[Spoilers] rho21 follows the works of Homer... D'OH!

[rho21]

I was planning a comparison of civs next turn (for the round number). Current tech rate is roughly double everyone else's, as is current techs completed. No sign of other districts as yet.

Yes, about turn 50 is right for the attack on Valletta. So far the city has a bunch of farms and a couple of buildings (if I'm remembering correctly). It looks to be working on a granary, definitely no sign of walls.

The iron by C3 will be its best tile. I'm strongly considering buying the third-ring iron at Euclid, as it's on a plain hill so pretty good once improved. The second-ring one on the desert hill is bad though.

[rho21]

No time to write a turn report tonight. Big news of the turn is that Kongo has finished a Campus. It's a much inferior one to mine, at just 2 of adjacency bonus.

[rho21]

Turn 40

Score tracking
Kongo has completed a campus and a sixth tech. They also lost 15 military strength, presumably more barbarian skirmishes.

Eastern Theatre
Yerevan has a holy site completed. I will consider throwing out a couple of hoplites before too long and sending my theatre forces this way for a conquest.

Western Theatre
The scouting warrior located a barbarian camp on the coast 3W of C4. Not sure what I'm going to be able to clear this one with.

Housekeeping
Euclid's growth to size 3 netted me the Early Empire inspiration. It's back to neutral happiness until I can improve the dyes at Pythagoras in 3 turns (looks a better plan than saving the remaining builder charge for the third city).
The builder improved the wheat at Pythagoras; the city immediately started working it. I need to remember to switch back to the dyes in a few turns so the settler gets produced at size 3 with immediate regrowth. Not for the disguise so much as to save 9 from the growth cost.
After ending the turn I heard what I think was the sound of a unit being spawned, probably a new barbarian from the western camp. Hopefully it's not an archer.

---

Time for a round-number roundup™:

Civ Comparison

Civ	Cities	Pop	Techs	Civics	Districts	Military
Aztec	3	7	4 (+~7 /turn)	3	None	4 Eagle Warriors, 1 Slinger
Egypt	2	8	4 (+~8 /turn)	3	None	2 Warriors, 1 Slinger, 1 Scout
Kongo	2	7	6 (+9.2 /turn)	3 (+5.3 /turn)	Campus (+2)	1 Warrior, 1 Slinger, 1 Scout, 1 Archer
Greece	2	6	8 (+12.6 /turn)	3 (+3.8 /turn)	Campus (+4)	5 Warriors, 3 Slingers, 1 Archer

The lack of population is still a bit concerning. Valletta should catch me back up, assuming I can capture it. I'm also perhaps a little behind in culture production. Valletta has a monument, so should help with this too. In science I am well ahead thanks mostly to Geneva, and pulling away thanks to the campus.

Great People
I am as yet uncontested in great general points, with 6/60. A few more turns of head start and it will be difficult for anyone to compete for Hannibal.
Kongo is about to score its first great scientist point; I have 4 points in the bank. Aryabhata costs 60 to recruit, so we're some way away as yet and there's definitely a race on. It's well worth winning this race: while Aryabhata is mediocre, the cost for the next great scientist will be significantly higher. Not the end of the world if I miss it though.
So, what's on the table to get me over the line first?

• Library for +1/turn
  
• Another campus for +1/turn
  
• Scientist wildcard for +2/turn (requires mysticism)
  
• District project(s) for a one-off boost of 11 or 12 points
  
• Patronage for a significant chunk of faith or gold
  

The wildcard isn't something Kongo will be able to run for ~25 turns. Longer for me unless I take the detour to mysticism which I very much want to avoid.
The district project costs 63 right now, and will only be going up. Not an attractive option.
A library feels like the best option. I can slot one in after the settler, it costs ~7 turns of production. I'd really like to be using this production for a wonder though, and a trader might be a priority too unless I buy it (very tempting).

Research and boosts

Tech	Cost remaining (assuming boost)	Boost	Turns until boost
Astrology	25	Already boosted
Wheel	40	Mine a resource	10
Currency	60	Make a trade route	3-15
Horseback Riding	29	Already boosted
Iron Working	60	Mine iron	10
Mathematics	100	Build 3 different districts	~10-30
Construction	100	Build a water mill	~25
Engineering	100	Build walls	~20
Apprenticeship	150	Build 3 mines	~15
Machinery	150	Have 3 archers	~15

That table ignores the naval techs; when a navy is unimportant, they aren't a precursor to anything useful until Industrialisation.

