carl corey
Deity
1. Soirana: Spain is almost dead. I would simply take peace and attack later with knights. It's going to be a one turn war so Izzy won't have the time to vassalize to anyone. Close to Grenadiers but we're a bit far from Rifles. No matter, given the size of our empire we should easily build an army added by the whip. We also have the Pyramids, so Police State will also help. It doesn't look like Emancipation unhappiness is going to bother us anytime soon. 
NE built, HE unlocked, Oxford (half-priced universities and we don't build them?) and GT still locked. Forbidden Palace would be useful somewhere in the middle of the former Spanish empire. We're 4th in power, but two of the stronger AIs are friendly and one is pleased, so no problem there.
2. Chromium: Very impressive tech leader, with money in the bank to get us quickly to Riflemen (Gunpowder, Replaceable Parts, Rifling). A few things can be improved right away: build NE (marble bonus!), theatres+GT, universities (only have one)+Oxford. Not sure why our current GP farm is working a cottage instead of a 4
tile when it's under the health and happiness cap, and our best candidate for a GP farm is working cottages... Other than that tiles seem good. We're a little low on production and military, but nothing that we can't fix once we start drafting. And we'll have to draft as our production isn't very big either. Anyway, once Rifles are out it's going to be a walk in the park. Good save. 
3. Raskolnikov: Great empire, Izzy as vassal and we're first in score. Vicky is one tech away from Cuirassiers though. Of course we're only 3 techs away from a dominant Military unit, and the GM from Economics will definitely help. Should probably head for Rifles to better counter the Cuirassiers if it comes to that. Taj Mahal still open but Vicky also has Nationalism, so watch out if she goes Taj+Gunpowder+Cuirassiers. She's cautious with us right now, so don't piss her off. Also, we need lots of troops in Madrid to counter the revolts: current odds are 8.88%, so that means one revolt in 11 turns and revolts last 5-6 turns. That really cuts down on the shrine's effectiveness (it's like having 19
/3 = 6.33 per turn) and slows down Madrid's development. I'd talk about National Wonders, but I think you've got the picture by now...
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Some general comments:
In some cases people don't seem aware of our bonuses. Marble gets you half-priced NE and HE, Philosophical gets you half-priced universities. Those can give an empire quite a boost, so not building them when they become available is wasting GPPs (NE), production (HE), or beakers (universities).
City specialization lacks a bit of focus in quite a few of the saves. This comes partly from the starting save which had cottages and little else, but Monsterzuma himself changed this extremely well in this round, so it can be done. Not specializing means having to build most buildings in all cities, and results in a loss of hammers; instead, specializing cities for production, research/money, great people, is more effective. That's why I questioned having an Academy and Military Instructor in the same city in the first place; you either waste the MI as it would have been better used in a production city with HE in it, or you waste the Academy by going with farms+workshops instead of cottages. We won't see the problem clearly in this game as we've stood very well from the first round/couple of rounds due to a combination of great terrain and beneficial diplomatic situation (part of Hindu block, Izzy ignored by everyone and behind in tech, Vicky blocked with not much land, Cathy - who's usually quite aggressive - separated by water from us), but we won't be as lucky in all games.
NE built, HE unlocked, Oxford (half-priced universities and we don't build them?) and GT still locked. Forbidden Palace would be useful somewhere in the middle of the former Spanish empire. We're 4th in power, but two of the stronger AIs are friendly and one is pleased, so no problem there.2. Chromium: Very impressive tech leader, with money in the bank to get us quickly to Riflemen (Gunpowder, Replaceable Parts, Rifling). A few things can be improved right away: build NE (marble bonus!), theatres+GT, universities (only have one)+Oxford. Not sure why our current GP farm is working a cottage instead of a 4
tile when it's under the health and happiness cap, and our best candidate for a GP farm is working cottages... Other than that tiles seem good. We're a little low on production and military, but nothing that we can't fix once we start drafting. And we'll have to draft as our production isn't very big either. Anyway, once Rifles are out it's going to be a walk in the park. Good save. 3. Raskolnikov: Great empire, Izzy as vassal and we're first in score. Vicky is one tech away from Cuirassiers though. Of course we're only 3 techs away from a dominant Military unit, and the GM from Economics will definitely help. Should probably head for Rifles to better counter the Cuirassiers if it comes to that. Taj Mahal still open but Vicky also has Nationalism, so watch out if she goes Taj+Gunpowder+Cuirassiers. She's cautious with us right now, so don't piss her off. Also, we need lots of troops in Madrid to counter the revolts: current odds are 8.88%, so that means one revolt in 11 turns and revolts last 5-6 turns. That really cuts down on the shrine's effectiveness (it's like having 19
/3 = 6.33 per turn) and slows down Madrid's development. I'd talk about National Wonders, but I think you've got the picture by now... ========
Some general comments:
In some cases people don't seem aware of our bonuses. Marble gets you half-priced NE and HE, Philosophical gets you half-priced universities. Those can give an empire quite a boost, so not building them when they become available is wasting GPPs (NE), production (HE), or beakers (universities).
City specialization lacks a bit of focus in quite a few of the saves. This comes partly from the starting save which had cottages and little else, but Monsterzuma himself changed this extremely well in this round, so it can be done. Not specializing means having to build most buildings in all cities, and results in a loss of hammers; instead, specializing cities for production, research/money, great people, is more effective. That's why I questioned having an Academy and Military Instructor in the same city in the first place; you either waste the MI as it would have been better used in a production city with HE in it, or you waste the Academy by going with farms+workshops instead of cottages. We won't see the problem clearly in this game as we've stood very well from the first round/couple of rounds due to a combination of great terrain and beneficial diplomatic situation (part of Hindu block, Izzy ignored by everyone and behind in tech, Vicky blocked with not much land, Cathy - who's usually quite aggressive - separated by water from us), but we won't be as lucky in all games.
,
... 
and the war with Izzy will cost you a lot of resources... But you did a good job grabbing Kushans! Your save was close.
. As far as leaders go, I really don't care... I would like to learn how to make use of the 'expansionist' trait--just because I have always thought it was lame, but that's the only thought I have. 
