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

[rho21]

Turn 46

Score tracking
Aztec goes up by 29 CQUI military strength. Could be all healing, could be another unit.
Egypt meanwhile jumps by 43 CQUI military strength! I suspect that's a little healing plus one of their unique chariot archers. They also caught up with the rest of us on 4 completed civics.

Eastern Theatre
Euclid's builder is done, Hoplite started.

Western Theatre
Well that's irritating. The spawn sound I heard after hitting end turn last time was a new barbarian archer in the rainforest NE of the camp. It's going to be a pain to get rid of, and also threaten some significant damage to my nearby warrior and archer. Hrm.

In the end I decide on diverting the campus guard to help out, retreating the other warrior onto the nearby hill for protection. It would have been in serious risk if I had cleared the camp with it. This archer is going to single-handedly delay the attack on Valletta by at least a couple of turns. Hopefully I can deal with it and the barbarian camp next turn, but I'm going to have to wait a few turns for healing. I won't be able to poach the builder next turn without exposing the campus to pillage, probably. Not the end of the world, the extra will speed the trader up.

Here's how things look in that area at the end of the turn:

[Garath]

Wow, that Valletan warrior threating pillage on your campus is further from its city state than I thought was possible, by several tiles. Which is really annoying, because I was pretty convinced that stealing the builder should have been worth it - by the time you are actually ready to attack it normally it will probably have used all the charges, I imagine.

Please note that while I'm talking less than I expected/intended to, largely that's because your reporting is fantastic and already tells me pretty much everything I'm interested in!

[rho21]

Turn 47

Score tracking
Aztec completes a fifth civic and grows 2 population.
Kongo also gets a fifth civic. We can probably assume they're both about 8 turns from the next tier of governments.
Egypt finishes a holy site.

Western Theatre
The barbarian archer did a chunk of damage to the warrior next to it. In return, I shot it with my archer for 54 damage, then killed the camp with the other warrior. Lastly I decided to attack the archer with the warrior next to it. Not sure that was a great idea, as there's a chance the archer will be able to destroy it. The warrior has 39HP, the archer somewhere around 10-15. The archer will be attacking at 17, the warrior at 14 (or 16 if it gets the support bonus in this situation). Anyway, the archer will need a maximum roll to kill my warrior.

No sign of any units around Valletta, and I reckon I can attack this turn if I want to. Why? Because I can get an archer shot in this turn on the warrior next to the campus, and two more next turn if it moves to the campus. Should be about enough to kill it as both the archers have volley promotion.

So, in favour of attacking: I grab the builder with 2 charges left, and it can't chop one of the forests. I get the drop on the warrior near Pythagoras.
And against: I have just a warrior and an archer near Valletta, and the other units for the assault will take a while to arrive. The warrior can get there in two turns to start the siege (it will need to pillage a farm to heal) but the archer will be a long time. It will be a grind to take the city with just the three units. Attacking might prompt the city state to build more units / put up walls. Also, I'll lose maybe 8 for losing the envoy.

Tough decision...

I think it's worthwhile, on balance.

Builder captured, archer does 33 damage to the warrior.

Housekeeping
Mine built at Euclid. Iron mine in 2 turns.
Settler (and counteracting growth) due next turn at Pythagoras.

[Garath]

I am happy with this decision, I think. Stealing builder charges is just so good!

[rho21]

Turn 48

Score tracking
Egypt has finished a sixth tech.
Aztec has finished a seventh tech. It also gained 64 CQUI military strength, to take the lead in that category. Not sure what that's made up of. 2 Eagle Warriors and a bit of healing? It's going to get tricky to track military from here.
For comparison, I have 8 techs, but I also have 3 more close to completion.

Eastern Theatre
Euclid:

A decision beckons here. I could spend 105 on that third ring iron tile. This would give me a second source of iron in borders immediately, enabling building swords directly (once iron working is researched). Not that I'm likely to do too much of that given the number of warriors I have about. It would also give me a third hill to mine here (for the apprenticeship boost). The tile picker is being thoroughly recalcitrant right now, it just loves those tiles off to the south. Lastly it would be a great fourth tile for Euclid (which is due to grow to a fourth population in 6 turns).
Right now my best tiles are:

• Marble quarry (grassland hill): 2 2 1
  
• Wheat farm (plains): 3 1
  
• Mine (plains hill): 1 3
  
• Forest (grassland river): 2 1
  

An iron mine (plains hill) would be 1 3 1. Pretty sweet.

On the flip side, 105 is a lot of money. Could it be better spent elsewhere?