I'm currently going to be avoiding finishing more techs until currency, to minimise the cost of the commercial hub at Euclid. After that, wheel is a priority to enable the boost for Construction, which in turn boosts Games & Recreation civic. Apprenticeship is also a big target because it boosts mines and unlocks industrial districts. Iron working may be a defensive necessity; I imagine Kongo will be prioritising it.

Looks as though I should be just about OK to avoid wasting science.

Civic	Cost remaining (assuming boost)	Boost	Turns until boost
Foreign Trade	1	Find another continent	Hopefully not long
State Workforce	28	Already boosted
Early Empire	35	Already boosted
Mysticism	25	Already boosted
Games & Recreation	55	Construction tech	~25
Political Philosophy	55	Already boosted
Drama & Poetry	55	Build wonder	~25-35

I'm definitely not straying further from the path to Political Philosophy and new governments. That's 119 , assuming I can find another continent in the next 9 turns (far from certain). I hope to have that done in 25 turns; Kongo will probably beat me there by ~5 turns.

[rho21]

Turn 41

Score tracking
Aztec is first to a fourth civic. They also gained 32 CQUI military strength this turn. That could be promotion-healing a couple of units or producing another eagle warrior.

Eastern Theatre
East explored; no land bridge. No barbarian camp either. Perhaps that scout was the one from the camp to the west my slinger was unable to chase earlier.

Western Theatre
One step west with the warrior, and the continent of Africa is discovered! Thank goodness for that. It will now veer a little SW, and head around to Valletta before long. Nothing interesting on the settler view.
Valletta finished its granary this turn, hopefully it won't start walls just yet.

Housekeeping
Civic research switched to foreign trade to finish the last trickle it needs now the boost is in.
Currency research also started. I should have done this last turn really. Should be 5 turns to reach the halfway mark.

The big question remains of whether I should buy the trader. I think the answer is probably yes: it's unboostable and gives an immediate benefit. It also provides the boost for currency, so I can get the commercial hub built sooner. On the minus side, together with the planned upgrades it will leave me with very little money. I will be relying on clearing the barbarian camps to have any bank balance at all.

Also a correction for last turn's stats. Apparently I have 5 warriors, not 4; I'll edit the post now.

Some dates for the diary:
T42: Upgrade the slinger on the campus.
T43: Switch Pythagoras from working the wheat to the dyes to avoid growing before the settler is completed. That's also the turn they get improved.

Here's a beautifully* photoshopped plan of attack on the barbarian camp:

Blue lines for archers, white for warriors.

The slinger on the campus starts moving in 2 turns, after an archer upgrade.
Campus guard duty is taken over by a warrior.
Then the slinger currently defending the builder can head south with the settler, probably upgraded by then.

So the barbarians will hopefully be dead on T46. Everything will then be in position to attack Valletta on T49, assuming there's nothing else for them to kill first. Need more info there - such as how many units they have - to determine an actual plan of attack. Will probably end up declaring war a turn or two earlier to get rid of units.

[rho21]

Turn 42

Score tracking
Kongo looks to have finished a monument and upgraded a second slinger into an archer. They are up to 7.3 now, and really blasting through to new governments. While my culture will be huge down the road, I might be dropping behind there for the moment. Can't do everything though.

Eastern Theatre
The barbarian scout reappears, on the tile NE of Euclid. I move the slinger onto the wheat farm to shoot it (heavily into the red), and the first returning warrior makes it close enough to block any escape to the east. I expect it will return back over the hills, but maybe there's a Genevan unit about preventing that.

Western Theatre
The scouting warrior uncovers an oasis and a lake. Potential for a nice city up this way.

Turns out I've miscalculated gold because I forgot how the cost of traders scales: it's with research progress (like districts), not with number of units produced (like builders and settlers). So the trader would cost 210 to buy rather than the 160 I was expecting. I have 234 (+3.2/turn) right now, but I also want an archer upgrade for 45.

If I upgrade the archer, I won't be able to afford the trader until the camp is cleared, and then there won't be the gold for another archer upgrade until after when I need it to escort the settler.
So buying a trader now would stall my plans for attacking Valletta by about 3 or 4 turns and cause further nuisance down the road. Sounds like a bad deal.
Perhaps the best plan is to build the trader normally. That gold will come in handy later, I'm quite certain. It would be 4 or 5 turns to build in Pythagoras.
Building it before finishing the settler is possible, but runs a greater risk of giving away the C6 site. So let's stick to plan A, squeezing the trader build in after the settler is complete. Then I just need a library and a wonder and another settler and argh.

