This game seems to be going extremely well. I didn't settle until t11, just wandered around SW then E, snatching huts, looking for mtn/hill/river spots with lux. Kept bumping into CS and wanted room. I finally decided to settle a river/hill with cotton and a few hills nearby, and as luck would have it, was 5 tiles from Delhi!
I stole at least 2 Workers from them and a Settler, a Worker from Neb, and one from Vancouver. I generally don't steal Workers, and whaddya know - it makes the game a lot easier!
I had India boxed in pretty well, in retrospect I should have let him settle a 2nd city to get some TRs the rest of the game. Anyway, just as my 1st GAge is kicking in and I get my first Immortals, Rome DOWs India. His carpet of doom was more of a berber than a shag - so we both whacked Delhi a while, and just as I could take it I DOW'd Rome (if I waited until after taking the city his units would have ejected away).
It was a tense turn or two, but he started retreating. My 3 move units caught a lot of them. He headed for the hills... At this point I had no desire for rough terrain vs city Ballistas, and I realized with the extra movement I could reach Babylon and have a turn or two against the GW. He also had TArmy, so I wasn't sure what was in store. As I passed his SW city there didn't appear to be any units inside.
I marched on, and Rome kept offering less for peace, so I took 3gpt, and bribed him against Neb for 5h and 2gpt.
When I found a wounded Warrior 4 tiles SW of Babylon I figured, good a time as any... I approached the city, and... NO UNITS.
2 Warriors and a Cat came from Akkad, and later a Scout from the E. He did not show up last in Mil, WTF? I wonder if he even doubled the Cat with TArmy. Here I thought I might lose half my units, and I barely got a scratch.
So now I have the GW and SH, and SoZ finishes next turn - none of these psychos has opened Honor. 16 turns to finish Honor, no Guilds, CivServ in 3. Did a 2 city NC t88 which is very early for me. I started watching peddroelm's USA LP - so I took R side of Honor first. Not sure it has helped much, as I often haven't had units in cities, although I guess the cheaper CB upgrades were in effect by then. The LP is really slow (but entertaining) so I zone out a lot, going to try the H-C-A method.
BO: Scout, Scout, Shrine, Monument, Archer, Settler. Bought a lot of tiles and several units, the barb hunting was good, 2nd city has lots of gold tiles. Luckily (?) Arabia took Earth Mother, so I got DF. Founded with Tithe and Rel Comm, no bldgs left. Alex has both Mosques and Pagodas, he only has 2 cities that I can see. Arabia and Assyria both went Tradition.
I plan to take Akkad to cut off Rome, then probably head W for Thebes, might wait for XB. I figure I can keep Rome at bay for a long time with GW, and he is Friendly, what could possibly go wrong???
I hope to keep the 3 N powerhouses busy with each other, then go counter-clockwise, leaving Rome for last.