This guide will focus on the best build order to start growing your population as early as possible. This order remains true regardless of region resources or land fertility. There is a different build order specifically for "On The Edge" scenario in the next section.

At the start of the game the only warning you will see is lack of housing. This will compel you to construct burgages immediately. DON'T. Burgages and their tier is what determines what other happiness needs you have. Meet the needs first, then build/upgrade burgages. It's better to have them upset about 1 thing instead of 5. You will want to build very close to your starting log pile.

• 1 - Buy another Ox immediately. Don't wait for the Hitching Post to be constructed before buying the ox. It wont abandon you in the time it takes to build it. This will double the speed you build everything else.
  
• 2 - Build a Logging Camp and Hitching Post, placing the hitching post immediately after the Logging Camp. Put the Logging Camp next to trees that are close to your staring log supply and your hitching post next to it. Assign 2 families to the Logging Camp.
  
• 3 - Establish a Marketplace area while the Logging Camp is being built.
  
• 4 - Build a Granary and Storehouse, in that order, and assign 1 family to each until they have stored your starting goods AND constructed market stalls for Food and Fuel. Place them on either side of the Marketplace (Storehouse on Logging side and Granary on Berry side)
  
• 5 - While they are gathering goods build a Hunting Camp and assign the 5th family to it.
  
• 6 - While those families are busy hunting and collecting goods, lay out construction for 3 Burgages. Place them close to your logging area so the oxen trip is shorter. Make one of them just large enough for a small backyard and housing extension. Make the other 2 with larger backyards for a future vegetable garden. Once your starting goods are stored and you have a food and fuel stall in the market, unassign your Granary and Storehouse families so they can construct them. As soon as they are constructed add 2 of the 3 housing extensions and your housing needs will be met.

The key is to complete them close to the middle of the month so the homeless negative does not carry over to the next month (a minus -5 of any negative will impact the next month). Finish them too early and you will get a negative for missing a church. Complete them too late and you will get a negative for homelessness. Find that sweet-spot and you will get your first new family in April. Burgages with housing extensions build faster and reduce fuel needs, as fuel is consumed per Burgage, not per Family.

• 7 - Assign 1 family each to the Granary and Storehouse, just long enough for them to stock the stalls, then Build a Tannery and assign 1 family.
  
• 8 - Once the logs are placed for the Tannery, build the last Housing Extension so you have a place for a new family to move into.
  
• 9 - Once the logs have been placed for the Housing Extension, place a Sawpit. Once built, assign 1 family and 1 oxen. Set a log reserve of 5 so you maintain enough for the Church.
  
• 9 - Once you have enough planks, unassign the ox and family from the Sawpit as well as the Logging Camp and build a Church. If your Church is situated relatively near your Sawpit and Storehouse it will be constructed faster.
  
• 10 - Build a Woodcutter and Forager and assign a family to each.
  
• 12 - Build a Well, then assign the last family to your Granary.
  
• 13 - Disable Market Stalls for your Forager, Hunting Camp, and Woodcutter (There is a new Market Stall icon to toggle at the top of the window for each building). By now you should have a sufficient quantity of meat, leather, and firewood, so unassign your Woodcutter and assign the families from your Hunting Camp and Tannery to your Storehouse. They will now run your fuel and clothing stalls. By the time you need more clothing you will have more population to assign to it.

If needs are not missing for more than 15 days of an individual month (if they don't reach -5) they will not negatively impact 'previous' happiness. If you are unable to complete these tasks in that amount of time then you may need to shift some of these items to before your Burgages are constructed. Starring closer to your build location and resources makes this easier.

At this point all your happiness needs will be met and you should have the following family assignments:
1 unassigned
1 at Granary
1 at Forager
2 at Storehouse

You can get your first new family at the start of April, even on challenging difficulty, as shown below. By the end of March none of the negatives reached -5, so no negatives carried over and the month started at 50% happiness.

• 14 - Use 15 of your remaining 30 Regional Wealth to add a Vegetable Garden to one of your 2 larger burgage plots. Market Stalls should be off by default (white market icon). Have them be the families assigned to your Storehouse.
  
• 15 - Build another burgage for future growth.
  
• 16 - Build a 2nd Forager (Every industry except mines and quarries has severe diminishing returns on extra families, so it is better to have 1 family in each instead of 2 in the same one) and assign your last family to it (Turn off Market Stalls). If fuel runs low you can shift this worker over to wood chopping.
  
• 17 - Once you gain your first new family, spend the last 15 Regional Wealth on a 2nd Vegetable Garden (Once again, keep Market Stalls off). This delay on the 2nd garden is because of the initial plowing labor needed for the first planting. Adding both at the same time would be too much of a drain on your labor pool.

Now that you have everything you need for rapid population growth, ensure you have additional burgages for families to move into. Population growth occurs if you start a month with happiness 50+, but it can not occur if there is no available housing. If happiness is maintained at 75% or higher you gain population at twice the rate, so build extra burgages accordingly.

This scenario has higher difficulty settings, starts you in winter (no berries and starting resources rot fast), and the first raid is in 12 months. It is not possible (currently) to get a 1 month extra family, but this build order will get you there fastest.

Buy an Oxen (takes time to arrive, so buy right away)
Granary (store that bread ASAP)
Hitching Post
Logging Camp
Hunting Camp
Wood Chopper
Tanner
Sawpit
3 Burgages with housing expansion (build 2 of the expansions)
Church
Storehouse
Forager
Well
Last housing expansion

I'll expand on this with greater detail like the previous section when I get more time.

For efficient town layout and market supply and demand https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3241178063

For details on passive food production
https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3235395570