Royal Dockyard
“The wooden walls are the best walls of this kingdom.”
Unique building of England — replaces the Harbour.
The Royal Dockyard is a harbour militarised and industrialised: slipways, rope-walks, timber yards, and victualling stores, all bent to one purpose — keeping a fleet at sea. An English port city with a Royal Dockyard doesn’t just trade with the ocean; it manufactures command of it.
Stats
| Stat | Value |
|---|---|
| Cost | 45 Production |
| Maintenance | None |
| Required Tech | Sailing |
| Prerequisites | None |
| Special Requirements | Coastal city |
| Civilisation | England only |
| Replaces | Harbour |
Effects
- +3 gold per turn in the city (an ordinary Harbour provides +2).
- +1 food per turn in the city.
- +1 production per turn in the city.
The Royal Dockyard counts as a Harbour for all purposes; England cannot build an ordinary Harbour.
Strategy
Everything England wants lives on the coast, and the Royal Dockyard is the reason to double down. The extra gold funds the fleet, and the production point builds it — coastal English cities lay down Galleys, Frigates, and Ships of the Line measurably faster than any rival port. Like the Harbour it replaces, it costs nothing to maintain. Settle the coastline, dockyard every city, and let +1 naval movement do the rest. Inland English cities gain nothing here — which is the game telling you where England belongs.
Historical Background
England’s royal dockyards — Portsmouth, Chatham, Deptford, Plymouth — were the largest industrial enterprises on Earth for most of three centuries. Portsmouth’s block mills, fitted out from 1803, were among the first factories anywhere to use machine tools for mass production, turning out the rigging blocks that kept Nelson’s fleet at sea. The Royal Navy’s rule of thumb was that a fleet was built in its dockyards long before it won anything at sea.