[NFP] Medieval Era Policy Elimination Thread

[Josephias]

Craftsmen (14)
Merchant Confederation (26)
Naval Infrastructure (2)
Professional Army (33)
Retinues (6)
Serfdom (37)


Naval Infraestructure (5-3=2). While I could continue discussing Retinues (unless paired with Professional Army) will deplete earlier your treasury than your resource stockpile (at least in my experience), I do not want to repeat vote, and I have to recognize that, while Naval Infraestructure looks good on paper, it is hampered by being in the Naval Tradition leaf, which has, additionally, a not usual inspiration. Indeed, I would say if you got the "kill a unit with a quadrirreme" inspiration, it would be a worthy policy, as you probably have been investing in coastal expansion (which means docks). But on most games, you will not get the inspiration, you will not bother with the civic, and you will not miss the policy.

Serfdom (37+1=38). I have to repeat upvote already, and I think Serfdom is the only one I can push at the moment. I won't say it's the single best policy on the game (because Public Works is out there), but indeed it is available at the right point in the game were you really want builder charges.

 

[canadamufc]

Craftsmen (14)
Merchant Confederation (26)
Naval Infrastructure ELIMINATED (2-3) I don't mean to repeat downvote, however the list is really short and I see this as the worst one. I don't really have anything more to add as everyone else has stated everything that had to be said. Just too many situational factors puts this card below the rest.
Professional Army (33)
Retinues (6)
Serfdom (38) (37+1) Builders are essential to anyone's game as is, and when you increase their value by almost double they becomes really op.

 

[hhhhhh]

Serfdom should be at (39).

 

[lilnev!]

Craftsmen (11) (14-3) My first few IZs are placed according to regional coverage considerations, as much as adjacency bonuses. More cities will get IZs over time, but maybe not enough to justify this policy before Five Year Plan replaces it. It's better in Red than Gold, but still not a strong policy.
Merchant Confederation (26)
Professional Army (33)
Retinues (6)
Serfdom (40) (39+1) Because if this doesn't win this thread by historic margins, we're all doin' it wrong.

 

[TCBB]

Craftsmen (11)
Merchant Confederation (26)
Professional Army (33)
Retinues (3) (6-3)
Serfdom (41) (40+1)

Retinues: I was defending this previously, but now is the right time for it to go, for all the reasons explained by others.

Serfdom (41) (40+1) I’m still inclined to believe that Merchant Confederation is more universally relevant than Professional Army (in many peaceful games, my units sit around as Swordsmen / Archers for most of the game). But to avoid delaying the vote unnecessarily, I’ll go for Serfdom instead - which I genuinely believe is the best card in the game.

(Perhaps one day, we could have a ‘champion of champions’ elimination thread for the policy cards? Where we take the top 5 or 7 from each era and vote to see which is the absolute best?)

 

[enKage]

Craftsmen (8)
Merchant Confederation (26)
Professional Army (33)
Retinues (4)
Serfdom (41) (40+1)

Retinues +1
Horses / iron are raely a problem for me, but niter...
Bombards are pretty expensive to hardbuild at the stage theay are needed, catapults not. Supposing you nned niter the same time for muskets, this card is a blssing for setting up any medieval / renessaince force

Craftsmen -3
Time to go, at that moment influences too few cities to be a top card

 

[Vargas1]

Craftsmen (9) (8+1)
Merchant Confederation (26)
Professional Army (33)
Retinues (1) (4-3)
Serfdom (41)

Craftsmen (9) - Unless I’m playing an appeal game as BM Teddy, I’m going to build at least some IZs. Most red cards are situational (slot in when building units, upgrading, etc), but this is one that can stay in the whole time.

Retinues (1) - Important when you need it, but very possible to go a whole game without even thinking about using it.

 

[Noble Zarkon]

Craftsmen (10)
Merchant Confederation (26)
Professional Army (33)
Serfdom (41)

Craftsmen (9+1=10) - Moving this to a Military slot makes it viable, at this stage I've usually finished warring so a non-military red card is a great bonus.
Retinues (Eliminated) - Has it's uses and a top 5 finish is respectable but there's a clear gulf with the remaining cards.

 

[Drivingrevilo]

Craftsmen (10)
Merchant Confederation (26)
Professional Army (30) (33-3)
Serfdom (42) (41+1)

Professional Army (30) (33-3) Time to start chipping away at this. As I've said, my personal preference is for Merchant Confederation to come second; but either way, neither of them are coming close to Serfdom (42) (41+1), the undisputed winner.

 

[bbbt]

Craftsmen (7) 10 -3 - The last district specific card standing. Great for it's use case, but there are definitely games where I don't build that many IZs
Merchant Confederation (26)
Professional Army (30)
Serfdom (43) 42+1 - I always build settlers, and often put off doing so until this card. And this works whether you build them or buy them, so you can slot it in, faith buy a bunch on a monumentality kick, and then slot it out.

