UCB Results: Optimum Number of Workers to Maynard

I created a single player instance where I had 2 Terran command centers—one in the main base with 9 mineral patches and one at the nearest expansion with 7 mineral patches—and a select number of SCVs to begin with sitting next to the main base’s command center. These SCVs are in the “Stop” command next to the minerals they are going to mine. The number of SCVs present next to the main command center is equal to the number of SCVs most commonly found at the event of a maynard transfer. Through various replays and opening build orders, i.e. Stylish’s terran BOs and vods, the most common number of SCVs was averaged to 27, so I will be using this number. The map used was Python 1.3 at the 9 o’clock position. The nearest expansion is north of it. The distance between the command centers is 25 tiles, or if using buildings as measurement, 8 and 1/3 command centers.

To determine the effectiveness of the maynard transfers, the net gain of minerals will be recorded in 30-second intervals up to 2 minutes. The control group will be an instance where 0 of 27 SCVs will be transferred to the expansion. Different numbers of SCVs will be transferred in every trial, such as 1 SCV transferred, 2 transferred, 3…to 27 SCVs max. Three trials were run for each number of SCVs transferred and the results were then averaged for each trial for more precision in the results.

27 SCVs were lined up next to the mineral patches they are going to mine. To increase consistency between trials and minimize error, game speed was reduced to the slowest speed while distributing SCVs to mine at time=0. SCVs were equally distributed between the mineral patches during each trial as quickly as possible grouping them in 9 groups of 3 with each group going to a different mineral patch. For trials with transfers, respective SCVs were hotkeyed and sent to unique mineral patches at the expansion immediately after sending SCVs at the main base to mine. As soon as the last SCV was sent to the expansion, game speed was brought to the fastest setting and the stopwatch simultaneously began to record time.

No additional SCVs were produced during these trials.

I will revise this table so that it's accurately formatted later on. I hope you can still see the parameters. There is the time elapsed (seconds) on the top (30, 60, 90 ,120). On the left side is the number of SCVs transferred. The other numbers are the corresponding mineral gains for respective SCV transfers at those recorded time intervals.

SCVs Transferred Elapsed Time (Seconds)
--30----60----90----120
0 516 1056 1600 2200
1 520 1056 1608 2184
2 596 1152 1704 2258
3 568 1162 1710 2352
4 554 1152 1760 2384
5 584 1240 1912 2608
6 584 1224 1860 2560
7 600 1297 1992 2712
8 624 1284 1990 2712
9 612 1342 2081 2784
10 600 1296 2016 2774
11 624 1372 2106 2824
12 600 1344 2109 2792
13 610 1312 1820 2680
14 584 1200 1750 2480
15 545 1145 1644 2436
16 524 1008 1554 2298
17 516 1015 1506 2256
18 516 1010 1448 2136
19 490 985 1465 2108
20 448 908 1407 1956
21 434 910 1416 1934
22 418 850 1398 1884
23 414 865 1380 1844
24 380 838 1368 1808
25 364 840 1324 1820
26 346 810 1316 1810
27 280 740 1240 1770

Diagram 0: Minerals Mined per SCVs Transferred at 30, 60, 90, and 120 seconds


Diagram 1: Minerals Mined at 30 Seconds per SCVs transferred


Diagram 2: Minerals Mined at 60 Seconds per SCVs transferred


Diagram 3: Minerals Mined at 90 Seconds per SCVs transferred


Diagram 4: Minerals Mined at 120 Seconds per SCVs transferred

From the data and the graphs, we can see that the minerals mined reaches a peak when about 12 SCVs are transferred to the expansion. This number is even more definitive as time progresses and we can see more evident differences in minerals (diagram 4). 12 SCVs transferred is significant because this number surpasses the ratio of the SCVs currently at the main base. With 12 SCVs transferred to the expansion with only 7 mineral patches, this is a ratio of 12/7 or 1.714. At the main base, only 15 SCVs remain for the 9 mineral patches, this is a ratio of 15/9 or 1.667. In this study, there were 27 SCVs and 16 mineral patches (9 patches at main and 7 at expo). To spread the SCVs equally, we divide SCVs by the number of patches: 27/16=1.6875. To find how many SCVs we want to transfer, simply multiply the number of mineral patches at the expansion by this ratio: 7*1.6875=11.8125, or about 12. The data and the graphs support this finding. Transferring any more than 12 SCVs will theoretically decrease overall effectiveness because it is transferring an amount that surpasses what is expected to be efficient; that is, the highest efficiency is achieved when there are equal SCV to mineral ratios per patch.

What this means is simple: just like you would spread your SCVs out equally amongst all your mineral patches in your main base, similarly, to reach maximum mining efficiency when maynarding, you want to spread out all your SCVs equally among all your patches including your expansion.

For example, if you have 30 SCVs, 10 mineral patches at your main base and 5 mineral patches at your expansion, to reach maximum effectiveness, allocate SCVs such that each mineral patch (main base+expo) has the same number of SCVs on it. In this example, maynarding 10 SCVs to the expansion will leave 20 at the main base, leaving each mineral patch with an equal number of SCVs mining it.

Keep in mind that these results are specific to the conditions of the trials that were run. This means that other factors can also affect the effectiveness of maynarding workers(SCVs, Drones, Probes). The longer the distance between the sending and receiving base, the less effective the overall process of maynarding (I will extend this post to cover this when I get more time after finals). The number of workers at the main base must also be significant enough such that transferring a number of them will increase yield. It makes no sense to maynard when you have 7 SCVs on 9 mineral patches. Therefore, another factor not covered here is the minimum number of workers one must have before maynarding becomes effective. SCVs were also not being produced by either command centers during this period. Early speculation however indicates that this affects the results negligibly. More on this later.

Consider this as a general guide when you don't exactly know how much to transfer.