Sledding:

What is a Sled?

A Sled is a short way of saying an Improvement swapping cycle. The basic idea behind a Sled is that you

wait several days without collecting taxes, switch around your improvements, and end up buying more

Infrastructure and collecting more taxes than you would if you collected taxes every day.

How is not collecting taxes every day a good idea?

Tax collection amount is based on your nation's current state, irrespective of how many days of taxes you

collect. This is best illustrated by an example:

1. Five days ago, you had good trades and your nation was making $1M in taxes per day.

2. Then you lost a couple of trades that were very important to your income.

3. This meant that your tax collection would only be 60% of what it had been, i.e. 600K per day.

4. You decided to stop collecting taxes while you fixed your trades.

5. Today, you got your trades back in order and collected 5 days' worth of taxes at $1M per day.

6. You made $5M instead of the $3M (5 x $600k) you would have received if you had collected them

while your trades were messed up.

And how does this apply to Sledding?

When you Sled, you pay your bills when your bills are lowest, you buy Infra when the purchase cost is

lowest, and you collect taxes when your tax income is at its highest. Win-Win-Win.

How long should a Sled be?

Anything from 5 to 19 days depending on your nation. Note that your nation will be automatically deleted

if you don't collect taxes for 25 days.

Improvement Cycling Guide

Revised by our sexy economist

Alright I decided to make a more in depth guide to Improvement Cycling, complete with screenshots. This

should give you a good documentation of how it worked out for me, as well as what you might want to

change for the future. REMINDER: this is for nations 2.5k infra and above!

Having full good dependable trades is also strongly recommended.

DAY 1:

Step 1 - Saving

Save for enough money to pay for 6 days of bills + 750k for factories + 750k for labor camps + money for

financial improvements + another 3 mil to buy infra (variable according to how much you want).

Bling Bling. For me the cost of the total operation listed above was about 8.8 million, I have a little extra

as I�m in a couple tech deals currently.

EX:

6 days of bills + 750k for factories + 750k for labor camps + improv. Money + another 3 mil to buy infra

(6 * 640,000) + 750,000+ 750,000 + 405,000 (3 schools, 2 police hqs) + 3,000,000= 8,745,000

I chose to use 3 schools and 2 cop stations as they are cheap, and I will be tearing them down in the

future to repeat this same process multiple times.

DAYS 1-3:

Step 2 - Go inactive for 3 days

Tear down the cheapest 5 improvements (excluding harbor for obvious reasons), then buy 5 labor camps.

Pay your bills as usual for 3 days. Make sure you turn your government into monarchy before you enter

the next phase.

-

I currently have no cheap expendable improvements so I tore down the 5 factories, but no worries,

they�ll be back! (You should have no factories to begin this process anyway, so this should be a pretty

common practice for most everyone)

Time to buy the labor camps�

After this I made myself into a monarchy then paid bills, I will remain inactive for 3 days. This means NO

COLLECTION OF TAXES!

DAYS 4-6:

Step 3 - Go inactive for another 3 days.

Pay bills. By this time, your government should be ready to be switched back to what your population

desires�don�t switch it yet though! The waiting game continues...

DAY 6:

Step 4 - Infra baby!

On the 6th day of inactivity, make sure you've paid your bills.

Note that I am still a monarchy when paying bills, this is to reduce costs one final time. Your inactivity time

should be 6 days or greater.

-

Tear down 5 labor camps. Build 5 factories.

-

Build as much infra as you can with the remaining money, buy financial improvements along the way. (I

didn't buy along the way, really an optional step.)

Holy **** do you see that? 300 infrastructure in one punch, it's the most excited I've been all week. I would

recommend buying in groups of 100, no less. (10 x 10)

-

Stop when you have just enough money to buy 5 finance improvements that would benefit you best (eg,

police hq, schools, banks, churches, clinics). Tear down the 5 factories and build those improvements. Do

not buy factories!!!

The Shermanaslovakia financial district is humming. Note the new purchases, 8 financial improvements in

total, at a cost of around 700,000... now it's time to watch them do their work.

-

Switch your government to the desired government. This will add 1 happiness for tax day, every little bit

helps.

-

Collect money!! (Be amazed at how much money you've got)

9 million dollars for 7 days of work!

