This is for commanders who just unlocked that tree and keep dumping Courage Medals into random nodes because every icon looks like a gather buff. Two nodes in this tree actually move world-map gathers: Full-scale Production and Expedition Force. The first is speed. The second is how much each trip brings back.

Military heroes do not carry a Gathering Speed skill. Putting King Arthur on a wood tile does not make the bar fill faster. The tree does.

📈 Two Node Caps

Full-scale Production has 10 ranks. Printed bonuses after each finished rank: +3%, +6%, +9%, +12%, +15%, +18%, +21%, +24%, +30%, then +50% at rank 10. The last step is a jump, not another +3.

Rank times: 49 minutes, 59 minutes, 1 hour 11 minutes, 1 hour 25 minutes, 1 hour 50 minutes, 2 hours 23 minutes, 3 hours 7 minutes, 4 hours 2 minutes, 5 hours 39 minutes, 7 hours 55 minutes. Courage Medal costs on those ranks: 70, 70, 90, 110, 130, 170, 230, 350, 530, 790.

Expedition Force also has 10 ranks. Printed bonuses: +1%, +2%, +3%, +4%, +5%, +7%, +9%, +11%, +15%, then +20% at rank 10. Same medal ladder and the same last two timer rows. Rank 10 of Expedition Force will not start until Full-scale Production is already at rank 10.

Institute rank 8 is on the first Full-scale Production click, and again on Expedition Force rank 4. Institute rank 8 itself asks Castle 9. The tree icon still waits for Castle 10. You can finish Institute 8 on 9 and still not see the tree until 10.

Alliance Help cuts the Institute and research timers. It does not add Gathering Speed. Request help on the 7 hour 55 minute rank, not on a 24 second Iron Mine.

🔓 Institute Eight First

Do this before you touch the tree.

Castle 10 must be green. Institute must already be rank 8. If Institute is still 6, every Courage Medal you drop into another tree is a delay, not a gather plan.

Positive spend: Castle 10 is up, Institute 8 is up, you take Full-scale Production to rank 5 (+15%) before you open Expedition Force. Flip: you max a flavor node in the same tree, then notice Expedition Force rank 10 is still locked behind Full-scale Production 10.

Agricultural Scholar cards add a small per-resource Gathering Speed on top. Those cards cap at a few percent per resource. They do not replace the tree. Duchess score cards are a different job. Do not mix the two.

Gem tiles are not confirmed on this node. Do not assume the +50% prints on gems.

🛡️ Guard The Tile

Speed does not fight.

A typed march still eats a gather stack. Footmen beat Cavalries, Cavalries beat Archers, Archers beat Footmen. No fixed global percent. Same type versus same type ignores the cycle.

Park a counter type on the tile or keep a recall ready. Alliance members can reinforce. They cannot click Gathering Speed for you.

Positive hold: Full-scale Production is rank 5, the tile is wood, you parked Archers because the last scout on that lane was Footmen. Flip: you left Cavalries on wood because that stack was closest, then a Footmen rally walks it. The +15% speed made you arrive sooner. It did not win the fight.

If Sentry Tower still says Unknown Intel, do not bet the gather. Recall, then send again after the type prints.

📋 Spend This Order

1. Click Castle 10. Confirm Zone Commemoration is visible. If it is grey, you are not on this tree yet.
2. Take Institute to rank 8. Request Alliance Help on that timer.
3. Open Full-scale Production. Stop at rank 5 if Courage Medals are tight. That is already +15% speed.
4. Start Expedition Force only after Institute 8 is still standing. Rank 4 of that node asks Institute 8 again.
5. Put Full-scale Production on rank 10 before you try Expedition Force rank 10. The second node will not start the last rank without it.
6. Send one typed gather, not a mixed pile. Keep a counter stack at home or on the tile.
7. After a lost tile, read mix first, then whether the tree was actually finished, then whether Institute dropped below 8.

Community read: if the week's goal is food and iron on the map, Full-scale Production before other Zone Commemoration icons. That is a spend order, not a printed rule.

🚫 Wrong Medal Dumps

Courage Medals are not a "fill every icon" currency. Rank 9 to 10 on Full-scale Production costs 790 medals and almost 8 hours. That rank is the +20% jump from 30 to 50. Skipping it to open a different icon leaves the speed node at +30%.

Military hero tags do not gather. A cavalry tag on a marble tile is a fight tag, not a Gathering Speed line.

Institute 7 is not Institute 8. The first Full-scale Production click will sit there until 8 is done.

Expedition Force rank 10 is not a second speed node. It is load. Maxing it first does not make the bar move.

Will you finish Full-scale Production to rank 10 before Expedition Force rank 10, or keep spreading Courage Medals across icons that do not move the gather bar?