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Pondering the map of possibilities before us, brave Apolytonians, I am becoming convinced we need to be able to put horsemen in the field soon.
I am not suggesting we delay Case Pink/Plan Eagle or alter its basic parameters (archer/spear stack[s] as strike force). I am looking past that initial conflict, to a second war.
As the situation currently stands, we have horses and we are nominally researching horseriding, but spending no money on science. We have 73 gold in the treasury, and we are earning 7 gpt. Playing around with our domestic slider indicates that we could acquire the tech in 34 turns (60% science, which would run a modest surplus of 1 gpt) or sooner if we are willing to eat into our surplus. (Have to admit I can't do all the math on this, since our army and barracks will increase our expenses in the turns ahead -- but it seems fair to assume that deficit spending will net us the tech in something like 20-25 turns.)
In other words, if we are willing to do the research ourselves, we can put ourselves in a position to begin building up a force of horsemen even as our archers are moving on our first enemy.
Alternatively, of course, we could wait and acquire the tech by trade. This course might prove efficient. Tested tactics developed by top strategists rely heavily on trading.
But relying on trade acquisition would leave us hostage to events. In our current situation, it might be argued we need to take the initiative ourselves. We have just this one little resource at this point (the horse tile), and we need to make the most of it.
Consider, as an example, a scenario we are discussing in other threads: we move against America first with archers and spear, our strike is successful, we target the French next. Without horsemen (not just the tech, but the units built and moved into position), we might be facing a scenario in which we are pitting archers and spears against pink swordsmen and horsemen. We want to strike France fairly quickly, given her territorial advantages, resource access, and AI expansion bonuses. As soon as we initiate hostilities against the Americans, the French will be on their guard.
Some might favor use of the war chariot, our UU. I feel this would be impractical (we would have to road a vast expanse of jungle to get our chariots over there). It would also be ill-advised, IMO, as it would trigger our golden age prematurely, before we are ready to fully realize and exploit its advantages.
(I do think we should build 3-4 war chariots later in the game, when we are less pressed, and use them as garrison troops in safe cities, so that we can use them later and thereby time our golden age for maximum impact.)
I am posting this thread as a "War Academy" thread because I want to emphasize that the issue is one with vital strategic and tactical implications -- and because I think we should be considering it with all the rigor and specificity our academy experts have brought to other questions (e.g., build ques in cities; timing of prepartion; size of forces built ...)
Your thoughts?
I am not suggesting we delay Case Pink/Plan Eagle or alter its basic parameters (archer/spear stack[s] as strike force). I am looking past that initial conflict, to a second war.
As the situation currently stands, we have horses and we are nominally researching horseriding, but spending no money on science. We have 73 gold in the treasury, and we are earning 7 gpt. Playing around with our domestic slider indicates that we could acquire the tech in 34 turns (60% science, which would run a modest surplus of 1 gpt) or sooner if we are willing to eat into our surplus. (Have to admit I can't do all the math on this, since our army and barracks will increase our expenses in the turns ahead -- but it seems fair to assume that deficit spending will net us the tech in something like 20-25 turns.)
In other words, if we are willing to do the research ourselves, we can put ourselves in a position to begin building up a force of horsemen even as our archers are moving on our first enemy.
Alternatively, of course, we could wait and acquire the tech by trade. This course might prove efficient. Tested tactics developed by top strategists rely heavily on trading.
But relying on trade acquisition would leave us hostage to events. In our current situation, it might be argued we need to take the initiative ourselves. We have just this one little resource at this point (the horse tile), and we need to make the most of it.
Consider, as an example, a scenario we are discussing in other threads: we move against America first with archers and spear, our strike is successful, we target the French next. Without horsemen (not just the tech, but the units built and moved into position), we might be facing a scenario in which we are pitting archers and spears against pink swordsmen and horsemen. We want to strike France fairly quickly, given her territorial advantages, resource access, and AI expansion bonuses. As soon as we initiate hostilities against the Americans, the French will be on their guard.
Some might favor use of the war chariot, our UU. I feel this would be impractical (we would have to road a vast expanse of jungle to get our chariots over there). It would also be ill-advised, IMO, as it would trigger our golden age prematurely, before we are ready to fully realize and exploit its advantages.
(I do think we should build 3-4 war chariots later in the game, when we are less pressed, and use them as garrison troops in safe cities, so that we can use them later and thereby time our golden age for maximum impact.)
I am posting this thread as a "War Academy" thread because I want to emphasize that the issue is one with vital strategic and tactical implications -- and because I think we should be considering it with all the rigor and specificity our academy experts have brought to other questions (e.g., build ques in cities; timing of prepartion; size of forces built ...)
Your thoughts?
) We want the horsemen on line in how many turns, ideally? If 40 + , say, 10 more (to build them) + another 8, roughly, to get them to the French border coincides nicely the timeframe for consolidating our American gains (counting my chickens before they're hatched here), then great: the minimum would be fine.
), but it seems to me we do want to AT LEAST slide our research to the minimum NEXT TURN.
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