Overall Civ Elimination Thread

[Derpy Hooves]

Huh? On the Earth map (unless you're playing Tiny, which you shouldn't be if you're playing Earth!) you have an amazing chance of finding the GBR and Sri Pada first no matter where you start. If you start in Europe, you'll probably nab the Rock of Gibraltar, while in North America you'll get 1,500 Gold for free guaranteed with a good chance of finding Cerro De Potosi. Yeah, that's useless.
As for the UUs, the Conquistador is fantastic on any sort of map - they may not be able to settle many cities on a Pangaea but they still lack the -33% penalty against cities normal Knights have. The Tercio is universally good.

What can I say, our experiences of the earth map are very different, I play on standard, large or huge, although admittedly not too recently, as I'm starting to find knowing where everything is from the beginning can be somewhat tiresome.
The conquistador fantastic? Combat wise it's not even better then a knight, and if you need to settle on other continents, just send a unit along with your settler, just seems like an easy way if you don't feel like moving a single unit along with it. Fun perhaps, but not really a big deal if you're playing on higher difficulties. Especially as it's a waste of hammers compared to just making a settler, almost double. Not to mention that you want a garissoned unit in your new city anyway, new continents tend to be full of barbs, and even if you clear them with your conquistador, unless you're settling on a tiny island where you have full vision, they'll be back in no time.
And Tercio, 2 extra strength and a vs mounted bonus? Decent but nothing serious, especially as it's a musketman, which goes obselete very quickly considering how close it is to riflemen, and I find at this point in the game my military consists mostly of rangers with a couple knights, especially as artillery is just around the corner.

 

[greygamer]

The conquistador fantastic? Combat wise it's not even better then a knight, and if you need to settle on other continents, just send a unit along with your settler, just seems like an easy way if you don't feel like moving a single unit along with it. Fun perhaps, but not really a big deal if you're playing on higher difficulties. Especially as it's a waste of hammers compared to just making a settler, almost double. Not to mention that you want a garissoned unit in your new city anyway, new continents tend to be full of barbs, and even if you clear them with your conquistador, unless you're settling on a tiny island where you have full vision, they'll be back in no time.
And Tercio, 2 extra strength and a vs mounted bonus? Decent but nothing serious, especially as it's a musketman, which goes obselete very quickly considering how close it is to riflemen, and I find at this point in the game my military consists mostly of rangers with a couple knights, especially as artillery is just around the corner.

That is a 'particular' viewpoint. The conquistador is a combined Settler/Scout/Knight. You send it to newly discovered continents to explore and if it finds a good location it can build a city there. The terrico you get those bonuses for just 10 extra hammers, you only need crossbows to complete your forces. All of this is saving you unit maintenance in the long run 5 units for the cost of 2.
Your view of tech research speed is 'interesting', what speed are you playing on because '...just around the corner' for me takes more than a few turns, enough that Terricos/Riflemen are necessary. What speed you play on is a factor here, the faster the game speed the less important a large army is early on.

 

[YourHarry]

What can I say, our experiences of the earth map are very different, I play on standard, large or huge, although admittedly not too recently, as I'm starting to find knowing where everything is from the beginning can be somewhat tiresome.
The conquistador fantastic? Combat wise it's not even better then a knight, and if you need to settle on other continents, just send a unit along with your settler, just seems like an easy way if you don't feel like moving a single unit along with it. Fun perhaps, but not really a big deal if you're playing on higher difficulties. Especially as it's a waste of hammers compared to just making a settler, almost double. Not to mention that you want a garissoned unit in your new city anyway, new continents tend to be full of barbs, and even if you clear them with your conquistador, unless you're settling on a tiny island where you have full vision, they'll be back in no time.
And Tercio, 2 extra strength and a vs mounted bonus? Decent but nothing serious, especially as it's a musketman, which goes obsolete very quickly considering how close it is to riflemen, and I find at this point in the game my military consists mostly of rangers with a couple knights, especially as artillery is just around the corner.

Conquistadors are not particularly good combat wise. That part is true. However:

1. Hard to say conquistadors are more expensive than settlers. Both cost 500 gold. Production wise, I think they are equal as well (at least very close in my experience), of course, unless you have Liberty:collective rule and are building your settler in your capital OR if you have built a stable.

Also your city continues to grow while building conquistadors.