Housekeeping
Foreign Trade is done, State Workforce up next. I have a policy swap available. It's not insane to bring in the +5 strength bonus against barbarians as I'm not using Agoge right now. Not sure what's next to build in Euclid though: it might well be a good plan to drop some production into a hoplite while it's boosted. And it's not as though I should need the bonus against the barbarians, really. I leave the policies as they are.

[Chevalier Mal Fet]

I really like the format of your reports! Very clear and easy to follow!

[rho21]

Thanks.

Let me know if there's anything you'd like me to do differently, anything you'd like me to talk more about, that sort of thing.
I'm intending to have more than one screenshot per report once things heat up, but right now it doesn't seem necessary.

[rho21]

Turn 43

Score tracking
Aztec has captured a second city state and is score leader again. They also finished an encampment (or captured it with the city state). Anyway, 11 more empire points = 5 for a city + 3 for a district + 3 for population.
Kongo completed Early Empire civic and grew an eighth point of population. A wave of settlers seems likely now.

Eastern Theatre
No sign of the barbarian scout.

Western Theatre
Units move according to plan. A barbarian warrior is in sight on the swamp NW of the camp.

Housekeeping
The builder expends its last charge to improve the dyes at Pythagoras. The city starts working them immediately, serving the dual purpose of preventing growth and making my income look more healthy. Oh, and Euclid is now happy. Three purposes!

This turn's picture features scouting information from the western warrior. The water just to its west is a freshwater lake.

[rho21]

Turn 44

Score tracking
All three other players gained a population. Aztec also finished their fifth tech. In general, people are catching up to my science income a bit, all of them rated in the 9-11 range (compared to my 12.8).

Eastern Theatre
Euclid's borders have expanded onto the iron tile. It starts working the forest for a little extra growth without slowing the builder. No sign of the barbarian scout, perhaps Geneva's archer killed it off.

Western Theatre
Two barbarian warriors defending north of the camp, so the plan had to be slightly altered to get some archer shots off this turn. The eastern of the two archers earned a promotion for its attack. The spear in the camp is in the red; I'm probably not getting the clearance bonus. No particular indication yet whether that's Kongo attacking or Valletta.

Unsurprisingly, I heard fighting when I hit next turn.

Here's a view of the battlefield:

[rho21]

Turn 45

Score tracking
Kongo produced a settler, a little surprisingly. Not sanguine about the chances of claiming C6 before they can get to somewhere that blocks it.
Aztec finished a sixth tech, and took the culture lead by gaining around 200 since last turn! With the city states captured, that could well be from something like the boost for Feudalism.
I'm getting a tiny bit concerned for Egypt, who finished their fifth tech this turn. Hopefully they aren't falling too far behind. I have a suspicion they might be building the Pyramids or Stonehenge.

Eastern Theatre
The red-lined barbarian scout shows up next to Crater Lake, where it is promptly dispatched by my returning warrior.
Theatre forces:

Unit	Location	HP	XP	Promotions	Mission
Warrior	Euclid	100	5/15		Defend
Warrior	by Crater Lake	67	10/15		Return to Euclid
Slinger	Euclid	100	3/15		Defend

Western Theatre
Both barbarian warriors attacked my advancing troops and the camp is still alive. Here's the situation at the start of the turn:



Both archers dispatch a warrior. The warrior moves straight in towards the camp as I don't want to risk any chance of it being blocked. Needn't have worried, there are no units near the camp. Perhaps Valletta lost a unit here to the spear, which would be a great result for me.

The scouting warrior is right outside the borders of Valletta now. Looks as though it produced a builder last turn, which is now standing outside the city. Heading to farm the wheat, I suspect. I could declare and steal it the turn after next, to prevent it chopping a forest or something. That would leave my other forces a little out of position, and I still don't know the location of any of Valletta's units, except the one by Pythagoras. In case this turns out to be the plan I go for, I upgrade the slinger at Pythagoras so it can help against the warrior up there. This nets the boost for Machinery.

The big downside of declaring war early would be the loss of the bonus 2 for units at Pythagoras. It wouldn't cost a turn on the settler though.

Theatre forces:

Unit	Location	HP	XP	Promotions	Mission
Warrior	by Valletta	82	7/15		Attack Valletta
Warrior	by barb camp	76	3/15		Attack Valletta
Warrior	near campus	100	0/15		Defend campus
Archer	C3	63	15/15	1 pending	Attack Valletta
Archer	C5	100	9/15		Attack Valletta
Archer	Pythagoras	100	15/45	Volley	Escort settler

Housekeeping
Switched off Currency to avoid exceeding 50%. Investing into the wheel for a bit now. Builder due at Euclid next turn.