[Spoilers] All rho21s lead to Rome

[rho21]

Turn 50

Score tracking
Brazil and Aztec both gained a tech this turn, while Russia grew a population. The Aztecs also gained 50, so either cleared a camp or pillaged a Greek improvement.

Greece has built a hoplite, I suspect it's their second. They're not a great matchup against Eagle Warriors: while the hoplites get +10 strength for adjacency, the eagles get their own +10 strength for fighting against anti-cavalry units. This leaves things slightly in favour of the eagle warriors. And of course it's much worse when the Aztecs start upgrading the eagles to swords.

On the plus side, the Greeks chose God of the Forge pantheon for +25% production towards ancient and classical military, so they should have enough units to hold their own for the moment.


Military
I've realised that if I declare war on Kandy this turn, one of my legions will be kicked back a fair distance over the river. Better instead to set up for a more devastating attack next turn.


Housekeeping
Trade route started from Allia River to Lake Trasimene for 111 and a potentially useful road. And of course the boost for Currency, which is now 2 turns from completion.

Lake Trasimene regrew to size 3. I am currently setting up to bring the builder that will be finished at Cannae in two turns south immediately to chop the rainforest by Lake Trasimene through the end of the builder, putting its overflow into a campus placed on the same space.


Timeline
T51: War on Kandy.
T52: Currency researched. Builder complete at Cannae. Place a couple of commercial hubs.
T53: Builder complete at Allia River. Kandy conquered? C5a founded or...
T54: ... C5b founded. Games & Recreation discovered.
T55: Chop rainforest at Lake Trasimene, completing the builder and placing a campus.


Picture corner
Here's the setup ready for war with Kandy. No move planning yet, as a lot will depend on where Kandy's units are next turn. Looks like about 4 legion attacks to take the city, for reference.

---

It's round up time again.

Civ Comparison

Civ	Cities	Pop	Techs	Civics	Districts	Military	Gold
Aztec	4	11	8 (10.9/turn)	5 (8.6/turn)	None	236 (2nd)	111 (~3/turn)
Brazil	4	15	7	6	2 Campuses	5th
Russia	2	9	8	5	2 Lavras, 1 Campus	4th
Greece	2	6	5 (7.6/turn)	4 (2.9/turn)	None	132 (3rd)	112 (~2/turn)
Rome	3	9	7 (9.6/turn)	8 (10.0/turn)	None	260 (1st)	126 (6.4/turn)
Germany	3	7	6	4	None	6th

Brazil is a concern on the other continent, with a significant population lead and a very strong science position.

Germany is looking very vulnerable, last or next to last in basically every statistic.


Research and boosts

Tech	Cost remaining (* if without boost)	Boost	Turns until boost
Sailing	25	Coastal city	~20?
Astrology	25	Find natural wonder	??
Irrigation	25	Farm on resource	~15?
Masonry	40	Quarry on resource	6
Wheel	40	Already boosted
Celestial Navigation	60	2 improved seafood	25?
Currency	2	Already boosted
Horseback Riding	60	Already boosted
Shipbuilding	100	2 galleys	40?
Mathematics	100	3 different districts	25?
Construction	100	Water mill	25?
Engineering	100	Walls	20?
Military Tactics	300*	Kill with spear	Never
Apprenticeship	150	3 mines	~10
Machinery	150	3 archers	10?

Currency is due for completion very shortly and the way is clear for Apprenticeship. I may well pick up Masonry before I get that far so I can work on walls as soon as the boost card is enabled.

It's also worth considering paying full price for Irrigation just so I can get some luxuries completed. I'm hoping to capture a farm from the Aztecs at Nan Madol to get the boost before long anyway though.

Civic	Cost remaining (* if without boost)	Boost	Turns until boost
Games & Recreation	19*	Research construction	Never
Drama & Poetry	110*	Build a wonder	??
Military Training	60	Encampment	~8
Defensive Tactics	175*	Be attacked	??
Recorded History	87.5	2 campuses	30?
Theology	120*	Found a religion	??

I intend to go for Defensive Tactics next after Games & Recreation (ideally with the Aztecs declaring war on me first, but that seems unlikely), then head on a beeline for Mercenaries and the cheap upgrades it unlocks. Mostly because that's where I will have the boosts already done, giving a bit more time to build a wonder, make a couple of campuses etc.

[rho21]

First of all, sorry for being a bad dedlurker. I didn't really have anything to add.

Not at all. The game is moving quite slowly, and it's still early so there haven't been all that many major decisions to make recently. There's only so much that can be said.

And to make matters worse, I've stupidly clicked on the genlurker thread and read a bit before realizing that I wasn't supposed to read that thread. I'm spoiled on some high-level details about the map layout, so I guess I should restrict myself to immediate tactical concerns until you know more about your starting continent. With some wars coming up, there will probably be some of those, at least.

