Classical aircraft carriers

[Tristan_C]

I was thinking of a civ that, in theory, beelines carriers for an early AD conquest victory. I was wondering if anyone has done this. Whereas the clear winner conquest involves only wheel + alpha + mapmaking (but navigation for small landmasses-- a far greater bulb investment), this could be an entertaining strategy for a world with unknown proportions.

You see, the tech list for carriers is remarkably small:

CB
MYST
MASON
ALPH
MATH
ASTRO
MAP
NAV
PHYS
MAG
CONSTR
WHEEL
ENG
ELCTRI
FLIGHT
ADVF​

On emperor this is, I believe, a grand total of 1,920 lightbulbs. Take this down to 1695, 1484, and 1287 if you spawn with one, two, or three of the requisite technologies respectively. Not bad, for fast, dangerous, unattackable modern military hardware.

I don't think anything beyond these techs is crucial, and unnecessary techs drastically increase research times, so we stay fairly peaceful- avoid huts, trading techs, and looting techs from a captured city. The jist: we get 6 small cities up and running and win the pyramids. Proximity doesn't matter; aim for goldmines, gems, ocean, and coal. With the mids, expand to 10-12 cities under democracy. Either keep cities small, or WLTK them all and be prepared to accept a permanent 30-50 percent luxury rate. Swap over to commie before completing any air units.

I might try this soon...

 

[RedKi-rr]

What about Combution for Flight?) And aslo Refining, Corporations, Industrialization, Railroad...

It seems me that beelining Scince Trade and Railroad is the best.


Also could you explain this? How this down?
"On emperor this is, I believe, a grand total of 1,920 lightbulbs. Take this down to 1695, 1484, and 1287 if you spawn with one, two, or three of the requisite technologies respectively. Not bad, for fast, dangerous, unattackable modern military hardware."

 

[ATC1983]

This would be hard - too many variables in your beelining. Like getting pwned whilst setting up a nice economy.

 

[Tristan_C]

What about Combution for Flight?) And aslo Refining, Corporations, Industrialization, Railroad...

It seems me that beelining Scince Trade and Railroad is the best.

Man, scratch that post then... my info was bad and I overlooked combustion, which would bring the cost to at least 6540 bulbs. It does, however, bring landmark techs such as railroad into the "beeline" that will help cities, but that's poor compensation.

Also could you explain this? How this down?
"On emperor this is, I believe, a grand total of 1,920 lightbulbs. Take this down to 1695, 1484, and 1287 if you spawn with one, two, or three of the requisite technologies respectively. Not bad, for fast, dangerous, unattackable modern military hardware."

Here is how the research costs behave on Emperor, in my experience.

column 1 - techs discovered
column 2 - cost of next tech
column 3 - total so far
0	15	15
1	29	44
2	43	87
3	57	144
4	71	215
5	85	300
6	99	399
7	113	512
8	127	639
9	141	780
10	155	935
11	169	1104
12	183	1287
13	197	1484
14	211	1695
15	225	1920
16	239	2159
17	253	2412
18	267	2679
19	281	2960
20	295	3255
21	309	3564
22	323	3887
23	337	4224
24	351	4575
25	365	4940

Any tech acquired after the start of the game is "discovered." There is a fantastically high hidden cost for stumbling upon technologies that are available early but fail to deliver large buffs to trade (for example, the entire feudalism track) since each discovery adds 14 bulbs to the cost of every tech researched thereafter. Enter huts and trade/loot AI techs with great care. When a technology is acquired by some other means than research, the cost of the research in progress instantly rises up 14 bulbs. Lower governments simply cannot handle these mounting costs for advancement, making pyramids or rep/dem something of a priority. When starting the game, it is possible to spawn with up to three (I haven't seen four?) techs and these do NOT add to the cost of new technologies, making them an exceedingly strong boost. Even getting horseback riding at the start is good. Not only are cavalry a good exploration & strike unit, but that tech is forever struck from crippling research if spawned immediately.

This would be hard - too many variables in your beelining. Like getting pwned whilst setting up a nice economy.

Well, considering you need The Wheel, and small cities do nothing but spam settlers and chariots anyway, you'll probably corner the market on pwning.

 

[RedKi-rr]

Tristan_C, I see. Thank you! And also one should take into account that after 1AD and 1500AD number of needed beakers is increased...It seems to me that Railroad is a crushial point for any strategy that involves modern era. Well, computers don't demand railroad, but seti program isn't so good at all...

 

[darkborg]

Yes, Aircraft Carriers are more valuable with they have aircraft. Real navy funding, ship weights, complements for Carriers likewise separate the carrier from the air wing though.