2. It's NOT same as bringing along a unit with your settler. Unit+settler cost more maintenance, as one poster mentioned. This is not a HUGE deal. More importantly, though, Settlers are slow. Even if you knew exactly where to settle, you will get there slower.

You get embarkation bonus with conquistador. Thus, you are protected from barbarian and enemy units.

And the truth is, you don't always know where to settle. Typically, scouting is done first. With conquistador, scouting is easy with TWO extra sight. This makes a pretty big deal in quickly determining the ideal tile.

Sending your settler (even if you planned perfectly and finished production of your settler exactly in time, when you discovered the tile you want to settle in) will take valuable turns. There is also a danger of your settle reaching there, only to find out that another civ recently founded a city at your spot. The last part doesn't happen often, but it is VERY costly if it does.

Imagine the ability to have your scout settle right there. You can do this with conquistador. It's a big deal.

You say new continents are full of barbs. Smaller, undiscovered continents are. But major continents with civs usually are not. And most of the time, you can still get juicy settling location in major continents (with other civs) at this time (I mostly play on immortal and sometimes on deity).

But barbs are, really, only of concern if you have a worker/tile improvements. I usually buy a worker or send one from mainland to scouting conquistador, so you are right, it would be handy to have a military unit around. Buy an archer or send an obsolete archer/warrior/spearman along with your worker. I have never had a problem fending off barbs. It may cost a few extra idle worker time, but I usually save much more than that with the conquistador in getting there faster.

To add: Spain UA also synergizes pretty well with two main components of Civ5: Pantheon and World Congress:Natural Heritage Site. AI almost never picks up the One with Nature pantheon. I think I've seen it once in my 1000+ hours of playing. As for World Congress proposal, there is 0 diplomacy hit for this proposal (although, you don't gain any diplomacy either). Before the first congress reconvenes, send a spy to buy two votes from two civs (~12 spy turns). And you will have 5x2=10 culture per Natural Wonder tiles (20 for the pair of GBR!).

Of course, I don't have an argument against Spain being hit or miss. But if I find GBR or Solomon's Mine close to starting location, it's hard to lose even on Deity. I had one game where I built all wonders except for like 5 on Deity (I had GBR and Solomon's Mine in my first 3 cities). I made it to the modern era while the leading civ was still in renaissance.

 

[greygamer]

Of course, I don't have an argument against Spain being hit or miss. But if I find GBR or Solomon's Mine close to starting location, it's hard to lose even on Deity. I had one game where I built all wonders except for like 5 on Deity (I had GBR and Solomon's Mine in my first 3 cities). I made it to the modern era while the leading civ was still in renaissance.

This really sums up how I feel about Spain, they can give you a massive advantage but if not they are still very effective. This is especially true if you like exploring the map (I do). Players have their particular 'comfort zones', it could be a map type, victory condition or advanced settings and what Civ is 'the best' will depend on player preferences above liking a particular civ.



Arabia - 26
Austria - 13
Aztec - 16
Babylon - 16
China - 25 Voted down compared with the chasing pack, they are as good as those but not that much better.
England - 23
Ethiopia - 22
Germany - 20
Inca - 17
Korea - 23
Maya - 24
Mongols - 14
Persia - 14
Poland - 21
Portugal - 17
Rome - 13
Shoshone - 16
Siam - 23
Songhai - 8
Spain - 4 I think nearly everything that can be said in favour of Spain has been said.
Sweden - 16
Zulu - 22

It is getting very tight now a lot of good Civs on this list, plus a few over rated ones.

 

[vibe96]

Arabia - 26
Austria - 13
Aztec - 16
Babylon - 16
China - 25
England - 23
Ethiopia - 22
Germany - 17 The additions aren't enough to carry this civ
Inca - 17
Korea - 23
Maya - 24
Mongols - 14
Persia - 14
Poland - 21
Portugal - 17
Rome - 13
Shoshone - 16
Siam - 23
Songhai - 8
Spain - 5 Doesn't deserve to die yet
Sweden - 16
Zulu - 22

 

[Walter R]

Arabia - 26
Austria - 13
Aztec - 16
Babylon - 16
China - 25
England - 23+1=24
Ethiopia - 22
Germany - 17 Inca - 17
Korea - 23
Maya - 24
Mongols - 14-3=11
Persia - 14
Poland - 21
Portugal - 17
Rome - 13
Shoshone - 16
Siam - 23
Songhai - 8
Spain - 5
Sweden - 16
Zulu - 22

England:...because so-called naval civs are not 'meh', and certainly not this one - this is a great civ to play. And if someone held a gun to my head...
Mongols: as stated, the UA spoils the civ

 

[Troll4Hire]

Good Afternoon!

