I've reached a point in my game (Charly, Monarch, Epic, B and S) where I'm not sure exactly how to proceed. I'm in the early phases of invading the continent just next door to me, which unfortunately is inhabited by Alex and his recently-taken vassal MM (ouch).

It would be really nice to draft rifles, but due to unwise espionage spending I wasn't aware that Saladin had Nat way ahead of me, so I missed the Taj by a mile. 2 turns anarchy and another 2 more or waiting ~35 turns for 2 GPs for a GA doesn't seem very appealing. Is it worth taking the bite?

Once I smack Alex up enough that MM breaks free from him, is it smart to trade for those juicy political techs, or should I keep him backward in light of the fact that he's next in line?

My tech plan is to go 0% slider after Railroad until I have enough gold to power past SciMeth into the techs that it unlocks at 100% science (and to delay losing my monasteries a little). Any better ideas?

Is it worth investing an effort in racing to settle the minor islands near me, or is that too much of a diversion from unit production for war against unit-happy Alexander?

Should I continue to steer way clear of tech trading with Catherine? How about those resource trades I have going?

Any other advice or comments would be appreciated... thanks! (And yes, I was an idiot to settle the capital one tile off the coast... although I've never really growified it enough to matter yet.)

Ah c'mon please... :P

It's a bit hard sometimes for people to comment without screens, and it's early in the morning for many of us, so you might not get instant response. I can't check out the save since I'm at work, but if you're looking for military conquest, if you have enough happiness/enough cities, or a good globe drafting city, then nationhood might make sense to draft up until you have enough great people for a next golden age, and switch back.

If you're looking for military conquest though, you're in the stage of the game where cavalry/spies can rule, or cannons/rifles. Why is railroad the important tech? I always debate delaying sci meth, but it unlocks such important techs that I seem to typically regret it. Can't see your game to be sure, but a large empire makes communism appealing, lots of farms/food makes biology appealing too. The later game war typically would mean infantry/artillery with possibly some anti-tank support.

If you post some screens we can probably give a bit more pointed advice.

Hummmmmm im new to the fourm but ill give this a shot ;)

From my limited experience i would suggest that mg's are VERY useful for defending your citys but it seems that you might be better off trying to nab communism asap because State prop. is simply amazing! not only help with with your questioning of that minor island, but it would help expand your empire which i have learned is KEY to do as soon as possible. at which point id suggest you then go for assembly line rather of railroad right away, for the simple fact that you plan on attacking rather than defending

Well thats my 2 cents tell me what worked for ya hopefully i helped, and if om off my rocker id appreciate is someone would tell me what is wrong with my lodgic =P Thanks ^_^

If anything, I'd go for Communism to get the Great Spy so I could start my GA quicker...

Well that game is in the bag, you can just pick a victory condition and go for it. Domination might be the easiest way. You certainly have nothing to fear from Alex's tech, or Mansas for that matter. When you take Mansa down (I'd make him capitulate), trade him at least the techs that aren't military-critical (so he doesn't broker them around)

Stop building stuff like crossbows, maces and landsknechts, just build rifle/cannon. Use the "upgrade gold" for teching. You don't need CR rifles against longbows.

You don't really need Railroad atm. I'd head for Democracy, and after that Communism if going for domination. Dunno how many GAs you have used, if you can get one with 1-2 GPs it might be worth it to quickly farm a pair (from Aachen&Prague) to civicswap to bottom-line civis (except FM/SP for Eco obviously). Might also be good to swap to FS/FM/FR right away for much better commerce and diplo. Forget Nationhood, no way you need drafting. Resource trades are pretty optimal. Just don't trade military techs to your future enemies and it's smooth sailing to victory.

That's certainly encouraging, thanks!

Is it really a good idea to duplicate MM's teching though? I mean, he's already beelining the political techs. OTOH it's true that I can't get the Communism GSpy for the quicker GA without teching at least Constitution, and maybe Democracy (can't remember).

For Communism you just need Scimethod. You could go for that first as well. IIRC Mansa had only Constitution on you, that's not that much duplication. If you want, you could tech other techs while you bash Mansa's head in and then get Cons/Democracy from him; perhaps gets you the endgame civics (and maybe Statue of Liberty) later but is more beaker-effective.

Oh, that's even better! Actually, I should be able to trade with him before warring with him, as long as I have something to offer that won't help him defend himself -- we were on good terms before he capped to Alex (in fact, once Alex pounced on MM, I had pretty much decided to go to war when asked by MM (which he did, and I did) because I was courting him... should have known he'd cap on a dime, oh well).