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

[Garath]

Good grief. Well, I certainly can't comment at that speed!

The most significant thing I see happening over those turns is the Aztec push to what, 1100 strength now? Can you summarise what sort of plans you have for if they come in force for a) you or b) Kongo? Can you leave one of the Hoplites, perhaps, to give you some warning if the latter? How many units are you building / ready to upgrade As Soon As?

[rho21]

1074 real strength for the Aztecs compared to my 529 and Kongo's 268 (depressed by several damaged units, in practice it's more like 340).

I'm continuing to keep an eye out for Aztec forces west of the river. Not that it'll give me all that much warning if knights are sweeping in. My primary advantage there is the time it will take a ram or similar to join them.

Down at Xenocrates, I'm also keeping a watch on units on the far side of the river. As long as there aren't knights visible there, they can't cross the river fast enough to attack anything on the same turn. I have most of my forces concentrated there, so they would certainly take significant losses trying that strategy, but if all their force is in current units, I wouldn't be able to hold them.

South of Waffles there's only a relatively narrow path for them to attack Kongo. It's completely unguarded though, and indeed the entire Kongolese military would be little more than a speed bump even if it were defending the area. One more city and a couple of encampments would go a long way towards fixing the defensive problem for Kongo. I can only assume the Aztecs haven't committed significant forces this way either because they haven't scouted it or they are afraid I would counterattack in the north.

I can't get enough forces south fast enough in the event of an attack on Kongo, so I probably would have to try a doomed counterattack at Near Wild Heaven. Not that it definitely wouldn't succeed, rather that even if it does it won't be fast enough because the Aztecs would blitz through half of Kongo given 10 turns and force a concession. I might leave the chariot in that region for advance warning. At least if it spots a bunch of knights I'll know I need to move forward quickly in the north.

I have 3 crossbows in production, due in 3, 4 and 9 turns, though the last of these may end up delayed longer than that. The medieval walls at Xenocrates are a few turns away from being chopped.

Current forces are:

• In the west: 2 crossbows and 4 knights, two archers and a chariot waiting for upgrade, plus a sword and a warrior that can turn into muskets before too long.
  
• In the south: 2 hoplites and a chariot
  
• In the east: a warrior and an archer in case of barbarians coming from the tundra.
  

[rho21]

Turn 119

Score tracking
Aztec gained a couple of pop.
Kongo finished a third amphitheatre. Not convinced culture is what they need to be improving most right now.

Southern Theatre
Hong Kong will fall to Kongo next turn or the one after.

Western Theatre
Still no movement.

Housekeeping
Friendship expired with Kongo, who offered to renew it. I accepted, naturally.

The library was completed in Aristaeus. I immediately purchased the university for 500, boosting Printing. The city is building an amphitheatre next because my culture is really lagging now.

Pythagoras has reached size 7. I places a commercial hub off to the SW, next to the campus. Work continues on the crossbow, however.

I'm going to chop at Xenocrates in a couple of turns, so time to finish a couple of techs that only have 1 turn left. First up is Printing.

So, what should I be working towards purchasing with next?

• Amphitheatre: 300 - get more generation going
  
• Missionary: 170 - spread the religion for more
  
• Amphitheatre: 400 - to get Defender of the Faith
  

I think I have to head down the route of making the religion really powerful. Not sure whether this is best done by waiting for an apostle or by getting more cities converted sooner. Most of my cities will have converted by passive spread within about 20 turns, incidentally, but it will take longer for Kongo to convert and start reaping the same monetary benefits.

[rho21]

Turn 120

Score tracking
The Aztecs gained a civic and a pop this turn.

Southern Theatre
Hong Kong will fall to Kongo next turn. As I understand it, culture (and other production) is credited at the start of my turn, so I will get no further benefit from the city state. Consequently, I decided to declare war to steal the 1-charge builder that's been hanging around next to Apollonius. Every little helps.

Western Theatre
Nothing to report.

