What techs should I take?

[Cadence]

What is the best strategy to get Gunpowder before 1 AD?

By the way, hello! I'm new here.

 

[lymond]

Oracle>MC and build Mids and Hanging Gardens (I think), whip forge in that city, run engineer, and bulb your way to it. Machinery should bulb to 1 turn to complete, Engineering will be a part bulb.

 

[PreLynMax]

Oracle>MC and build Mids and Hanging Gardens (I think), whip forge in that city, run engineer, and bulb your way to it. Machinery should bulb to 1 turn to complete, Engineering will be a part bulb.

Then spin thee times, bark like a dog, do three backflips, then press Alt + F4 and hope a great general will pop out your butt.

 

[fathertuck]

Then spin thee times, bark like a dog, do three backflips, then press Alt + F4 and hope a great general will pop out your butt.

Yeah, sometimes the pro's (lymond) make these things seem so easy, just do this, just do that and you have gunpowder.

@Cadence: Hello and welcome.

 

[FlyingSwan]

the origanal post asks about Gunpowder,not engineering before 1AD.

Basically the quickest way to gunpowder is the education beeline.Depends on your playing level as to which tech you take from the oracle.Although after you tech education its usally quicker to manually research gunpowder rather than tech liberalism to get it(saves you about 4 turns normal speed if I remember right).

@cadence,if you tell us which settings your playing I might be able to give more detail.

 

[Gwynnja]

Oracle>MC and build Mids and Hanging Gardens (I think), whip forge in that city, run engineer, and bulb your way to it. Machinery should bulb to 1 turn to complete, Engineering will be a part bulb.

this would be the way to go if gunpowder was unlocked with engineering but I think you're thinking of guilds.

the origanal post asks about Gunpowder,not engineering before 1AD.

Basically the quickest way to gunpowder is the education beeline.Depends on your playing level as to which tech you take from the oracle.Although after you tech education its usally quicker to manually research gunpowder rather than tech liberalism to get it(saves you about 4 turns normal speed if I remember right).

@cadence,if you tell us which settings your playing I might be able to give more detail.

if you can steal theology from the oracle, paper will be unlocked, then education with paper, then gunpowder with education. However, the only gunpowder unit unlocked with the gunpowder tech is the musketman, which sucks offensively; not really that much of a tech advantage.

 

[lymond]

this would be the way to go if gunpowder was unlocked with engineering but I think you're thinking of guilds.

I was thinking of Guilds. Complete brain flurb saying Engineering. Education is probably faster since it is much easier to get GSs than Engineers to bulb your way to it - plus going that route is going to improve your overall research . Seems I read some time ago some posts about using GEs to get to Gunpowder quick. It would be interesting to have a test game with Mehmed or Zara or Louie. Louie would be interesting since he's IND which would help matters. Of course, I picked these three since they have Gunpowder UUs possibly worth beelining.

The thing though is what techs to avoid. You might have to avoid Maths which would may not be good. I'd have to say the GE route via Guilds seems like a poor choice.

 

[FlyingSwan]

What is the best strategy to get Gunpowder before 1 AD?

By the way, hello! I'm new here.

A good way is use the oracle to get civil service.This is too tricky to get at emporer+,but very doable at monarch and below.The basic jist is to get a library running scientists asap while your researching code of laws.Then as soon as you can bulb Maths and finish building the oracle(usually in your 2nd city)once youve finished teching CoL.Then its a good time to switch to Buracracy/slavery civic or caste(depending whether a city can take running 3 scientists as opposed to 2)

Then I go Alphabet(trade for basic techs ive missed)then research Paper and run some scientists so I can put a bulb into education and then research Gunpowder.

View attachment flyingswan AD-0001 gunpowder.CivBeyondSwordSaveHeres a save that may give you a better idea of time scales and tech order if you check the journal.,the level is monarch,normal speed.

Unfortunatly its 1AD and Im 5 turns off gunpowder,reason bieng barb archers took a city which I then had to take back with my own archers,then I got a DoW from Ragnar so I had to spam archers,axemen and bribe suilleman into the war just to protect myself.

So if everything hadnt gone tits up and I was building research rather than units I would of been on target for 1AD Gunpowder.

Either way Ragnars about to get with Zaras Oromo warriors..

 

[joanne]

It is possible to tech gunpowder or some other renaissance techs like education and even liberalism before 1 AD, although they require precise planning & some luck. Additionally, getting gunpowder in the BC's is one thing, impressive as it is; but building enough muskets and taking over the world with them is another. BC Muskets are expensive at a time when your cities are still heavily dependent on mines+slavery for most of their production, especially if you consider earlier, cheaper alternatives like swords+cats.

 

[FlyingSwan]

It is possible to tech gunpowder or some other renaissance techs like education and even liberalism before 1 AD, although they require precise planning & some luck. Additionally, getting gunpowder in the BC's is one thing, impressive as it is; but building enough muskets and taking over the world with them is another. BC Muskets are expensive at a time when your cities are still heavily dependent on mines+slavery for most of their production, especially if you consider earlier, cheaper alternatives like swords+cats.

But surely in hammers a musket is only twice as much as a sword,1 musket vs 2 swordsmen,I know who Id rather be.

Your right swords and cats if you need to take an AI off the map pronto but I think 1AD musketmen have there place,the one advantage is that the citys you take over will have more infra,tile improvements and you have a better chance of picking up the AIs wonders.Also if you use jannisarys or oromo warriors you wont need seige till the AI longbows and youve got a unit that wont be obsolete for about 1500 years.

Taking over the world with them becomes a distinct possibility when you get them early.

 

[AbsoluteZero]

Maces with city raider or knights would be way more useful anyway.

It's possible to pull off a knight rush around 200 BC, I've done it before myself. 2 movement and 1 more strength then muskets.

 

[FlyingSwan]

Maces with city raider or knights would be way more useful anyway.

It's possible to pull off a knight rush around 200 BC, I've done it before myself. 2 movement and 1 more strength then muskets.

Nice.which route did you take to guilds?as in which tech did you take from the oracle or is there a bulb route you used?I tried early Knights with saladin last night(must admit was bit dissapointed with camal archers)but I didnt get them till the early ADs I think.

 

[vranasm]

hmm would be probably more interesting with Justy that Guilds approach... hears like interesting thing for Monarch and below...