How to beat my friend?

My friend just got BNW and he has a developed a love for Assyria. Although we always start in the industrial era (which makes his UU useless), he still dominates the game because from the very first turn he beelines nukes (and he builds his cities for research focus, which allows him to get ICBMS before we even get the Manhattan project) and then holds the rest of the game hostage.

Any ideas on how to beat his strategy? I tried the Congress ban on nuclear weapons when I unlocked it but he ended up dowing me to stop that from happening.

Civs I use:
-Venice
-Poland

Starting in the Industrial era is very strange and gimmicky. I doubt this is going to be a game of skill. With stuff like nukes and bombers easily accessible it's just a rush for mega op weapons.

Why don't you guys do a normal game and start in ancient or at least classical?

Poland should be a massive advantage since they get so many free policies. Instantly fill out liberty for a free engineer and get pisa for another engineer which gives porcelain for a scientist. That should kill it.

Poland's UA is also substantially nerfed, since you lose 3 free social policies by starting in the Industrial Era. Ducal Stable has nice bonuses and the Winged Hussar is OK-ish, but is quickly obsolete (and who really wants anti-tank guns). Venice cannot hope to keep pace with the science rate of other civs, even starting with 3 Great Merchants of Venice (rather than 3 settlers), since you cannot assign science specialists in puppets. On balance, I don't like your civs for an Industrial start.

If you can tech to Artillery before he can get to nukes, you can roll him off the map. Dynamite is only 3 techs away (or 4 techs if you go to Scientific Theory first). Artillery, with Musketmen and some Crossbows, FTW.

What social policies do you take at the beginning of the game? You get enough culture to pick 8 policies, so you can, e.g., finish Tradition and take 2 policies in Rationalism. Consider Babylon (which still gets its free Great Scientist from Writing in an Industrial start). Yes, its UU and UB are obsolete at the start, but every city starts with a library, so you can bang out your National College asap and your universities, while working the academy with finished Tradition and two policies in Rationalism (or you can take 3 policies in Rationalism (Opener, Humanism and Secularism) and finish Tradition with your next policy).

EDIT: Just saw CraigMak's post. I like his suggestion of completing Liberty for the GE, then rushing Pisa (for the faster GS generation), and then using the Pisa GE to rush PT (need to have opened Rationalism) for (if you play Babs) a second academy.

The last time I checked, Poland got all their free policies for every era still. This means they start the industrial era with those 3 extra social policies in addition to what a person normally gets. Poland is super duper OP in all games that don't start in the ancient era because of this.

Tested before posting. I fired up an Industrial era Poland start - no free policies. Fired up a Babylon Industrial start -- free GS from Writing.

I have played quite a few classical teamers and distinctly remember Poland starting off with enough policies to get a settler right off the bat while all other civs are unable to get that settler until their first policy is earned.

If this has changed I guess it would be in that last patch that came out when BE launched.