I don't have much to offer in the way of an after-action report... I basically played a pretty weak game. I had the advantage of a corner start which meant I could initially develop in peace. I saw Pythium's growing strength and decided I needed to go on the offensive. Unfortunately Agartha was in the way, so I tried to stomp on him first. I made mediocre progress against Agartha, then Pythium came in and started crushing me.
I held on to research Fire Storm and torched Pythiums army of Theurgs. I never had a response for his SCs, but he only had a few so I was able to start retaking territory and prepare to counterattack.
Then Caelum steamrolled in and that was that
OK, I've switched to AI. Have fun everyone!