We're still in anarchy when I begin, and my only action is to press the End Turn button, and select Democracy as our new government. I'll refer to myself as Mr. Isak from now on
660 AD:
Darwin: Port changed to Forge (due in 20, but that will decrease soon)
IronHorse Oyster Bay: Tax Collector changed to Worker (due in 2).
Jungle Island: Rush Harbor for 145 gp.
North Big Island: Rush Monument for 145 gp.
New Jethrovia: Wiseman changed to Harbor.
Rottnest: Wiseman changed to Harbor.
SirJethro Stables: Toll House changed to Forge.
Tuskany: Granary changed to Forge.
Pioneer and Spearman stuck on big island are loaded back onto their Trading Ship, which will head around the island to the eastern side, in the hope that a patch of unsettled land is nearby.
Trading Ship south of Siam discovers a small patch of land, that could be 2 tile island, or a peninsula on the Chinese mainland.
Trading Ship east of Inca country, heads south and discovers Ethiopia. I decide to call up the Ethiopian leader, Makeda, and he seems very annoyed at our manners. That's no surprise as they are really backwards. Ethiopia lacks Egalitarianism, Elephant Training, Monotheism, Seafaring and Stirrup. They only have 3 cities.
Embassy built in Ethiopian capital, Aksum for 40 gp.
Units: 3 Spearmen, 2 Pikemen, 1 Pioneer (probably not Hardy) and 1 Canoe

Building a Crossbowman (due in 4).
Size 2, 2xfpt, growth in 8 (box empty), 6 spt, 7 com, 3 sci, 6 cpt
Improvements: Aqueduct (must have been churning out Pioneers), Colosseum, Courthouse, Harbor, Port, Palace Gardens
Connected to Strat: Iron and Gold; Lux: Olive (in city radius), Spices and Wool. Only 1 of each resource.
Ethiopia is a Dynasty, 16 gp, sliders at 4.6.0
Pump resarch up, leaving sliders at 4.5.1, even though it means we lose 31 gp per turn.
Off-Turn: Makeda of Ethiopia asks us to move our trading ship. Calm down bud, we're moving..
670 AD:
Jungle Island: Harbor=>Port
North Big Island: Monument=>Harbor
New Jethrovia: Just won't get happy. Harbor changed to Shrine, and rushed for 190 gp.
Trading Ship near Siam goes around the small patch of land. A 2-tile island with a hill and Incense on plains. We pass by a small Chinese fleet consisting of a Galley and a War Galley, heading north.
Trading Ship near Ethiopia continues south, and has already forgotten Makeda's warning.
Our Northern Workers can't irrigate yet, so they head south to cut down some jungle while waiting.
Tuskany: Rush Forge for 115 gp.
680 AD:
Mali Heavy Horseman moves out of Dyed Pretty and pillages Iron tile.
Quokkaton: Aqueduct=>Harbor
Tuskany: Forge=>Horseman
Ironhorse Oyster Bay: Worker=>Harbor
New Jethrovia: Shrine=>Harbor
Dyed Pretty: Forge rushed for 170 gp.
The Siamese and Chinese seem to be building up their armies too. I decide to go help the Siamese a bit by offering what I can. The agree to give us 120 gold and 15 gold per turn for Theology...

Not sure if that will help them, but I can't say no to an offer like that. They now think we are god's gift to mankind.
Also sell Monotheism to Ethiopia for 11 gp.
We now only have an 18 gp deficit per turn. Thanks Siam.
690 AD:
Dyed Pretty: Forge=>Horseman (due 8 turns, but city grows next turn)
SirJethro Farms: Harbor changed to Worker. There was an unhappy citizen there anyway
Worker from Ironhorse Oyster Bay starts mining plains with horse.
Mali Horseman moves back to Dyed Pretty.
OMIGOSH! The trading ship with the Pioneer/Spearman combo reveals that there is a coastline to the east of Big Island. I hope there is some land next to that coast...
19 gp deficit, Crop Rotation in 4.
Off-turn:
Chairman Mao thinks that our Trading Ship has been nosing about a bit too much... well, he could be right. We agree to move away.
I use the occasion to check up on our nearest rivals. They are behind us in tech, lacking Seafaring and Stirrup. They have no contact with Tibet, Sioux, Incas and Ethiopians. Have no gold, but 12 cities. They won't even offer something for contact with the other civs, so they must be flat-broke.
700 AD:
Yes! There is land beyond the strait east of Big Island. So far I only see 3 mountain tiles and 1 hill, but the fog could be hiding something... I really hope it does.
Northern Worker crew start chopping jungle next to Joe&Co.
Trading Ship spots an unknown Civilization, northwest of the Chinese lands.
Off-turn:
GL gives us Fundamentalism. I refuse to switch to Theocratic or Fundamentalist rule just now, but it's still nice.
