OK I been playing on monach for a while now, and can usealy grab a win if I pull off a early rush or use someone fairly manlable (Isabella and Peter) to stire up trouble.

However theres a fair few games where I get a nice bunch of dependable teching super friends with no easy ealy conquest.... :cry:

How the hell you break them up when even brand new tech bribery won't get them to turn on each other?

Espionage -> influence civics/religion.

If the price is the problem, one way to get a great discount is to declare on one of the AIs first (the one who can't reach you easily and won't be needed as friend later) and then ask others to jump in.

If too much AI-AI love is the problem, one can try to exploit AP forced wars vs. infidels, or provoke a DoW on you (e.g. by denying demands) and sign DPs before the start of the war.