Seeking advice in general.

Alrite new to the forums but not to the game. Ive trolled around these parts a few times without actually posting anything or making an account for that matter. so here goes my virgin post!

To clarify what i seek.

I treat this game as a wargame. i have played since civ was available on the amiga for me in the late 80s. being a runt then it was a wee bit tricky to ge tthe grasp on things. i have not been pushing civ 5 as much as id like due to RL.

So generals that like to play on Huge maps against as many Civs as your computer can readily handle you are whom i seek. I have reached somewhat of a stalemate in my advance i can not ,quite frankly, handle games above king for various reasons. this being on warfooting and i havent tried it any other way either.

Normally the first war or so is never an issue or even a 2nd one but then i start falling behind tech wise and it becomes a gruelling task to stay in the game. naturally i can spend hours and hours until all tech is researched and then pick my enemies off but that goes against what i do this for.

so warleaders how do you balance a good steady advance and at the same time not falling behind on money/tech/happiness this is king difficulty and above, primarily above.

any hints would be useful!

just raze everything. all those cities slow down your research.
or play assyria it can steal techs from enemies by capturing their cities.

make science techs your first priority: writing (libraries), philosophy (national colledge), engineering (composite bowmen), then education (universities), machinery (crossbows), scientific theory (public schools), dynamite (artillery)

thank you for the reply, but thats part of the conundrum. i want most of those cities so the map turns "blue" (insert whatever color your civ tends to have)

the research paths arent the mysterious part its the balance to keep it up as well as pounding out troops enough to drown the others in flesh. ive read lots on these forums and even though im fairly inept at navigating them i cant really find any good powerhouse warbuild that suits what i desire from the game.

to clarify some more. i play against atleast a dozen advesaries often more on huge maps normally continents or small continents configuration, cause i get epeen boner from large fleets. i have no desire to rush ahead of my oponents i want the maneveur parts and on the ground tactics to be how i overcome my foes. but as i stated i tend to fall behind in something. often happiness or by renaiassance era im crashing the tech.

We need more Info.
Are you playing Base Civ5, G&K, BNW?
Do you have a save file example you can give us so we can see for ourselves?

Based on what you have said your troubles are two-fold.
1) Wanting to keep cities.
It has been stated time and again that the AI gets bonuses on higher settings and the AI is not the best at picking city locations. Often they will plant garbage cities just for the sake of it and every city you keep is just slowing you down. Their is a reason you can view a city before deciding it's fate.

2) Trying to ignore game mechanics.
If you want to coat the world in a sea of colors that belong to your Civ then which version of the game you are playing will make a huge difference. If you are playing G&K faith is the answer and might even be the only answer because getting enough happiness is just not going to happen, it would take too long building collesiums in every city you take over.
If playing BNW religion is still the answer but it is far weaker to keep a large happy empire with faith alone, you need a leader that can also help (I.E. Persia with Satrap Courts) or you need to play nice until ideologies come around and then pick one that will remove your happiness woes, like Order and it's +2 per monument. By that point in the game, every city should have a monument.
Order also allows you to instantly gain a free courthouse upon city capture too, which will further curb your unhappiness woes and faith once again can help with gold and/or science.

Ultimately, war should have a purpose. Mass destruction and city capture is a purpose I suppose but all those units and the hammers spent making them is crippling your empire so each city you take and hold needs to repay that debt.

Aeternus_Rex said:

I have reached somewhat of a stalemate in my advance i can not, quite frankly, handle games above king for various reasons.

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Domination victory is more difficult than others, so don't feel too bad. Are you winning by DV for nearly all your King games? When you go up or down a level, what is your approximate win:loss ratio? We need to try distill what is working for you, and what habits might be holding you back.

Aeternus_Rex said:

thank you for the reply, but thats part of the conundrum. i want most of those cities so the map turns "blue" (insert whatever color your civ tends to have)

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You will not be able to do this reliably at all skill levels, but I think that's possible at King and Emperor. Take advantage of Tradition. Keep only cities that are 5-7 hexes away from each other. Fill in with citadels that all those GG you get from your constant war mongering. The map will be all blue soon enough...

...as well as pounding out troops enough to drown the others in flesh ... cause i get epeen boner from large fleets

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It is unintuitive, but to a good extent, maintaining your own carpet of doom is incompatible with actually keeping all the territory that you conqueror. Do you care more for a sea of blue on the big screen or the mini map? Because probably you cannot have both. If you want the big ravenous army, let the lands you conquer go fallow. Your new units can clear barb spawns as they make their way to the front.

Build your national college as soon as possible and, like others have said, you must raze useless cities. Those two things will keep you from falling behind in tech and the latter will help you stay afloat in happiness. I'm fairly certain those two things are your problem. If you prefer to see your borders swallowing the map, raze useless cities that you capture and fill in the gaps with your own settlers when your happiness can handle it (likely ideologies).