Hacienda
The Hacienda is a Mexican and Spanish economic building in Definitive Edition. It can produce Food or Coin, support livestock and, with the relevant cards, train units automatically or receive Home City shipments.
Recorded values
- Cost
- 600 Wood
- Available
- Commerce Age
- Builder
- Settler, Hacienda Wagon
- Ranged attack
- 5 * no. of villagers garrisoned ranged damage · range 24 · interval 3.0
- Function
- Infinite source of food or coin; Trains units automatically and for free; Receives Home City shipments; Herded animals fatten faster when tasked to a Hacienda
- Construction
- 40 sec · up to 20 builders · limit 7
- Structure
- 3,500 hit points · 24 line of sight · 5x5; 10x10 (placement obstruction) footprint
- Garrison
- 20 villagers
- Anti-siege attack
- 75 anti-siege damage · range 40 · interval 3.0 · 0.5x vs. Siege unit
Function & construction
Settlers or a Hacienda Wagon can build it. Its resource mode, card effects and livestock behavior let the player shape an economy over time; exact shipment and unit options depend on the civilization and deck.
Placement & timing
Choose the resource mode that supports the next army or Age advance. Invest in automated production or livestock when enough time remains to repay it, and protect the Hacienda because it concentrates economic value.
A combined economy in one building
The Hacienda is a Definitive Edition economic building for the Mexicans and, after the Viceroyalty of New Spain Home City card, the Spanish. It costs 600 Wood, takes 40 seconds to build, has 3,500 hit points, a current base limit of seven and can hold up to 20 Villagers. It combines the functions of a Mill, Estate and Livestock Pen, accepts Home City shipments, fattens tasked herdables and can be configured to produce Food, Coin, livestock or units. Only one active function can be selected at a time. Mexican access starts in the Exploration Age; Spanish access requires the card and uses two Hacienda Wagons delivered in the Fortress Age. The building is costly, occupies a 5 by 5 footprint with a larger 10 by 10 placement obstruction, and its output depends on whether Villagers or livestock are assigned. The base automatic Food trickle is 0.5 per second and Coin is 0.306 per second; after the Yucatán revolution and Solís Shredders card, Wood trickle is 0.65 per second and cannot be upgraded. Treat the Hacienda as flexible infrastructure whose best setting changes with the economy, not as three separate buildings operating at once.
Modes, unit production and capacity
Haciendas can produce Cows in the Commerce Age, Settlers from the Fortress Age and, for Mexicans, Cuatreros; Spanish Haciendas can train Soldados slowly for free. Mexicans can later produce Chinacos, and Yucatán can configure a Hacienda for Wood. Base spawn times listed by mode are 100 seconds for Cows and Settlers, 90 seconds for Cuatreros and Soldados, and 70 seconds for Chinacos. Settlers and herdable animals tasked to the building accelerate unit training, so the choice between assigning Villagers to gather and assigning them to production changes both resource income and unit timing. Four unstaffed Haciendas producing Settlers can match one Town Center according to the source comparison. Livestock also fatten while working there; it can be more efficient to let them accelerate unit training and harvest them after they reach full weight. The maximum is 20 Villagers per Hacienda, and the TEAM Alta California Territory card adds one building to the limit. California revolution and its Haciendas card can add two more. The current base limit of seven replaced six before update 61213. These slots and limits make placement and staffing important: an empty Hacienda trickle is stable, while a staffed one can gather faster, speed unit production or amplify temporary cards.
Gather rates, herdables and temporary shipments
When Villagers gather directly, Hacienda Food works at 0.5 resources per second and Coin at 0.306 per second before upgrades. Herdable animals add a separate trickle: Cows provide 0.1667 Food and 0.1133 Coin per second; large herdables such as Yaks provide 0.13 Food and 0.1133 Coin; small animals such as Goats provide 0.1 Food and 0.07 Coin. After Solís Shredders, a Yucatán Hacienda supports a 0.325 Wood trickle from herdables. Jalapeno Peppers delivers a 30-second temporary boost and Habanero Peppers a 60-second boost; their total depends on the number of Settlers assigned. For example, 20 assigned Settlers generate 750 extra Food from Jalapeno Peppers or 600 from Habanero Peppers, alongside Coin and, with Solís Shredders, Wood. Seed Drill and Artificial Fertilizer improve Food gathering, while Bookkeeping, Homesteading and Refineries improve Coin gathering in a staged sequence. Upgrades can also affect the automatic trickle. Compare a temporary boost against a resource crate and the time needed to assign workers; at low staffing it can still be useful, and at high staffing the total output becomes much larger.
Upgrade research and long-term income
Seed Drill costs 150 Wood and 150 Coin in the Commerce Age and improves Villager Food gathering at farms and Haciendas by 15 percent, including the Hacienda automatic Food rate. Artificial Fertilizer costs 335 Food and 335 Wood in the Fortress Age, requires Seed Drill and adds 30 percent to those Food rates. Bookkeeping costs 300 Food and 300 Wood and improves Coin gathering at Estates and Haciendas by ten percent. Homesteading costs 400 Food and 400 Wood, requires Bookkeeping and adds 20 percent to Coin gathering; Refineries costs 600 Food and 600 Wood and requires Homesteading for another 30 percent. These research chains improve Villagers working the building and the matching automatic trickle, so their value grows with the number of Haciendas and the time remaining. Select the building mode before researching around it: Food upgrades do not solve a Coin shortage, and Coin upgrades do not improve livestock training. Spanish access requires the Viceroyalty of New Spain card, while Mexicans are designed around broader Hacienda use. Account for that access difference when comparing civilization economies.
