[SPOILERS] Money in the bank, pimpin' ain't easy (AUSTRIA)

[Jowy]

Finished Construction, next up is Currency.

Vienna completed the Stonehenge!



It will speed up our GE generation and gets us a religion faster. With +12 faith a turn, we'll get there really fast.
I hope I'm the next one to get a religion so we'll get to claim all the happiness stuff we need.
Started a settler for the furs spot in the north. Already roading that way. Workers are running out of useful things to do.



Speaking of the north, I found ruins there. Got a map, gee thanks. A whole lot of ocean.



Salzburg finished a circus and started a colosseum.
Remember those 4 barbarian camps from way back? Two are still standing despite my best efforts.
Eastern one will fall next turn if it doesn't spawn a new barb. I have a chariot archer and a regular archer working on the southern one, currently healing after killing two barbs.
My trireme is chasing a barb trireme.. with the same amount of movement points, it can't ever hit it. Gotta wait until the barbs get bored and stop.

Made a cheeky offer to Jkaen. Three of our horses for one of his iron. Yerevan is asking for iron, that's why.

[Jowy]

I've got good news and bad news. Bad news is that the eastern barb camp spawned another defender before I could take it out.
Good news is that I met Meiz.



That is a ballsy spot to settle. He must be running out of land already. Maybe I should appreciate my isolationist start. Then again, if they are smart, they will just live in peace and trade with each other, leaving me far behind. Meiz had no extra resources to trade, but I asked for copper anyway. Who knows, he might not remember he only had one, or he could just be that curious to find out where my capital is that he's ready to give me +4 happiness for free.



Starting to clear the southern camp. The barbarian ship escaped.. I couldn't find it once it reached the Yerevan area.

[Jowy]

Meiz didn't accept the deal, or any other. I didn't give him embassy for embassy since I've got a scout there and he doesn't have one near me. I also could have taken and deleted a worker of his. That would have been a good move, but I'm too curious about the map layout to throw away my scout.



Klagenfurt was founded. It's getting +6 food per turn from the Lake Victoria tile.



There might be a coastal connection to Jkaen! Also at least one new luxury. Might be worth it to settle over there next.
The other contender for the next city spot is the cow hills spot, a sweet production focused city, but it doesn't bring in a new luxury so I need to get more happiness first.



Finally building a granary in Vienna, it's ready next turn. Klagenfurt and Vienna will be the only cities growing for now.
I've got Currency so I can start building markets. They will also give me a real specialist slot to use. Went for Guilds next so my workers have something to do: building trade posts everywhere.
Great Engineer will arrive in 13 turns. I'll either build a manufactory, rush Hagia Sophia for instant enhanced religion, or rush Chichzen Itza for happiness and golden age length.

T70 marks the time when the last barbarian camp was eradicated

[Jowy]

What a sweet Xmas present from Meiz! I think that was his last copper, but I reckon he's about to connect a second one.
Btw, I hope he knows Jkaen is going to attack him. Jkaen is #1 in power, has allied with Hanoi, has plenty of iron, and both of his unique units are from this era. Meiz is #4 power and has an aggressive and undefendable city in Wroclaw. I hope it will be a long and a bloody war that leads me to a victory, but if Meiz isn't prepared then this is Jkaen's game to win.



First cargo ship ready. I'm using a worker as a scout to watch out of barbs.. he's got nothing else to do for 6 more turns. Kinda sad, isn't it?
I've got a trireme a few turns away, but I decided to send the cargo ship anyway.. Fingers crossed that the barb ship that got away isn't going to immediately re-appear and pillage my trade route.



In case you are like me and have forgotten everything... Here's the empire. Starting to do better in both commerce and happiness.
I think it's time to send out the next settler once one of the builds complete.

[Jowy]

Good news: A Great Prophet spawned and we have a religion!
Bad news: So did Jkaen's, and he took the belief I wanted.



Went with these. Would have preferred +2 happiness from Temples in size 5 cities, but it is what it is.
Mosques are good when going wide since there are more places to buy em at, though they aren't as awesome as Pagodas (which Azza took much earlier).
Btw that last +1 which cuts off is +1 happiness. In case you aren't familiar with the belief.



We've got a good stack of happiness built up, so I'm going to grow every city by a bit. I also want to build the National College before the next city.
I'm considering rushing the National College in Salzburg, our future science capital. Not sure yet if it's worth it, though. GE is out soon, but I still have to build all the libraries first.
We'll also have a GP of our choice soon from filling the liberty tree. Could be another GE for rushing, or GP for enchancing religion, or GM for absorbing a City State. Again, haven't decided one way or another yet.

Btw that GM plan from the beginning isn't really needed. We've only got one City State near us, and that one has near zero land tiles. I'll largely be playing this game without any benefits from my pick.

[T-hawk]

I'm considering rushing the National College in Salzburg, our future science capital. Not sure yet if it's worth it, though.

Yeah, I hate using GEs for national wonders, in both Civ 4 and Civ 5. It should be used for something that you might lose a race for, or at least something where getting it those 20 turns sooner adds up to lots of turn-advantage (like Statue of Liberty in either game.) I'm not sure the NC quite measures up to that, although it is close, particularly if you're waiting on it for further expansion.

[Jowy]

I'm considering rushing the National College in Salzburg, our future science capital. Not sure yet if it's worth it, though.

Yeah, I hate using GEs for national wonders, in both Civ 4 and Civ 5. It should be used for something that you might lose a race for, or at least something where getting it those 20 turns sooner adds up to lots of turn-advantage (like Statue of Liberty in either game.) I'm not sure the NC quite measures up to that, although it is close, particularly if you're waiting on it for further expansion.

Yeah exactly, it's tricky. Against high difficulty AI, National College is a must-have to keep up in tech, but I might get away with delaying it in a multiplayer setting. I'm just worried that I'd be pushing my luck, especially since I reckon the others will not have as many cities as I will, both by choice and by force due to the map. I'll have to choose in a few turns when I get Guilds and before I start a settler.



Hey, at least there's a sea connection to the other side of the super-continent. This means I can technically deal with any of my opponents. I can keep Azza in check by land, and the other two by sea. Yerevan's ships might be of some use after all

[Jowy]

I've made a decision: I will rush the National College in Salzburg in 11 turns.
Universities aren't that far off, I think it'll be worth it. I also definitely need some kind of an edge on the other players, and science could be it.
I'm also going to keep growing my cities for now, even though that will later on limit how many cities I can settle. It's gotta be done in this situation.

[Jowy]

Gotta deal with this new barb camp, it's building galleys to screw with my cargo ship. Luckily I just finished a trireme this turn.

[Jowy]

Pirates are no more!



Random Golden Age out of nowhere! Caught me by surprise how fast our excess happiness filled the GA meter.
Gonna get a lot done during this GA:
- GE in 2 turns
- Libraries finished in 6 turns (5 if I want to speed it up at the expense of growth, probably should)
- Rush NC
- Theology in 6 turns
- Free GP in 8 turns
- Rush a Theology wonder?