Round 4: 3280 BC to 2080 BC
After exploring the coast a little more, I parked one of my Scouts near the SW horse tile to ensure no barb city appeared there:
This is also where I'll likely found the city.
My other Scout, the one with Woodsman II, kept exploring the north; there turned out to be a lot of north to explore. He went east first, and met another neighbour:
Then the Scout turned around without all of that NE territory explored. He was going very far afield and there was territory closer to me, directly north, that I felt I should reveal first. (This despite being unsure exactly where Rome is located.) If the Scout survives that long, he'll explore the northeastern reaches of what is turning out to be a rather large continent later on.
Another religion was founded, this time by Brennus, and he converted right away:
So that will set up tension between himself and Mansa. Buddhism spread to Karakorum (not surprising--that river links up with Malinese territory). However, I have not converted. What with Brennus founding Hinduism, I'd like to see how things pan out diplomatically. I put a camp on the Ivory and I can soon do the same for the fur, so I won't need a state religion's happiness boost for a while.
I wasn't done meeting other civs:
Like I said, a very large continent. I later discovered that England is located almost directly north of Mali. If I meet two more civs, we'll obviously know we're on a pangaea map.
Relative to the other civs, thanks to those huts, I'm doing quite respectably in terms of research:
Just behind Mansa, and someone who's out-teching even him (scary thought, that).
I had researched Mining earlier in the round. In 2410 BC, I finished researching its follow-up tech:
I had to keep reminding myself, before this, not to move my lone Worker into forests that I couldn't chop yet!
Now I can. I also changed civics, natch:
In addition, I have not one but
two sources of copper nearby:
So if I had settled in the blue circle after all, that copper would be workable by the capital. Oh well, I can still work it right away, thanks to the creative trait. Serendipitously, I had been building a road westwards towards the horses (eventually), so I was able to get that tile improved and copper available to the capital PDQ.
If you look at the above screenshot carefully, you'll also notice that Churchill converted to Buddhism. If the religious alliances hold, it means I could likely attack Brennus without earning a diplomatic penalty from either Mansa or Churchill. Don't worry, though, I'll earn diplomatic penalties from them soon enough. Heh heh heh...
I started researching Writing next. With all the techs I have, plus contact with 4 other civs, I think it makes sense to bee-line towards Alphabet and see what I can get for things like HBR. Although Mansa is always a good tech trading partner, he's close by, so I may want to be careful. Churchill and Caesar are further away, so if I need to make a chancier tech trade, I would prefer to do it with them. Writing also means I can get Open Borders agreements. With barb units starting to appear, it may help my wandering Scout survive longer if he can duck into friendly, well-guarded territory.
I built two Archers before starting on a Settler in the capital. You can see one Archer above, near the western copper. My thinking was that I would either (a) found a city out there, (b) fog-bust for the Worker laying down a road to the horses, or (c) both of the above. However, I see several of you are still pushing to settle a city north of Karakorum, right on Brennus' doorstep. That's still an option and we can discuss it further.
Meanwhile, my luck with huts was holding strong:
More gold for the treasury, nice. The Scout survived the ensuing battle with that lion, but barely. He was still healing by the end of the round.
I decided to end the round in 2080 BC when the Settler finished in Karakorum. I started work on one of Aggressive's cheap barracks:
The copper is now hooked up and I think it would make sense to build/whip and Axeman or two. After that, what do you think of another Settler, maybe a Worker, a Ger, and then more units?
Here's a look at the map, suitable for dot-mapping:
I like DarkFyre99's dotmap quite a bit, although I think it needs to be adjusted so I have a city working the copper near the capital (seems a waste to just leave it there). His red city could shift northwards, keeping the cows, while another city is later placed on the south coast to claim both the deer and the whales. But of course I'll consider other options.
City founding is really going to be the focus of the next round. There seem to be two factions forming. One group of you is advocating peaceful expansion by first blocking off the southern portion of the continent. This group would likely advocate sending the Settler north, somewhere near the corn, marble, and wine, and Brennus. The other group is advocating a Keshik rush; this group would likely advocate settling a city to the west. This city would likely claim the copper (and maybe the wheat and cows?) and be a production city; it would also serve as a way-point to the horses, which would be city #3.
Given the location of the Archer currently, I'm obviously leaning towards the views of the second camp. Frankly, after the incredible luck with the huts, I don't see how I can possibly build peacefully and still consider this an ALC, the whole purpose of which is to exploit the leader's unique characteristics. I mean, come
on: the only way the game could have more clearly given me an opportunity to exploit the leader's UU and UB is if I had horses in Karakorum's fat cross!
Short-term, then, I'm thinking of founding three cities, one in the mid-west, the other for the horses, then building a horde to pillage and cripple Mansa and Brennus. I'll wipe Brennus off the map; Mansa I may simply leave weak until I can vassalize him. Churchill and Caesar I'll leave alone for now; I don't know where Caesar is yet, so he's obviously quite far from me, and Churchill is Protective, so I don't want to take him on until I at least have Catapults.
Long-term, this plan should give me plenty of territory. I should be able to either capture or eventually build cities in the NW and NE spots the blocker-builders are advocating. And then some. So I should be able to tech nicely with several decent cities, and take on Churchill and Caesar later on. If the continent is large enough, and I get the feeling it is, I may be able to claim a domination victory without having to send troops overseas.
EDIT: I almost forgot--here's a look at the northern portion of the continent:
I haven't explored too far east beyond that rice tile. My Scout is healing to the far north, in the desert near the stone and copper. I'm thinking he should head east next, through that remaining fog to his east, and then off to the northeastern arm of the continent again. Once the horse city is founded, my other Scout can head up to explore the remainder of the northwest.
But, anyway, I'd still caution you against being too trigger... err, bowstring-happy. You might need trading partners.
That's amazing. It might even be worth considering grabbing Mining and then going on a run straight through Writing to Alphabet so that you can just trade your way into dominance. 