710 AD:
Quokkaton: Harbor=>Horseman (due 4 turns)
Cultural Advisor informs us the Chinese have undertaken Voyage of Discovery. I ask around and find out it's being built in Nanjing, which we don't know the location of.
Joe&Co finish clearing the first patch of jungle, and meet up with their buddies from the north.
EUREKA! There is good land on the new Island. We send our Spearman onto the greatest mountain top of the island and he can see Horses, plains and forest. This looks very promising.
The South-bound trading ship has reached the southern tip of the Ethiopian realms.
And close to China, our third Trading Ship finds that the unknown Civilization call themselves Polynesians.
Polynesia are annoyed and backwards, lacking Currency, Elephant Training, Seafaring, Stirrup, Theology. They have 53 gp and 7 cities. They offer 7 gold per turn and 50 gold flat for Currency. I say ok, grab the cash, and run.
We then build and Embassy in Haraiki for 69 gold.
The city has 5 Ashigaru Pikeman for defense, building a Port to be finished in 4 turns.
Size 8, 2xfpt growth in 11, 8 spt, 17 com, 18 sci, 9 cpt
Improvements: Colosseum, Harbor, The Colossus and Palace Gardens
They are a Democracy, now with 3 gold, sliders set to 5.5.0
They have Horses (inside the city radius) and Gold. 1 of each. They also have 2 wine and 3 fur.
We now have 8 gp deficit, and Crop Rotation in 2 turns.
Off-turn:
Polynesia wants us to move the ship. Ok, ok.
720 AD:
I'm trying to balance food and shields in the cities that get harbors. Don't want to halt growth entirely as long as we don't get overcrowdedness problems.
Kal-el: Harbor=>Horseman (due in 4)
Iron Mountain: Harbor=>Forge
The new island also has Incense. This is getting better and better.
Crop Rotation next turn. I fiddle with the slider, setting it to 2.7.1 and get +53 gpt for the next turn.
730 AD:
We get Crop Rotation. Engineering is tempting, but so is Astronomy, to hook our empires Ports up properly. I decide to go with Engineering for now though. The extra producion would be nice to have, and our colonies are doing fine for the moment.
Rottnest goes into unrest. We hire an entertainer, and change Harbor to Shrine.
I hear that the Siamese have started working on Voyage of Discovery too.
The new island has Iron on it too, and I haven't even seen the end of it yet. I think I'll settle on the Plains with horses. Spearman and Pioneer will move onto that tile next turn.
Sliders back to 4.5.1 - 1 gp deficit.
740 AD:
Golden Blubber: Port=>Horseman (due in 5)
Rottnest: Shrine rushed for 160 gp.
We dub the new island Bounty, as it seems fitting, when we spot Shellfish and Gold resources are here too. I think our trading ship needs to return home and pick up a few Pioneers. Ready to settle next turn.
Off-turn:
AAARGH!
The Chinese declare war on us. They attack Rottnest directly from a galley, with Warriors. Fortunately our defending warrior survives the attack. This is definitely not a good development.
They also started building Angkor Wat. We can beat them to it easily in Kal-el or Quokkaton.
750 AD:
Quokkaton: Horseman=>Angkor Wat (due in 28 turns)
Kal-el: Horseman=>Horseman (due in 3)
SirJethro Stables: Forge=>African Spearman (due in 7)
Tuskany: Horseman=>Horseman (due in 6)
Rottnest: Shrine=>Spearman (due in 20, should perhaps be rushed, if the Chinese have more up their sleeve.)
The people love us for going into a war (however little we wanted this war) and decide to expand our palace.
We move 6 workers (including Joe) to the Iron hill to mine, and stand by for when we need the Iron connected again. The other 8 go on chopping jungle for now.
Found Isacchia on Bounty Island =>Harbor
*******
This is a crappy time to up and leave the game, but it's too late over here for me to go on, and I won't be able to play again until 20 hours from now, so it's probably better to pass the game on.
Scattered notes:
We definitely need to get our colonies defended better, if the Chinese are serious about this war (and I believe they are - fortunately they are rather far away, and should be easy to defend against.)
Lets take advantage of our good standing with their neighbours the Siamese and Polynesians.
I've tried to prepare the cities on the mainland to build Horsemen rapidly, and right now, it may be the best option to only build a few more, and then start upgrading them to Mali Heavy Horsemen. But on the other hand, it's probably going to be a while before China hits the mainland. Our Colonies are at much greater risk.
Switching from Engineering to Astronomy, may not be a bad idea now.
And, sorry, I wish I had time to fix up a screenshot and proof-read this, but it's almost 3 in the morning here, so I'm really getting too tired. I will try to do that tomorrow.
Here is that savegame
Good luck
