Building the Globe also offer the option of using the whip more freely and when
we are near discovering Assembly Line we can contemplate switching Civics to Nationhood which would allow us to draft Riflemen for one pop and Infantry for two pop.
We'll have to look at that later as it comes. I wouldn't want to miss too many turns to anarchy, but it might be worth it. What I found in the test game was that early on in the push is was more important to be producing units as fast as possible to build up big stacks and missed turns like that would be a problem. After things started rolling though this was less important because Capac was bigger and producing lots, and the stacks were already big. This would also make the need to draft units under Natiohood much less too...
If we are decided on going for PA domination we should also consider switching to Free Religion (unless we want Theocracy) as soon as the PA is signed. This will give us 10% extra beakers. It would be even better if Asoka also switches - should we ask him to do this before signing the PA. It depends on whether we can afford to loose the shared religion diplomatic bonus. One other reason for getting Asoka to adopt Free Religion is that we will get culture from all religions and we may need this to get cultural expansion in captured cities. How did that go in the test games? Any problems with expansion to fat cross in captured cities?
As Leif observed, Capac in the test game seemed bent on building theatres early in captured cities even after he adopted free religion and had one or two bulture a turn from that. It's not a broad sample since I was essentially playing the same leader under the same conditions as Leif, but it could be that the AI looks at culture in low culture cities and aims to boost it. I don't think Asoka having free religion will be a big bonus for us. I think he'll probably look to theatres anyway. And besides, I wouldn't want the move to free religion by Asoka to mess up our chances of getting a PA with him!
Theocracy would be more useful to us early on than Free Religion. Like Lefi says, the extra 2XP off the production line for new units allows those maces/pikes to be CR2 already without having to fight. This is a real bonus, and as SCT says, the extra science is not a huge thing for us. The extra science would be more important for Asoka to have than us I would agree that much.
This raises an interesting question. Obviously it's more economical to let our PA partner upgrade troops but on the other hand a big part of his military will sit idle so upgrading some of our own might prove a good investment. What is the experience from the tests regarding the balance between building our own army and gifting cheap units to our PA partner? If most cities are going to be taken down to one defender by us then it might be bad to supply too many units to our PA partner?
I used the strategy to the max of building cheap units and giving them to Capac in the test game for upgrade. I think using to the max like that was definitely not the best. Having more of my own army might have sped things up a little, especially seige units. The particular case I remember was when I gave Capac my canons after getting artillery. He immediately upgraded them as I wanted him to, and I built some artillery of my own. Since Capac was so rich, it would have been better for me to ask him for money and upgrade the canons myself even though this would have been much more expensive. This is something we should keep in mind if Asoka has lots and lots of money during our push to domination.
leif erikson said:
On Theocracy, it would help to make the change a soon as possible. Not sure we want to delay Communism though? Can't remember, does Asoka have Economics? Can we afford to wait until he/we get it?
Asoka has feudalism and we dont'. Guilds is beyond Feudalism and economics beyond guilds so I don't know if we can tell how far down that road Asoka has travelled. Maybe he has economics and maybe not. We won't know until we get the PA, or alternatively get feudalism and guilds ourselves.
Personally I wouldn't want to delay communism. If we get communism and the PA we'll know exactly what Asoka's got and then we can adopt theocracy or theocracy/free market, or wait until economics or something. Make the decision then.
Frederiksburg said:
My point is not to stay in Free Religion ourselves but to get Asoka to adopt it so that religion in a city will ensure fast border expansion. My worry is that we could loose many turns waiting for border expansions in the cities Asoka capture last. Any other way we can ensure that this will not happen?
A tough question we need to address before the end. I think Asoka is likely to adopt free religion himself sometime before the end. I can't see him maintaing hinduism so long after liberlism. He'll have 70-80 turns of PA and he's bound to go for free religion somewhere along the line anyway. Maybe if we get a GA somewhere, we can keep it aside for a late captured city...?
ShannonCT said:
For domination, an important consideration when deciding on conquest order is whether Asoka is likely to keep or raze a city. I've found that the fewer tiles of a conquered city that will be taken by another AI's culture, the more likely Asoka is to keep the city. That means that he's more likely to keep cities that are next to his existing borders. This would speak in favor of starting the domination in the north, especially with Washington.
A very valid point. We should try to aim Asoka at cities that will not be squeezed culturally at the time he takes them. I agree wholeheartedly.
I would have not even thought to try this. 
