Monarch-Normal-Continents: Getting the most out of a philosophical leader?

[futurehermit]

I normally play monarch, normal speed, and continents.

I normally run a SE.

A frustration I have when playing with this combination of things is that the AI doesn't tech fast enough to trade me the techs I want in a timely manner so I can get to liberalism fast enough--and subsequently to Military Tradition--so I can pursue my standard domination victory.

For example, I want to lightbulb liberalism, but to do so I need calendar, compass, and metal casting and the AI often won't trade the latter two until late medieval and sometimes the former as well.

So, I got to thinking. How can I get the most out of a philosophical leader in particular. Running straight to liberalism hasn't really done it for me thusfar, not at this level with these settings.

So, I tried something new. First, lightbulbing my way to optics, to send out a caravel to contact the other continent super fast, thus giving me the sole advantage for a few centuries of being able to trade with 6 civs (potentially, watching diplomacy). Then lightbulbing my way to liberalism, trading for the somewhat pricy and hard-to-lightbulb civil service (bureaucracy isn't essential for SE, so no worry with the delay).

The question for me was, could I still be the first to liberalism?

The answer is yes. I got liberalism *just* after 1000AD in my *first* attempt. I'm sure with practice I could get it sooner.

Here are the techs that can be lightbulbed on the way to optics: metal casting, compass, machinery, optics. And on the way to liberalism: philosophy, paper, education. You can't lightbulb liberalism directly however since you will have machinery. But that's 7 GSs you can put to work and another one as an academy in your GL city to speed up normal research.

The nice thing was, this deviation allowed the AI to tech the relevant techs I needed--CS for example--so it was well worth it. Overall, it felt like a much improved tech strategy for the SE because otherwise the AI just doesn't tech fast enough to support the liberalism push (in my experience).

You are guaranteed circumnavigation, which is good if you need to go overseas for a domination win. And you can take astronomy as your free tech, meaning early access to overseas resource trades (additional health and happiness). This also means if you get done your warring on your own continent soon enough you can leverage astronomy to get you boats to take your army overseas sooner.

Alternatively, you can still take nationalism as your free tech and lightbulb astronomy.

Anyways, try it out once or twice and let me know how things go. I wouldn't suggest it at higher levels because you will probably be beat to liberalism and, besides, the AI techs faster at the higher levels meaning you can trade for the relevant techs much faster. This would probably work out fine at Prince level as well.

 

[Immaculate]

Then lightbulbing my way to liberalism, trading for the somewhat pricy and hard-to-lightbulb civil service (bureaucracy isn't essential for SE, so no worry with the delay).

I know this quote isn't what you were writing about mostly, but i would like to say that i disagree with the value of CS in a SE. The difference isn't the bureaucracy civic, but the chain irrigating. You need more farms in an SE and you simply can't build them all without chain irrigation.

I think it may be worth setting yourself up to sling towards biology with the liberalism tech, but havn't found a satisfactory way of doing so myself.

I.

 

[futurehermit]

True irrigation is important for a SE, but I usually only use two cities early on for specialists, my capital and an enemy capital and there is usually enough food specials/flood plains to run 6 scientists in each city. That's more than enough early on. Irrigation, for me, is more of a later-game thing when I'm in renaissance-industrial (if the game goes that long) research phases.