(July 24th, 2013, 17:44)BaII Wrote: But, in our core cities, we might not want to have them whipped, for military, in that case we have the MP as cheap archers that cost very little shields.
Slow building archers will divert too much of city production that could go to something useful like markets, forges, etc..
Whipping efficiency depends on city size and food surplus. I don't recall the math behind it, but for example your capital has potential for an obscene food surplus, so after the whip will regrow like weed, maybe 3-4 turns at size 10. It won't cost you too much commerce or production.
Of course, archers could be a good cheap unit to overflow the whip extra hammers.