Western Theatre
The warrior by the campus moved towards the archer that shot it last turn (which it couldn't attack due to the forest). It got shot again for its troubles, taking 55 damage and surviving with only about 5-10HP left. No further concern up here.

Further south, the barbarian archer shot the warrior that had cleared the camp, leaving it fairly deep in the red. I had the option of a free shot with my archer to kill it, but chose instead to use the campus guard warrior to pick up 5XP instead of 1. That warrior should have plenty of time to retreat and heal now.

The other units that had attacked the barbarian camp headed towards Valletta. The warrior is badly damaged and a little exposed, but I'm hopeful I can get it to a farm to pillage.
Lastly the archer near Valletta shot at the city to gain some XP, and the warrior moved over the river onto the desert hill by the city. From here a damaged Vallettan archer was visible (which shot the warrior at the end of the turn, I think). This may take a bit of effort to bring down, will depend how stupid the AI is today. Hopefully it's moved closer so my archer can engage it next turn.

Housekeeping
The settler is done at Pythagoras; a trader is started (due in 5). Pythagoras switches from working the dyes to the wheat to maximise food while there's no production multiplier. It's due to grow in 8 turns, though I might slow that down after the trader is done.

Research switched back to Horseback Riding, as Wheel is only a tiny bit short of 50%.

[rho21]

With State Workforce finishing next turn, it's high time for a bit of planning for the next ~10 turns until Early Empire finishes and another civic swap is available.

Priorities:

• I don't think it's worth producing any more settlers during this time, may as well wait for the 50% boost card. I will want to get a couple of settlers out ASAP once Early Empire comes in though.
  
• No great need for builders right now either.
  
• I would like to get a library built to (hopefully) cement my claim on the first scientist. Perhaps this shouldn't be a priority though, as the scientist isn't all that great. There's plenty of time to push for the second one (at twice the price) before the boost for Education (recruit a great scientist) is needed. Education is a really easy tech to get to, so it would be possible to push there early. My science rate is really good already though, and has room for expansion, so I don't see Education as at all urgent.
  
• A wonder (for the Drama & Poetry boost) would be a really good thing to have produced before too long. I think I'll want that boost in ~25 turns, ideally.
  
• Getting a couple of hoplites out of Euclid and attacking Yerevan seems tempting, now it has a holy site and before it has walls up.
  

Policies to consider:

• Conscription: -1 maintenance per unit (3/turn right now)
  
• Agoge: +50% to early melee, ranged & anti-cav units
  
• Ilkum: +30% for builders
  
• Corvee: +15% to early wonders
  
• Urban planning: +1 in all cities
  
• Strategos: +2 great general points per turn
  

Dropping Strategos for this government would allow me to run both Conscription and Agoge. I have a fair lead on the Aztecs right now and can put the card back in after the next swap. It would give them a chance to grab the general though, if they really push for it.

So I see three major strategies and one oddball plan:

• Conscription, Agoge, Corvee.
  Pythagoras finishes its trader (4 turns) then starts the Hanging Gardens (~12 turns). Euclid builds a pair of hoplites (~8 turns).
  
• Conscription, Agoge, Strategos.
  Pythagoras finishes its trader then starts a military unit to be chopped into either a library or the Hanging Gardens by the final charge of Euclid's current builder. Euclid builds a pair of hoplites.
  
• Conscription, Corvee, Strategos.
  Pythagoras finishes its trader then works on a library or the Hanging Gardens. Euclid switches immediately to building a wonder (Pyramids or Stonehenge).
  
• Conscription, Ilkum, Strategos.
  Both cities produce builders (Pythagoras finishes its trader first, Euclid switches immediately). These are then used after the next civics switch for chopping (through military units / settlers) towards wonders and infrastructure (possibly including finishing the commercial district at Euclid).
  

Your thoughts on this and the question of buying a tile in Euclid (I'm leaning towards yes there) would be much appreciated.

[rho21]

Turn 49 part 1

Visible on the marble 2E of C6 is a Kongo settler and archer. I wonder where they're planning to settle; hopefully it's C6 itself. Anyway, I'm well beaten to this spot, I should redirect the settler to C5, I imagine.

There's bigger news to come this turn though.

My warrior by Valletta has taken a hit from the archer, which didn't move. I decided to charge forwards, as if the archer is isolated I can leave it seriously damaged, while my warrior will be relatively safe.
Taking a step reveals it has support from a warrior. Which I should have known because I can see a support bonus in its combat panel. D'oh. Anyway, no way I can attack it now, so I fortify the warrior in place. The fortification bonus means it should survive the attacks of the two combined, hopefully. It's standing on a farm so can pillage to heal assuming it lives.
More importantly, though, taking that step revealed an Eagle Warrior behind the archer, so let's... meet the Aztecs.

