The rest of the game....
So I had a long conversation with myself about several things at this point:
Firstly; I was 1turn away from Liberalism and convinced someone was close behind me (I would beat Gil by only a couple of turns), so spent a long time considering what free tech to take. I should have chosen Chemistry and then continued to Steel, but finally convinced myself that Constitution was the correct route. Economics was my next research target, but then I would set research to Chemistry->Steel <Sigh>
Once Economics came in 1535AD, I used the Merchant to trigger my first Golden Age (which was doubled in 1560AD by Taj Mahal) and spent a goodly time considering my Civics options.
At this point I was running:
Hereditary Rule - heavy use of "happiness troops" for larger cities
Barbarism - having somhow forgotten to adopt Bureaucracy
Caste System
Decentralization
Organised Religion
After a lot of scribbling I decided on the following:
Representation - losing some Happiness, but gaining research
Nationalism - +2 Happiness for Barracks & Draft potential (never used)
Caste System - no change here
Free Market - Duh!
Free Religion - Gain Happiness & some research
This also mutually wipes out both positive "Favourite Civic" & negative "Heathen Religion" modifiers, so little impact on international relations. I also swing some trades using Nationalism to grab both Astronomy & Printing Press.
The Seventeenth Century is mostly occupied with the Great - actually fairly one-sided - Mongolian War. Cannons, Muskets and a few extraneous Pikes & Knights (not Curassiers, which only flank vs. Cannon) backed by Frigate bombardment quickly clear out the pestilence:
In 1690AD Khan is defeated and we go back to our normal lives: teching for victory & terrorising Barbarians.
Teching has been concentarting on the top & bottom of the tree; avoiding Corporation (until sufficient banks have been built) and SciMeth (until a couple of Monasteries complete to ensure I can continue to spread religion). Justinian has lunged down the centre for Physics & Communism, but is also the first AI to get Gunpowder in 1712AD so is many techs behind at the bottom, as well as at the top (where I have Steam).
The National Sports League quest spawns in 1708AD asking for 7 Colosseums. I check the stats and have built 4 and am mostly finished with a fifth, so am looking around to find candidates for the other two when I realise that I have captured three from Khan ... I wonder if they count:
Emancipation anger is on the verge of being a problem and I have been trying to get a partner for my stored Merchant, so of course another Merchant is born. Ah well, he's merged.
Justinian's pimple finally joins the Empire in 1736AD as I start on SciMeth to work towards a true tech lead when:
Ooooo, I didn't expect that! Lots of potential sites to poach now ... Aw (@!&*^_@(#*^_%^$&%!#(*!^#(*#*!^!!!!!!!
Bugged.
