ESPIONAGE
We'll start with the good stuff.
One, spies are lost at an alarming rate, it appears, either in doing a mission or just by walking around. I haven't caught any spies in my territory, so I don't if that means that there aren't any, or that the RNG is not in my favor.
I did have one spy who was able to travel a far distance and map a lot of cities for me, so that was good. The other spies mostly went to Knossos (I found that Knossos is cheaper than Sparta because they have my state religion) to steal Techs. The following Techs were stolen:
Meditation
Iron Working (ooh, there's a source in Mutal!
)
Calendar
Monarchy
Archery (accidentally clicked on; actually wanted Aesthetics)
Polytheism
Didn't really do anything else with the spies this turn; much of the other tasks seem more suited for warfare situations so
if when Alex declares on me, I'll get a shot to look at it.
Got 2 Great Spies in Mutal during this turnset; the first built Scotland Yard, the second joined the city as a Superspy. With the Castle built and Nationhood being run, I'm generating ~95 EPs in Mutal when at 10%.
THE FOREIGN SITUATION
At the start of my turn, I'm the 6th most powerful civilization ... Alex is 1st!
Fortunately Alex was at war with Kublai until 1130 AD, and then he went to war with Winnie in 1270 AD. That was didn't last long, though, because Gandhi built the Apostolic Palace and all the Hindu nations got involved -- even though Alex was the leader. So their war ends in 1330 AD.
Got harassed a lot for Open Borders, trades, and people demanding techs. Everything was rejected, although I think I will go Open Borders with everybody shortly since I'm pretty much done building.
Mongols did have a scary Random Event that improved the design of their Axe manufacturing.
I still haven't met the other Civ, but a galley came close(?) to circumnavigating before running into a barb galley.
RANDOM EVENTS
Two random events of note:
First, a quest: build 7 forges before the Renaissance Era; this Quest I failed because I didn't want to delay my Tech path.
Second, I could either accept a permanent +1
outside of Mutal, or I could pay 131
and have a 67% chance of +3
and(or?) a Super Scientist (in addition to the commerce). I gamble, and am successful, getting more health and a Super Scientist in Mutal. Sadly, this means I may not only get Great Spies the entire game.
TECHNOLOGY
As hinted above, I have entered the Renaissance Era. Besides the Techs I stole above, I have researched the following:
Engineering
Civil Service
Priesthood (1 turn research, wanted temples for happy)
Philosophy (Taoism founded in Xuxpi, the marble-island city)
Nationalism
I have started Constitution, with Paper -> Printing Press -> Democracy the plan for the next turnset.
CIVICS
My steal of Monarchy and my continuing issues with the happiness limit in Mutal (I turned off growth for a few turns at one point) encouraged me to revolt to Hereditary Rule and Pacifism in 1320 AD. Five turns later, I revolted to Nationhood for the Espionage bonus (and Barracks happiness).
GROWTH
The empire grew nicely this turnset, both laterally and vertically. I added 3 cities this turnset:
Oxhuitza, near the copper
Xuxpi, on marble island
Quiriqua, in the northeast near where Uzbek used to be
At this point I don't think I'll expand any more unless via conquest because I have no interest in focusing on large empire maintenance.
Population growth is proceeding nicely, though, as in 880 AD I am told Maya has 2 Million Souls, while in 1280 AD we are up to 5 Million.
RELIGION
Not much happened here outside of founding Taoism. Xuxpi (as previously noted) is the Holy City, and the free missionary converted Mutal.
Next turnset I plan on confusing my entire empire, and then start confusing some cities in Gandhi's and Winnie's empire in order to make Tech steals cheaper there.
CITY BUILDS
A random assortment of builds in most of the cities, usually geared to making sure the cities don't run into a happy/healthy limit. I've started on troop builds, but I didn't keep an eye on the power graph to determine if I'm keeping up with the other Civs.
MILITARY
Pretty much All Maces, All the Time once Civil Service came in. I was able to raze Uzbek with a Mace and a Holkan.
THE SAVE
http://forums.civfanatics.com/uploads/2578/Pacal_II_AD-1400.CivBeyondSwordSave
THE NEXT TURNSET
I didn't spend as much time on the game this week as I probably should have due to family events (as those who are in 'Sun Always Sets' know); I resolve to be better organized next week. Here are my plans for the next 50:
- Technology: Constitution -> Paper -> Printing Press -> Democracy. After Democracy is in, I'll have a decision to make: Head towards Military Tradition, Astronomy, or maybe something else? (I have been saving forests for lumbermills, so Replaceable Parts would be nice)
- Military: Maces for everybody! Want to move up on the power graph.
- Religion: Get entire empire Confused. Confuse the nearest Winnie and Gandhi cities.
- Foreign: Open Borders with Alex, Gandhi, and Winnie
- Galley: I have a Galley heading the same direction as the last Galley; hopefully he'll discover the final Civ, or he'll circumnavigate.
- Espionage: Steal Techs! Build Jails once Constitution comes in. Build Security Bureaus once Democracy comes in. Need to designate another of the major cities as a secondary Espionage factory.
EDIT:
Took a look at the save to see where I'm at and to do a couple things I didn't do in my rush.
Power: I'm ahead of Gandhi. Alex has dropped behind Winnie. Overall, though, all of the Civs are knotted together.
Diplomacy: Everyone is Annoyed or Cautious with me.
I think it's the Religion plus the Espionage plus the lack of Open Border/Trades
Trading: Winnie doesn't like me enough to Open Borders, but he does like me enough to trade Silk for Sheep (which I do in anticipation of the next turnset). I open borders with Gandhi as well (Alex won't Open yet).
Religion: I have 4 cities that need to be Confused. I'll need a galley too.
Tech: I'm short Aesthetics, Monotheism, HBR, Feudalism, and Winnie has Compass. No one has Code of Laws yet. Gandhi will give me Monotheism and Aesthetics and 65 Gold for Metal Casting; I take it. Next turn I may need to trade for Lit and Drama, we'll see.
Cities: Chichen Itza may be unhealthy after growing twice, but I think I'll have resources in shortly that will help. Other than that we're ok with happy/healthy limits.
if only everyone could be so helpful 
(now THERE'S an SG waiting to happen!!)
... you're also the first person to notice the MST3K sig, thanks 
