Music = Golden Age?

[Orion071]

Normally, I avoided the Music tech and let some other Civ get the free Great Artist. Unless I'm going cultural, an Artist that early isn't very useful. But in my first BTS game I was thinking that now Music can lauch my first Golden Age. So instead of starting Paper, I went for Music. With 9 medium-sized cities, the Golden Age really helped me fill out those cities with Forges, Courthouses, Markets, etc. The boost to researched helped me out in the Liberalism race too.

Do you think that's too early for a Golden Age?

 

[Rabbit, White]

Hmm don't about too early or not but isn't it possible to get a great prophet long before music by building Stonehenge and oracle in the same city?

 

[aronnax]

Normally, I avoided the Music tech and let some other Civ get the free Great Artist. Unless I'm going cultural, an Artist that early isn't very useful. But in my first BTS game I was thinking that now Music can lauch my first Golden Age. So instead of starting Paper, I went for Music. With 9 medium-sized cities, the Golden Age really helped me fill out those cities with Forges, Courthouses, Markets, etc. The boost to researched helped me out in the Liberalism race too.

Do you think that's too early for a Golden Age?

There is no such thing as a useless Artist no matter how early.

There is also no such thing as too early a golden age.

 

[scu98rkr]

"Hmm don't about too early or not but isn't it possible to get a great prophet long before music by building Stonehenge and oracle in the same city?"

Whats that got to do with anything ?

Maybe Orions got a great prophet already built a shrine ? researched a religion ? added him to a city.

Orions point is that normally he thinks Great artists are pretty useless, but now one can be used for a beefed up golden age.

Also Music comes at an important stage in the game, when a boost would really help.

 

[scu98rkr]

Surely there can be too early a golden age ?

Surely there is an optimal stage for a golden age. Ie slightly later than the beginning of the game. Do you still think a golden age used to build settles/workers near the start would be worth it ?

I'd rather have a couple of cities, but generally science/hammers needs the start of the game is more powerfull. Also with the new boost to GP points you might not be producing any near the start.

 

[lroumen]

I would only go with an early golden age in two scenarios.

1. if you need to build a lot of units quickly to conquer an opponent
This is obvious and sort of only applies to Macemen/Catapult/Elephant type wars.

2. if you're spread out too far and your economy is running low on cash and you need to compensate your science too far (<50%).
This often happens around the time I'm done researching Code of Laws (and often gained Confucianism) and the follow up tech that allows Bureaucracy.
I'll tech for Music and start a Golden Age followed by an immediate switch to Bureaucracy and Organised Religion (Golden Age = free switch of civics). Then I use the hammers to build courthouses in my cities far from my capital and the extra hammers from Organised Religion will really speed things up there. I'd have put my free missionary in my capital (which is cottaged), so during the Golden Age I only create missionaries (no monastries needed in Organised Religion) whilst working only the gold spots.
Then spread the religion and by the time the Golden Age ends all cities have courthouses, religion and sometimes a temple or some extra defenders, and the science slider can go an extra 20-30% upwards.

Music = Golden Age?

I think that if I'm following the above strategy for scenario 2, then yes. If I've waged war before Music then the Golden Age will matter little and it's better to use the artist for a well-placed culture bomb in the center of 3-4 cities, such that all cities gain some spots in their secondary cross to work and grow. Building early culture after a conquest is sort of tedious.

 

[axident]

I always go for Music now. If you time it right and are Industrious or have ample building materials, you can get Calendar before Music and have the Mausoleum at least partly built when by the time the GA pops. Pop him for the extended-period GA and it's off to the races: Theo (Christianity if you're quick, or at least AP), CivService, Divine Right, Philo, Paper, Edu, Lib, Nationalism (Taj for 2nd GA), etc.

 

[phantom59]

A bit off topic, but since your first golden age only requires one gp it makes Parthenon and The Mausoleum essential to Philo leaders (with just 3 great people you can have 24 turns of golden age)

 

[flamingzaroc121]

well there is no too early GA, but the later the golden age the better it is

 

[axident]

well there is no too early GA, but the later the golden age the better it is

I completely disagree, as the game is not linear.

 

[flamingzaroc121]

I completely disagree, as the game is not linear.

well the later the GA the more commerce and production to be multiplied which means a stronger GA. I never said that an early Golden Age is a bad thing, but GA's usually add more to a larger empire

 

[axident]

well the later the GA the more commerce and production to be multiplied which means a stronger GA. I never said that an early Golden Age is a bad thing, but GA's usually add more to a larger empire

My bad, let me clarify what I meant. I agree that you don't want a Golden Age from your first few superspecialists, but my first GA is almost always courtesy of the freebie from Music, so at that point forward I always golden age ASAP. Especially if it burns a crummy Great Artist in the process.

 

[Thalassicus]

I time them now for when I'm making major civics changes, since it now does away with anarchy entirely during the golden age. The great artist comes right about the same time I want to switch to Hereditary Rule, Vassalage, and a new religious civic -- you can do all three for no anarchy penalty and you get a Golden Age to boot.

The Taj Mahal likewise comes at a perfect time for Representation/Sufferage, Nationalism, Emancipation, Free Market and Free Religion. I often use a Great Engineer to rush it, essentially giving you a second golden age for only 1 GP. I've found if I don't rush it the AI's almost always get it first on emperor.

Later on in the game, I'll use up any unwanted Great Prophets or Great Artists to pop a third golden age to rush factory construction and overall industrialization. Dikes are ridiculously powerful in Golden Ages, giving you 2 per water tile. I used to never even go for 1 GA, the Mausoleum, anarchy, and GP boosting changes are BIG.

 

[lroumen]

You can always save the artist for later or you can try to lightbulb Divine Right with it for Islam (I wouldn't lightbulb Drama). I think a nicely settled artist can help you fight/level some border wars without placing the neighbour at "our close borders spark tensions" until much later in the game when you either befriendlied them enough or when you conquer him/her.

 

[King of Town]

I never think GA's are useless anyway, and I don't think I would use him for a golden age. You will usually have at leat two people on your borders, and I usually befriend one of them, and fight one of them. I will put all of my culture onto the side of the guy I am befriending and usually steal 3-4 cities from him just with that. I had the sistine chapel on that side on my last game, and I actually stole 4 cities from Catherine, who is a creative leader. I loved that.