Staffing, livestock and diminishing returns
The building accepts up to 20 Villagers, but staffing has diminishing returns and should be balanced against other work. More Villagers increase gathered resources and the effect of Jalapeno Peppers or Habanero Peppers, while Villagers and livestock also accelerate unit training. Livestock gathers more slowly than Settlers, so assigning it to speed production can be more efficient than leaving it to gather. Haciendas fatten herdables while they are tasked there; harvest animals when fully fattened and replace them to maintain the cycle. Yaks and other large herdables produce more than Goats and small herdables. California revolution improves Cow gathering by 100 percent automatically, and some revolutions depend on Hacienda Settler training to rebuild an economy. Four empty Haciendas can produce Settlers at the rate of one Town Center in the source comparison. If Settlers are not assigned, setting those buildings to train Settlers can produce more Food value than a basic Hacienda Food trickle until Imperial upgrades. Choose staffing and configuration based on the economic stage, not a fixed one-size-fits-all setting.
Defensive use and building limit
The Hacienda can garrison 20 Villagers and gains defensive fire based on the number inside when the Fortified Haciendas card is active. The card lists a ranged attack equal to five damage per garrisoned Villager at range 24, and an area attack that deals 75 damage at range 40 with half damage against Siege units. Without that card, do not treat the building as an Outpost or Fort. Its base hit points are 3,500 in the current entry, down from 5,000 before update 56860; sight is 24 rather than the former 34, and the base limit increased from six to seven at update 61213. A Hacienda costs 600 Wood and occupies a large placement area, so place it near safe resources and leave room for later buildings. It is weak to Siege units and Artillery, and should not be the only defense for a distant economy. The building can receive Home City shipments, making its location strategically useful, but that does not remove the need for a Town Center or military escort.
Temporary resource timing and configuration
Jalapeno Peppers and Habanero Peppers reward staffing at the moment the card is sent. With 10 Villagers assigned, Jalapeno Peppers provides 375 extra Food, 228 Coin and, after Solís Shredders, 487 Wood over 30 seconds. Habanero Peppers with the same staffing provides 300 Food, 183 Coin and 390 Wood over 60 seconds. Output scales with the number assigned; at 99 Villagers the listed totals are 3,712 Food, 2,264 Coin and 4,826 Wood for Jalapeno Peppers, or 2,970 Food, 1,811 Coin and 3,861 Wood for Habanero Peppers. The Hacienda must be configured and staffed for the correct resource when the temporary effect applies. Decide the needed resource first, transfer enough Settlers to the building, then send the card. This can outperform an ordinary crate, but tying up many workers temporarily reduces their normal gathering elsewhere.
Use all three economic roles over the match
Early Mexican play can use the Hacienda for Food or Coin trickle, livestock production and shipment arrival. Once the Fortress Age is reached, Settler production becomes a way to turn an empty building into steady economic growth; four empty Haciendas can match one Town Center rate according to the source. As the army needs change, staffed Haciendas can accelerate Cows, Cuatreros, Soldados or Chinacos, but only one active mode runs at a time. Spanish access begins later through Viceroyalty of New Spain and includes two Hacienda Wagons; Spanish Haciendas can train Soldados slowly and without resource cost. Yucatán adds Wood after Solís Shredders, while California improves Cow gathering and can increase the building limit through its card. Check the revolution before committing to a production mode because the available resource and unit outputs may change.
Plan around a single active function
A Hacienda cannot gather, produce livestock and train military units simultaneously. Configure it for the resource or unit the economy currently needs, then change modes when the timing passes.
Shipment drop point and Spanish access
Haciendas can receive Home City shipments. Spanish players first need Viceroyalty of New Spain; Mexicans can build their own from the Exploration Age.
Place it near a safe resource area
The large placement footprint makes site selection important. Leave room for nearby production and protect the building from artillery.
Leave space for its footprint
The Hacienda blocks a larger area than its visible building footprint.
Check placement clearance
Account for nearby buildings and paths.
One active economy role and its placement cost
A Hacienda costs 600 Wood, takes 40 seconds to build and is limited to seven for Mexicans and Spanish. It has 3,500 hit points and supports up to 20 gatherers. Its large 5-by-5 footprint can obstruct a 10-by-10 placement area, so leave room for the intended resource use before placing it near a base or route. The building can provide Food or Coin, fatten assigned herdable animals more quickly, receive Home City shipments and automatically train eligible units for free when the relevant access is active. These functions do not mean every benefit runs at full value at once: the chosen economic activity, available livestock, gatherer count and cards determine the return. Plan one clear purpose for each Hacienda, and avoid investing Wood into several sites before the economy can staff or use them. Spanish access and card conditions differ from Mexican routes, so check the faction-specific entry before copying a build order.
Defensive card and shipment positioning
A Hacienda can garrison 20 Villagers, which can protect workers during a raid, but its listed attacks require the Fortified Haciendas card. The ranged attack scales with the number of garrisoned Villagers, while the anti-siege attack is a separate 75-damage profile at range 40 and is reduced against Siege Units. Do not count this defense before the card is active. Because the building can receive Home City shipments, its location also determines where some reinforcements or crates arrive; that can be helpful near a forward position but risky if the enemy can reach it. Place Haciendas where livestock can be tasked safely and workers have an escape route. If using it for automatic unit production, include the resulting population and rally point in the plan so units do not gather unprotected around the building.