Ok I'll follow most of your suggestions 
Switched Boston to lighthouse - library will take forever.
Turn 1 - 725 BC Research IW. There is iron just NE of Washington just outside our borders. Research set to Metal Casting - but its 33 turns away and we're losing money at 60%. Desperately need some cottages to pillage. I move our attackers towards Madrid. We don't have the required tech (minimum 11 turns of research) to build oracle and with it being 700 BC already I doubt we'd get there first - both the Romans and Vikings have marble, and we don't. Started building Stonehenge in Washington. Trade IW for polytheism + archery from Saladin.
Turn 3 - 675 BC Bad news - I reach Madrid and there isn't a cottage in sight. Its guarded by 2 archers, and has 60% culture defence.
Turn 4 - 650 BC Madrid gains another archer. Having had a think about this, I dont see any real advantage to taking Madrid right now. Although its a nice spot with lots of seafood, and the founding city of buddhism, there are NO other buddhist cities in the world and therefore shrine income will be non exsistent. We're already down to 60% science - is it a good idea to get another city at this stage until we get currency/col? I decide a temporary peace won't hurt us - we can take it later whenever we feel like it, and maybe by then she'll have some cottages or will have built the shrine for us.
As you can see, Izzy gives us a nice lot of (albeit fairly useless) religious techs. Now the possibility of building the oracle opens up again. Although I still think we'll get beaten to it, its got to be worth a shot considering our less than stellar tech rate - only 10 turns in Washington and I've got a forest chop going on a hill which will be mined later anyway. I switch production to oracle. And if we're going to be building the oracle, it seems like a total waste to use it for Mathematics (~300 beakers) when we could get Metal Casting from it (~600+ beakers). Considering we've only researched 50 beakers into metal casting, I switch our research to Maths on the assumption that we'll get the oracle.. time will tell!
Meanwhile Barcelona starts the great lighthouse - due in 16 turns but I'll speed that up with a chop or two also.
Turn 5 - 625 BC Gems online at New York, which is building a granary to help it grow and eliminate unhealthiness.
Turn 6 - 600 BC Saladin completes Stonehenge - had we continued building it we'd still have been 3 turns away from completion at this stage.
Turn 7 - 575 BC 49G from Stonehenge allows me to crank research up a bit. We meet this chap:
Turn 10 - 500 BC Not much more of consequence. Washington is 3 turns away from oracle - if we get it I strongly suggest taking MC and getting the Colossus in Barcelona - we have a lot of coast which would benefit from the bonus, and it'd also help the previously mentioned idea to spam Great Merchants. Barcelona is 7 turns from Great Lighthouse and is about to get another forest chop. Research is up at 90% (-7/turn) and Maths is due in 6, we should probably then beeline to currency. We can take Madrid whenever we feel like it, but there's no big rush. Having a look round the map I love the look of the Viking capital Nidaros, we should definitely make it ours at some stage!
Our next war is probably going to have to be southwards into Saladin's jungle outposts, possibly using elephants which we're not a million miles from researching?
Switched Boston to lighthouse - library will take forever.
Turn 1 - 725 BC Research IW. There is iron just NE of Washington just outside our borders. Research set to Metal Casting - but its 33 turns away and we're losing money at 60%. Desperately need some cottages to pillage. I move our attackers towards Madrid. We don't have the required tech (minimum 11 turns of research) to build oracle and with it being 700 BC already I doubt we'd get there first - both the Romans and Vikings have marble, and we don't. Started building Stonehenge in Washington. Trade IW for polytheism + archery from Saladin.
Turn 3 - 675 BC Bad news - I reach Madrid and there isn't a cottage in sight. Its guarded by 2 archers, and has 60% culture defence.
Turn 4 - 650 BC Madrid gains another archer. Having had a think about this, I dont see any real advantage to taking Madrid right now. Although its a nice spot with lots of seafood, and the founding city of buddhism, there are NO other buddhist cities in the world and therefore shrine income will be non exsistent. We're already down to 60% science - is it a good idea to get another city at this stage until we get currency/col? I decide a temporary peace won't hurt us - we can take it later whenever we feel like it, and maybe by then she'll have some cottages or will have built the shrine for us.
As you can see, Izzy gives us a nice lot of (albeit fairly useless) religious techs. Now the possibility of building the oracle opens up again. Although I still think we'll get beaten to it, its got to be worth a shot considering our less than stellar tech rate - only 10 turns in Washington and I've got a forest chop going on a hill which will be mined later anyway. I switch production to oracle. And if we're going to be building the oracle, it seems like a total waste to use it for Mathematics (~300 beakers) when we could get Metal Casting from it (~600+ beakers). Considering we've only researched 50 beakers into metal casting, I switch our research to Maths on the assumption that we'll get the oracle.. time will tell!
Meanwhile Barcelona starts the great lighthouse - due in 16 turns but I'll speed that up with a chop or two also.
Turn 5 - 625 BC Gems online at New York, which is building a granary to help it grow and eliminate unhealthiness.
Turn 6 - 600 BC Saladin completes Stonehenge - had we continued building it we'd still have been 3 turns away from completion at this stage.
Turn 7 - 575 BC 49G from Stonehenge allows me to crank research up a bit. We meet this chap:
Turn 10 - 500 BC Not much more of consequence. Washington is 3 turns away from oracle - if we get it I strongly suggest taking MC and getting the Colossus in Barcelona - we have a lot of coast which would benefit from the bonus, and it'd also help the previously mentioned idea to spam Great Merchants. Barcelona is 7 turns from Great Lighthouse and is about to get another forest chop. Research is up at 90% (-7/turn) and Maths is due in 6, we should probably then beeline to currency. We can take Madrid whenever we feel like it, but there's no big rush. Having a look round the map I love the look of the Viking capital Nidaros, we should definitely make it ours at some stage!
Our next war is probably going to have to be southwards into Saladin's jungle outposts, possibly using elephants which we're not a million miles from researching?
from me also! I just can't believe how good we are doing on the tech and wonder department.... I think I'm getting too much builder myself. War is absolutely a must this early on civ!
