Round 5: to 720 AD
Before I even started the next turn, I made a few adjustments to my cities' tile assignments and builds. In Frankfurt, in particular, I did as Eggman suggested and added a second scientist:
This sped up the arrival of the Great Scientist, of course, as well as research. But it also throttled city growth, so I had to deal with that a little later as well.
Meanwhile, I attacked Susa. Emboldened by Betafor's success story, I crossed my fingers and hoped for the best:
I achieved similar results: 1 Swordsman lost, three promoted to CRII, and all without catapults! I posted an Axeman to guard the city; once the other units healed, they went south.
Meanwhile, I generated my next Great Person--as expected, a Great Scientist from Frankfurt:
I immediately used him to build an Academy in that city. That done, I put the scientist back to work until the city grew. Three turns later, I had enough population in Frankfurt to run two scientists AND a food surplus. Building a lighthouse rather than a barracks also helped.
A few turns later I got another GP, a Great Prophet in Berlin this time. He's asleep--once I have a holy city and a shrine to build, he'll be used for that. (He would have popped for Meditation--not the best use for him.) He may wait quite some time. I'd be surprised, frankly, to get another Great Prophet for a long time. And I'm thinking that unless Monty builds the Mahabodhi (the Buddhist shrine), I should save him for that. If Monty does build it, I can just use him for either the Confucian or Christian shrines.
Once I finished researching Code of Laws, Montezuma came by looking for a tech trade:
I thought it over and went for it (though I did try negotiating for some of those other techs). I could have given Monty Alphabet, but I want him nice and backwards when I finally take him on, so the longer he lacks it, the more likely that will be. HBR will be handy later on--it means I can upgrade my Chariots that have Combat I/Shock, and take full advantage of my horses. I haven't built any Horse Archers or upgraded to them, but it's good to have that as an option.
Kublai also came by, demanding Construction from me and offering nothing in return. I thought that over carefully and turned him down. I had checked the power chart and saw that I was a little ahead of him, so I figured I was safe for awhile. Besides, since he's my next target, I don't mind if he's ticked with me. It would be extremely convenient if Kublai gets annoyed enough to declare war once I'm finished with Cyrus.
Nevertheless, I managed to work out a decent tech trade with Kublai:
After a few turns of inactivity, Cyrus got a little aggressive. Not overly so; he sent some Horse Archers towards Hamburg and Frankfurt to do some pillaging. I had to do some deft micromanagement to keep enough science specialists going. So much for not needing Spearmen!
I switched builds and whipped a couple of Spears, one in Berlin, the other in Cologne. The Warrior I had obtained from a goody hut got upgraded to one as well. By the time I dealt with the pillagers I had lost two Spears, but the remaining one had been promoted to Medic I; Frankfurt's Chariot had finished off a Horse Archer and now has a Shock promotion.
Right around this time, I finished researching Civil Service changed civics:
CS and Organized Religion. OR? Yep. Buddhism had spread to my lands! I quickly converted. Montezuma immediately became "Pleased" with me! Excellent...right according to plan.
Meanwhile, the war with Cyrus continued to unfold. I captured Persepolis, and along with it, obtained not only Stonehenge, but also Chichen Itza! Cyrus has been a busy boy...he also founded Christianity. Tarsus is the holy city, making it even more attractive, though I've left it alone for now as I swing south and east.
Pasargadae was next:
So now Cyrus was down to two cities. I've seen the AI get very stubborn when its demise is obvious--say, only one city left. So I decided to see what I could get from Cyrus. Tarsus, unfortunately, had disappeared from the list of available items probably because it had become the capital. He was unwilling to give up both Arbela
and a tech. But I did manage to extort what I think is a pretty good deal from him:
Not bad, eh? Theology and a nice amount of gold. Thanks to the slider running at 0% and the war booty, I have nearly 1000 gold now--plenty for some upgrades when I get Machinery in a few turns. I'm busy researching towards Banking, and I'm picking up several useful techs like Currency, Guilds, and Feudalism along the way.
Speaking of techs, here's a comparative look at the known civs' technologies in 720 AD:
And relations:
Notice something? Yes, Monty declare war on Kublai, despite their sharing the same religion! Good ol' reliable Monty. Although that does remind me that sharing his religion may not count for much diplomatically. Oh well, it keeps them out of my hair. There is also a chance that Monty may soon ask me to join in the grand Mongolian butt-kicking festival. I may leave Cyrus alone for awhile if the opportunity arises. Persia has been relegated to a non-entity; the only thing they have going for them is two holy cities.
And a look at the map:
Yes, the war's been going so well that I've turned to a few much-delayed civilian builds. I can build the Heroic Epic now, and I'm thinking of putting it in Cologne. But if someone thinks of a better location is in order--maybe one of the captured Persian cities?--by all means, let me know.
Since I'm running OR, I plan on building a few Buddhist missionaries once the current builds are complete and spreading the good word to as many of my cities as possible. Then I can switch to Theocracy to build some units with additional XPs for the next war. I would particularly like to get my usual 4 Catapults with Accuracy promotions to remove those pesky city defense bonuses--especially since I'm up against a couple of creative civs.
Now, once again, I'm not sure how well I'm handling the specialist economy. Granted, I have a lot more gold than I usually do at this point in the game, and I'm doing respectably well in comparison to the other civs...but Kublai and Monty aren't exactly tech fiends, and a lot of my pace has to do with trades. I've had some delays farming the floodplains near Susa and Hamburg because, well, I've been at war, and Cyrus had those HAs sniffing around.
I am generating 102 research points per turn at 0% research. Machinery is up after Feudalism, and at my current tech pace, it will take 9 turns to research. Then Guilds will take 14, and Banking, 10. Berlin, Hamburg, Munich, and Frankfurt are the cities running science specialists--2 each in the first 3 cities, while Frankfurt also has the GL scientists, plus a merged scientist (my 2nd GS).
Oh, speaking of GPs, I should mention that Monty built the Parthenon. I'm looking forward to taking it from him, though it may be close to obsolete by the time I do.
So while the war has gone quite well, where I really need commentary is on the specialist economy and whether I need to make any changes or adjustments.
. In the meantime, my elephant did a nasty job, while the sword has died 
good trade, perfect diplomatic situation. I don't think there is much you could have done better.
