If you've played Caesar3 for any length of time, you probably have tried your hand at devising building blocks. On two or three occasions, I have come up with what I thought was the ultimate building block, only to have it promptly shot down by another player more perceptive than myself. I no longer believe that there is any magic combination that will provide the ideal basis for city building. Instead, I think you just have to find something you're comfortable with and make do.

I find, that at the beginning of a game, what I need more than thing else, is LOTS of workers to get industry, farms, and defence going.

My goal then, in the beginning, will be to build basic, blue collar housing. To paraphrase the best of all American generals I want the "mostus for the leastus". To do this, I think small casa housing is the way to go.

Here's why:

Small casa housing, when fully developed, will hold 17 inhabitants per square of housing. To get that you must provide:

• Water
• Food
• Theater

• School
  

Grand Insulae can, when fully developed, hold 21 inhabitants per square of housing. To get that extra four people you must provide everything needed for small casas PLUS:

• Bathhouses
• Pottery
• Clinic
• More entertainment (Amphitheater + Gladiator School)
• Library
• Furniture
• Barber
• Oil
• Still more entertainment (Colloseum + Lion Pit)
• A second type of food.

So you can get 80 percent of the workers for about 10 percent of the money and effort with small casas. I like to get the workers first, build exports and defence, get safe, rich, fat and happy, then concern myself with the rabble.

Here is the block I've been using:

S = Small Statue
E = Engineer
P = Prefect
F = Fountain
H = Duh??

Reasons Why I Like This Block

• It is efficient - almost 70% of the squares used in this block are housing. A 9x9 block, by comparison uses less than 50% of it's squares for housing.

• It gives you what you need. Typically in a game you need about 1,000 people and around 400 workers to get your industry, farming, and defence going. This block, when developed to small casa level will house 1156 people, and well over 400 workers.
  

• It can be easily developed beyond small casa level. This surprised me. I thought I was just getting small casas, but I find this thing will go to medium insulae with no problem. Furthermore, it can, with some small modifications, produce stable large insulae housing.

• It's attractive. Put two or three of these blocks together and it looks more like Levittown than C3.

So - If you're an old C3 hand, you can take or leave this, and go back to what you were doing. If, on the other hand, you are new to the game, and would like to see how one of these blocks is put together, follow me.