[SPOILER] The Steak, Beer, and Cigar Saloon

[haphazard1]

I am assuming the numbers by the techs are beaker costs? They look right for that, anyway.

With happiness being the problem you indicated it is, I wonder if maybe Priesthood -> Monarchy would be worthwhile to move up? The two together are only slightly more expensive than Calendar alone, and you get the potential for temples very quickly. Of course this delays Math and improved chops, and HR happiness will require anarchy as well as having units to get more than one happy face. But it would be faster than going to Calendar and does not require worker turns to hook up resources. Just something to consider.

If you do keep Calendar first it looks good though that. Iron Working...always hard to figure out where to fit that in. I think you should have it when you found cities in the jungle as otherwise their development gets really cramped and delayed. Metal Casting is also something that can get moved if needed/desired, especially if someone else builds the Colossus. I often end up delaying it until after Civil Service, especially when I have a really strong capital that will get major Bureaucracy benefit.

Overall I think your proposed path looks pretty good. Maybe shift IW a bit, maybe MC. But it looks good.

[Catwalk]

With a fairly early push towards Civil Service, I'm thinking I'm better off waiting for Bureaucracy before revolting into HR. One calendar resource will come in instantly from settling on top of sugar, and another will be hooked very fast as it's right by my capital. Feel free to look over my settlement plan again, it will start coming into action before too long. In particular, my jungle grab by Jowy will be of great importance.

[MaxPower]

It's nice seeing every turn reported like this, as allows us to follow the course of the game.
I agree with you, that the tundra copper city shouldn't be moved for the extra food. I assume you still want to put the Moais there and the copper mine will be very helpful.
Discovery of stone is really nice, it would make Oxford really cheap as you already have cheap universities. Not enough info yet about the lands around it, but settling on it, seems like the right thing.
In terms of techs, I think you are already committed to calendar (sailing almost done, and math is a priority on its own), to switch your path to monarchy right now. Maybe I'm a bit paranoid in MP games, but IW can't be delayed any further, you definitely don't want get denied from iron.

[MaxPower]

According to your numeric system, next settler is going for cows/horses, which I couldn't agree more. Then, I think city Nº 8 (clams/wine) should be next. It will be cheap in maintenance and it can share at least a capital cottage. It also has four extra riverside cottages, all of them shared with other cities and two hills for a decent amount of production. It gets instant connection to capital through sailing. More important, it's going to be an important core city in the future, so it makes sense to start it sooner.
I think you need to start working those river valley cottages to catch up in GNP.
[Edit] You are still several turns away from calendar to really make something about sugar city in the far north. The ivory city is right now a really far claim to grab for the moment. The site is completely indefensible. The tundra copper site is a safe back line location and can be grabbed later.

[Catwalk]

My current plan is to make a long reach for the elephant location over by Jowy with my next settler, which will be triple whipped in Vacuuming in 3-4 turns. My reasoning is that having only buddhism happiness until I get Calendar will strangle my economy. I also want to ensure that I do get this location, as it's close to Jowy. How long do you recommend delaying the elephant city? I don't think the wine city is an urgent priority, it has very little going for it.

[MaxPower]

I guess ivory happiness makes sense... just be sure you have at least an axe/spear combo right there when you found it. I got screwed several times by random chariots. Without chariots of your own, you won't be able to reinforce the site. Does Jowy have horses? He will certainly see it as an aggressive plant, you may need to prove that claim is really yours.

My case about clam/wine city, is not about land/resources grabbing, but economic growth. In that city BFC, you have plenty of riverside cottages that will boost your economic growth curve.

[Edit] Can you post a current pic of Jowy's borders? Is useful to know if he is expanding that way. I guess scouting the area for current intelligence may be worth it. He may not spot your city for a while.

[Catwalk]

Economic growth is why I'm not keen on the clams and wine city. Wine is for all practical purposes very unimpressive, clams requires a work boat which will either have to be chopped on site (delays granary) or provided from Groceries (takes a while to get around the cape). By economic growth I mean both food, hammers and commerce and I think commerce is what I need the least right now. But the elephant plant is certainly risky. Jowy is very likely to have a nearby city, and I think he will see my borders right away when I found it. I can have a fortified axe there right away, with a spear joining it a few turns later.

[MaxPower]

I'm not yet convinced that ivory city is the best move right now, but I'll support the plan anyway.

Jowy is probably building a wonder, it's very likely he doesn't have much of an army ready to go. I guess he barely have enough units for garrison duty. Even if he gets really pissed off with your settling, and decides to chase you right away, it would take him like 4-5 turns to whip/chop 3-4 axes, and 4-5 turns to reach your city. Not to mention he will finish his wonder before putting together an army. It's likely you will have a 10-12 turns window to bring extra defenders to the area. Aggressive scouting of his borders should be in order to react in time. Can you spare a warrior for that duty?

[Catwalk]

I think there's a decent chance he won't be royally pissed off:

I'm not really claiming anything vital here. I have an off chance of claiming the silver as well, but he can take it by settling first ring for it further down. He'll know about both elephants, and I think he'll reason that I need happiness badly in order to settle a sub-par location. It's not a super aggressive location, compared with the jungle site later. When I grab that one, he'll be pissed off and I'll definitely need to be ready for it

[MaxPower]

Well, you are probably right. You are only denying him the chance of planting a city with first ring food and silver, but he can still claim silver otherwise. And the city is close enough to equidistant line between capitals. Well, let's hope we don't see impi raiders all over the place.
How long will take you to provide a missionary for the city? Those are the kind of cities that need border pops asap. Sending a worker to chop monument seems a bit wasteful. Worker turns will be required for road instead.