Housekeeping
Printing complete, on to Celestial Navigation so I can place harbours. That was my first renaissance research, so I get a new quest from Geneva: to trigger the boost for Cartography... which is to build 2 harbours. Perhaps I'll do that then.

Next turn, Xenocrates will reach size 10. Looks as though I'm going to exceed halfway on Exploration civic this turn. I do want it soonish anyway and the boost is to build two caravels, so I'm probably going to end up paying full price whatever. The only alternative is to put culture into Naval Tradition, and it's unlikely I'd ever complete that.

First crossbows come off the production lines next turn too.

---

Round-number roundup™


Civ Comparison

Civ	Cities	Pop	Techs	Civics	Gold	Districts	Military
Aztec	12	77	26 (+83.8/turn)	20 (+59.9/turn)	464 (+30/turn)	4 Encampments, 2 Harbours, Holy site, 4 Commercial Hubs, 3 Campuses, Entertainment District	1068 strength
Kongo	7	33	20 (+38.6/turn)	13 (+44.6/turn)	137(+0/turn)	2 Campuses, 3 Theatre squares, Commercial Hub	310 strength
Greece	9	48	25 (+98.1/turn)	17 (+34.6/turn)	486 (+23/turn)	Encampment, Holy site, 2 Commercial Hubs, 3 Campuses, 2 Acropolises, Industrial Zone	529 strength

Not that much movement by anyone here. If anything, I'm making up ground a bit on the Aztecs. My focus right now is going to have to be on making up the gap in culture before I get left too far behind there. I also need military forces, though that's in hand.

With relatively new cities in my empire, my population is growing quickly. Still a huge gap to the Aztec population, which is the root cause of most of my problems.


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

Up now:

• (General) Jeanne d'Arc (240): Aztec 92 +5/turn, Greece 51 +2/turn
  
• (Admiral) Themistocles (60): Aztec 40 +2/turn
  
• (Engineer) James of St George (120): Greece 17 +1/turn
  
• (Merchant) Giovanni De'Medici (240): Aztec 174 +7/turn, Greece 38 +2/turn, Aztec 4.5 +1.5/turn
  
• (Prophet) Madhva Acharya(240): Aztec 61 +1/turn
  
• (Scientist) Emilie du Châtelet (240): Aztec 221 +6/turn, Greece 108 +7/turn, Kongo 98 +2/turn
  
• (Writer) William Shakespeare (240): Kongo 103.5 +9/turn, Greece 47 +2/turn
  
• (Artist) Hieronymus Bosch (240): Kongo 124.5 +4.5/turn, Greece 47 +2/turn
  
• (Musician) Yatsuhashi Kengyo (420): Kongo 124.5 +4.5/turn, Greece 47 +2/turn
  

The Aztecs are close to recruiting 3 great people. At least I'm in a good position to get the next scientist after this one; fingers crossed for a good one to show up.


Research and boosts
Note I've changed these to show boosted cost remaining where I think I'll get the boost, unboosted with a * where I don't expect to.

Tech	Cost remaining (* if without boost)	Boost	Turns until boost
Military Tactics	150	Already boosted
Cartography	270	2 harbours	~30
Mass Production	270	Already boosted
Banking	270	Guilds civic	~10
Gunpowder	10	Armoury	~2
Square Rigging	330	Kill with musket	~10
Astronomy	7	Already boosted
Metal Casting	330	Already boosted
Siege Tactics	474*	2 bombards	Never?
Industrialisation	845*	3 workshops	Never?
Scientific Theory	422.5	Enlightenment	~40
Ballistics	422.5	2 forts	~25
Military Science	422.5	Already boosted

Plenty of boosted techs to work on right now, though those will start to run out before long. It's always this chunk of the game where that starts to get tricky.

