zero lab strat

[allhailcaesar]

Greetings! Just wanted some input on a strategy I had just tried, new to me. Please remember I am a rook and play warlord and have only won 2 of 4 games. I was getting slaughtered, again, usual poor starting position and poor play, enemies all around ridiculous battle outcomes i.e. spearman in red beating three elite horsemen, you know, the usual, I was falling behind farther in tech also. Had nothing to loose and turned labs to zero, happines down at 20%, started RAKING in the cash. After several turns started buying techs, especially from those getting beaten in the various wars, which I was trying to stay out of. Losers are anxious for cash and more eager to get the $ and give up techs easier. After a while was actually even in tech and turned my labs way up, could afford to lose $ per turn now, and lo and behold I was ahead in techs, I was cranking out infantry and artillery to musket and cannon. I was also finally getting the wonders built now and had only had one, great wall, 3K years earlier! Anyway, long boring post, sure Vel has written something on it in the 300 pages of notes (of 150 I've printed!)
Just wanted to rant on that something I tried actually turned out okay! I got out of the "pathetic and foolish" range!! Thanks for listening! Well, how bad am I???

[Achnor]

Welcome to the club, this is the way to do it.

Achnor

[solo]

This is the way to go early in the game, but I like to keep just enough science on to keep the countdown going, while researching something as deep into the tech tree as I can.

The reason for this is that even on deity level you might be first to something good like Iron Working if your civ starts the game with Bronze, or you may be first to one of the four techs following Alphabet if you start the game with that. Being first to a tech gives you more trading power earlier, allowing you to catch up faster. At this stage in the game, the small income difference between no research and minimal research makes this well worth trying.

[barefootbadass]

Hey, while you're going 'all out cash' you can set your science to 0% and still get your 40 turn techs with one scientist citizen in one city.

[solo]

An excellent idea if you have enough citizens for specialists and can afford the slowdown in city growth and production.

[SandMonkey]

what....?

I'm a little slow on the uptake, so don't take me too seriously...

The max turns it can take you to research is 40, right? Does it seem weird to anyone else that you can do just what barefootbadass said and make one person into a scientist and still research at 40 turns? I guess i'm still stuck in my civ2 ways where if you dropped science down that far it would go to a couple hundred turns, not 40. I dunno, just doesn't sit with me...

[MadWombat]

I guess the idea is that even with no cash into R&D, you'll STILL figure things out eventually. After all, it only takes one bright guy to invent something; it's just that pumping in cash makes more people interested in doing so.

[MarshalN]

I know, I don't really like the cap on science research.... I don't like how you can't pump out a tech in two turns anymore either. I mean.... if your civ is that good, why can't you?

[MadWombat]

Well, technically you can... just go into the civ editor and change the limits.