But that does only take into account the smithy. It doesn't account for build time gains in barracks, stable, farm ect. Those gains only come into effect though if you postpone building stable/barracks builds until after HQ, in which case your living with pisspoor unit build times for longer than others who went lvl 20 HQ and then moved into stable/barracks. This could really impact your farming army sizes, which considering the cost of the 21+ lvl HQ upgrades, your going to need every last farmer to feed that machine. With growing abandons, its not as crucial, but in a world where you have to clear/farm active players the extra losses you take on clear(because of the smaller army) and the less resources you can pull in can hurt you alot more than it helps.
Well said. As one of those has been upgrading my hq level consistently, I guess I now must validate my strategic vision.
I have not only been upgrading my hq though, a little raxx here, stable, farm, wh, etc. All of which are affected by my hq raises. My stance is, if all your builds are running constantly, and you have resources, and those buildings are upgradeable, then by all means, they should be upgraded... so long as you are not "wasting" farm space.
I am not making any smithy levels for some time after I get my workshop and cats. That time will be spent doing nothing but building troops and farm, raxx, stable. I am certain that any "sacrifices" made in this short-term are vindicated down the road. And those sacrifices are negligible.
It really all depends on your area. If you are pulling in max hauls and running at peak efficiency consistently then your hq should be upgraded. If not then other things may be more important.
