Command Center
Command Center is a universal central building for worker production, Age advancement, Home City shipments and hero ransom. Its available age-up and ultimate-technology functions vary by civilization.
Recorded values
- Cost
- 500 Wood
- Available
- Exploration Age
- Population support
- 20
- Ranged attack
- 9 * no. of villagers garrisoned ranged damage · range 32 · interval 3.0 · 2.0x vs. Villager; 0.5x vs. Artillery
- Function
- Trains Settlers/Villagers; Allows Age advance (except for Asians); Provides ultimate technologies (except for Europeans and Federal Americans); Ransom heroes; Receives Home City shipments
- Construction
- 60 sec · limit 1
- Structure
- 6,500 hit points · 38 line of sight · 4x4 footprint
- Garrison
- 50 villagers, Homestead Wagons, healing units, Regent, Chasquis
- Building attack
- 30 building damage · range 32 · interval 3.0 · Same as ranged attack
- Anti-siege attack
- 75 anti-siege damage · range 40 · interval 3.0 · 0.5x vs. Siege unit
Function & construction
It trains Settlers or Villagers and receives shipments. Asian civilizations advance through Wonders rather than the Command Center, while Europeans and Federal Americans use their own late-game technology access. Its ranged attack requires garrisoned Villagers; it also has a Bombard attack against buildings.
Placement & timing
Protect the Command Center and keep worker production matched to available resources and population. Use its age-up controls where available, garrison workers during raids, and use the ransom option only when recovering the hero is worth the listed Coin cost.
Command Post building and strategic functions
The Command Center, called Command Post before update 19.18309, is an economic building introduced with Knights of the Mediterranean. It replaces the starting Town Center on Unknown and selected historical maps. It costs 500 Wood, takes 60 seconds to build, has 6,500 hit points, supports twenty population and has line of sight 38. The building limit is one. It trains Settlers or Villagers, receives Home City shipments, allows age advancement for most civilizations, researches technologies, can ransom heroes and detects Stealth. Its role is broader than an ordinary defensive outpost: it is the map’s central economy and shipment arrival point. A Command Center can garrison up to fifty Villagers, Homestead Wagons, healing units, a Regent or Chasquis. Garrisoned Villagers enable its ranged attack, which deals nine damage per Villager every three seconds at range 32, with double damage against Villagers and half damage against Artillery. The Mexican Palace of Iturbide card unlocks a 30-damage area attack at the same range. Its bombard attack deals 75 damage at range 40 and can damage buildings, but is reduced against Siege units. These defenses make it difficult to rush with a small army, but the building can still be overwhelmed by artillery or a sustained siege. On some historical maps, a Command Center can train Military Wagons—called Command Wagons once produced—for 200 Wood. These wagons build military buildings and tower structures such as Outposts, giving the player a way to establish production around the map. The Command Center researches many of the same Town Center technologies, with map- and civilization-specific options including Scavengers for crate gathering, Railroad Network and Telegraph for faster Home City shipments, Frontline Aid to improve Field Hospitals, and Bank of Antwerp to deliver a Bank Wagon. Availability varies by map and civilization; not every listed technology is active in every match. Its age-up and ultimate technology functions have exceptions. Asian civilizations use their own wonders for age advancement, and Europeans and Federal Americans do not receive the same ultimate technology access through the Command Center. These rules reflect the map scenario, not a universal replacement for each civilization’s ordinary Town Center. Check the match setup before building an economy around an unavailable research option. The Command Center is usually the first structure to defend. Keep Settlers near it for production and garrison defense, but do not garrison every Villager if the economy must gather resources. Since it receives shipments, clearing a safe perimeter and maintaining a route to resource sites enables it to support both army and economy. Its 6,500 hit points provide resilience, while the 50-Villager garrison can turn a raid into a defensive attack. Protect it from dedicated siege units and use the Military Wagon option to expand production when the map allows.
Use the garrison and attack as a defensive economy
The Command Center’s garrison capacity is larger than a normal Town Center’s, but garrisoning fifty villagers removes a large share of the economy from resource gathering. Use the garrison when a major raid threatens the building and return villagers to work after the attack. Every garrisoned villager contributes to its ranged attack, so even a partial garrison can deter enemy villagers or infantry. Keep siege counters nearby, because the building’s 6,500 hit points only delay artillery rather than eliminate the threat. Technology choices can accelerate a map-specific economy. Railroad Network and Telegraph reduce shipment arrival times, while Scavengers improves crate gathering. Bank of Antwerp delivers a Bank Wagon, and Frontline Aid makes Field Hospitals cheaper while increasing the build limit. These options can change the opening dramatically, but are not all available to every civilization. Check the Command Center’s actual research list in the match instead of assuming the full catalog applies.
Keep its one-building limit in mind
The Command Center limit is one, so losing the structure can remove the match’s only production and shipment point on a historical map. Place military wagons and outlying buildings to extend control, but protect the central building with units and a garrison. Its 38 line of sight helps reveal approaches and supports early warning.
Expand with Command Wagons
Where the historical map permits Command Wagons, use them to place production or towers near a resource site after the central economy is stable. Their 200 Wood cost adds map presence, while the single Command Center remains the secure shipment and villager hub.
Use line of sight to warn of raids
The building’s line of sight 38 and Stealth detection can reveal an approaching force before it reaches the villagers. Keep a small mobile defense nearby so the warning leads to a response.
Core worker, age and shipment building
The Command Center is a central economic building used across civilizations. Its documented profile costs 500 Wood, takes 60 seconds to build and supports 20 population. It trains Settlers or Villagers, receives Home City shipments and can ransom heroes under the applicable rules. It also enables age advancement for most civilizations, while Asian age progression uses its own Wonder system.
Civilization rules change its functions
The Command Center’s role differs by faction: European and Federal American civilizations do not use it for ultimate technologies in the same way as some other groups, and Asian civilizations advance through Wonders. Check whether the current civilization uses a Town Center, Command Center or another unique equivalent before applying a build order. Protect worker production, keep shipment rally points safe and maintain population room; losing the central building can interrupt both the economy and progression.