RA Planning - Making the most out of them

[Teedman]

A while back, Vexing wrote a great article for the War Academy regarding not only how the RA mechanic worked, but how to plan where to be in the tech tree when they pop. Does anyone have any tips on how to do something similar with the new G&K tech tree and RA mechanic? Anyway, just curious if anyone has some thoughts on this.

 

[joncnunn]

It deals with the average of both players science over the past X turns in G&K; so its probably not worth paying previous era cost

Extra beakers from it will carry over though.

 

[Heerlo]

Extra beakers from it will carry over though.

They carry over into the next tech?

 

[Browd]

Yes, but if you haven't designated a next tech (shift-click in tech tree) the overflow beakers will be applied to a random unresearched tech, which likely will not be a tech you would have chosen. When you have RAs in place, you should make a habit of setting up a tech queue.

 

[Teedman]

I guess what I am asking is: are there any tips that people have regarding RAs? When is the optimal time to sing them? What to expect from them? Sign them all on the same turn? Here are a few things that I've learned, if they are helpful or not...that is still in question:

1. I don't sign any RA's until I'm 5-10 turns from the Industrial Era. People may disagree with this, but I've found that what I get from earlier RA's isn't really worth it. I typically sign 3-4 RAs before Industrial, and then renew them after they pop.

2. I still sign one RA per turn, one right after another. Not sure if this is needed since the RA mechanic has changed. Is it beneficial to sign them all on the same turn?

3. I still work through most of 3-4 teach before the first RA pops. I typically get more bang for my buck this way.

4. All in all, I do about 6-7 RAs per game. This seems more than enough. Keep in mind that I typically plan Babylon and I save about 3-4 GS to help me breeze through the last part of the tech tree. With the 2 free tech from Rationalism, 2 free GS from Hubble, 3-4 GS that I've saved, plus 3-4 RA's toward the end of the game, I slam through all the tech I need for spaceship parts.

 

[adwcta]

I think it's all relative to your gold usage, how much more science you plan to add in the next dozen turns, and whether you have any bonuses to RAs (from policy or wonder).

There are no hard and fast rules or answers to your questions. (Except for your question #2, that doesnt' matter anymore).

If your science output grows at the same relative rate as the costs of technology, then an early RA would be worth the same as a late RA. In fact, an early RA would probably be worth more relatively because the AI has a larger tech gain advantage earlier on, and you catch up to them by industrial/modern.

I also never sign RAs with the runaway (even if we're friends). There's no reason to help them win any faster.

 

[Koiranputki]

I think it's all relative to your gold usage, how much more science you plan to add in the next dozen turns, and whether you have any bonuses to RAs (from policy or wonder).

There are no hard and fast rules or answers to your questions. (Except for your question #2, that doesnt' matter anymore).

If your science output grows at the same relative rate as the costs of technology, then an early RA would be worth the same as a late RA. In fact, an early RA would probably be worth more relatively because the AI has a larger tech gain advantage earlier on, and you catch up to them by industrial/modern.

I also never sign RAs with the runaway (even if we're friends). There's no reason to help them win any faster.

Yeah...I think, generally speaking, getting stuff earlier rather than later is more advantageous. [I try not to have Great People sitting around too long without an immediate purpose...besides the maintenance costs, they could also being throwing off 8 or 10 science points or whatever. Great Generals can be a bit of an issue...you may have a bunch that you aren't currently using, but you won't want to get rid of them for no good purpose...so they sit around doing nothing...]

I guess it will depend at which level you are playing....I'm playing now at the Emperor level and I find that catching up and staying as close as possible in the tech race is important. It's the only way you get a chance to built some of the more valuable wonders. And if you can get ahead in techs you will often be able to get a wonder built without using an engineer.

I, too, will avoid signing RAs with the runaway and with whomever might have the Porcelain Tower or some other RA-type advantage, but I'm still not sure if I'm being overly cautious with that....

 

[Teedman]

Thanks all! That is helpful. Also, to clarify, I don't start saving GS until after I hit Reaserch Labs.
I typically play on prince or king, so maybe at that level it doesn't drain me too much.

 

[Crafty Bison]

With the exception of timing them to save you money by era, there are no longer as many gamey things to worry about with RA's. Hurrah! Now if Monty will just stop breaking them half way through... .

 

[Browd]

Thanks all! That is helpful. Also, to clarify, I don't start saving GS until after I hit Reaserch Labs.
I typically play on prince or king, so maybe at that level it doesn't drain me too much.

Are you planting the earlier ones for academies, or bulbing them? Should be planting until you start saving. If you have very strong GS generation, you might bulb one along the way (e.g., to accelerate Plastics), but academies will often yield more long term.

 

[Teedman]

Browd - I plant them until I hit plastics. Then I start saving them. Yeah, sometimes if I had really good GS output I'll use one to bulb plastics, or sometimes rocketry if I'm in a rush to get Apollo started.