I'm sure there are plenty of areas you can still help with safely in the short term. C5a vs C5b, for instance, and other settling decisions down the line. And any tactical concerns in the upcoming wars, as you say.

It's worth taking great caution though. A little map knowledge makes it very easy to provide confirmation for something I already believe (e.g. that the Aztec capital is off to the SE). Wouldn't provide major spoilers, but it's still worth avoiding.

[rho21]

Turn 51

Score tracking
Brazil gained an 8th tech, their second in as many turns.
Germany grew an 8th population.
No sign of big movements in the Aztec-Greek war.

Military
The Aztecs have an archer on their unbuilt encampment. Perhaps they will attack my units approaching there (as escort to the settler).

My scouting warrior in Greece has spotted the borders of Greece's second city peeking out of the fog to the SE of their capital.

And so to Kandy.

Tactically, my goals are, in order:

1. Avoid losses
   
2. Be ready to move forwards against the Aztecs quickly
   
3. Capture the builder
   
4. Earn as much XP as possible
   
5. Pillage the elephant camp for bonus
   

Looking at the numbers again, it's probably only 3 legion attacks to take the city, especially with archers ready to do extra plink damage. That can be one legion this turn, two next turn, so I only need to divert 2 legions total to attacking the city itself.

Here's the distribution of Kandy's forces at the start of the turn. The white circle marks where their other warrior must be, the red lines my plan of attack:

First up, the slinger to the west can hit Kandy's warrior there. It will take a load of damage in return, but will be safe to make a second attack provided I can conquer the city. I then plan to use it to guard Kandy while the rest of my army moves on. It attacks at 15 v 23, causing 18 damage (a little below expectations, not that that matters) and more importantly earning 5 XP.

The legion SE of Kandy attacks the city at 44 v 21 (not 22? I think it lost strength when my envoys disappeared as I declared war). It does 61 damage, suffering 13 itself. That's close to the worst possible roll for both.
The legion NW of Kandy moves SE onto the hill, besieging the city.
The archer moves onto the tile the legion just vacated and shoots Kandy's archer at 30 v 13, doing 54 damage and gaining 4 XP. Also below average, but it won't matter.
The remaining legion now demolishes the archer at 46 v 8, suffering 7 damage in the process.

The units not engaging in combat this turn move as marked on the map. That leaves us in this situation:

Housekeeping
The Aztecs offer friendship. I don't think I'd be signing that even if I didn't intend to attack soon. No way I'd be giving the Aztecs free rein to go after the Greeks. I decide to reject the offer rather than ignoring it.

[rho21]

Turn 52

Score tracking
Greece discovered Early Empire (my unit got kicked out of their borders) and also their sixth tech.
Germany grew a population, to 9.

Military
Three units attacked, as expected. My slinger has 41 health left, one of my archers is down to 63, and a legion has 81. It almost killed the warrior attacking it, too. Plus it earned a promotion.

At Kandy:

First up, my undamaged legion NW of Kandy attacks the city at 44 v 18, doing 77 damage and suffering 10 itself. The city has 62 health left, meaning my other legion is guaranteed to take it (minimum is 76 damage).
That means my other units can grab whatever XP they can see.

My archer NW of Kandy picks off the redlined warrior.
My warrior pillages the camp for 50.
My archer SE of Kandy shoots the adjacent warrior, picking up enough XP for a promotion.
My slinger off in the west takes another potshot at the warrior, safe in the knowledge it will disappear when Kandy is captured. It also earns a promotion.
Lastly my legion takes Kandy, suffering 10 damage in the process.

Housekeeping
Kandy has a shrine in its holy site. It also has a damaged monument, which it sets about repairing. The city has neither food nor housing right now, and will be extremely slow to grow. It will turn into a very strong city with a few border expansions and a baths though.

The captured builder at Kandy immediately repairs the pillaged camp. Not a bad tile to be working for now.

My settler is in position to found C5a this turn or C5b next turn. In the end I decide on C5b. It's a slightly weaker position long term, but that's made up for by much easier access to forests to chop. Those extra forests are also second ring for C7a, but that's much further down the line, and anyway I'm not certain I'm founding in that precise location.

A builder is complete at Cannae, which gets going on its encampment, due in 7 turns. The builder heads towards Lake Trasimene for a chop, as planned.

Currency is complete. Next up is Masonry, though I'll have to delay it by a turn to give time for the builder coming out of Allia River to quarry the gypsum at C5.

With currency, I can also place some commercial hubs while they're cheap. Cannae and Allia River both get one. They will cost 126 to finish.

[Chevalier Mal Fet]

What are you thinking of renaming Kandy? As a religious city-state Beth Horon seems like an appropriate choice.

[rho21]

I'd not considered it at all, actually. That's a really good suggestion, I'll go with it.

[rho21]

Turn 53

Score tracking
Greece has grown a 7th population and finished an encampment (plus dropped Strategos last turn for something better).
The Aztecs made a settler, and jumped up by 33 in military strength. Could be promotion healing, but I'm going to guess they finished another eagle warrior.
Over on the other continent, Brazil grew a 16th population.