The Aztecs are producing per turn 12.4, 9.1, 0 and 11! They have a treasury of 274.
They have one source each of Iron & Gypsum connected.
Cities are:

• Can't Get There From Here (3 population)
  
• Harborcoat (4 population)
  
• Welcome to the Occupation (2 population + encampment)
  
• Which leaves the capital with 4 population.
  

They have contact with Egypt, but no contact as yet with Kongo.

Where on earth is all that coming from? Gypsum provides 1 when worked, and other bonus or unconnected luxury resources might be providing the rest. It's also possible they are earning some from an encampment project (assuming that shows up in the production statistics).

Anyway, pausing here for more thought.

[rho21]

Turn 49 part 2

Score tracking
Egypt finished a fifth civic (as did we), so we're all four tied there again briefly.
Kongo added another unit's worth of strength, probably another archer.
The Aztecs' culture rate is scary. I guess they captured monuments at both city states.

Eastern Theatre
Decided to go for the tile purchase (next turn). That tile will be great for Euclid immediately.

Western Theatre
As discussed above, the warrior west of Valletta is in a slightly sticky situation but will hopefully survive. There's some chance the Aztecs will help us here if they can steal a builder from the capture of a damaged Vallettan unit.
The nearby archer is now due a promotion thanks to shooting the city.
The heavily damaged warrior is heading for the northern wheat farm to pillage; should be the safest one.

Back to the north, the settler spots an approaching barbarian scout, so its escort moves and shoots the scout straight into the red.

Housekeeping
So, time for the big civics decision. Overflow means there are only 8 turns until the next swap. Given the possibility that Aztec is running an encampment project, I'd like to keep hold of Strategos for now.

Looking back at the suggestions from two posts ago, the second one is impossible: that's 2 military policies and a wildcard. That one should have been Agoge, Urban Planning, Strategos, with largely the same strategy as outlined. The lack of Conscription would hurt to the tune of ~30 but I'd gain the great general points. I'd also look rather silly for racing to State Workforce.

I'm not a great fan of a wonder in Euclid. It would take ~20 turns for the Pyramids (allowing for growth). A very long time when I have other plans I'd like to bring to fruition.

The other major option for Euclid is to prepare for an attack on Yerevan, for which I definitely want Agoge in the military slot. For the economic slot it's a choice between Corvee (build the Hanging Gardens) and Urban Planning (build the library). And for the wildcard, it's either Conscription (for gold) or Strategos (for a general).

I don't think there's time to wait for the wonder, it will already take me about 15 turns from now (starting after the trader). And I really don't think I can afford to lose the first general to the Aztecs. That might be a game-losing move (if they go and conquer Egypt with it), while giving up 30 is merely an inconvenience.

However, it's not actually worth slotting in Corvee right now, as it will only affect one city for 4 turns. I'd expect it to be worth 12.6 x 0.15 x 4 ~= 7.5. Meanwhile, Urban Planning will be worth more like 20.

So Agoge, Urban Production, Strategos it is, with the plan to start the Hanging Gardens when the trader is done.

Sorry, that was all a little bit unstructured. Still, a decision has finally been reached.

Bad news in the post-turn sounds. I think Valletta finished a unit, which was enough to kill my warrior.
That will make the conquest pretty tricky, especially with an eagle warrior hanging around to intervene.

[Garath]

I thought I liked buying the second iron tile at Euclid, originally. But now I'm suspecting that given the position of the Kongolese settler you may well want to settle C3 earlier rather than later to form a border, and since that has a first-ring iron, it would be redundant to also buy the one at Euclid. The biggest issue with that is that there's a decent chance C3 won't even be legal if Kongo is feeling unhelpful.

Further to that, did we reevaluate city locations when the iron resources were found? Because right now C3 looks like at least as good a city location as C5 anyway, and I'm a bit surprised looking at it with fresh eyes that this isn't where the existing settler is going!

[Garath]

The Valletta situation sounds pretty bad. I'd be tempted to abandon the attack, honestly - trading a warrior for two charges of builder is still probably a good deal, even though it could have been much better - except that given Aztec's position that seems *very* likely to just give them an uncontested capture of the city. Especially if that's why their units to the west of the city are already damaged, which I don't know.

All the same, though, we just don't have the assets in place right now. Sniping for archer experience (while still bringing up the rest of what forces we do have!) sounds like the best plan for now, unless you think weakening Valletta might be too likely to give it to the Aztecs before the rest of your forces get there!

Overall I'm getting quite impressed (or worried!) by the Aztec position. Four cities already, and massive military power suggests they aren't anywhere near stopping yet!