Best Game Ever

As you'll realize by checking out my signature, I recently acquired BTS. So, I've been playing, but have never truly gotten the hang of the game. Until now.

I played as Lincoln on a Snaky Continents Archipelago. I was on a land mass that shortened to a 3-tile wide isthmus in the middle, connecting an upside-down Sicily area (if you know European geography) to my land, a blob with Cows, Horses, Iron, and Seafood.

Washington began with 3 Seafood, and Cows, as well as lots of Forests. I settled Boston near the isthus for Spices, Horses, and Gold, while New York went south to become a production center and a culture-connector for the Great Wall. I discovered Hammurabi to the north. I coincidentally got the Chariot quest, so i massed a Chariot army. However, before the seventh Chariot was done, I accidentally grabbed Iron Working, failing the quest. No matter. I still had a lot of Chariots. I sent my troops north, conquering Akkad and Babylon, and razing his third city. Suddenly, an announcement: Confucianism was founded through the Oracle, and I was yet to research Writing! I spazzed out and built Libraries everywhere, turning Washington into a GP farm. Babylon became the Great Library city, while my original 3 cities became massive production centers. I kept spawning Great Scientists. 2 built Academies, 1 lightbulbed Philosophy (I rapidly spread Taoism and kicked in Pacifism), the rest became super-specialists. New York wonder-spammed, while I settled Atlanta and another city. At that time, I finished Optics and began building Caravels. I contacted Montezuma and Gilgamesh, who were neighbors; Monty was Hindu, and Gilgamesh was Jewish. War broke out shortly afterwards, but I was astounded at my tech lead: I had 15 techs they didn't have! I was pulling a great SE, so even while the slider was at 50%, I had Astronomy in 8 turns! I fulfilled the Harbormaster and Blacksmith quests. I came in contact with Justinian, who built the AP, Saladin, whose empire spanned 13 cities and 2 semi-continents, a thriving Barbarian Empire, with 6 cities and loads of troops, and Darius I, who had Currency on me, while I had 5 techs on him. Popped a Great Spy (my second) who settled into Justinian's capital. I finally had EP advantage on all Civs, and could see their research. Demographics for Justinian and Gilgamesh soon came online. I finished settling my continent. I looked at my cities to realize it was high time for some conquest. I set my original cities to unit spam, and am in the process of building tons of Galleons. I haven't finished the game yet, but hey! I'm ready to conquer Gilgamesh, who's locked into a heavy stalemate with Monty.

Anyways, the battle plans changed. After looking at the power graphs, etc, I decided to attack Justinian instead. He had around 6 cities, the Christian holy city (Thessalonica) with shrine included, and a weak military. So I spammed around 20 Macemen, 15 Pikemen, 10 Trebuchets, and 3 Spies, along with assorted War Elephants and Knights. They went into 20 Galleons, which split into two groups. 10 went to the weak South, where 3 cities existed and had small garrisons. The others went north to Thessalonica. I ignored Constantinople; it was too fortified, and the capture of Thessalonica would be a huge blow. Bad miscalculation.

Battle of Thessalonica
Painful. That's all I can say. He had 10 Longbowmen and 4 Spearmen, and a couple Catapults coming in from the capital. Anyways, my Maces went first. They had City Raider I/II, and did a quick assault, killing the Longbowmen, but with heavy casualties. In battles with 70% or more odds with me, I still lost. All my Maces died. My Pikes went in to mop up the Spearmen, but again sustained heavy casualties. Even though my Trebuchets worked to perfection, it still wasn't enough. I finally captured the city with the War Elephants and Knights, but the troops were pretty weak. Then came the tide. Byzantine Catapults and Swords swarmed in, wearing down my offensive stack and destroying the cavalry I had brought in. It was quickly captured. A Medic II Pike healed the units in the offensive stack quickly. My Galleons were halfway to American shores when I made the decision to transfer 6 Longbowmen from my cities to the battlefield. I recaptured Thessalonica, fortified the troops, and hunkered down.

The Southern Glory
This went a lot better. My stacks captured two cities. One was razed; it was close to the Antarctic regions, and had no resources. The other was a good city, with 2 Seafood resources and 2 Incense. My troops reunited near the latter city, to heal in the forests.

Reinforcement
Gunpowder came, and Boston started spamming Musketmen. They aren't strong, but since they ignored Walls and Castles, I had an advantage. They, along with new Maces, Pikes, and Longbowmen, went back to the Byzantine Empire. One Galleon turned north to a newly-settled island, where the Byzantine populace was hunted down and massacred. The 2 Galleons filled with Longbowmen landed in Thessalonica, where they were sorely needed. The rest split into two groups; 10 went north to Constantinople and the two northern cities, the other to a shoreline city that I had dubbed "Fortress Byzantium".

Constantinople
Here, Muskets worked quite well. 10 Longbowmen defended, along with numerous Catapults, Axes, and Spears. The fell to my overwhelming forces, and 3 Muskets fortified. The rest headed east.

Fortress Byzantium
The capital after Constantinople fell, this city was Justinian's production powerhouse. I pillaged tons of Watermills and Workshops, and the occasional Town. The veterans of the Southern Offensive united with fresh troops. After around 3 turns of warfare, and heavy losses on both sides, the city fell. I kept it; it had great land and I was hoping to replicate the improvements the AI had created. Troops fortified, and some got to go north for more fighting....

Justinian's Last Hope
Not much. I simply used my Muskets and Medieval troops to great effect, rounding out the conquest. Thessalonica became the site of Versailles.

Northern Barbarian Lands
All my extra troops went to the Barbarian Islands. 8 mature cities and lots of Workers for the taking.