I think I played a couple over the limit but now we are at 480 turns to go, so I think all is good.
The big news is that I trained out two settlers and broke the economy.
We got a little off course in our research efforts, as having Calendar would have made the banana town really productive of both hammers and commerce with cottages instead of farms. And we needed Sailing to take advantage of the coastal sites commerce anyway.
Construction finished just at the end, so I am heading back to pick up the precursors to Calendar before preceding any further down the tech tree.
Look at this map
Our natural develpoment pattern was straight up the spine of the continent.
Monte had to come from way to the east to encroach on the dyes location
but our eastern excursus to St Petersburg and then Rostov and Yaroslavl let Monte, Frederick and even Saladin get towns in what should have been our territory.
Looking ahead I think we need to remove Frederick, Saladin and Monte from the northlands and stretch Russia from sea to sea. Then think about France as Louis has the really powerful Pyramids....
The exploring warriors did a good job in the west
but were stymied in the east by the lack of Open Borders with Saladin and Frederick. Next player shoould push east into Arabia (we now have Open Borders with Saladin, and at least trace the outline of the German borders.
The bulk of the troops are in the north now, as Frederick makes the best target, even though we know nothing of his lands. The only hitch in that plan is that he and Saladin are co-religionists and just may ally against us. An alternative would be to strike at Monte's dyes town and try to reclaim that for Russia.
I realize that both the sugar town, the bananas at Novgorod and the dyes that Monte now holds won't come into play until Calendar, what that tells me is that we should make all deliberate speed to getting that tech. I know I made it tough with the two new towns as we can't afford the research bills, but capturing a town or two could easily pay for it.
Louis is going on Wonder Binge as he has built Stonehenge, the Pyramids, the Parthenon and the Confucian shrine (yes he has Code of Laws) and built the shrine the same turn the religion was announced. Monte has built the Hanging Gardens, I think.
We are finally getting some religion, as we have picked up both Confucianism and Judaism.
And the barb city highlighted by 'zerks was captured by Monte!