At that point it didn't matter anymore. In mid-game I was seriously worried about it as well. I'm sure everybody noticed.
Part VII: The final push
Turn 169 - the Megaturn!
Combustion is in, Oxford is in, Scientific Revolution is in, one GS is out. No comments needed:
Capital starts on Apollo. That's the time to kick out all scientists from universities/public school.
Geez, 15 turns. It's the price of undergrown capital. Told you I suck at playing with tall cities. In domination mode it's so much easier. At this stage I usually don't even care about city size. Most of the army is rush bought or upgraded. And few units that are hard built aren't as expensive and size 10-12 city cranks them out fairly easy.
Have a closer look at tech tree. RA median is on Mass Media/Atomic Theory.
The next RA kicks in on turn 174 and will grant me Telegraph and a good chunk of Electronics.
The next one - turn 175, will grant Electronics with overflow to Mass Media.
One more - Mass Media with overflow to Computers.
2-3 (depends on how big the overflow is) more will finish Computers + Robotics.
Basically you only need 5 RA for the last wave from that position, but just to be sure it's better to have one spare.
Ah, Harun got a fighter.
As you can see, Philly isn't going anywhere...
Turn 170 - nothing...
Turn 171: Horse city grew and back to production focus. The Ironworks in 12 turns. Yuck... I'm waiting for last GS to be born, then I'll kick scientists out.
Oh, really? Finally Philly took some damage. Remember, Washington has no military whatsoever and Harun is the leader in soldiers.
Workers are lined up to construct railroads. Stupid Darius and his stupid scout. All my problems in this game, all mistakes I made (well, except one or two) are because of him. Argh...
Next SP in 24 turns. Probably would have been 22, had I not found that 'american' city, not that it matters. Not taking Freedom opener was wise choice in retrospective. With Scientific Revolution on turn 192-193 I had little chance to finish under 200 turns. Even with extra GS (that I wouldn't get anyways).
Speaking of GP, I do need GA for parts building phase. Sacrificing scientist is not an option and I cannot wait to generate 700gpp for anyone else. The easiest way is to get a GG. Good thing I don't have to travel far away or put any special effort into it.
My 'monstrous' army and fleet: a rifle, an elephant, trireme and two caravels approaching Stockholm.
Turn 173: nothing. 'Army' is marching towards its target.
Turn 174: Telegraph is in.
Eastern city grew, back to production focus.
The love fest is over. Let's do some 'warring'
:
Tech tree:
I need 7 techs is total. 4 will be discovered with RA's + 3 bulbed with GS.