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

[rho21]

Round-number roundup™


Civ Comparison

Civ	Cities	Pop	Techs	Civics	Gold	Districts	Military
Aztec	12	69	24 (+73.9/turn)	17 (+55.5/turn)	145 (+29/turn)	4 Encampments, 2 Harbours, Holy site, 4 Commercial Hubs, 3 Campuses, Entertainment District	917 strength
Kongo	7	31	20 (+36.3/turn)	12 (+34.6/turn)	115(+1/turn)	2 Campuses, 3 Theatre squares	331 strength
Greece	8	38	22 (+81.5/turn)	16 (+31.6/turn)	232 (+26/turn)	Encampment, Holy site, 2 Commercial Hubs, 3 Campuses, Acropolis, Industrial Zone	529 strength

Everyone has boosted at least one of these statistics significantly. My science has more than doubled. Kongo has almost doubled both its culture and military. The Aztecs have greatly increased their culture, while their strength was flat early on but is really spiking upwards again now.

Great People
Recruited so far:
Greece: General (classical), Prophet, Scientist, Merchant.
Aztec: General (medieval)
Kongo: Writer

Up now:

• (General) Jeanne d'Arc (240): Aztec 48 +4/turn, Greece 31 +2/turn
  
• (Admiral) Themistocles (60): Aztec 20 +2/turn
  
• (Engineer) James of St George (120): Greece 7 +1/turn
  
• (Merchant) Giovanni De'Medici (240): Aztec 105 +6/turn, Greece 18 +2/turn
  
• (Prophet) Madhva Acharya(240): Aztec 51 +1/turn
  
• (Scientist) Emilie du Châtelet (240): Aztec 126 +6/turn, Kongo 78 +2/turn, Greece 60 +4/turn
  
• (Writer) William Shakespeare (240): Greece 29 +1/turn, Kongo 25.5 +7.5/turn
  
• (Artist) Hieronymus Bosch (240): Kongo 79.5 +4.5/turn, Greece 29 +1/turn
  
• (Musician) Yatsuhashi Kengyo (420): Kongo 79.5 +4.5/turn, Greece 29 +1/turn
  

Grabbed the merchant, but that looks like the end of great people for me for a while.


Research and boosts

Tech	Cost remaining (assuming boost)	Boost	Turns until boost
Sailing	25	Already boosted
Celestial Navigation	60	Already boosted
Shipbuilding	100	Already boosted
Military Tactics	150	Already boosted
Cartography	270	2 harbours	??
Mass Production	270	Lumbermill	~8
Banking	270	Guilds civic	~20
Gunpowder	10	Armoury	~11
Printing	29	2 universities	~8
Square Rigging	330	Kill with musket	~20
Astronomy	330	University next to mountain	4
Metal Casting	330	Already boosted
Siege Tactics	330	2 bombards	??

Science has doubled since last time, which is naturally going to make boosts a bit tight to squeeze in, though I have a few waiting and a few more not too far off. Pythagoras will finish its university soon; Hippocrates or Aristaeus will build a library then buy a university with .
It's possible I should be paying full price for gunpowder, to get it in 4 turns instead of 12 or so. I'm concerned I'm going to face a wave of Aztec muskets with great general support and tortoise promotion. They don't have enough money for many upgrades though, so I'm probably OK for now.

Civic	Cost remaining (assuming boost)	Boost	Turns until boost
Naval Tradition	100	Kill with quadrireme	??
Civil Service	137.5	Size 10 city	~11
Medieval Faires	7	Already boosted
Guilds	192.5	2 markets	~20
Divine Right	137.5	2 temples	??
Exploration	200	2 caravels	??
Humanism	270	Great Artist	??
Diplomatic Service	270	Alliance	~25?
Reformed Church	200	6 converted cities	~20
Mercantilism	327.5	Already boosted
The Enlightenment	327.5	Already boosted

Running very tight for boosts now, especially as I don't want a new government quite yet. I'm going to fill up half of Civil Service next, completing Medieval Faires at a useful moment when I need a civics switch. Then put my culture into Exploration until Xenocrates hits size 10 and I can finish Civil Service.
Further down the line, there are a couple of civics I'm probably going to have to power through without the boost.

Here's a graph of military strength for the last 60 turns. Observe the recent spikes in Aztec and Kongolese power.

[rho21]

Played this one earlier, just before I had to go out.

Turn 111

Score tracking
Not much happened except Aztec military power continuing to head upwards. Oh, they also picked up a big civic boost of some sort. I'm not sure which.

