forester's territory. When you click on the forester, a ring will appear around it to show it's operating area. Make sure at least most of it is land it can use (plant trees on, so it's not water or mountain) and try not to build anything inside the ring. For max efficiency, use foresters in pairs. Set aside an area for foresting, and build 2 foresters next to each other. Drag a road outside the radius and put a stockpile there for the logs.

You can also build a gatherer's hut, a herbalist and a hunter cabin (only one each) next to the foresters, because they synergise well with each other. But no other buildings inside the radius, except these! So no houses, barns, roads, etc. Also, foresters cut and plant trees in cycles. After they cut the trees, the new trees need a few years to grow. So you might get tons of logs one year, and only a few in the next. Having 2 of this double-forester setups guarantees a steady flow of logs.

Also very important to have educated foresters/woodcutters with steel tools! It's a huge difference! And try building stone houses and upgrade wooden houses to stone as soon as you can. They use much less firewood.

[MightyDog]

A) You have too many woodcutters. 1 or 2 should be fine early to mid-game, even with wood houses. Cut out woodcutters and use the extra workers to maybe make another forester hut.
B) A little overlapping of foresters is okay.
C) Blacksmiths use up your logs too, if you have enough tools, cut tool production to save lumber.
D) Did you clear out ALL of the stone and iron from your forester areas? This will ensure maximum efficiency for your foresters.
E) Did you build other structures inside your forester areas? Some are okay, but you want to keep them to a minimum, again, to increase efficiency. (Typically, I'll build a forester, gatherer, small stockpile, and maybe an herbalist inside the same radius, with a barn just outside the forest to collect the goods).

[Assyr]

Those of you that leave a small stock pile and a woodcutter in your forestry cluster - do you have your forester set to cut and plant or only plant?

I'm assuming you guys do full harvests when you need lumber

[MightyDog]

If I have enough lumber and I notice a forest getting thin I'll turn off cutting for a season or two.