Analysis:

Overall this was a very successful operation, one that I'll be able to begin and jump right back into in 3

days time. I pushed the system here and went for 100 more infrastructure than I had originally planned to

get, and I think it was worth it. If I had stuck at my original goal of 200 infrastructure I would have had less

of a tax collection, and less financial improvements, however I probably would have still wound up in the

positive, coming in at around 12 million dollars vs. the 11.4 million I started with. Instead I'm only down 2

million bucks from start to finish, with 300 extra infrastructure! 2 million is a drop in the bucket, and I'll be

able to make it up in the upcoming 3 days. The essential value of all the infrastructure I purchased was

around 7 million... I got it for 2 mil, you do the math....this works!

Proper planning is essential, I started 3 tech deals on the same day to get all this cash, then immediately

went into improvement cycling. Now I have to pay back 150 tech in 3 days. After that, I can do it again

before my next payment is due. The more money you have saved the longer you can go inactive, or the

more infrastructure you can buy. However I would recommend that the more you buy, the longer you stay

inactive. I would say 2-3 days of inactivity per 100 infra, depending on your size, etc.

Step 5 - Going back into the cycle

Repeat steps 2-5...This constant cycle has the ability to sustain the same amount of cash and make it

work for you for months.

Other info:

Why this works?

You pay your bills at a heavily discounted rate and yet you're able to collect your taxes at an improved

happiness from your swapped improvements. Because labor camps takes 5 happiness (10 dollars pre-tax

income before improvement effect) away from you, they are not good to keep around when you collect

taxes. With an additional income improvement like a bank or police HQ, you practically add 15-20

happiness (30 to 40 dollars pre-tax without improvement effect) with each cycle. That makes a huge

difference within a span of just weeks.

Why 2.5k infra?

Cos' this is when your infra bills become massive and it is worth using labor camps to reduce them. If

you're smaller than this, then labor camps are useless for you.

What improvement to get after I tear down my factories at step 4?

You should already have 1 harbor, 1 foreign ministry, 5 banks and 5 stadiums by the time you reach 2.5k

infra. They are undisputed best improvements.

You should get the following in the order of priority when switching improvements:

Schools - University - Clinics - Hospitals - Police HQ - Intelligence agency (cos' they are cheaper) -

Churches - Border walls.

When you reach 5k infra, that's where you will have all the finance improvements. All you have to do is to

continue to delete and rebuild your labor camps at the end of each period of inactivity to gain +5

happiness effect.

Go on and try this. You'll grow so much faster.

Early Growth Strategy:

When your nation is very tiny, you have the greatest potential for growth as cash is much more valuable

at this point. 3 million dollars can take a small nation a very long way. Thus at this low level, a sled can be

very effective. If possible, you can receive up to 9 million dollars within the Republic. 6 million for

completing the two exams (you should have completed one so far), and an additional 3 million for staying

with the Republic for at least 15 days. Using this 3 million in addition with tech deals, it is possible to be

sitting on 12-15 million in a very short amount of time. Use this money to pay bills and then buy a mass

amount of infrastructure, this will provide you with a large sum of cash which can be used for quite a few

number of things. Each strategy can be unique, always ask older nations for help, as they are often very

skilled in these types of affairs. Our Minister of Finance, Alfred Krupp is one of the best people to ask

about this, and would be happy to assist you in developing a sound plan.

Bank Nations:

The banking system was developed to aid a single nation grow very rapidly, and at the same time allow

that nation to spread the wealth to other smaller nations within the Republic. The concept of a bank is

simple- 45 million dollars is given to a small nation, over a 20 day time period. Over these 20 days the

bank will pay bills daily, but not collect taxes. On day 19 the bank nation purchase a large amount of

infrastructure with the 45 million and then collect taxes. This will leave the nation which a large amount of

money that can either be used for more growth, or sent out as aid to other nations within the Republic.

Either way, bank nations within RoA will be expected to pay back 45-60 million dollars in full to smaller

nations, thus assisting in the growth process. A bank is an excellent example of a sled, over the 20 day

period a bank nation will have saved up taxes at low level. However after making the massive infra jump,

the 20 days of taxes that have been saved is equivalent to having 20 days at this high infra level. The

result is a large amount of money with very low bill payments.

