Well, it's true. The situation is not looking good.
Our Golden Age is over. Our Calvary experiment failed. We have no Leaders. Very little defense. We have 10 Cavs in striking position, but we are only Average to the Kuche. We burned 10 of their cities but didn't reap anything in score, power, or culture. Ladies, we picked the wrong day to walk in the park.
We're #1 in Pop, GNP, and Literacy. #2 in the other categories that matter. We have 3 cities in flames. Nine more that will crash and burn next turn if adjustments aren't made. We are now at 30% lux.
The BH now has 3% more land than we do and their pop is sure to grow quickly. We are currently Average to them militarily. BH has already started construction on Micheal's and Leonardo's. We need to get to Steam before we can think about going back for Music Theory/JS Bach's. Which we need.
We have three luxs and no prospect for more. Even if we fought our way down to the Kuche capital, we would only gain Furs (to make 4 luxs). The Kuche has 3 luxs and the BH has 5 luxs. When the BH completes Micheal's and starts building Cathedrahls, it will be over. When they finish Leonardo's, we're toast.
So Calis is correct. We need to make peace, as much as possible, and muddle out the rest of the game. Prospects for gaining the Kuche's trust and allying against the BH doesn't look good. But it's possible. I think we need to build Muskets and Temples. We don't need more Workers or Settlers now. Muskets will be better than Cavs. Temples will let us research without crashing and burning all the time (or starving). That's what I saw anyway.