I disagree with what Gadunnz & AdZyZ have said. For me, the All Dwarves Start is one of the reasons why people choose Thor, and is one of the best strats.
"Gadunnz" -"Dwarves only gather gold faster. Gatherers gather food & wood faster."
Not Thor's Dwarves. Thor Dwarves gather Food as fast as Gatherers, however, they are 0.8 behind in Wood & 0.3 behind in Farming.
"AdZyZ" "This isn't a good thing to do. Dwarves take more time to train, and you should stick to gatherers for food + wood, with dwarves on gold. As thor, you can occasionally substitute a few dwarves for a few gatherers, but you should avoid it most of the time."
I don’t get what you’re saying, why would you avoid substituting Dwarves, when they are literally the same as Gatherers at the start of the game? Hunting, Herding & Gathering Berries are the first food priorities, Thor’s Dwarves do all that at the same gather rate as Gatherers. All Regular Workers cost 50 food, thus obtaining food, then constantly using it to make Gatherers, Villagers, Citizens or Laborers is what delays the Age Advance to Classical. With Thor that isn’t much of a problem, Dwarves cost 60 Gold, yet they gather the early stages resources the same rate as Gatherers, making it easier to Advance earlier than everyone else.
Yes, I agree that you can make 8 gatherers in the time you make 7 Dwarves, but this delay to Advance makes up for it. After you hit Classical, then you may substitute Gatherers on Wood. When Food is scarce, then Gatherers Farm. What I’m trying to say is that the All Dwarves Start is strong at the early stages, however it will have some problems in later ages when demand for wood & farms increases.
With Thor, I don’t have too many problems creating a better economy than some other civilizations. Most Norse won’t make 40 Dwarves unless they boom on Gold, the number for Dwarves is usually 20. However, I make ALL 40 Dwarves during the process of the game. In Classical I make more RC than TA so my demand for wood is low, since hunt, herding, gathering is still happening here, the strat is still pretty good. However I begin to substitute when Jarls approach to be created. This strat is also good as Ragnarok is simply great on your workers!