We have a possible tech parity deal; if we buy Code of Laws (cheapest price is offered by Korea: 12 gpt and 192 gold, meaning 432 gold all told), we should be able to buy Philosophy and Map Making. Map Making would come from England (England is the only civ with a weak military compared to us, so we can renegotiate peace and bring MM's price down a little), and Philosophy from either the Ottomans or the Iroquois.
However, this would wipe our treasury out for a while, limiting FAM trades and upgrades for a while; However, 14 gpt to Egypt will end soon, compensating somewhat for the 12 gpt we'd be paying. I estimate we'd be back to 100 gold in the treasury in 5 turns, and would again be pulling in 20 gpt after the 12 is taken off - probably more than 20. But that's assuming no expenses and continued map trading. (I see no reason not to assume the latter, but I may want to spend some more gold on a TM or two. We should definitely get England's TM, which is very cheap). That's also assuming we don't have to pay more money after the CoL trade for MM, which is uncertain, even with peace on the table with England. (I think Philosophy is devalued enough that we'd actually make money when trading for it, but MM is more uncertain, though I'm sure we could scrape by with the MM price by using more gpt; we'd still have a +8 income after the CoL trade.)
So, we need to decide what we're going to do. (Hence the poll above.) I'd say buy (and then sell, of course
) now, this turn; if the more backwards civs are already managing to buy Map Making, it won't be long before Code of Laws is common knowledge too, and it'll be that harder to break in to the latest tech. But this is a big investment, one that probably won't return much gold (unlike Polytheism, which we were able to sell around to several civs to make some of the cost back). Instead, it will give us three techs; two of which (CoL and Philosophy) are basically useless to us until we have all the other techs required for era advancement, unless we want to go Republic before the Middle Ages.
So, I present several options above. Please vote; this is an important decision.
The 900 BC Report:
We currently have contact with 13 of the 23 other civs out there.
Techs we know: Bronze Working, Masonry, Alphabet, Pottery, The Wheel, Warrior Code, Ceremonial Burial, Horseback Riding, Iron Working, Mysticism, Writing, Mathematics, Polytheism
Other techs that we know someone's discovered: Map Making, Philosophy, Code of Laws
Our treasury: 208 gold
Civs with workers available this turn: Korea (1)
Civs that need Communications with the Indians: Babylon
Civs that need Iron Working: India
Civs that need Mathematics: India
Civs that need Horseback Riding: India
Civs that need Polytheism: India
Civs that need Philosophy: Babylon, Japan, India, Us
Civs that need Code of Laws: Ottomans, Iroquois, Babylon, Japan, England, India, Us
Civs that need Map Making: Ottomans, Babylon, Japan, India, Us
Details on individual civs:
Ottomans
Attitude: Annoyed
Deals: They give Peace, we give Peace (13)
Connected Resources: Horses (1), Furs (1)
Gold: 13
Techs (That we don't know): Philosophy
Needed Techs (that we know): None
Iroquois
Attitude: Annoyed
Deals: None
Connected Resources: Iron (?), Furs (3)
Gold: 21
Techs: Philosophy, Map Making
Needed Techs: None
Zulus
Attitude: Polite
Deals: None
Connected Resources: Horses (1), Iron (?), Silks (1)
Gold: 128
Techs: Philosophy, Code of Laws, Map Making
Needed Techs: None
Persia
Attitude: Annoyed
Deals: None
Connected Resources: Iron (?), Dyes (2)
Gold: 229
Techs: Philosophy, Code of Laws, Map Making
Needed Techs: None
Celts
Attitude: Polite
Deals: None
Connected Resources: Iron (?), Dyes (2)
Gold: 9
Techs: Philosophy, Code of Laws, Map Making
Needed Techs: None
Germany
Attitude: Annoyed
Deals: None
Connected Resources: Horses (1), Iron (?)
Gold: 19
Techs: Philosophy, Code of Laws, Map Making
Needed Techs: None
Babylon
Attitude: Annoyed
Deals: None
Connected Resources: Iron (?), Dyes (2)
Gold: 3
Techs: None
Needed Techs: None
Egypt
Attitude: Polite
Deals: They give nothing, we give 14 gpt (2)
They give nothing, we give 2 gpt (13)
Connected Resources: Horses (1), Iron (?), Incense (4)
Gold: 203
Techs: Map Making, Philosophy, Code of Laws
Needed Techs: None
Japan
Attitude: Annoyed
Deals: None
Connected Resources: Horses (1), Iron (?), Incense (1)
Gold: 11
Techs: None
Needed Techs: None
Spain
Attitude: Cautious
Deals: None
Connected Resources: Incense (1), Iron (?)
Gold: 37
Techs: Philosophy, Code of Laws, Map Making
Needed Techs: None
Korea
Attitude: Cautious
Deals: None
Connected Resources: Incense (2)
Gold: 124
Techs: Philosophy, Code of Laws, Map Making
Needed Techs: None
England
Attitude: Cautious
Deals: None
Connected Resources: None
Gold: 11
Techs: Philosophy, Map Making
Needed Techs: None
India
Attitude: Cautious
Deals: None
Connected Resources: Horses (1), Iron (?)
Gold: 8
Techs: None
Needed Techs: Iron Working, Mathematics, Horseback Riding, Polytheism
). But seizing the moment before others can is a more preferable alternative. Gold reserves can always be restored. Good tech trading opportunities can't.
