There is absolutely no reason to give into Paul's demand. First of all, I am relying on spice production for a big part of my research capacity. IF I switched to Arrakis Paradise, not only would I lose any spice silos that have been built (and spice would disappear quicker), but I would also incurr a -4 diplo hit with the remaining AI factions (all of whom are in Arrakis Spice). Sorry Paul..surely you must be joking.
I plan on growing my cities as much as I possibly can. I need all the health resources I can get so I do this trade with Master Scytale. As a side benefit, trading resources with an AI will also help to build diplo relations with them. Win-win.
Ha! Roma declares war on Paul. I told you (Paul), all the cool civs are not running Arrakis Paradise. Throw in the fact that Paul follows Shai Halud and Roma does not, Paul was pretty much going to be her worst enemy. The Bene Gesserit (and Bene Tleilax) are wisely following Arrakis Spice, otherwise they too might feel her wrath. Roma tends to be a fairly active warmonger (as I found out earlier in the game).
Arrakis Tamed allows key economy boosting buildings (e.g. dew extractor for increased health and the qanat for +15% water). Spice purifiers are nice but are an expensive building (hammer wise) so I will not be building any in the short term. I do not hesitate to make this trade with Margot.
Meanwhile, the Fremen capture Cave of Riches from Ecaz and I get a Great Techman in the capital. Spice Orgy increases the length of golden ages (from the normal 10 turns to 15 glorious turns) and also starts a golden age. I want to start building offensive units soon (under Kanly) so I use the Great Techman right away to help speed the construction of Spice Orgy. To help compensate for the slower unit build times (under Kanly), golden ages will be a key component of my strategy to overwhelm the AIs.
The research path I will follow. I might need to change it based on game conditions, but for now this will do.
The tech race so far. If I could not already build crawlers (which are superior to hardened bladesman) I would probably want to research Harsh Conditioning (which allows them to be built). Harsh Conditioning also allows Mudir Nayah's Dungeon (-100% war weariness/-25% war weariness in all cities). I normally would want to build this wonder, but really don't have a city free to do so since my high hammer cities will be focusing on military production real soon. Rocketry is not needed right now and I am hoping to get it in trade once some more AIs discover it.
I pay a steep price for Arrakis Transformation since the aquabore is the best water improvement in the game for groundwater resources (which I have several off). If I was pursing a terraforming victory I would have prioritized this technology (meaning self-researched). Since I am not, trading for it is IMO better strategy. My cities already have surplus water and I really can't afford to build additional health buildings just yet as I want to attack Roma soon (payback for her earlier treachery).
Ecaz loses Coanua to the Fremen and the Bene Tleilax take a smuggler city. A note on space ports - they allow you to airlift units (1 per turn) to friendly cities as well as giving +1 trade route/+25% trade route yield in the city they are built in. The economic bonus is nice, but the strategic value they provide is really what makes them a priority build. I will use them to funnel troops to captured cities (once war begins) and also to shore up my own cities defenses if I come under attack by an AI.
Harmah Lookout is building spotter control since I am working desert tiles. Once built, the city will get +4
and +4
which makes this building a good ROI. Ixian skunkworks give +10% hammers and science, as well as halving the upgrade cost of units stationed in the city, so they are being built while I wait to changes civics (after Spice Orgy is built).
I am quite shocked that I get to Academies first. The Bene Gesserit, from my experience at least, normally get to Academies first. Since I am playing Ix, I didn't beeline this technology (but will definitely try to found Thinking Machines - mainly for the role playing aspect) but do need universities to improve my science rate. I will also want to build University of Arrakis once enough universities are built. Anyway, time to spread Qizarate to all of my cities. My missionaries head out on foot, which is funny considering I could airlift them instead starting next turn. A misplay, but whatever. I do not convert to Qizarate because, this game at least, it makes more sense to avoid the diplo penalty I would get with the AIs by having a religion different from them. The wise move here is to maintain good relations with Margot since she is the main threat to Ixian domination. I would adopt Shai Halud (for the diplo bonus with Margot) but can't since none of my cities have it. The logical choice remains to stay in no state religion.
Sorry Rabban. He only has four cities and is far behind in tech. IMO, refusing his demand for Ablative Shields (which leads to Personal Shields{allows shield fighters to be built}) is the smart move.