Civic	Cost remaining (* if without boost)	Boost	Turns until boost
Naval Tradition	200*	Kill with quadrireme	Never
Civil Service	6	Size 10 city	1
Guilds	192.5	2 markets	~9
Divine Right	275	2 temples	??
Exploration	185*	2 caravels	Never
Humanism	540*	Great Artist	Never
Diplomatic Service	270	Alliance	~20?
Reformed Church	200	Already boosted
Mercantilism	327.5	Already boosted
The Enlightenment	327.5	Already boosted

My path now looks set: Civil Service will be finished the turn after next, following which I will pay full price for Exploration for the next tier government. First civic at full price since the unboostable Code of Laws.
After that, Guilds should be boosted while I'm working on it. Then it's on to Humanism at full price, followed by Mercantilism, with Diplomatic Service as soon as Kongo reaches Civil Service and we can sign an alliance. Finally there's the Enlightenment before we move on to the Industrial Zone.

[rho21]

Turn 121

Score tracking
Hong Kong has indeed been captured, and renamed to Nasischijf. That gives Kongo a nice shot in the arm, including a load of /turn.

Western Theatre
No movement.

Housekeeping
Xenocrates grew to size 10, boosting Civil Service. Civic research is changed immediately to that.

Celestial Navigation discovered, next up Astronomy. No need to do chops until next turn, may as well get another tech finished.

Dinostratus has one turn left to complete the walls; they can't be chopped until next turn. Accordingly it puts a turn into the acropolis, which is probably where the overflow from the chop will go too.

Pythagoras and Hippocrates have finished their crossbows. Pythagoras starts a monument (only 2 turns so why not), Hippocrates begins the 8 turns it will take to build a market.

Menaechmus has just finished its monument, next up is the workshop at 17 turns. Ugh.

Here's a view of the newly-uncovered lands of Kongo:

[rho21]

Turn 122

Score tracking
The Aztecs founded a city. No sign of it on settler view.
Kongo discovered a civic and finished a second commercial hub.

Southern Theatre
My chariot spots Kongolese forces heading back to the west.

Western Theatre
Still nothing.

Housekeeping
Astronomy done, boosting Colonialism. The overflow will go into Banking.

Civil Service done, on towards Exploration, due in 5.

Time to do some chops into walls before I drop Limes policy. Chops this turn are worth 90. First up is Xenocrates where I get 175 overflow, enough to finish the armoury next turn with 23 overflow. The other chop is at Dinostratus, at the opposite end of my empire. Her we have 177 of overflow, used to finish the acropolis next turn with about 80 overflow for the turn after that.

The settler has finally arrived at C11 and can found Bryson. It starts work on a monument as I'm about to drop Limes.

Mentioning which, it's time for a new government. Newly unlocked are Retainers (+1 amenity with garrison) and Meritocracy (+1/specialist district). Limes and Serfdom can definitely go for now, I think Feudal Contract can too.

Policies of interest:
Gold:

• Conscription: 16/turn
  
• Caravansaries: 8/turn
  
• Merchant Confederation: 10/turn, 11/turn from next turn.
  

Production:

• Maritime Industries: may want a few ships soon, will become obsolete at Exploration
  
• Manoeuvre: I'm thinking of asking Kongo if I can borrow a horse. That would let me build horsemen in Xenocrates to upgrade into cavalry (which are not at all far off now). Will wait until next switch though, so I can see if Kongo will actually part with a horse.
  
• Urban Planning: 10/turn, will become obsolete at Exploration.
  
• Colonization: could still use another 2 settlers (C12, C13) at some point soon.
  
• Feudal Contract: perhaps I do need more crossbows. They become field cannons fairly soon, after all (if I can find the gold).
  

Science + Culture:

• Natural Philosophy: 12/turn
  
• Aesthetics: 5/turn increasing to 7 from next turn
  
• Meritocracy: 10/turn increasing to 11 from next turn
  
• Trade Confederation: 44/turn
  

Conscription, Natural Philosophy, Meritocracy and Urban Planning look excellent. Then I need one more military policy. Could be Maritime Industries to get a couple of galleys built quickly or Professional Army and do some upgrades. Or I could switch governments to Classical Republic and run Merchant Confederation for a little extra gold.