Southern Theatre
An Aztec galley is exploring down here.

Western Theatre
All quiet still. The chariot I have poking around near Waffles has revealed yet more mountains. There's incredible defensive terrain here; I hope Kongo can exploit it.

Housekeeping
Founded a city at C10. Must remember to rename it next turn.

Euclid finished its granary and got started on a builder.

Switched the next tech to Sailing, due immediately. Before that can happen, both new cities placed an acropolis (though they're working on walls for the moment).

Looks as though I shouldn't have played this turn in a rush. I was intending to change civic research off Medieval Faires as I don't need a government switch right now, and two close together down the road would be helpful. Apparently I forgot though. Drat.

Here's a view of the Aztec galley and the terrain near Waffles:

[rho21]

Turn 112

Score tracking
Kongo finished a civic and gained a pop. Their culture jumped a little (now ahead of their technology), so I guess they instituted some sort of cultural policy.

Western Theatre
Still nothing moving. There are no Kongolese units guarding Waffles. I do hope they're not all heading for Hong Kong and leaving this flank entirely exposed to the Aztecs.

Housekeeping
Sailing complete. After the loss of overflow earlier in the game, I'm not going to risk it this time. This turn's research is going into Astronomy, next turn it'll be back to shipbuilding.
Medieval Faires complete, d'oh! On to civil service for the time being.

So, what to do about my unintended change of governments? It's going to be the turn after Xenocrates reaches 10 population (for the civil service boost) before I can switch again. So about 10 turns in this government. The next one after that won't be particularly quick either.

New with medieval faires: Aesthetics (+100% acropolis adjacency), Medina Quarter (+2 housing with 3 speciality districts) and Merchant Confederation (+1 per placed envoy).

Interesting policies right now:
Money:

• Conscription: 14/turn
  
• Merchant Confederation: 12/turn
  
• Caravansaries: 8/turn
  

Production:

• Colonization: Menaechmus just finished its settler, so there's only the slow burner in Apollonius still going.
  
• Urban Planning: now 9/turn before multipliers
  
• Feudal Contract: time to get more crossbows out?
  
• Limes: still in use in a number of places, and I'm planning some chops through it before too long.
  
• Maritime Industries: might be good to have a naval presence shortly, though the coastal cities are small as yet.
  

Other:

• Aesthetics: 5/turn
  
• Natural Philosophy: 12/turn
  
• Trade Confederation: 44/turn
  
• Serfdom: I have builders ready to go so I could get them up and running now.
  

It's getting harder and harder to choose only 5. Thankfully it's not too long until I get to pick 7 at a time. I go for Conscription, Limes, Natural Philosophy, Serfdom and Feudal Contract. It's a real shame to be dropping Urban Planning, but the new cities have reasonable production and I really need more crossbows: Aztec power continues to go up at an average of 30/turn right now.

The settler is done at Menaechmus, which starts on a Granary (due in 5). So, where to settle?

• C15 and C14 (west of the river) I can't defend right now.
  
• C13 (in the south, covering Xenocrates' flank) could be settled in 6 turns. No real worries about defending it, though in some senses it would lengthen my flank.
  
• C11 and C12 (eastern back lines) were discussed in depth a few turns ago. They would take 11 and 7 turns to found respectively.
  

In many ways, my first choice is C11 as it provides immediate utility with from the truffles and from the marble. It's so very far away though. C13 would be founded much sooner, but requires a bunch of infrastructure (aqueduct, monument, walls) before it would really contribute to the empire. I decide C11 is the best choice and start the long walk thataway.

Aristaeus has finished its acropolis and starts a library, expected in 7 turns (8 right now but it grows next turn). The free envoy goes into Geneva, naturally.

I name the city at C10 Dinostratus. Here's a look at it:

[rho21]

Turn 113

Score tracking
Aztec have finished Exploration civic and adopted Merchant Republic. They also grew a couple of population.

Southern Theatre
The hoplites find a natural wonder, Tsingy de Bemaraha, in the southern tundra.

Western Theatre
Nothing moving. The exploring chariot discovers that there's no route to the west out of Waffles, it's entirely blocked by mountains.

Housekeeping
Started work on Shipbuilding, due in 2 turns with a lot of overflow.

A view of Tsingy and Waffles:

[rho21]

Turn 114

Score tracking
Kongo gained a population point.
The Aztecs crested 1000 power for the first time this turn. Rather scary, I'm still back a little over 500. They also finished a campus project for 34 great scientist points. I'm not sure why, perhaps they were worried about me sniping another great person out from under them. They needn't have worried if so, it costs about 3 times the I currently have to hand.

