# Starting City Layouts

A guide to early game city planning in Anno 117: Pax Romana, covering initial settlement layouts for both Latium and Albion regions.

## City Building Tools

Before building your city, familiarize yourself with these essential tools:

### Planning and Construction Modes

| Tool | Description |
|------|-------------|
| **Diagonal Construction** | Allows placing buildings diagonally to fit into tight corners and create unique layouts |
| **Planning Mode** | Places blueprints instead of actual buildings, letting you experiment without spending resources |

### Building Toolbar (PC Keybinds)

| Tool | Key | Description |
|------|-----|-------------|
| **Demolish** | X | Drag to highlight and demolish buildings. Uses smart select by building type |
| **Relocate** | G | Move multiple buildings to a new location for a Denarii fee based on distance |
| **Upgrade** | U | Upgrade residences, finalize blueprints, or rebuild ruins instantly |
| **Copy** | C | Duplicate highlighted buildings to a new location - great for replicating layouts |
| **Cosmetic Tool** | - | Change building style and appearance |

## Latium Starting Layout

### Initial Setup

When starting in Latium, your immediate goals are:
1. Set up a Timber supply chain
2. Build enough Liberti residences for workforce
3. Provide food for citizens
4. Generate Denarii for expansion

### Step 1: Basic Infrastructure

1. Place **10 Liberti Residences** near your Trading Post (Hotkey: H)
2. Position residences close to trees for efficient logging
3. Build **2 Woodcutters** in forested areas
4. Add **2 Sawmills** to refine Logs into Timber
5. If Woodcutters/Sawmills are far from Trading Post, add a **Warehouse** to connect them

### Step 2: Food Production

Choose one of these food chains:
- **Fishing:** Build a Fishing Hut on the shore
- **Porridge:** Build an Oat Farm and Porridge Stand

### Step 3: Housing Blocks

Organize housing in "blocks" (2x4, 2x5, or 2x6 residences):
- Larger blocks (2x6) are more space-efficient but harder to service
- Smaller blocks (2x4) waste space but are easier to provide services to
- Use service buildings to connect blocks

### Step 4: Services and Goods

Build these to meet Liberti needs:
- **Tavern** - Limited range, place close to residences
- **Market** - Essential for generating Denarii
- **Hemp Farm + Spinner** - Provides Tunics
- **Sheep Farm + Pileus Felter** - Provides Pilei

## Progressing to Plebeians

### Construction Materials

Before upgrading residences, set up Tiles production:
1. **Clay Pit** - Place in a river slot
2. **Charcoal Burner** - Place AWAY from houses (applies -3 Fire Safety and -3 Health to nearby buildings)
3. **2 Tilers** - To produce Tiles
4. **Warehouse** - If needed to connect the supply chain

### Food for Plebeians

Bread production chain:
- 2 Wheat Farms
- 1 Charcoal Burner (place away from residences)
- 1 Grain Mill (river slot)
- 2 Bakeries (place away from residences to avoid penalties)

### Services for Plebeians

As your city class rises, build:
- **Vigiles** - Raises fire safety, requires Tiles to build
- **Grammaticus** - Provides Knowledge
- **Sanctuary** - Provides Belief

### Monitoring Tips

Use **Ctrl+Q** or click the governor portrait to open Statistics and check for deficiencies in:
- Sardines
- Porridge
- Tunics
- Pilei

## Albion Starting Layout

### Terrain Considerations

Albion presents unique challenges:
- Space is more limited due to mountains
- Marshland restricts building placement but provides unique resources
- Many citizen needs require marsh-based buildings

### Initial Setup

1. Build 2x4 or 2x5 housing blocks near trees AND marshland
2. Place **2 Woodcutters** and **2 Sawmills** connected to supply chain
3. Consider a **3rd Woodcutter/Sawmill** for extra Timber to extend roads into marshes

### Food Options

- **Cockle Picker** - Place by the shore
- **Eel Grabber** - Place in the marsh

### Services and Goods for Waders

Build these to meet Waders' needs:
- **Market** - For commerce
- **Bardic Hearth** - Unique Albion service
- **Reed Gatherer + Shoe Weaver** - For footwear
- OR **Hemp Farm + Spinner** - For clothing

Use **Diagonal Construction** to fit additional buildings around irregular terrain.

## Progressing to Smiths or Mercators

### The Upgrade Choice

Albion residences offer two upgrade paths:
- **Smiths** - Native Celtic population, easier as they use local Albion goods
- **Mercators** - Romanized population, more challenging as they need goods from Latium

### Construction Materials

Start with **3 Mud Driers** in the marsh, then:

**For Tiles:**
- 1 Charcoal Burner
- 2 Tilers

**For Wattle and Daub:**
- 2 Reed Gatherers
- 2 Labourer's Yards

### Food for Smiths

- **Ochs Farm** + **2 Dairies** - Provides Cheese

### Service Buildings

| Building | Purpose | Notes |
|----------|---------|-------|
| **City Watch** | Public order | Build as population grows |
| **Medici** | Health | Prevents disease |
| **Vigiles** | Fire safety | If settled Latium first |
| **Custodes** | Unrest prevention | If settled Latium first |
| **Fanum** | Religion | Good for both paths |
| **Grammaticus** | Knowledge | Mercator path |
| **Recreation Ground** | Health/Happiness/Prestige | Smith path, can wait until needed |

### Space Efficiency

Due to Albion's limited space, you may need to compromise on efficiency:
- Ideal: Two adjacent housing blocks with services in the middle
- Reality: Offset blocks due to terrain obstacles
- Accept some inefficiency as the cost of settling in Albion

## Next Steps After Initial Settlement

1. **Expand housing** - Add more residence blocks as resources allow
2. **Send ships** - Gather resources from other islands
3. **Settle new islands** - Access more resources and fertilities
4. **Tier III preparation** - Work toward higher population tiers
5. **Military** - Build forces to defend against threats (like Voada's raiders in Albion)
6. **Trade routes** - Take advantage of unique fertilities on different islands

## Related Documentation

- [Population Tiers](../population-tiers/_index.md) - Citizen tier requirements
- [Production Chains](../production-chains/_index.md) - Resource manufacturing
- [Timber Chain](../production-chains/timber.md) - Basic construction materials
- [Area Effects](../systems/area-effects.md) - Building proximity bonuses/penalties
