POLL: How should we use our Great Merchant?

[FeMme]

POLL: How should we use our Great Merchant?

Harkuf, a Great Merchant has offered his services to our Great Civilisation in Povo Este-fed and it is up to us to decide how best to employ his services.

Our options are:

- Lightbulb a tech (in this case Civil Service which gives Maceman, Bureaucracy [+50%hammers, +50% gold in capital - medium upkeep] and allows farms to spread irrigation)
- Embark on a trade mission to foreign lands and make a lucrative trade deal with another civ
- Take up residence in one of our cities and add +1 food and +6 gold per turn (Paddyton has been put forward as the best location as this is our biggest commerce city)
- Let him rest until another GP arrives and start a Golden Age

So what do you think? How will our nation benefit form Harkuf's knowledge and skills? Please make your votes!

[FeMme]

Sorry folks, I somehow managed to forget to tick POLL when starting this thread - AGAIN!

So, please post your votes and thoughts here.

Thanks,
FeMme

[Edit: just goes to show that eating dinner while posting new threads is a bad idea ]

[RobWorham]

Yes, especially when your better half has whipped up ANOTHER gourmet delight!!!!!

[Nugog]

I vote for Harkuf taking up residence in one of our cities - I will leave the preference for which one to those who calculate these things better than I.

[Zoid]

Lightbulbing CS sounds like a good idea...but then again so does a golden age and opening trade relations... Descisions, descisions...

[RobWorham]

Originally posted by Zoid
Lightbulbing CS sounds like a good idea...but then again so does a golden age and opening trade relations... Descisions, descisions...

Hmmmmmm.................... "Go not to the Elves for council for they will say both no and yes."

[ChrisiusMaximus]

I always feel settling them is the best long term use of merchants, the benefits just go on and on !

[FeMme]

Originally posted by ChrisiusMaximus
I always feel settling them is the best long term use of merchants, the benefits just go on and on !

The gift that keeps on giving....

Yes, I'm in favour of settling our GM in Paddyton. I think that we need to do a bit exploration before sending out a trade mission and I don't think we can afford to wait around for another GP to start a Golden Age (but this will be very useful in the not too distant future).

[couerdelion]

I agree that settling seems the best option but would think that Povo Este would be the better choice since the food there is more useful in supporting more specialists. The low production in Paddyton will make grocers and banks take longer to build.

Of course we cannot build either Wall Street or OU in PE any these are considerations in deciding where a GM would settle. However I also think it unlikely that we would want Wall Street in Paddyton if we can also grab a religion. Since we will be able to generate more GM I think I prefer the option to settle Harkuf where he is now.

[fed1943]

I agree with M.State.

To settle and in Paddyton.

Just one GM will not allow one more specialist is Povo Este.

And Paddyton is the only possible gold city. PE cannot build more

National Wonders; MTT is the science city and is poorer in hammers,

so to build the science multipliers (Oxford is one of them) is enough;

both Susan's city and Bombay are far in the future.

Paddyton, with the +1 food, can work the workshop and get 16H by

turn. Not a powerhouse, but enough to infraesctruture.

Best regards,

[MMC]

CS could be very useful, but since we're in a Golden Age already (sort of), we ought to cement it by declaring our GA to the world.

[couerdelion]

Originally posted by fed1943
Just one GM will not allow one more specialist is Povo Este.

That's probably because the wrong tiles are being worked. The last I saw, it had +1 food surplus and was working a 2/1/1 tile. Add the GM and put the tile worker in as a scientist and voila

+9 beakers (+75%), +7.5 gold (when market finished)

As for using Paddyton as a gold city, it’s possible if we can get to Divine Right and then happen to pop the religion in Paddyton. But it’s more likely we’ll acquire some shrine city from the other continent and won’t want Paddyton spending forever to build Wall Street when we would have a suitable shrine city to get much more from the wonder. Personally, I think it too early to predict where we would put Wall Street but the chances of it being Paddyton are low.

[fed1943]

No, the 2/1/1 tile and the +1 food was with just 8 scientists and 1

unhealth.

Now, unhealth is gone, the 2/1/1 is no longer worked and we have

more one scientist.

Best regards,

[couerdelion]

Originally posted by fed1943
No, the 2/1/1 tile and the +1 food was with just 8 scientists and 1

unhealth.

Now, unhealth is gone, the 2/1/1 is no longer worked and we have

more one scientist.

Best regards,

So +1 food and converting the riverside mine to a windmill will give us +2 food - enough to grow and support yet another specialist

[fed1943]

Originally posted by couerdelion


So +1 food and converting the riverside mine to a windmill will give us +2 food - enough to grow and support yet another specialist

Two reasons that cannot be done, yet.

The city has 14 hammers and must build: builds now market, then

must go courthouse ( -18 maintenance) then some health building,

and only then forge.

The sugested transformation would lose 2 hammers, that cannot be

afford.

More,any pop grow, before the health building would lead to

unhealth, so losing the food increase.

Later,pop shall increase.

Best regards,