Military
A couple of Aztec units have appeared near Kandy: an eagle and an archer. Advancing a legion reveals a hoplite there too, and another one supporting it in the fog. So not an Aztec probe against me, rather a line of battle against the Greeks. It will be great news if I can slam forces into the flank of the Aztecs.

The hoplite and archer are unpromoted, the eagle has one promotion (but the interface isn't telling me which one for some reason).

Some of my units heal, others move up in a vaguely aggressive pattern.


Housekeeping
Allia River has finished a builder. It works on its commercial hub for now, though I may well change that after the next civic swap. The builder heads for C5 to quarry the gypsum.

A little micro (working a 21 tile instead of 22) at Lake Trasimene will prevent it finishing its builder a turn early, before I can chop it. I wasn't expecting to need this, but I'd forgotten that capturing Kandy came with ivory, which has bumped the city up to happy. I need to remember to undo this tile swap next turn.

Mentioning Kandy, I've renamed it to Beth Horon. Thanks for the suggestion.

It's also time to plant C5b, which I name Trebia. The city doesn't have a district to place yet, so I'm not sure what it should be working on. I decide on putting some into a builder for now, though I expect it will also switch to something else once civics change.

Mentioning civic changes, Games & Recreation is a trickle away from completion, but I'd really like to wait for a turn. This will let me switch civics straight after the builder is done there. I'm not sure if it's more military or more settlers from the next government. Probably the former.

And mentioning that, I'm not sure all the Aztec forces are in the north (bar the archer near Trebia), so I think it's more important to upgrade units at Trebia than to upgrade more of my main army at Beth Horon. Accordingly, I upgrade both the warrior and the slinger, for a total of 155. That will force the Aztec archer to retreat from the unfinished encampment (or die). Upgrading a third archer also boosts Machinery.

[RFS-81]

Mentioning civic changes, Games & Recreation is a trickle away from completion, but I'd really like to wait for a turn. This will let me switch civics straight after the builder is done there. I'm not sure if it's more military or more settlers from the next government. Probably the former.

I vote for more military. If you want to hit the Aztecs, there's no better time than now, while they're also fighting Greece.

You probably already know this, but just in case you don't: If you end up fighting Greece at some point, watch out for promoted Hoplites. There's this promotion that gives anti-cav units +10 against melee units, effectively cancelling out the bonus that melee units have against them. A hoplite with this promotion and another hoplite adjacent can basically fight on equal terms with an unpromoted swordsman.

[rho21]

You probably already know this, but just in case you don't: If you end up fighting Greece at some point, watch out for promoted Hoplites. There's this promotion that gives anti-cav units +10 against melee units, effectively cancelling out the bonus that melee units have against them. A hoplite with this promotion and another hoplite adjacent can basically fight on equal terms with an unpromoted swordsman.

They still give up 5 strength to a legion even then, and they don't get any other support bonuses while the legion might get a flanking bonus. They're certainly a match for eagle warriors once promoted though. The one I can see right now isn't promoted, though. It's probably going to be quite difficult for Greece to get it much XP while fighting the Aztecs.

As far as military vs settlers goes, it should definitely be military if that helps me conquer the Aztecs. I feel that's the way I'm going, particularly as I don't think I'm going to be able to follow through with my plan to liberate the ex-city-state I'm about to attack: it's right next to Greece and just too tempting a target for them if I march off south. I very much plan to liberate the other city state though, and quite possibly try to keep it alive for the rest of the game. It will form an excellent target for trade routes in the mid-game and will be well hidden from players on the other continent.

[rho21]

Three days later, the turn is back.

Turn 54

Score tracking
The civs on the other continent all finished techs this turn. Looks as though Russia built a library last turn too.
Greece built another hoplite. They now have 0 income.
The Aztecs have the starts of walls around both their captured city states. I'm going to have to prioritise rams next, but perhaps I can at least get to Dolemite before the walls are done. There's a good chance they have a builder to chop them out if necessary though.


Military
The Aztec units have all backed away from mine, so no war this turn.

My units advance. I can now see 3 eagle warriors and an archer at Dolemite facing off against at least 4 hoplites. May be a couple of turns until I'm in position to declare war.

At They Live, I probably don't have enough force to actually attack the city, especially with the chance of walls finishing, but I'll do a little scouting and apply some pressure anyway.


Housekeeping
I remember to switch back the tile I microed last turn at Lake Trasimene; the chop there will happen next turn.

That means I can finish Games & Recreation next turn too, so I swap back to that.
Masonry is just under a turn from halfway, so I change research to Horseback Riding for the time being. Masonry will be boosted in 2 or 3 turns.

The captured builder at Beth Horon is heading back to the core. Beth Horon already has a good tile to work and won't grow any time soon, while Cannae could make good use of a mine or two.