Boat People?

I had a fantastic start, with 4 Fish available off the coast -- instead of settling immediately, I roaded the 2 southern flatland tiles, then settled in the midlands, or possibly on the river (= the Firth of Forth?) so as to get all 4 Fish in the BFC. I built a Galley and a Militia to find out who my nearest neighbours were while London was growing large enough to make its first Settler, while researching either Bronze or Horse-riding at 100% (can't remember which -- might have been both, with all that sea-trade).

Having discovered the French and the Romans (i.e. showing that the Russians and the Germans weren't on the map), I knew I had a bit of time, so I used the Settler to road the remaining tiles in Britain (and I might also have forested at least one of the non-shield Grass-tiles) while I built another Militia (or possibly a Phalanx and/or a Cavalry) or two, and then used that first Settler to plant a town on the mainland, I think on the northeastern of the 2 coastal shield-Grass tiles.

After capturing Paris (also built on non-shield Grass by default) -- and possibly also Orleans (if the French had managed to build it already, can't remember), that left me free to expand across Europe and Scandinavia (the Germans spawned in South America, I think). I used London to build most/all of my initial Settlers, with the Galley acting as a bridge between Britain and the first mainland town (which built a Barracks, then Militias, Phalanxes and Cavalries). The newly unloaded Settler would build a road across 2 tiles to my next intended city-site (always on a shield-Grass or Plains) and found a town, while the next Settler was being built in London. That new Settler could then scoot quickly along the roads to the last-founded city, improving tiles as needed, before roading additional tiles to its own city-site.

The Romans still only had Rome when I crossed the Channel, so I bottled them up using a couple of Militias, but otherwise left Caesar alone until my borders extended beyond the Volga, and all my European/ Scandinavian cities were building city-improvements at Pop3-6 -- during which time I'd also started colonising along the North-African coastline. So when I finally sacked Rome, the Russians had nowhere left to spawn except Australia (so I didn't encounter them until much later -- exactly as I'd planned!)

Of the remaining AI-civs, Team Green was the Babs, Team Grey was the Indians (IIRC), and Team Yellow was the Aztecs (might have been the Egyptians originally), so my expansion from Europe and North Africa into the Middle East and SE Asia was effectively unopposed. Because the Aztecs and Americans (and Germans) were sharing the Americas (don't know if the Babs or Indians had also already killed off the Chinese), they kept each other's growth in check until I was also ready to do some trans-Atlantic colonisation in the late game.

Although I could probably have gone full genocidal, I eventually won a Space vic (which was always the one I aimed for).