Mill (Age of Empires II)

"Used to deposit food and research farming improvements."

- Age of Empires II description

The Mill is an economic building in Age of Empires II. It is a drop-off point for any kind of food that Villagers gathered. Also, Farming upgrades are researched here, and Farms can be queued.

Tactics and Placement
Mills are one of the most important buildings in the Dark Age as they are drop places for food. They must be placed near a rich source of food like Berry Bushes and Deer. Building a Mill next to Wild Boars or herdables is not necessary, as these units can be lured/herded to the Town Center or an already built Mill. In later stages of the game, the Mill becomes less important, as usually all freely available food is gathered and enough Town Centers are built to produce enough food with Farms next to them.

Most players use a Mill and a Lumber Camp as the required buildings to advance to the Feudal Age.

The possibility to queue Farms (since The Conquerors) is very handy as it saves the player time, especially in the busy early Castle Age when the Farms usually have to be renewed for the first time.

Feudal Age

 * Horsecollar.jpg Horse Collar

Castle Age

 * Heavyplow.jpg Heavy Plow

Imperial Age

 * Croprotation.jpg Crop Rotation

Civilization Bonuses

 * Burmese: Researching Faith is 50% cheaper.
 * Byzantines: Mills have +10%/+20%/+30%/+40% HP in the Dark/Feudal/Castle/Imperial Age. Town Watch is free.
 * Chinese: Technologies that benefit Mills are 10%/15%/20% cheaper in the Feudal/Castle/Imperial Age.
 * Franks: Horse Collar, Heavy Plow, and Crop Rotation are free.
 * Japanese: Mills are 50% cheaper.
 * Malians: Mills are 15% cheaper.
 * Spanish: Mills are built 30% faster.

The Age of Kings

 * Mills always have 1000 HP.

The Conquerors

 * Heresy introduced.

The Forgotten

 * Mill HP staggered: 60/800/1000/1000 in the Dark/Feudal/Castle/Imperial Age.

Trivia

 * The Native American Mill is a windmill featuring sails and wheel mechanisms, however, this is historically inaccurate as they didn't posses the wheel technology.
 * The African Mill is not a windmill and is the only one to retain the donkey powered mechanism after the Dark Age.
 * The Indian Mill is based on the Nashtifan Windmills in Iran.

History
"One of the early industrial enterprises of the Middle Ages was the grinding Mill. Handed down from antiquity, this technology greatly sped the otherwise backbreaking process of grinding wheat and other grains into flour. Mills used water, wind, and animal power to turn the grinding stone. Grain was converted into flour and the mill owner kept a percentage of the flour as compensation. Mills might be owned by a local lord, a monastery, or a local entrepreneur. The profits of mills led to conflict and competition, and the right to grind grain for a community had to be paid for and defended. Millers could become modestly wealthy. They became part of the rising middle class of merchants and craftsmen that grew in importance as the Middle Ages progressed."

- Age of Empires II manual