I've been experimenting with delaying Economics. That keeps castles and obviously the TGL. As I run SP and don't want corporations there is no need to research that part of the tech tree.
Trade routes are an important topic I am just getting to grips with. More trade routes is not neccessarily better that good trade routes going to the right places. My core cities are large and have a castle (and later an airport) and good research and gold multipliers, so I want the best trade routes in those cities not some out of the way ice station alpha without even a library. I don't even build harbours in cities until they have good multipliers otherwise they steal the best international trade routes. So custom houses are not a priority.
Currently, with Justinian, I am researching Advanced Flight and have artillery, carriers and cavalry and SAM infantry and castles
. I want Jet fighters so that means I will have to get Industrialism for aluminum. So only after Advanced Flight will I have to trade for Economics. Interestingly, once I got Rocketry drafting allows SAM infantry for 2 pop instead of rifles for 1 pop. They were an excellent way to counter the other civ's Gunships. SAM infantry replaces both grenadiers and rifles in the same way infantry does.
Why would you want to do that? Well I conquered and vassalised my continent and then needed to do an intercontinal invasion and I was badly behind in techs. I built up my espionage buildings and researched Combustion (destroyers, tracnsports and oil) and Flight (carriers, fighters and airports). The castles add 25% to my EP generation in my core cities which at their best get a 150% multiplier including Nationhood.
I tried this in an earlier game with Isabela there was an obvious additional use for late game castles (citadels). It is great having 5 or 6 core cities churning out 10 exp artillery and machine guns (with Theocracy) while using airports to airlift them to the four corners of the world. It made me realise the real power of a massed airforce. You really don't need infantry or tanks or marines or battleships to beat any opponent no matter how advanced as long as you have enough aircraft. In many ways Flight is the most powerful military tech in the late game.
Also espionage is superb when you have a huge sprawling empire. I'm currently getting 2000 EPs per turn without raising the slider at all. It is amusing to conquer enemy cities and find 2 or 3 of the espionage buildings still intact. That makes keeping them worthwhile. I can steal techs and see what my opponents are doing, all nearly for free. Obviously I run spy specialists in any cities with a Scotland Yard and I've captured 3 so far and a castle just helps that little bit more. I'm almost sad about losing them
but I mustn't get sentimental.
So there you have it, in answer to the OPs question: I delay Economics, as long as possible.
Trade routes are an important topic I am just getting to grips with. More trade routes is not neccessarily better that good trade routes going to the right places. My core cities are large and have a castle (and later an airport) and good research and gold multipliers, so I want the best trade routes in those cities not some out of the way ice station alpha without even a library. I don't even build harbours in cities until they have good multipliers otherwise they steal the best international trade routes. So custom houses are not a priority.
Currently, with Justinian, I am researching Advanced Flight and have artillery, carriers and cavalry and SAM infantry and castles
. I want Jet fighters so that means I will have to get Industrialism for aluminum. So only after Advanced Flight will I have to trade for Economics. Interestingly, once I got Rocketry drafting allows SAM infantry for 2 pop instead of rifles for 1 pop. They were an excellent way to counter the other civ's Gunships. SAM infantry replaces both grenadiers and rifles in the same way infantry does.Why would you want to do that? Well I conquered and vassalised my continent and then needed to do an intercontinal invasion and I was badly behind in techs. I built up my espionage buildings and researched Combustion (destroyers, tracnsports and oil) and Flight (carriers, fighters and airports). The castles add 25% to my EP generation in my core cities which at their best get a 150% multiplier including Nationhood.
I tried this in an earlier game with Isabela there was an obvious additional use for late game castles (citadels). It is great having 5 or 6 core cities churning out 10 exp artillery and machine guns (with Theocracy) while using airports to airlift them to the four corners of the world. It made me realise the real power of a massed airforce. You really don't need infantry or tanks or marines or battleships to beat any opponent no matter how advanced as long as you have enough aircraft. In many ways Flight is the most powerful military tech in the late game.
Also espionage is superb when you have a huge sprawling empire. I'm currently getting 2000 EPs per turn without raising the slider at all. It is amusing to conquer enemy cities and find 2 or 3 of the espionage buildings still intact. That makes keeping them worthwhile. I can steal techs and see what my opponents are doing, all nearly for free. Obviously I run spy specialists in any cities with a Scotland Yard and I've captured 3 so far and a castle just helps that little bit more. I'm almost sad about losing them
but I mustn't get sentimental.So there you have it, in answer to the OPs question: I delay Economics, as long as possible.