So as Greygamer requested, I did start a few games with Spain myself. The options were similar, however i did change two things:

- Standard pace
- Emperor AI
- I reduced the size of the map to Small.
- I also turned Ruins off, to get rid of the free techs, randomly explored areas & other lucky findings.

and the map type was one of my favorite map, Inland Sea. I really like the moshpit-like layout of the map, and I was curious how Spain operates under this circumstances. And I have to be honest, it was a really pleasant surprise.
I also followed the same build order what Greygamer described previously: pop two scouts, then a granary, and go for high food tiles first, in the meantime going full tradition.

Since I'm going to have an exam on this Friday, I only had time to play five games instead of ten, but I think there is no need to play more, since the results are talking for themselves.

#1: Balanced, but landlocked starting zone. I found Mt. Sinai for a 500 bonus on Turn 13. - place settled in Turn 17.

#2: That was a more complicated start. My zone was 100% filled with desert, with only 2 hills and a few flood plains provided by the nearby river. I found the Barringer Crater in Turn 69. for only a 100, and it was already worked by the Dutch. Since at that point I almost had a vision of the whole map, I decided to settle near the sea as well, In Turn 83. I found the Krakatoa, but it was literally in the middle of the Sea, leaving no chance whatsoever for me to work it. Since at that point i almost wrote down the "no natural wonders around to take", but then my ship spotted the Great Barrier Reef already occupied by one of my nearest CS neighbours, Riga(Turn 86) - the city has been taken in Turn 96.

#3: Another balanced, but landlocked starting zone, on my right, I managed to find Mt. Kailash on Turn 10. (for a 100 reward) - Not far from Berlin. My second scout also discovered something - Mt. Sinai (reward: 500) so i was able to take Mt. Kailash before the Germans can settle it, in Turn 21 - since Germany wasn't happy about that, one thing led to another and Germany lost Berlin in Turn 90-something, I forgot to take a note here.

#4: The only game where I got a coastal starting position. I found Sri Poda on Turn 9 for 500. - settled it on Turn 13.

#5: My worst wonder-hunting so far, but still it could've been an easy victory for Spain. Landlocked, mostly highland-like starting area, with lots of copper sources laying around. I found Lake Victoria on Turn 17, but it was in the top left corner of the map (i was in the top right one), hidden behind the Dutch... again, at the borders of Quebec City. At this point, it wasn't clear that the Lake will be the part of the Dutch Empire or the CS will devour it before the Dutch can settle anywhere near it. A 100g for me. In Turn 35, I've met Antananarivo and the Mt. Kilimanjaro just one hexa away from the border of the CS. It was also a big surprise, when i realized that Antananarivo is sitting on the Rock of Gibraltar as well - and i was the first one to discover it, 500 for me. Turn 76, my ships discovered that the Chinese have taken the Krakatoa for themselves.
Sadly I had no time to finish the game, but both Shanghai and Antananarivo had vulnerable position, both cities were surrounded with a decent amount fo shallow water, and could be assaulted by 6 ranged ships and one melee naval unit at the same time - which leads to the conclusion that a fast rush to Compass and a quickly built navy could've taken both cities in no time.

Note: In 3 of 5 games i was able to choose "One with Nature", i had to drop it in #2 to get the "Desert folklore", and in #5 i chose "Earthmother" because of the high amount of copper & iron sources laying around my capital city - also I had no opportunity to take early natural wonders in #5, just after hitting the late-medieval era.

So that's it gentlemen, I am convinced that Spain has nearly no luck factor, IF you are willing to play as a true conqueror from the start of the game.
If required I can take a look at other map types as well, but only next week.