Example of a Bank Nation:

Requirements: 20 days of bill payments saved

Day 0: 5 slots- 3 million for each slot= 15 million dollars

Days 1-8: Pay bills

Day 9: 15 more million

Days 10-18: Pay Bills

Day 19: 15 more million- Buy 45 million in infra and proper financial improvements- Then collect taxes

Wonders: Which one to pick?

Wonders - National wonders are much like regular nation improvements in that they allow you to further

modify your nation based on your own strategies. The difference between national wonders and nation

improvements is that national wonders do not require a specific number of citizens to develop but instead

have an enormous cost associated with them. Another difference to national wonders is that you can only

purchase one of each type of national wonder and you may only develop one national wonder once every

30 days. National wonders cost $5,000 a day to maintain. When purchasing national wonders do not

expect a huge return for your investment. That is not the point behind national wonders. Instead, national

wonders are intended for those nations who are reaching the very peak of their nation development due

to nearing maximum development in infrastructure, land, improvements, etc... to give those nations a

slight push above their competition. Therefore national wonders are not intended for everyone and are

instead intended to provide a slight strategy for the most advanced players and an additional goal for

everyone to strive to. The following are the official costs and bonuses of national wonders:

* Agriculture Development Program - $30,000,000 - Increases land size by 15%, Increases citizen income

+$2.00, Increases the citizen-bonus for land from 0.2 to 0.5. Requires 3,000 land purchased, 500

technology.

* Anti-Air Defense Network - $50,000,000 - Reduces odds of incoming aircraft attacks against your nation

-25%. Reduces aircraft attack damages against your nation -10%.

* Central Intelligence Agency - $40,000,000 - Increases the number of spies that your nation can support

+250 and increases your nation's spy attack strength +10%. Only viewable by the user who owns it.

* Disaster Relief Agency - $40,000,000 - The disaster relief agency helps restore your nation and its

people after emergency situations. Increases population +3% and opens one extra foreign aid slot.

* Fallout Shelter System - $40,000,000 - Allows 50% of your defending soldiers to survive a nuclear strike

(Does not prevent nuclear Anarchy but does prevent troops from being totally depleted), Reduces tank,

cruise missile, and aircraft, losses from a nuclear strike by -25%, Reduces nuclear vulnerable navy losses

by 12%, Reduces nuclear anarchy effects by 1 day. Requires 6,000 infrastructure, 2,000 technology.

* Federal Aid Commission - $25,000,000 - Raises the cap on foreign money aid +50% provided that the

foreign aid recipient also has a Federal Aid Commission wonder.

* Foreign Air Force Base - $35,000,000 - Raises the aircraft limit +20 for your nation and increases the

number of aircraft that can be sent in each attack mission +20.

* Great Monument - $35,000,000 - The great monument is a testament to your great leadership.

Increases happiness +4 and your population will always be happy with your government choice.

* Great Temple - $35,000,000 - The great temple is a dedicated shrine to your national religion. Increases

happiness +5 and your population will always be happy with your religion choice.

* Great University - $35,000,000 - The great university is a central location for scholars within your nation.

Decreases technology costs -10% and increases population happiness +.2% (+2 for every 1000) of your

nation's technology level over 200 up to 3,000 tech.

* Hidden Nuclear Missile Silo - $30,000,000 - Allows your nation to develop +5 nuclear missiles that

cannot be destroyed in spy attacks. (Nations must first be nuclear capable in order to purchase nukes.)

* Internet - $35,000,000 - Provides Internet infrastructure throughout your nation. Increases population

happiness +5.

* Interstate System - $45,000,000 - The interstate system allows goods and materials to be transported

throughout your nation with greater ease. Decreases initial infrastructure cost -8% and decreases

infrastructure upkeep costs -8%.

* Manhattan Project - $100,000,000 - The Manhattan Project allows nations below 5% of the top nations

in the game to develop nuclear weapons. The Manhattan Project cannot be destroyed once it is created.

The wonder requires 3,000 infrastructure, 300 technology, and a uranium resource.

* Mining Industry Consortium - $25,000,000 - Increases population income by $2.00 for the resources

Coal, Lead, Oil, Uranium that your nation has access to. Requires 5,000 infrastructure, 3,000 land

purchased, 1,000 technology.

* Movie Industry - $26,000,000 - The movie industry provides a great source of entertainment to your

people. Increases population happiness +3.

