[SPOILERS] Dhal checking in.

[Dhalphir]

I didn't go for circumnavigation at all. Based on what I knew of the map, I felt naval combat would turn out not to be very useful, and that proved true, I think.

And yes, you definitely stirred up a hornet's nest in the Dhalphir War Council room with that border plant. I really wanted that canal. In the end the city plants that I got could have acted as one, with a fort on the hill, but it didn't prove necessary.

[Ilios]

I was really surprised how well you were keeping up, and how well defended your cities were. That Engineering beeline was a smart move.

I did catch you breaking the prime rule of civ a couple of times though: don't work unimproved tiles!

[Dhalphir]

That was mostly just that city down near you actually, on the coast. I only sent one worker down to improve it to start with, and then I needed that worker for something else - I forget what. After that, it just never seemed like I could spare the labour so near to a potential enemy. While I was in Slavery it wasn't a big deal as I just kept whipping off the excess pop, but once I jumped into Caste I needed to get the improvements. I was correcting that in the last half dozen turns of the game, once you definitively went for Whosit.