As for voting:

Arabia - 26
Austria - 13
Aztec - 16
Babylon - 16
China - 25
England - 24
Ethiopia - 22
Germany - 17
Inca - 17
Korea - 23
Maya - 24
Mongols - 11
Persia - 14
Poland - 21
Portugal - 17
Rome - 13
Shoshone - 16
Siam - 23 - 3 = 20.
Songhai - 8
Spain - 5 + 1 = 6
Sweden - 16
Zulu - 22

I already downvoted Sweden and Greece in the last two days, now it's Siam's turn to lose a couple of points. The UU and UB is okay, but I still say that a diplomacy-based UA (especially in multiplayer matches), isn't the best thing to have. And that's a personal experience.
This happened to me a few months ago:
I was playing as Siam, we had 4 players on map. I happened to conquer the guy on my continent really fast, later I decided to put my UA to work, and went diplo. I also had to pick the Freedom ideology, I was hoping the 2 free tenets will help me to stay stronger than picking 1 in order or autocracy.
I found myself in a situation where the two other fellas decided to set me back in my diplomatic advantage. They both started to mess around with my cities nearest to the borders, just to keep my units pinned & busy. By doing that, they had the opportunity to conquer my CS-s, then exchanging these conquered states a couple turns later between each other, and liberating the state conquered by the other guy, which basically resulted in a solid -2 for me and +2 votes for them. Since armies were already divided by theirs, plus i had to empty my treasury a couple turns ago to keep the other CS-s on my side as well, it was really difficult to gain back my lost votes before the congress was about consult again - just in time to pull the "Standing Army Tax" through.

In short: In my opinion Siam has a solid UA bonus - but it's far not as valuable as the other civs' with 20+ points on that list.

p.s. sorry for the awful grammar, i have no time to revise it.

 

[greygamer]

Good Afternoon!

So as Greygamer requested, I did start a few games with Spain myself. The options were similar, however i did change two things:

- Standard pace
- Emperor AI
- I reduced the size of the map to Small.
- I also turned Ruins off, to get rid of the free techs, randomly explored areas & other lucky findings.

and the map type was one of my favorite map, Inland Sea. I really like the moshpit-like layout of the map, and I was curious how Spain operates under this circumstances. And I have to be honest, it was a really pleasant surprise.
I also followed the same build order what Greygamer described previously: pop two scouts, then a granary, and go for high food tiles first, in the meantime going full tradition.

Since I'm going to have an exam on this Friday, I only had time to play five games instead of ten, but I think there is no need to play more, since the results are talking for themselves.

#1: Balanced, but landlocked starting zone. I found Mt. Sinai for a 500 bonus on Turn 13. - place settled in Turn 17.

#2: That was a more complicated start. My zone was 100% filled with desert, with only 2 hills and a few flood plains provided by the nearby river. I found the Barringer Crater in Turn 69. for only a 100, and it was already worked by the Dutch. Since at that point I almost had a vision of the whole map, I decided to settle near the sea as well, In Turn 83. I found the Krakatoa, but it was literally in the middle of the Sea, leaving no chance whatsoever for me to work it. Since at that point i almost wrote down the "no natural wonders around to take", but then my ship spotted the Great Barrier Reef already occupied by one of my nearest CS neighbours, Riga(Turn 86) - the city has been taken in Turn 96.

#3: Another balanced, but landlocked starting zone, on my right, I managed to find Mt. Kailash on Turn 10. (for a 100 reward) - Not far from Berlin. My second scout also discovered something - Mt. Sinai (reward: 500) so i was able to take Mt. Kailash before the Germans can settle it, in Turn 21 - since Germany wasn't happy about that, one thing led to another and Germany lost Berlin in Turn 90-something, I forgot to take a note here.

#4: The only game where I got a coastal starting position. I found Sri Poda on Turn 9 for 500. - settled it on Turn 13.

#5: My worst wonder-hunting so far, but still it could've been an easy victory for Spain. Landlocked, mostly highland-like starting area, with lots of copper sources laying around. I found Lake Victoria on Turn 17, but it was in the top left corner of the map (i was in the top right one), hidden behind the Dutch... again, at the borders of Quebec City. At this point, it wasn't clear that the Lake will be the part of the Dutch Empire or the CS will devour it before the Dutch can settle anywhere near it. A 100g for me. In Turn 35, I've met Antananarivo and the Mt. Kilimanjaro just one hexa away from the border of the CS. It was also a big surprise, when i realized that Antananarivo is sitting on the Rock of Gibraltar as well - and i was the first one to discover it, 500 for me. Turn 76, my ships discovered that the Chinese have taken the Krakatoa for themselves.
Sadly I had no time to finish the game, but both Shanghai and Antananarivo had vulnerable position, both cities were surrounded with a decent amount fo shallow water, and could be assaulted by 6 ranged ships and one melee naval unit at the same time - which leads to the conclusion that a fast rush to Compass and a quickly built navy could've taken both cities in no time.

