Continuing on without much feedback, sadly...but this is life, I suppose.
I made good on the rush, building five quick Immortals and sending them to visit Babylon. That was the good news for the round:
With no casualties, I added Babylon to my empire and started massing farms--for now I'm going to need a lot of Workers, and I can always swap it over to cottages quickly. The opposite, however, is not true.
I saw a city in the middle of the desert, surrounded by resources that I mostly can't improve, and thought to myself, "Self, that is a pretty good city, but for now it's just a drain. I'm Imperialistic with a hammer-heavy capital; I can always resettle it later, or maybe resettle on the coast." So I razed the city, killing two Bowmen and losing two Immortals (including one at 80% odds, ugh) and claiming a worker. Thus died Hammurabi's career as a political leader, and began his career as a stable boy.
Tech path was (finish) Potter-Bronzeworking-Mysticism, for the granary, the whip, and cultural borders. I'm falling behind somebody, badly; both Hannibal and Zara are willing to tech trade, and my most advanced toy is Bronzeworking. I've pretty well committed to my Immortals, however, and so there's nothing to do but continue attacking.
Mehmed and Zara are both nearby, and both of them have excellent land to claim--Anatolia is outstanding long-term, and the Balkans would be mine to claim as well for their resources, with both being quite hammer-strong. On the downside, Mehmed is already popular with almost everyone he's met; hitting him would complicate diplomacy, and almost force me into a religious bloc while sitting in the middle of the map. Attacking Ethiopia, meanwhile, means adding Egypt and securing the Arabian Sea for my own use, and his other cities should provide respectable production. On the upside, Zara is popular with nobody at all, so I wouldn't have to worry about diplomacy.
Eastern Front is boring. My Scout got eaten by a bear, but I don't expect to see anyone in India quite yet.
I really don't know which would be the better target--I lean slightly toward the Ethiopians because I think that will allow me to block more land and expand into more commerce sites. Might it be worth attacking both, or would that slow me down badly enough that I would never claim India? I have no problem crashing my economy with blocking cities and pretty much expect it to happen, but I'd like to claim at least another capital before I get into the swing of things.
Given my traits, I also don't want to continue the peace any longer than I need to, so what should my tech path look like? Research anything and everything that can be traded around to keep parity, then go for Guilds and rule the land with Knights? Wait less long? How long will Immortals last on Emperor?
Very glad you put the Vikings in there, as their my favorite civ.