 

[Leucarum]

Craftsmen (8)
Merchant Confederation (26)
Professional Army (27)
Serfdom (43)

At this point anything is a repeat vote... I'll drop a +1 at craftsmen (7+1) since serfdom doesn't need the help and start chipping away at professional army (30-3) As said before I think it's serfdom and everything else at a similar level... I guess craftsmen will be the next to fall though while I am someone who builds a lot of IZ I don't think there's a lot in it.

Edit: Added in post made at same time

 

[bengalryan9]

Craftsmen (5) (8-3) Definitely the most situational card left on the list - you may not build that many IZs.
Merchant Confederation (26)
Professional Army (27)
Serfdom (44) (43+1) Obvious.

Seems to me like the question is does Merchant Confederation provide more gold than Professional Army will save you? That answer probably varies from person to person.

 

[kaspergm]

Craftsmen (5)
Merchant Confederation (23) (26-3) - Not getting easier now that all the remaining policies are strong. I love Merchant Confederation but feel it's probably a good candidate for 3rd place after Professional Army because the latter just feels more impactful in game. I'm not even sure which one earns me more gold over the average game, but the fact that Professional Army allows me massive one-time savings fairly early in the game (particularly upgrading multiple archers into crossbowmen is otherwise completely out of reach with my average gold income) makes me rate that one higher.
Professional Army (28) (27+1) - See above.
Serfdom (44)

 

[GinandTonic]

Craftsmen (6)
Merchant Confederation (20)
Professional Army (28)
Serfdom (44)

Serfdom is the obvious winner. Pro Army will provide as much gold (roughly) as Merch Con, for a fraction of the time slotted in a far less valuable slot. Craftsmen, as has been repeated ad nauseum, lets you get value from the worst slot for the majority of a typical game. Slot in Pro Army for a turn in fifty.

 

[Mount Suribachi]

Craftsmen (3)
Merchant Confederation (20)
Professional Army (29)
Serfdom (44)

Craftsmen 3 (6-3): Can be very powerful with well placed IZ's, but this is a clear tier below the other three.

Professional Army 29 (28+1): We're into double vote territory now. Going to quote @kaspergm as he summed it up perfectly. "I love Merchant Confederation but feel it's probably a good candidate for 3rd place after Professional Army because the latter just feels more impactful in game. I'm not even sure which one earns me more gold over the average game, but the fact that Professional Army allows me massive one-time savings fairly early in the game (particularly upgrading multiple archers into crossbowmen is otherwise completely out of reach with my average gold income) makes me rate that one higher."

 

[MrRadar]

Craftsmen ELIMINATED (3–3)
Merchant Confederation (21) (20+1)
Professional Army (29)
Serfdom (44)

Craftsmen ELIMINATED (3–3) I keep Veterancy in much more often than this one for production economies. Good and multiple IZ in Medieval are a rarity, they become much more of a thing when Five-Year Plan is unlocked.

Merchant Confederation (21) (20+1) I guess I haven't yet voted for this one. This card also really helps you to appreciate a good Diplomatic League play.

 

[hhhhhh]

Merchant Confederation (18) (21-3)
Professional Army (29)
Serfdom (45) (44+1)

As the organizer, I have to admit this elimination thread is a boring one... winners are clear and nothing are really controversial. So let it be done. Merchant Confederation is not as good as the other two, while serfdom is the best.

 

[Josephias]

Merchant Confederation (15)
Professional Army (29)
Serfdom (46)

As commented above, this is a pretty clear podium. Let's not make it long to finish.

Merchant Confederation (18-3=15) is a great source of gold but, being a diplo card, you'll be at the dilemma between monetizing your envoys of pushing for more unless in Merchant Republic, with Potala Palace, or using a wildcard slot.
Professional Army (29) is pretty uncontested in the red slots (also, does not need to keep slotted all of the time). And while it does not give you gold, it saves you a lot.
Serfdom (45+1=46) is by large the winner on the Medieval tier. Those extra builds can translate to many types of yields, that will be there for the rest of the game, or to immediate production in case of chops.

 

[AntSou]

Merchant Confederation (12)
Professional Army (30)
Serfdom (46)

Merchant Confederation 12 (15 - 3)
Professional Army 30 (29 +1)

Just helping speed this up now. I certainly get more value from Professional Army.

In a situation where gold saved/earned is equivalent between MC and PA, the latter is always the best, since to achieve that much gold you need MC consistently slotted, whereas PA can be slotted sporadically.

 

[aieeegrunt]

Merchant Confederation (9)
Professional Army (31)
Serfdom (46)

I never use Merchant Confederation because there are so many sources of Gold

Professional Army often allows you to almost never have to hard build military units after the ancient era, as your warriors and archers upgrade and keep their promotions

As well as being OP, this is stupidly ahistorical.

In a similar vein, Serfdom is hilariously OP and needs a nerf or some sort of malus, like perhaps a loyalty penalty or some sort of disgruntled Peasant Uprising or something