Inherited turn. Finally! Ok, lets see... Thebes is on a library, which I am not sure about. Reading back, I see it was a placeholder while we waited for the city to grow, but what really are we shooting for here? If we want to go to war, then I think should build chariots, or if we want to expand into our floodplains then we should get those cities up before getting the library, no? I Looking further (I should have been keeping up all along, I know) I see that there was some talk of getting an early academy. Now that is an interesting plan that I've seen work very well before,although I've never personally done it. I also notice a worker poised on some trees... were we going to chop the library? Well if we weren't, we are now. I want to get another settler out or some more war chariots as soon as I can.
As for the earlier question of if to attack Cathy sooner rather than later, I agree we should press the war chariot advantage. Don't neglect the floodplain city too long though! We can actually make a real nice city back there, with 7 floodplains cottages and enough food to whip the necessary imporvements (library, etc...) there. The earlier we get the cottages up, the better, obviously. Also, we have several of our cities empty. I see the warriors pushing back fog, but when those cities hit the happiness limit I think it's far better to let them grow rater than push fog, so I'll pull those defenders in when that time comes.
Overall things look really good! Here we go!
Turn 1 - Oh, right, we can't chop yet. Well, I really don't feel like a library is the right move this early. We could build another war chariot right now and time that to complete with growth again, at which point I think another worker makes the most sense, timed to pop out with the discovery of bronze. Cathy has 4 archers in St Petersburg but I see that two of them are with the settler that Dantski mentioned, which means that they are indeed headed north of St Petersburg. In fact, since we have open borders, they might be headed to the other side of our empire. How interesting!
Turn 2 - Indeed, Cathy is moving towards our territory. Our chariot picks off a barb warrior.
Turn 3 - It looks like Cathy is going for the sugar. I say we let her settle it, then take it from her. Nice of her to build settlers for us!
Cathy's archer/settler pair going for the sugar
Turn 4 - Memphis finished its Granary, and starts a war chariot, although I'll likely switch to a worker once it grows. I'm feeling worker deprived. Hauyana adopts slavery.
Turn 5 - ...
Turn 6 - Cathy builds Rostov on a hill next to the sugar. The fact that she built it on a hill is bad for us! Archers on a hill will be tough, even for war chariots.
Rostov
Thebes grows to size 5 and will finish the War Chariot before switching. Memphis grows to size 3 and I start a worker there.
Turn 7 - ...
Tun 8 - Thebes completes our second War Chariot, but really, we are going to need a lot more before we attack. I start Thebes on a third worker. I know three workers seems like a lot, but we really need a lot of worker projects going. This does allow me to micromanage Thebes to get bronze working a turn earlier. After these workers are complete, I plan to build several more war chariots.
Turn 9 - Cathy has a spearman in Moscow, meaning bronze is hooked up.
Turn 10 - Well, we don't have copper, but Cathy's is right outside our borders, meaning it will be easy to pillage. We definately have to go to war with her early.
Cathy's copper in easy striking range
Actually, she has another source in the south, ugh. Spearmen are going to make any war against her very difficult with chariots. Curses!
I set research to hunting, with archery next. It would take 21 turns to get iron working, and we need to get the war started earlier than that.
Turn 11 - ...
Turn 12 - Memphis worker --> War Chariot
Turn 13 - ...
Turn 14 - I spy an axeman in St. Petersburg. Memphis War Charior -> War Chariot.
Turn 15 - Thebes Worker -> War Chariot
Turn 16 - ...
Turn 17 - ...
Turn 18 - Heliopolis finally gets its cows pasturized and the other two workers are busily constructing our reinforcement supply road.
Turn 19 - Memphis War Chariot -> War Chariot. Thebes War Chariot -> War Chariot.
Turn 20 - And that's it. Archery is coming in next turn, and in 3 turns we will have 6 War Chariots, which should be enough to kick things off. The military road network is almost complete. Good luck with the war!
I made a little dotmap of our remaining lands. Blue Dot gets fish, clams, and 6 floodplains. Ultimate fishing village, but with all that food can simply whip all the improvements that it needs. With all the floodplains cottaged, it will be a great city. Red dot grabs 5 floodplains but also 4 hills, so an irrigation / mining strategy might work well there!
Proposed dotmap
Fun set of turns, but I bet the next set will be more exciting!
Overview of the border area
The Game (I think).