I keep coming back to the Medieval Era because I think it's almost perfect if I could just fix a couple of things. Specifically, I really want to get rid of Armored Cavalry and Perspective and possibly do something with Invention and Usury. Armored Cavalry is just too narrow to be a good tech. It would be much better combined with Chivalry. Chivalry is absolutely solid. Perspective is a Renaissance concept that somehow found itself in the Medieval. (I suspect that it is there because the Sistine Chapel is Medieval in BTS. All of the religious wonders - Apostolic Palace, University of Sankore, Spiral Minaret, Sistine Chapel - are Medieval in BTS. I think there is some space to play with this in AND.) Invention is a really broad topic and hard to pin down; I think it is in as a throwback to Civ3, but most Invention techs in other Civ games unlock Leonardo's Workshop, which would look very wrong outside the Renaissance. Usury seems to overlap a lot with Banking. It's the lowest on my priority list.
I have come up with two ideas for reshuffles that would allow removing ACav/Perspective without losing the magic number 30 of Medieval techs.
1. Moving Music from the Classical Era to the Medieval Era.
Music is one of those concepts that is so broad that it is difficult to tie it to a specific point. As a tech, Music could fit just about anywhere in the early eras. Music has only three tricks: the Build Culture process, the Great Artist, and the Sagas. Build Culture can really fit anywhere between the beginning of the Classical Era, where Build Wealth and Build Research are available, and the end of the Medieval, which is when Build Espionage is available. The first free Great Person of each type generally comes in the Medieval-Renaissance Eras. The exceptions are the Great General at Aristocracy (late Great Generals aren't worth very much), the Great Diplomat at Politics (there aren't as many sources of GDip points as other GP types), and the Great Artist at Music. It wouldn't hurt to have the Artist a bit later.
The Sagas have always been iffy in placement to me. They are Asatru's Wonder, and Asatru is not founded until Rudder in the Medieval Era. It is theoretically possible that Asatru could spread from its founder to another civilization with Music but not Rudder, but I don't think that is very likely. I would be much more comfortable if Rudder and Music were in the same column or at least the same era.
The big drawback that I can see is that Music forces a gap between Philosophy and Theology. I would probably put Music after Theology but there isn't any better place for it to go. All Music needs to be is after Drama and before Patronage and Paper. I have a feeling if you beeline Theology after Philosophy, you have a long stretch without any advancement. I'm willing to experiment with it, but I'm not quite convinced this is a completely good thing to do.
2. Moving Divine Right from the Renaissance Era to the Medieval Era.
Divine Right is a Medieval tech in BTS. In AND, it's Renaissance because I was basing off of Jean Bodin (1530-1596). The divine right of kings was a concept long before it was defined. The Investiture Controversy happened in the 11th-12th centuries, and the Mandate of Heaven in China was formulated much earlier, all the way to 1000 BCE.
Divine Right's current prerequisites are Chivalry + Holy War + Papacy + Political Philosophy. It would be very easy to switch Divine Right and Political Philosophy. Divine Right would fit into the last row of the Medieval along with Algebra and Compass.
Divine Right's tricks are a +1 Espionage point from Watchtower and three World Wonders: Spiral Minaret, Palace of Potala, and Temple of Heaven. Going by historical dates, Spiral Minaret is medieval (851), while Temple of Heaven (16th century) and Palace of Potala (1645) fit into the Renaissance. One of these could be swapped off to Political Philosophy/Jurisprudence and Divine Right could take Islam from Education. Education is one of the three biggest choke points in the tree (along with Steam Power and Advanced Computers) and so reducing it a little wouldn't go amiss.
Moving Divine Right to the Medieval leads to some changes in the tree. Divine Right currently leads to Mercantilism, Scientific Method, and Social Contract. Social Contract is kept in place by Jurisprudence. Mercantilism has Navigation as its other prerequisite. We could exchange DR for Political Philosophy and drop Mercantilism back by a column. Mercantilism is not necessary for any tech until Economics, and Economics has the Liberalism chain to complete first. Scientific Method would fall back a column, as all of its other prerequisites (Anatomy, Astronomy, Clockworks, and Printing Press) are in the first two columns of the Renaissance.
Moving Scientific Method does cause a small shakeup of the center tree. Scientific Method currently holds in place Chemistry, Physics, Acoustics, and Rifling. Pulling back Chemistry, Physics, and Acoustics wouldn't be bad, but Rifling would be too close to Flintlock. I would probably put Rifling on the other side of Replaceable Parts (where it is in BTS). The next upgrade isn't until Infantry at Automatic Weapons.
This move is much more solid than moving Music. I can't see too many problems with it.
