Umm ok lets simplify this so ill write what i would do and then what you would do and we can compare the differences..
my side... day 1i would mine whore and then when i have enough resources to be able to complete the quests to get the spears and swords i will get them once i have them i will farm with them until my farming is capped in the meantime and afterwards i would continue to mine whore.. although it would cost me1345 resources i will gain 1k resources from farming in that 24 hours alone afterwards i will continue to mine whore so i would of lost 30 mins max and 345 resources. day 2 i would then continue to mine whore and so would you the only differnce i wouold then gain 2k resources the next day more than you, you might be 1lvl higher on all mines then me so lets say that would level out the 2k i get from farming. day3 you would then have to build the hq and barracks etc losing 1345 resources. in the mean time i have then caught up with your mine levels and we are all square on mine levels and troops gained. the only differnce between our two tactics is i will be on higher points then you for the first 2 days so no difference there and both require same time and effort to upgrade mines /farm so all in all we are both wrong and neither tactic is better or worse just your preference... this is not 100% correct there may be lets say 100 resources one way or another i am not fussed to do the long math needed to calculate this and i dont think anyone should
dont get me wrong lol I know this the quests are designed like that, the difference is in time management.
From what little I know about the game winners never have idle time in queues, waiting until your queues are running to cover the time cost not res cost is my point.
either ways yes of course every player will end up in a perfect world with the same but there are variables for example lost units due to spiking etc.. Saving the farming process to the point where your ques are not left idle makes sense in my head with time management limiting those costly variables.
so while your farming the difference I am queuing the mines which produce res instantly from the upgrade faster than the farming your doing and when I get round to farming I am ahead because mines produce res every hour and have been way before yours.
I will stop right there because I can see this blowing up in to a flame war of yeah you will be idle waiting for res for that higher mine etc etc..
I'm just following basic time management principles namely time vs risk/reward.