* National Environment Office - $100,000,000 - The national environment office removes the penalties for

Coal, Oil, and Uranium when a nation imports them, improves environment by 1 point, increases

population +3%, and reduces infrastructure upkeep -3%. Requires 13,000 infrastructure.

* National Research Lab - $35,000,000 - The national research lab is a central location for scientists

seeking cures for common diseases among your population. Increases population +5% and decreases

technology costs -3%.

* National War Memorial - $27,000,000 - The war memorial allows your citizens to remember its fallen

soldiers. This improvement is only available to nations that have lost over 50,000 soldiers during war

throughout the life of your nation. Increases population happiness +4.

* Nuclear Power Plant - $75,000,000 - The nuclear power plant allows nations to receive Uranium

financial bonus (+$3 citizen income +$0.15 per technology level up to 30 technology levels. Requires an

active Uranium trade.) even when maintaining nuclear weaponry. The nuclear power plant by itself, even

without a Uranium trade, reduces infrastructure upkeep -5%, national wonder upkeep -5%, and

improvement upkeep -5%. Requires 12,000 infrastructure, 1,000 technology, and a Uranium resource to

build. Nations that develop the Nuclear Power Plant must keep their government position on nuclear

weapons set to option 2 or 3.

* Pentagon - $30,000,000 - The Pentagon serves as your nations headquarters for military operations.

Increases attacking and defending ground battle strength +20%.

* Scientific Development Center - $150,000,000 - The scientific development center increases the

productivity of your factories from -8% infrastructure cost to -10% infrastructure cost, increases the

productivity of your universities from +8% citizen income to +10% citizen income, allows the Great

University to give its technology happiness bonus up to 5,000 technology levels (+2 happiness each

1,000 technology levels). Requires 14,000 infrastructure, 3,000 technology, Great University, National

Research Lab.

* Social Security System - $40,000,000- The social security system provides benefits to aging members

of your nation. Allows you to raise taxes above 28% up to 30% without additional happiness penalties.

* Space Program - $30,000,000 - The space program sends your astronauts to the moon and beyond.

Increases happiness +3, lowers technology cost -3% and lowers aircraft cost -5%.

* Stock Market - $30,000,000 - The stock market provides a boost to your economy. Increases citizen

income +$10.00.

* Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) - $75,000,000 - Reduces odds of a successful nuclear attack against

your nation by 60%. The SDI wonder also requires 3 satellites and 3 missile defenses and those satellites

and missile defenses cannot be deleted once the wonder is developed.

* Universal Health Care - $100,000,000 - A Universal Health Care program increases population +3% and

increases population happiness +2. Requires 11,000 infrastructure, Hospital, National Research Lab.

* Weapons Research Complex - $150,000,000 - Increases the technology bonus to damage from 0.01%

to 0.02% per technology level, Increases the number of nukes that can be purchased per day to 2, hurts

environment by +1, Increases the purchase costs of all military by 0.01% per technology level. Requires

8,500 infrastructure, 2,000 technology, National Research Lab, Pentagon Wonder.

It can often be very difficult to chose from wonders, however it is recommended that you buy your first

wonder just after you hit the 4k infra mark. Anywhere between 4-4.5k infrastructure is acceptable. A

simple cost benefit analysis is excellent for helping you choose a wonder. The stock market and the

social security system are likely going to be your best option to buy first, however their prices are slightly

different. You'll want to buy the wonder that you will benefit off the most, as well as the one which will

allow you to pay off your purchase the fastest. A social security system costs 40,000,000 and will

increase my nation income by just over 200,000 a day, meaning I can pay it off in under 200 days.

However the stock market costs 30,000,000 but only increases my income by about 100,000 a day. Thus

it takes about 300 days to pay off the stock market, meaning that the social security system is the better

buy at this point. Investing more money up front can have greater long term benefit to your nation.

Donation Deals:

A donation deal is something that can be beneficial for both small and large nations. A donation deal

involves a small nation making a donation of $20 US to the cybernations site in the name of a larger

nation. This donation will give this nation 200 infrastructure, 200 land, and 20 technology. This larger

nation will then pay the smaller nation anywhere between 15-24 million dollars. Gaining this much

infrastructure will be at a greatly discounted price for the larger nation, and will also allow the small nation

to grow with much greater speed. I would suggest making a donation only if you are serious about the

game, and are committed to it. Otherwise you'll just be throwing your money away.