Note: In 3 of 5 games i was able to choose "One with Nature", i had to drop it in #2 to get the "Desert folklore", and in #5 i chose "Earthmother" because of the high amount of copper & iron sources laying around my capital city - also I had no opportunity to take early natural wonders in #5, just after hitting the late-medieval era.

So that's it gentlemen, I am convinced that Spain has nearly no luck factor, IF you are willing to play as a true conqueror from the start of the game.
If required I can take a look at other map types as well, but only next week.

Thank you for the feedback. Your experiences are strange compared to mine. Must be the map size as I got a coastal start nearly every time. Turning off the ruins definitely makes it more difficult, mind you it would total mess up the Shoshone as well

Krakatoa is almost a non-wonder, it should really be scripted to be no more than 3 tiles from a landmass. Glad that Spain is still a good civ even on those settings though. To me it is a good civ for those that are okay with some war without going full Domination, sometimes you only want to conquer part of the world.

Against my expectations Spain is finding new friends I think, I am one of those too. A big thank you to the original poster for starting such an informative and thought provoking thread.

Now please someone help me get Indonesia to work on something other than 1 or 2 kinds of map because I really want to like them.

 

[arand86]

Arabia - 26
Austria - 13
Aztec - 16
Babylon - 16
China - 25
England - 24
Ethiopia - 22
Germany - 17
Inca - 17
Korea - 23
Maya - 24
Mongols - 11
Persia - 14
Poland - 21
Portugal - 17
Rome - 13
Shoshone - 16
Siam - 23 - 3 = 20.
Songhai - 5 Just not enough incentive for me to play. Boring UA+UB+UU
Spain - 7 Luck-based or not, spain is mighty fun to play on a normal map, and terra especially. It's so much fun sending conquistadors into the new world to smash up barbs, and settle a city when you need to.
Sweden - 16
Zulu - 22

 

[Memoryjar]

Arabia - 26
Austria - 13
Aztec - 16
Babylon - 16
China - 25
England - 24
Ethiopia - 22
Germany - 17
Inca - 17
Korea - 23
Maya - 24
Mongols - 11
Persia - 14
Poland - 21
Portugal - 17
Rome - 13
Shoshone - 16
Siam - 20 + 1 = 21. UA ! UB. I've sometimes have problem to be strong in science and culture. With Siam, never. UU is awful, i agree. But Siam is better than other civs still in the competition
Songhai - 5 - 3 : 2. I didn't find a reason to upvote it. I can't understand how Shongaï can be still here and another civ go out. In comparaison, Spain is largely better only with its UA.
Spain - 7
Sweden - 16
Zulu - 22

 

[Walter E Kurtz]

Arabia - 26
Austria - 13
Aztec - 16
Babylon - 16
China - 25
England - 24
Ethiopia - 22
Germany - 17
Inca - 17
Korea - 23
Maya - 24
Mongols - 11
Persia - 11
Poland - 24
Portugal - 17
Rome - 13
Shoshone - 16
Siam - 21
Songhai - 2
Spain - 7
Sweden - 16
Zulu - 22

Persia: The golden age related bonusses are just not that helpful imo
Poland: What.. Someone actually voted them down?

 

[Derpy Hooves]

I think a lot of people's opinions of Spain is heavily clouded by the fun factor and low difficulties, which as a deity player I can't really care too much about, in some respects they're the opposite of Poland, who is really strong but with a pretty bland playstyle.
Also, to those questioning me before, settler is only half the production of a conquistador, so yeah, it's a complete waste. So the only bonus conquistador has is that you have to pay a little bit less maintainance while crossing the sea and have the ability to clear some barbs before settling, which is pointless on a new continent as they will respawn practically instantly.
Not to mention that I really don't get what's fun about barb hunting, it's just a tedium, and you'll be needing to do it as well after you spent your conquistador to settle your city, or you'll be wasting precious gold rushbuying units or production your new city should be using for infrastructure and a worker.
And I will go out and say that the musketman -> rifleman period is the shortest effective period of any warrior type unit, same problem as musketeers, and I don't see anyone trying to defend those. Also, I usually play on standard or epic speed, occasionaly quick if I'm playing with Venice or some other civ that leaves you with very little to do except press next turn.

