(July 2nd, 2015, 00:11)timmy827 Wrote: Are you sure the prophet won't be enough to flip moscow for a good chunk of time?
It will flip Moscow, but will flip only about 7 followers, leaving headroom for the missionary above that. But on second thought, that's probably not necessary, Moscow doesn't have much of any competing pressure so the extra followers won't matter.
The purpose of the missionary isn't just the cities he'd directly convert, it's maintaining the pressure from those cities to keep them all in our fold. I forgot the missionary would have a 3rd spread. Mombasa in the far west is the most receptive target for that, although it is a lot of walking back and forth. A missionary is also a way of shifting faith into the future, to spend the same faith on newer units with newer tech.
73 turn scientist payback, I'm actually okay with that. This game will go longer than 73 more turns, and we're not likely to reach and prioritize any more science increases (public schools) anytime soon. Bulbing isn't terrible, though.
If we do bulb, Steel for cannons should be the target, and the right timing is as soon as it will finish Steel. Then we start buying faith cannons right away.