What next? Emperor, Dutch

GZRD said:

Standard size map, 8 civs, I'm the dutch. Attached is my save. I've been doing well - met almost everyone, level in tech and occasionally ahead.

This is where I get a little lost. I'm not sure what my objective is after the growing... Keep settling? Where? There's not much nice real estate left nearby. France is sitting on some nice land...
-->The desert to the west is very nice land. Remember: you are agricultural!

Start cranking workers and cut back jungle?
-->Workers: yes. Cut back jungle: no. In order to get a jungle tile to 2/1/1, you need 24 + 6 + 3 = 33 turns. In order to get a desert tile to 2/1/1, you need 4 + 3 = 7 turns...! First improve all the plains, grasslands and deserts within reach, then worry about the jungle.

Start to strengthen military?

Give me some tips!
Don't build a temple in Rotterdam. Temples are a waste of shields. The iron can much better be connected by settling another town 1S of the gold hill. It'll be a crap town for quite some time, but at size 3 working the grassland, the gold and the iron hill, it'll be better than a temple...
Switch the temple to barracks and make Rotterdam your military producer.
Connect the silks asap.

The save is attached (C3C 1.22)

Thanks

EDIT:

I'm research CoL with the hope of Philo then slingshot to Republic but I know I need more cities and infrastructure for that to be worthwhile.
--> Republic is always worthwhile! So revolt as soon as you get it.
I'm also way underweight in military strength. I guess my ideas would be:

- Start alternating Worker-Settler from the Amsterdam (settler factory).
- Hook up iron, start building some swordsman.
- Start maximizing all tiles with the growing worker force.
- Stay out of war (so far no threats or trespasses) until I have infrastructure and a few more cities (don't know where to put em, though). But keep adding to military now...

Then see where I'm at in a few turns?

Click to expand...