Arabia - 26
Austria - 13
Aztec - 16
Babylon - 16
China - 25
England - 24
Ethiopia - 22
Germany - 17
Inca - 17
Korea - 23
Maya - 24
Mongols - 11
Persia - 14
Poland - 23
Portugal - 17
Rome - 13
Shoshone - 16
Siam - 21
Songhai - 2
Spain - 4
Sweden - 16
Zulu - 22

Poland is quite possibly the most powerful civ on high levels, missing most of the fun factor but if you want to see who's the strongest, which I believe is what this whole thing is about, there are few other viable choices then Casimir.

Spain, prolly said enough about them already, really fun on low difficulties but otherwise just a liability to have a useless UA combined with 2 mediocre/garbage UU's.

Edit: to the guy above me, you add 1 point and subtract 3, so Poland should be at 23 now with my added vote.

 

[Lights]

Arabia - 26
Austria - 13
Aztec - 16
Babylon - 16
China - 25
England - 24
Ethiopia - 22
Germany - 17
Inca - 17
Korea - 23
Maya - 24
Mongols - 11
Persia - 14
Poland - 22
Portugal - 17
Rome - 13
Shoshone - 16
Siam - 21
Songhai - 0
Spain - 5
Sweden - 16
Zulu - 22

Spain conquistador is the same as Songhai but better. And in Terra maps is the best civ, you'll be the first exploring the continent, and depending on the map you'll find between 1 and 5 natural wonders (more or less). Even if you are playing pangaea they are really good at scouting as they said before.

 

[Walter R]

I think Poland's tally is 23?

edit: ninja'd!

 

[Derpy Hooves]

Spain conquistador is the same as Songhai but better. And in Terra maps is the best civ, you'll be the first exploring the continent, and depending on the map you'll find between 1 and 5 natural wonders (more or less). Even if you are playing pangaea they are really good at scouting as they said before.

How the hell does the conquistador help with being the first to explore? Last time I checked Polynesia is the only one that can cross the ocean right away, only good it will do exploring a new continent is if you're the kind of player who's too lazy to send an escort along with your settler. Not to mention that you'll be making your first new continent city coastal anyway for the harbor, and at that point you should have already scouted most of the coast with your boats.

 

[FromBirth]

Arabia - 26
Austria - 13
Aztec - 16
Babylon - 16
China - 25
England - 24
Ethiopia - 22
Germany - 17
Inca - 17
Korea - 23
Maya - 24
Mongols - 11
Persia - 14
Poland - 22
Portugal - 17
Rome - 13
Shoshone - 16+1 = 17 Had the most fun recently with a quick SV, love the pathfinder ability to choose ruin benefit. Great to start each city with a few extra tiles, saves money.
Siam - 21
Songhai - 0
Spain - 5
Sweden - 16-3= 13 Tried these three times, just doesn't sit well with me to give GP away. Didn't manage to finish any of the games.
Zulu - 22

 

[Derpy Hooves]

Sweden - 16-3= 13 Tried these three times, just doesn't sit well with me to give GP away. Didn't manage to finish any of the games.

Even when all your city state allies keep giving you great people from the patronage tree you should complete as sweden asap? Not to mention all the lesser tier GP's they have now, great musicians, writers, etc.

 

[Lights]

How the hell does the conquistador help with being the first to explore? Last time I checked Polynesia is the only one that can cross the ocean right away, only good it will do exploring a new continent is if you're the kind of player who's too lazy to send an escort along with your settler. Not to mention that you'll be making your first new continent city coastal anyway for the harbor, and at that point you should have already scouted most of the coast with your boats.

Because if you are spain obviously on terra map you'll go for astronomy ASAP and luckily it's in the same path as Education.

 

[FromBirth]

@ Derpy Hooves
Fair point, I played with them prior to BNW and the separate GWAM. However, I still don't seem to be able to press the button to give away a Great Person

 

[Derpy Hooves]

Because if you are spain obviously on terra map you'll go for astronomy ASAP and luckily it's in the same path as Education.

That's not actually an argument though, everyone will go for atronomy first on terra, settling on the new continent is the whole point of the damn map, and beelining for education is like one of the most basic things anyone does who doesn't play on low difficulties.
Not to mention that you need chivalry, which is not in that line of tech to make your precious conquistadors.