I think I'll go with Maritime Industries as the final policy, probably foolishly. Accordingly, Perseus begins a galley. Dinostratus will follow suit in a turn or two.

Culture jumps from 37 to 48 this turn, will be 53 next turn. The Aztecs have 60, so I feel a bit better about things. Exploration is now only 4 turns away. I may end up delaying it by a turn.

I had enough for a missionary at the start of the turn. Those chops mean I'm only 4 turns away from enough for an apostle. I think it's best to wait: there's a chance the apostle will get one of the promotions that lets it spread religion a few times and still proselytise.

Here's a look at Bryson and environs:

[rho21]

Oh yes, I broke 100/turn this turn for the first time.

I'm really regretting Maritime Industries right now. Surely Merchant Confederation was much the better choice.

[rho21]

Turn 123

Score tracking
Kongo finished a second civic in as many turns. One of them must be Civil Service as an alliance is now possible. I offer one immediately in the hope of the boost for Diplomatic Service.
Aztec grew a pop.

Military
The hoplites are arriving in the north shortly, so I'm discarding the concept of separate theatres for now. Anyway, nothing is moving on the Aztec side.

Housekeeping
Armoury complete at Xenocrates, boosting Gunpowder. The overflow goes to a Military Engineer, as the next thing poor Xenocrates needs to produce to help boost tech.
Research switched to Gunpowder straight away. Looks as though my 1 turn in banking took it a little past halfway. Oops. Well hey, at least the overflow wasn't lost this time.

Acropolis built at Dinostratus. The overflow goes into a quadrireme, as it'll be done just in time for the civic switch.

Monument finished at Pythagoras. With no boost cards in play right now, it will put a few turns into its commercial hub.

[rho21]

Turn 124

Kongo accepted the alliance (boosting Diplomatic Service - that's 270 that the Aztecs won't be getting). Let's take a look around. Their military consists of 2 knights, 1 crossbow 5 ngao mbebas and 3 archers. No traders, no builders. The army is mostly still over in the east. They have provided some scouting information west of Xenocrates but amazingly no more information in the south than my hoplites had already uncovered. I guess they ran into Aztecs down there and retreated. None of their units are in that vicinity either, so currently no advance warning of a potential Aztec attack.

Score tracking
Aztec finished a civic and recruited the great scientist Emilie du Chatelet. They also built a lighthouse. Looks as though their civic switch has given them about 14/turn more.
Kongo finished a tech and a campus. They have 4 more campuses, 1 commercial hub and 1 mbanza as yet incomplete.

Military
Nothing of interest.

Housekeeping
The next great scientist available is Isaac Newton (instantly builds a library and university; universities provide +2). Wow, what a great result! He is all but guaranteed to be mine (due to be claimed in 15 turns) and will be worth 12/turn to me.
Interestingly, he's another renaissance scientist (hence being recruited so soon). I was expecting an Industrial era scientist as 2 of the 3 of us are in the Renaissance, but I guess the game counts that as 2 out of 4 players or something. Must get strange in large games once half the players are eliminated.

Gunpowder is done. I head straight on to Metal Casting (3 turns) as I don't plan to build catapults for upgrade.
With professional army sword -> musket will cost 115, warrior -> musket will cost 155.

Dinostratus reached size 4 so has placed a harbour (at the discounted rate). It continues work on a quadrireme.

Here's a strategic view of the Kongolese heartlands:

[Garath]

Would you definitely see Kongolese traders? It hardly seems believable that they don't have any... and yet, in that shot, there do indeed seem to be no roads in the Kongo. No wonder they are hurting for gold so much!

They must have had absolutely no lurker input whatsoever - and yet I really can't go say anything. Bummer.

As for you, science and culture seem pretty playable now - and I expect the Aztecs to know that too. Accordingly, the military situation gets more worrying, because an attack gets more likely if they think you are catching up and even overtaking them on the other major metrics, no?

Can you show the new scouting information that you got from the Kongo alliance at some point?