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

[rho21]

Turn 163

Score tracking
The Aztecs finished Steel, obviously, and grew a population. No upgrades this turn. In fact they're pretty short of money right now: just 119 with 46/turn income.

Military
In the eastern ocean, my scout spots an Aztec frigate with its first move, and naturally runs away to the north. Extremely useful information, that.

In the south I see this:

I could turn this into a bloody mess by throwing units forwards, but I'd end up losing far more than I'd kill. Discretion seems the better part of valour, and my mounted expeditionary force falls back to the east to heal up and kill the barbarians. It won't be going far, just in case the Aztecs make a misstep. I simply can't fight under the walls of Diminished though.

Final positions:

Housekeeping
Frigate completed at Perseus. Pretty reasonable production here now, thanks to the factory. It starts a new Frigate, due in 9 turns. Seems more useful than a caravel, much as I'd like a second one.

Meton has built a granary. It starts on a builder next.

The trade route from Euclid to Frikandel is complete, giving me a trading post in Frikandel, which handily increases the value of all my trade routes there by 1/turn. The trader starts the same route again.

Research is switched from Steel to Steam Power this turn. It is due in 8 and will need to be delayed by a turn to match up with finishing the caravel in Dinostratus.

I think Kongo might finally be converted in the next few turns. My remaining two unconverted eastern cities will join Parallelism within 10 turns too.

[Chevalier Mal Fet]

I forgot that Kongo gets DotF, too! Maybe Japper DID know what he was doing, taking that civ. 

Does suboptimal have a religion, or if not, a holy site?

[rho21]

I forgot that Kongo gets DotF, too! Maybe Japper DID know what he was doing, taking that civ. 

If so, I suspect he's forgotten. The benefits only apply to his majority religion, and he wasted that free apostle a short while ago that could have converted his border cities and his civ with it. It would also be worth ~30/turn to him to be converted thanks to the Church Property belief.
Instead I think he was trying to get a relic by getting the apostle killed... but that only applies in religious combat. Oh well, hopefully he'll be converted by passive spread in the next few turns and realise what he's been missing out on.

Does suboptimal have a religion, or if not, a holy site?

The Aztecs captured a holy site from Egypt back in the mists of time and have been earning 1 prophet point/turn since then. They have 104 now and are still 136 turns off recruiting the prophet. It wouldn't take them all that long to get a religion if they wanted one though, so there's little hope of me pulling off a surprise religious victory.

[rho21]

Turn 164

Score tracking
Kongo upgraded a crossbow to a field cannon in Kapsalon.
The Aztecs finished yet another campus project. They'll need 3 more if they plan to steal the current scientist from Kongo.

Military
In the eastern ocean, my scouts are mostly withdrawing a bit. I don't really want to lose any to that frigate if I can help it.

Kongo has finished off the barbarian camp, after the spear in it foolishly left itself vulnerable by attacking my knight. The same knight now finishes off the ranger, earning itself a promotion. All other damaged units stop to heal.

Kongo appears to be moving forwards towards Diminished. I really hope they're just poking around, not actually thinking of attacking into the teeth of those defences. Perhaps they're trying to draw the Aztecs into exposing a unit to cannon fire.

Housekeeping
Bryson has converted. Hamka's will convert next turn unless it grows, and I think that's true of Frikandel too.

Amazingly, almost nothing else happened around the empire this turn. Next turn will be busier: I will need to change civic research, plus there's a couple of builders scheduled to come off the production lines.

[rho21]

Turn 165

Score tracking
Kongo finished Siege Tactics. I'm guessing they're trying to run a beeline to Steel now, but are probably 30-40 turns away.
The Aztecs founded a new city.

Military
A new barbarian camp has appeared in the northern wastes near Geneva. I send the arctic frigate and a horseman up that way to get some experience, plus a promoted musket just in case.

Kongo has advanced somewhat towards the Aztec forces in the south. Their knight near Diminished has taken a heavyish hit. I'm not sure how... surely the city can't shoot over the adjacent hills, can it?
Anyway, their muskets in the west will suffer casualties and do little of use, but there's some hope their field cannon can bait the Aztec cavalry into difficulty near Kapsalon.

Are they expecting me to throw my forces forwards again? There's really no point with Diminished covering the Aztec flank so effectively.

Housekeeping
Civic research switched to Nationalism (due in 11, will never be boosted), with one turn left to go on Natural History.

Hamka's and Frikandel have both converted. Kongo is still not officially converted despite 6/9 cities following the religion. I presume the pressure happens at the start of my turn, and Kongo will convert during its own turn.

The Apollonius - Geneva trade route is complete. The trader sets off for Frikandel this time.

The first of the new builders is complete in Pythagoras, which starts another. I'm currently hoping to get 6 total builders built during this brief spell running Public Works. One of those might be a bit of a push though.

The builder itself wanders towards Euclid and Aristaeus to improve infrastructure there.

[rho21]

Turn 166

Score tracking
The Aztecs have gained about 120 strength since last turn. They haven't spent any money on upgrades, so I guess that's just a couple of new units.

Military
Kongo has lost a musket in the south and retreated the other. They've also upgraded a second field cannon.

