Logs

Description
Logs are one of the two core building materials in the game. The harvesting and management of Logs is fairly critical to a successful game.

New Game
At the start of a new map, the primary method for collecting Logs is to mark trees for collection using the harvest function in game (H key). The Laborers will dutifully collect any items you have manually marked for harvest.

NOTE: Setting an item to be constructed on top of a tree(s) will result in the Laborers first clearing the construction site before the builders get started. This can save time on construction as the Laborers will take the wood harvested in this manner and deposit it into the construction. This avoids the round trip of them hauling it to a Stockyard only to then bring it back to the construction's site.

Early Game
When resources and manpower are available, deploying one or more Work Camp is highly advised. These camps can be set to auto harvest any resources (trees & rocks) within the work camps targeted area.

NOTE: The Work Camp has settings allowing for the control of the ratio of resources harvested. As the resources in a targeted area are depleted, the targeting ring can be moved to a new area. The target area can be anywhere on the map, but be mindful of travel times.

It is best to set the Work Camp to only harvest mature trees. This allows immature trees to continue growing yielding more Logs. This will also allow the trees to regrow in that area. If an areas is completely striped bare, it will take a very long time for trees to regrow in that area.

Mid to Late Game
Once a regular income stream is establsihed, trees can be planted anywhere as decoration or to farm. This option is available under the Decorations section of the build menu.

There are 5 types of trees you can plant: Birch Tree, Maple Tree, Oak Tree, Spruce Tree, Juniper Bush. Of these, the Oak Tree yields the most logs at 7 Logs each when fully mature. The cost for planting any tree is one Gold Ingot and some labor. This is the easiest and fastest way to generate large quantities of logs.

This is especially useful on maps with few trees, such as arid maps.

NOTE: Planted trees can not be auto harvested by work camps. These must be manually target them using the Harvest function (H key).