Southern Theatre
My forward hoplite spots an Aztec horse. I wonder if this is the vanguard of an Aztec force or just a sentry. Clearly suggests there's a route through to Aztec lands down here.

Note that the water west of Tsingy is a lake. It has a pearls tile that's worth 11111.

Western Theatre
Nothing moving.

Housekeeping
Pythagoras finished its university, giving the boost for Astronomy. It gets started on a crossbow, due in 6.

Hippocrates finished a builder and also begins a crossbow, this one due in 8 turns. The builder moves to place a lumbermill next turn, after which it will head off to Xenocrates to improve the nitre.

[rho21]

Wow, the turns are coming thick and fast today. 95 minutes between receiving last turn and this one.

Turn 115

Score tracking
Aztec gained a couple of population.

Southern Theatre
Kongo is indeed moving to take Hong Kong, using sword, knight, crossbow and archer. No ram as yet. In response, Hong Kong completed a catapult and wandered it out into the open.

The Aztec horse near my hoplites is still present, though moved by one square. I suspect it is keeping tabs on my units. Assuming it stays out of range I will move past it up towards Waffles. No point moving further forwards into what might be a big Aztec force. Of course, if the knights are down here, there's nothing I can do to save my hoplites anyway.

Western Theatre
Nothing moved.

Housekeeping
Shipbuilding is completed, my units can now embark should that ever be needed. Next up is Astronomy, expected in 2 turns.

Civil service is just short of half done, so civic research now goes to Exploration. Xenocrates will grow to size 10 in 6 turns or less now, ideal timing.

Placed a lumbermill at Hippocrates, adding 2 to a 21 tile. Not bad. Still not as good as chopping a forest though, so I'll only do it this once, for the boost to Mass Production.

Xenocrates is 5 short of its medieval walls, so it starts work on a crossbow. I have a single charge builder on its way to chop out a forest to finish the walls with maximum overflow.

Perseus is similarly positioned on its ancient walls. It starts on the acropolis. I was going to build a monument here, but the acropolis takes less than twice as long and comes with significant other benefits.

The siege of Hong Kong. Looks as though the Ngao Mbeba might be in some trouble.

[rho21]

Down to 60 minutes for this turn. At this rate, we'll reach the end of the timeline sometime around midnight.

Turn 116

Score tracking
Aztec finished another civic.

Southern Theatre
Hong Kong has finished a quadrireme. Won't be too long now until its walls are down. Also the scouting Aztec galley has made it there and stolen the city state's builder that was sat on the fish.

No sign of the Aztec horse this turn.

Western Theatre
Nothing moving.

Housekeeping
Kroket and Raw Herring have both seen the holy Euclidean glory of Parallelism. That gives me the boost for Reformed Church, plus an extra 4/turn.

The trade route from Pythagoras to Hong Kong is complete. The trader is redirected to Geneva for yet more and .

[rho21]

Turn 117

Score tracking
Aztec discovered a new technology and finished a library or a university.
Kongo finished its first commercial hub.

Southern Theatre
Hoplites heading home now, with luck. The chariot is exploring the fogged bits of Kongo.

Western Theatre
Nowt to see.

Housekeeping
Changed tech from Astronomy (which has a tiny amount left) to Siege Tactics. I'm expecting to place a district in a couple of turns, so might as well keep it slightly cheaper.

Menaechmus has finished its granary. It starts a monument.

[rho21]

That's another case of overflow going missing, incidentally. I should have finished Astronomy this turn with about 67 overflow. Instead, I'm just short of finishing it. Looks as though the entire overflow from Shipbuilding has disappeared. Grumble.

Explains why Astronomy said it would take 2 turns when I switched to it after Shipbuilding, then still said 2 turns on the turn after.

[rho21]

Turn 118

Score tracking
The Aztecs gained a tech and a pop. Their perpetual military growth has finally stalled. I wonder if they've been building galleys and quadriremes. Would explain why their military has been growing so steadily without their income dropping. Not the scariest if so, though they could do a lot of damage by attacking Geneva.

Southern Theatre
Basically all of the Kongolese military is over at Hong Kong. Thank goodness there's no sign of an Aztec attack. They have a tiny border to defend and seem to be making no effort to even patrol it. To be fair, everything they have would just melt before the Aztecs anyway.

Western Theatre
Still nothing.

Housekeeping
Euclid has finished a builder. It resumes work on its market as I'm going to want to have 2 of those very soon.