I adopted Bureaucracy at the first opportunity.

The tradeoff on some of these Civics is whether or not a player feels they can gain more from choosing another path. Often options like these Civics points represent "red herrings" in the scoring balance, minority paths that cost more points than they will earn for you, but in this case I think the notion of red herrings is itself a red herring. We'll have to see which scoring priorities work out the best across the body of reported games to know for sure.

Sometimes things line up your way. Popping a Scientist with one turn left to go on Paper research?

You know what I'm going to do with that, right? (Right?)

Cheap Universities here we come! Liberalism, free technology. Catapult me in to the Rennaissance, please!

As we come up on 1500AD, my attention focuses on getting my best cities to size 15 before the deadline. Unfortunately, I only have four candidate cities. This is one one of them that is under some doubt:

I've been running it on max food for some time now, but I needed to irrigate those river plots, too. Should make it with a couple of turns to spare.

Meanwhile, the moment I learned that I could reach another continent, I geared up to produce a new Galley and load it with a pair of Missionaries. That took a few turns, then a long travel time. That ship has finally reached its destination.

I used the first Missionary on the nearest Aztec city, guaranteeing that Monty will score Yummy Priest Points for me. The other I intend to send inland, looking for a third or fourth civ to convert.

I didn't have to look far.

Unfortunately, he's already got another religion? How is that possible? ... Arrgh! Islam spread along the trade route. That's a nasty break for me.

I should have looked and seen that he was already in Theocracy, but I didn't. (I should have learned that lesson from Adventure Two, but no. No. Sometimes I'm a thickhead.)

I got some good mileage out of Philosophy, though. First with Mansa, now Hatty.

Theocracy works for you when it lines up with you, and against you when it doesn't. I have to admit, as a game element, this one is working pretty well.

As you saw above, I got Hatty's world map in that trade. Here's a look at the northwestern continent in all its three-civ glory.

I now know more about the western continent than I do about my own continent.

So here I am proving that I'm a thickhead:

What was I smoking?

Somebody needs to remind me about this in future games. I don't want to look TOO much like the absent-minded professor!

I sent that missionary south to convert another Aztec city. Not a total loss, then, just some lost time. (Of course, having just learned Optics, this is not the most ideal time to be losing time. Heh.)

My Great Merchant arrives in Egypt.

Yaroslavl reached size 15 with five turns to spare:

Forty Farmer Points for those large cities. No others were in the running.

I tell ya, if somebody scores sixty or more points in that category, I will be seriously impressed!

I got to Liberalism first and used it to nab Nationalism, starting Taj Mahal in Moscow.

I have a dozen cities in my core. This now includes the backfill. My territory is full, and there is no more left to grab with settlers.

Time to tally up my 1500AD scoring.

One grain source, six livestock, nine seafood. That's sixteen connected Health resources:

Arrgh! I forgot to connect that Fish southwest of Moscow.

I poached an Iron from Salamanca, by settling Orenburg. Got the Whale, Copper, and two Ivory. That's it on my resources.

Russian-founded religions have 27 points of influence:

Still no cities captured, so no additional Soldier points for me. (I'm a goofball, not a soldier. Well, unless you CHOOSE UNWISELY, of course. )

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