My units in the area will be all at full health in 2 turns' time.


Housekeeping
I can finally recruit the first great engineer of the game, James of St George. His power of building 3 free medieval walls is a bit irrelevant now, it must be said. Shame I can't use him to put up walls in Kapsalon and Waffles where they'd be vaguely useful. Still, he'll make an excellent unkillable scout. He's going to be scouting in the arctic ocean for now, as that's where I most fear an attack and where I could most use exploration info too.

The next great engineer is Robert Goddard who provides the boost for Rocketry, plus 20% towards space race projects. He costs 660 points though, so no-one will ever get to recruiting him.

Apollonius has finished a builder. With 7 base production, there really is nothing this city can build in any useful time. It gets started on another builder because whatever.

[rho21]

Turn 167

Score tracking
The Aztecs have spent 230 on upgrades this turn. That could well be 2 battleships.

Military
In the arctic, my frigate gets off an attack on the barbarian ranger, earning 4 XP.

My scouts in the eastern ocean are heading home, having completed their primary goal of exploring a good chunk of the ocean.

Housekeeping
The entertainment complex at Euclid is complete. It gets working on a builder.

That's my 17th district, which makes the third copy of each district discounted once I compete a tech or civic. That means I will be able to place an encampment, an entertainment complex, an industrial zone, a harbour and 2 holy sites at the reduced rate. Where might these go?

The encampment I was expecting to place at Diocles to help defend the flank of Xenocrates. It needs to claim the stone tile first though, which it will hopefully do in 13 turns.

No real need for another entertainment complex: the ones I have will cover every city except Diocles once they have zoos.

The three cities in the far east aren't in range of an industrial zone. Without a really good site, it's an awful lot of production to sink with a very long payoff time. I think I'll make do without and have more ships.

I'm planning to place a harbour at Bryson so it can build ships. It will be a while until it claims a tile for this; I may have to see if I can afford to buy one.

[rho21]

Turn 168

Score tracking
The Aztecs have built a campus, a campus building and an amphitheatre.
Kongo built a new musket.

Military
In the arctic ocean, my scouting engineer spots an Aztec caravel. Sadly I'm lacking a melee ship to point at it to see if it has a support bonus which might indicate battleships right behind it. Hopefully it's just a sentry.

The barbarian ranger has been killed by Geneva's units. My frigate moves to bombard the spear in the camp; the horseman also moves in and picks up some XP, leaving the spear almost dead. More XP next turn for the frigate, I should think, and the horseman can pick up the for clearing the camp.


Housekeeping
Dinostratus will convert next turn, my last city to do so.

Menaechmus has built a bombard. It starts on a builder, due in 3.

Hippocrates has finished my second entertainment complex. It works on an arena, due in 8. I imagine it will be straight on to a zoo after that.


So, how long until Steel? First up, I can't finish Steam Power until Dinostratus has built its caravel, which is due in 3 turns. So Steam Power finishes in 4 turns. I need to switch governments that turn too so I can enact Professional Army and upgrade the caravel into an ironclad.
Steel is currently ~120 short of halfway, so I'll probably invest a turn in it before Steam Power finishes. This will waste ~20 but get Steel a turn sooner, indeed as soon as the ironclad is upgraded, in 4 turns' time. Handily that's also the turn the final frigate will be completed in Perseus, so I'll be upgrading my entire navy in one turn.

Hopefully that will be soon enough. I have a problem with a lack of safe harbours on the eastern ocean: if the battleships show up now I can't just hide my frigates in cities as there's only one coastal one. Not that a city would be all that safe anyway, under battleship fire.

The bombard at Xenocrates won't be finished for 8 turns; no way I can afford to delay Steel that long. Oh well, I'm sure it can finish it as an artillery at some point.

[rho21]

Browser crashed and took my carefully crafted report with it. I'll see what I can remember.

Turn 169

Score tracking
The Aztecs finished a tech and completed an industrial zone. They also spent 115, presumably on a third upgrade.
Kongo upgraded another crossbow to a field cannon. They have 3 guarding Kapsalon now.

Military
My scouting great engineer did get kicked, and annoyingly reappeared in Menaechmus rather than the equidistant Perseus. Will take him slightly longer to get back out to sea.

My frigate finished off the barbarian spear and now has 12XP. The horse then cleared the camp, and leaves this little adventure with 5XP. And 50 of course, which will be very welcome in my coffers.

The bombards at Near Wild Heaven have disappeared and been replaced by field cannons. I wonder if they are heading around to the southern battlefield.

Housekeeping
Steam Power now has 1 turn left, so I switch to Steel for a turn and do a little micro to decrease my science by a couple of points, as it would just be wasted anyway. Next turn on to Scientific Theory for a couple of turns, then back to Steam Power to finish it. T173 will be my big turn of Steam, Steel and naval upgrades.

The factory is finished at Aristaeus, providing bonus production to Euclid, Meton and Aristaeus itself, plus C16 if I get to founding it. In hindsight, that industrial zone should have been one tile to the east, which would have given the bonus to 2 cities on the east coast at the cost of half of its adjacency bonus.

