midgame techs

[bryanwallace]

thanks to all on this forum my game play has improved tremedously especially the start..
however i tend to founder mid game as i dont know what tech path to follow
can anyone suggest good tech paths for each era?

 

[iggymnrr]

Research something you need or something that can be traded.

 

[madviking]

If you're cottage spamming and on a warpath, this is how I usually go:
After Monarchy/Code of Law/Currency
Beeline to Liberalism, use it to get Nationalism/Printing Press (both prereqs for Democracy)
Beeline to Democracy (Emancipation)
Beeline to Communism (State Property and Kremlin [only wonder I build in most games])
Beeline to Banking (Cash rush banks)
Beeline to Assembly Line (Cash rush factories and Infantry)
Beeline to Artillery (Artillery [the unit])

Then, spam Infantry and Artillery if you want to conquer/dominate. Go for Mass Media if you want UN, or, go to end-game techs for Alpha Centari Most techs are unnecessary and can be picked up from the AI later.

 

[mariogreymist]

Iggy's advice, however vague it might seem, is far better than the more specific answer of madviking. Why you might ask, since you may have wanted specific suggestions? I'll be happy to explain: all games are different.

Scenario 1: If you built the Pyramids, madviking's advice is questionable at best, and idiotic at worst. You don't need to get all those government techs. Nationalism is only needed as a prereq for Military Tradition and for nationhood. You won't need democracy any time soon either, as you already have the power-civic it offers with a tech lead. Going for a later liberalism to get steel is a far stronger play.

Scenario 2: Built the glh. You don't need to research Assembly line, ever. You can win without it, and will find it easier to do so, as you need corporations to get AL, and that costs you two trade routes in every coastal city. The financial power of the glh + rifles + bombers + artillery is easily enough to conquer the world, if you dedicate yourself to that one goal. Communism is a higher priority in this than demo, as the Kremlin will be your most important wonder (after the glh, of course). It is also important to beeline astro ASAP with the glh, particularly when isolated.

I could go on, but I think the point is made.

 

[madviking]

Well, depending on the level, you may not have the time/resources/luxury of building early game wonders. I generally don't tend to, as they are usually worth 1.5 - 3 settlers / 5 - 15 axes a pop. It's better, IMO, not building any wonders, as it'll teach you how to deal with not having a certain wonder, which gets more important as you level up. IMO, getting Liberalism <1000AD is stronger than getting it for steel, since by the time you get to Steel, you'll be teching pretty quickly, but when you get liberalism ASAP, you save more turns. Most techs usually worthless (the aesthetic path and metal casting path), and the ones the are not so worthless can be bought/extorted/stolen in the future.

The combination of banks, UniSuff, Kremlin and Emancipation is the strongest I've seen. You get flooded with cash and can start teching in 2-5 turns a pop. You can start rushing Infantry like mad and faster than you ever could manually building. And the combination of infantry and artillery lasts about until the AI get Mech Infantry, but that's at Robotics, about the third to last tier of techs. So, I think you can dominate with infantry and artillery.

Just my $0.02.

 

[mariogreymist]

I was just using two obvious examples of why specific suggestions to questions like this are not advisable. And I'm not suggesting that your path is not a good one for a lot of games: it is and I use a similar approach frequently. It's just not the answer to the question asked. I personally love a good: sushi/mining/US/FM/Kremlin/2turn Battleships on marathon/Rush buy invasion armies, type of endgame; and your tech path is right on the money for that. But it's certainly not the ideal move for every game, and never for a game that gets the 'mids or glh.

There are also times when a culture win will be unstoppable, and when that is recognizable early on...in such a case calling the aesthetics path "useless" in the mid-game is as far from true as is possible. And in isolation, the MC path isn't useless, as it is necessary to meet other civs to trade techs.

The best answer to the question, imo:
Consider which tech path gives the best opportunity for the most likely victory condition, and don't second guess that choice unless the situation significantly changes.

 

[bryanwallace]

thanks all..
one bit i dont follow i always build glh and will follow everyones advice and go for kremlin.
but dont i have to get corps to get communism thus obsoleting the ghlh??

 

[madviking]

communism requires sci method and liberalism, iirc, neither of which require corporation.

 

[mariogreymist]

You can actually get all the way to bombers/artillery/rifles/MGs without obsoleting the glh. Along with the kremlin, that's generally enough to rush buy a game winning army without ever researching corporations. You do give up infantry/tanks though, so you do have to get aggressive as soon as you can and against the toughest opponents first. Those are generally good things to do in any conquest/domination game anyway.

 

[ABHPage]

Am I the only one who beelines for cannons almost every single game ? I usually keep a great scientist sleeping somewhere so that when I have 1 turn left of researching liberalism, I bulb chemistry, then finish liberalism and use it to bulb steel, and then I find myself with an army of 12 strenght siege unit against macemen and longbowmen which wins me the game.

 

[mariogreymist]

No. When possible, an early cannon army is a very popular warmongering tactic among many players on these boards. When I have decided on a warring game and can do it, I make the lib>steel maneuver.

But as much as they make mincemeat of maces/LBs, you should be starting with your most advanced opponents first. At higher difficulties, it's hard to field an army with a cannon monopoly for too long, so taking down the people who might get cannons themselves first (those who have muskets) should be a priority. And if you're fielding a force of cannons without anyone having muskets, it's probable you're playing at too low a level for a real challenge. (not that a real challenge is what we all look for)

 

[CivMcNut]

In a game where you're warmongering, it is a good idea to get rifling early. A 14 strength unit is a significant jump over everything on the Renaissance battlefield. Getting cannons (steel) to go with them is a bonus. If you're not playing a really high difficulty level or fast speed you can wipe out a Civilization or two with that advantage.

In peaceful times getting education (a prereq for liberalism) is a key tech in my book. It does wonders for helping the research out.

 

[DigitalBoy]

In a game where you're warmongering, it is a good idea to get rifling early. A 14 strength unit is a significant jump over everything on the Renaissance battlefield. Getting cannons (steel) to go with them is a bonus. If you're not playing a really high difficulty level or fast speed you can wipe out a Civilization or two with that advantage.

In my monarch difficulty games, I consider the game over for all intents and purposes once I have Rifling and Nationalism. At any rate, that's where the game becomes busywork.

 

[EsaKo]

I usually postpone Liberalism if I'm well ahead in tech, to make sure I get the best free tech. I managed to get steam power with liberalism recently, wanted free speech so bad I didn't want to wait further.

I often buy democracy later on. I play LoR and that makes Pyramids heavenly, so I usually have Universal Suffrage or Representation already. Emancipation is weak - I usually go with US+FS+CS+SP+FR.