I'd already had a few skirmishes with the Romans while I was finishing off the English, grabbing a couple of the useless cities they'd planted on my continent's northern coast. Extortion of the Americans' world map revealed that the Romans had a tiny little continent all to themselves, with about 10 cities (note the past tense). I used a second DoW against them as an excuse to begin a half-assed invasion, as a sideshow during the tail-end of the first American campaign, but since I only had Caravels at the time, I couldn't reinforce that small Cav-stack quickly enough, so I broke it off and signed peace.
I'd amassed/upgraded large numbers of Cavs by the time I entered the Industrial Age, which I finally used to sweep across the American lands while I beelined to RepParts for Musket --> Infantry upgrades (there was a huge Jungle between me and the Yanks, so I was pretty certain of getting Rubber
somewhere). Then I went for Industry and converted a bunch of Colosseum-prebuilds into Factories.
My Galleons and Frigates had also thoroughly explored the world by now, and discovered that on the other big continent, the Zulus had severely reduced the Aztecs, but left the Indians alone. (I need to check the histograph, but I think the Zulus must also have killed someone else off completely, since there should have been
at least 8 Civs on this map -- and I only knew about 3 others until the late Middle Age). I decided that Gandhi would become my friend, and have been assiduously gifting him everything he needs to threaten/ resist the Zulus and keep his people happy.
When I re-DoWed the Americans for the last push, I also signed a MAPT deal with the Romans -- which they were foolish enough to break by signing peace with the Americans, 1T before the deal was due to expire (and less than 5T before the Americans expired as well)
So now I'm at war with Julius, and my citizens aren't even unhappy at me, because the Romans DoW'd
us (the 7 Luxes I have access to also help...). Although Lutetia was actually closer to my continent, I took Ravenna first because (1) it had wines and a Harbor and (2) it was on chokepoint-Hill which cut off Lutetia from Rome.
Although I have seen Pikes, a few Muskets, and Horses, it turns out that the Romans have no resources of their own -- but they have been busy building mil-units for the entire game. So I have spent the last couple of turns repelling hordes of Pikes, LBMs, and Spears from Ravenna, using my 3-Cav Armies (I had to leave my 4-unit Armies at home -- for now -- because my Galleons can't carry them!) and eCavs, backed up by a newly-formed 2-Inf Army covering a stack of Arty. The Roman flood has now slowed to a trickle, but unfortunately (for me), they built very loose, and their cultural borders have expanded too far to allow quick overland advances. That said, all their cities -- including Rome -- are vulnerable to naval invasions, and I have enough ships to do it.
Right now it's ~1650 AD, I have ~2600 points and ~50% of the land and population, with the Zulus my nearest rivals at ~2100 points and ~30% land/pop. Last time I looked, I could sell Magnetism to them, so it won't be long before they enter the Industrial Age (if they haven't already) -- but I am already a good way into it, 3T from Electronics, ~6T from finishing a Hoover prebuild, and doing 5T-research (thanks to extensive science-farming in the former England and America).
I also have a ToE prebuild going, with the intention of researching Corp before it finishes and then taking Refining and Steel for free, leaving only Combustion, MassProd and MotorTransp still 'needed' (should take me another ~20-25T). I'll then move the science-slider to 0% and research/buy Nationalism, Commie, AmphWar, etc. So it won't be much longer before I can upgrade all my Galleons to Transports (to move my 4-unit Armies overseas), use my Hydro-boosted Factories to spam out a whole pile of Tanks/ Marines, and clear away the Zulus: the game is already effectively won, and I am now trying to decide whether I really want to grind it out, or just start a new one...
. My poor intelligence about the world around me meant I passed up opportunities to squish India and England to my South while Carthage was becoming a monster in the north, consuming the Zulus, Sumerians and whoever else was up there. By the time Carthage demanded tribute, rashly refused, the game was long passed being over.
.
then go for the next AI.