Aristaeus gets started on a builder, due in 3 turns.

Pythagoras has finished a builder and starts on an amphitheatre, expected in 5 turns. I will buy an art museum there to house the great works that I will have in approximately 20 turns.

Bryson has also finished a builder. I still have very little to build here: it will want a harbour before too long, but that has to wait until the discount kicks in, and for me to have enough money spare to buy the tile. It starts a new builder, even though (as for Apollonius) I'm expecting to have swapped out of the relevant booster policy before it will finish.

[rho21]

Turn 170

Score tracking

Military
New barbarian camp near the Kongolese capital. I send three knights and the great general to help clear it.

Nothing much moving, as yet.

Housekeeping
I miscounted last turn, T172 is the big turn of naval upgrades.

Not much happened this turn on the home front either, mostly I just moved builders around and improved some tiles.

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Round-number roundup™


Civ Comparison

Civ	Cities	Pop	Techs	Civics	Gold	Districts	Military
Aztec	17	120	41 (+153.1/turn)	27 (+89.6/turn)	73 (+36/turn)	27: 4 Encampments, 3 Harbours, 3 Industrial zones, 7 Commercial hubs, Holy site, 6 Campuses, Theatre square, 2 Entertainment complexes	1935 strength
Kongo	9	58	29 (+86.8/turn)	21 (+62.9/turn)	38(+33/turn)	14: Harbour, 4 Commercial Hubs, 6 Campuses, 3 Theatre squares	525 strength
Greece	12	82	38 (+142.6/turn)	26 (+89.1/turn)	926 (+93/turn)	18: Encampment, Harbour, 2 Industrial Zones, 3 Commercial Hubs, Holy site, 3 Campuses, 4 Acropolises, 2 Entertainment complexes	1662 strength

The big story of the past 10 turns is the Aztecs increasing their rate by nearly 30%. They've given up a lot of income to do that though, while mine is flying. I'm also continuing to catch up on strength.


Great People
Recruited so far:
Greece: Generals (classical), Prophet, 2 Scientists, Merchant, Engineer.
Aztec: 2 Generals (medieval + renaissance), Admiral (classical), 2 Scientists, 2 Merchants.
Kongo: 2 Writers, Artist

Up now (bold indicates who will claim them at current rates):

• (General) Napoleon Bonaparte (420): Greece 198 +3/turn, Aztec 126 +7/turn
  
• (Admiral) Francis Drake (240): Aztec 182 +5/turn, Kongo 98 +2/turn, Greece 20 +1/turn
  
• (Engineer) Robert Goddard (660): Aztec 68 +5/turn, Greece 23 +6/turn
  
• (Merchant) John Spilsbury (420): Greece 295 +8/turn, Kongo 240 +6/turn, Aztec 217 +12/turn
  
• (Prophet) Madhva Acharya(240): Aztec 111 +1/turn
  
• (Scientist) Dmitri Mendeleev (420): Kongo 374 +7/turn, Greece 278 +9/turn, Aztec 269 +16/turn
  
• (Writer) Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (420): Kongo 313.5 +9/turn, Greece 287 +6/turn, Aztec 31 +2/turn
  
• (Artist) Qiu Ying (420): Greece 268 +6/turn, Kongo 109.5 +4.5/turn, Aztec 29 +1/turn
  
• (Musician) Yatsuhashi Kengyo (420): Kongo 349.5 +4.5/turn, Greece 228 +4/turn, Aztec 29 +1/turn
  

Claimed the engineer. I will need to make some effort if I want the merchant (4 amenities, so probably). The scientist may well be sniped from Kongo by the Aztecs, not much I can do.


Research and boosts

Tech	Cost remaining (* if without boost)	Boost	Turns until boost
Military Tactics	150	Already boosted
Scientific Theory	140	Already boosted
Steam Power	130*	2 shipyards	Never
Sanitation	970*	2 neighbourhoods	Never?
Economics	485	Already boosted
Flight	1140*	Industrial or later wonder	Never?
Replaceable Parts	570	Already boosted
Steel	Completes on boost	Coal Mine + Ironclad	2 turns
Electricity	625	3 privateers	20 turns
Radio	1250*	National park	50?
Chemistry	1250*	Research agreement	Never?
Combustion	625	Extract artifact	20?

The boost for Steel is almost in hand, and all is progressing well despite the complete lack of finished techs in the past 10 turns. I think the Aztecs have 3 battleships right now, so a major goal will be to combine my upcoming two fleets of 2 battleships each into a superior fleet, and then see what damage I can do.

Civic	Cost remaining (* if without boost)	Boost	Turns until boost
Naval Tradition	200*	Kill with quadrireme	Never
Divine Right	290*	2 temples	Never
Reformed Church	200	Already boosted
Nationalism	395*	Declare war with casus belli	Never
Opera & Ballet	362.5	Build art museum	4
Natural History	19	Already boosted
Urbanisation	1060*	Size 15 city	20?
Scorched Earth	530	Already boosted

Natural History will be finished in 2 turns, to coincide with Steam Power and Steel. I've made big strides towards the full cost of Nationalism.