Turn 116
China has dowed Rome with less milpower and Rome has been denounced. This smells like early leader syndrome biting him in the ass. My pop is strong as is my potential but my subpar tech rate means I am 5-6 techs behind China, Rome and another CIV. Yes thanks to Krill blocking me I am kind of blind. But given the domination score and culture where I am dominant, one other player seems strong and the other very weak.
I am toying with the idea of joining China against Rome, but China even with 2 serious cities outpaces me on science and could quickly overwhelm me. My best idea is to play the long game still. I am not seeing a better move right now which sucks. The isthmus towards China is impossible to get through with land and sea presence. And I barely got 2 galleys atm.
So I need to hunker down and concentrate on my tech path and eureka whatever I can.
Science is an issue
So, Education is a priority as is getting 1-2 more campuses out. Don´t panic has a campus +2 and my libraries are worth +3 and the universities +4. Rationalism with my huge cities could actually be worth it. I don´t have any campus with +4 but could get 3 cities with 15 pop and campuses. So +9 for three cities. Subpar indeed. Conquering Preslav adds 2 swamps (+4) and I could get a decent campus but costs of new districts are already prohibitive. POP growth brings +0.5 science each and I can probably get about 15-20 more pops if I play my cards right, but I lack the campi to seriously work this problem. Natural philosphy is so-so.
Free Inquiry is of no help as well, as I only have 3 commercial districts and I needed monumentalism. Another golden age to get it looks unlikely as the chinese and the roman science should advance the age quickly. So only bad options with science.
Analysing the science situation I think priority should be universities in my high production towns and especially in Don´t Panic to get Pingala the science promotion for overkill. As my easiest governor title is the Grand Master Chapel (7-8) turns this is where I go next.
Preslav which is probably worth +6 science thanks to the swamps also has a good campus waiting. But the military situation is a nightmare. I have barely enough gold for the man at arms and the two crossbows I have right now. The only solution here is crusade for +10 combat strength when fighting against cities of my own religion. This could also help against China if he gets ideas.
and the Military situation
I am poor on gold which makes any war a nightmare. My best bet is the Grand Masters Chapel and to use my frankly silly faith income of +120 faith to just buy the armies I need. The current rate equals one builder buy per turn which is awesome. But I need to bank faith for 2 domreys (era score and eureka) and other stuff. Navy is something which I will never have and this is a big problem down the line, so my cities need not only city walls but also medieval walls down the line. Also Encampments. I dislike this approach but I am too far behind in tech for the next 50 turns. This is bad I am reliant on nobody behind Krill winning or loosing.
And do not get me started on my tech tree. I can boost everything but Cartography. So Industralization is an issue. And a big one down the line. A beeline for scientific theory is my best bet. And building Oxford University in Vogon Poetry.
So Domreys and musketman will have to do somehow. And I need to repair my gold income.
