I continued my post-cheating game, and things are going surprisingly well...
I've still only got three cities in 700ad, but have just won the Liberalism race (easily; none of the other civs even had Education), and traded my way into a two-tech lead over everyone else (though I still don't have Archery
). It seems that gold mines, Pyramids, Rep/Caste/Pacifism, and a hell of a lot of food is a remarkably effective combination for a small empire, if you can keep the AI off your back.
At one point Monty was looking very threatening, being the tech leader and the most powerful civ, so I bribed him to attack Peter. To my amazement, the Russians have actually had the better of it, and have done some serious damage to the Aztec economy with their pillaging. I was worried that Monty would quickly beat the Russians down and sue for peace on favourable terms, before turning his attentions to my poorly defended empire. But, as it turns out, they've been at war for ages (I'm guessing it's because Monty really doesn't like giving up until he's clearly won or lost), and I've now bribed Genghis to join Peter against the Aztecs. The best part of it is that the three of them are now much less friendly with each other, whilst I've become everyone's best friend.
I've sailed over to the other continent, and they seem pretty weak (although I've yet to meet the 7th civ). And, with three well-developed Aztec cities just over my southern border, if I can take advantage of Monty's present troubles and stab him firmly in the back with a couple of rush-built mace/treb stacks, I might just have a chance at coming into the late-game in a respectable state.
ps. I haven't done any more cheating, even when I missed out on the GL by one turn.
Spoiler :
I've still only got three cities in 700ad, but have just won the Liberalism race (easily; none of the other civs even had Education), and traded my way into a two-tech lead over everyone else (though I still don't have Archery

At one point Monty was looking very threatening, being the tech leader and the most powerful civ, so I bribed him to attack Peter. To my amazement, the Russians have actually had the better of it, and have done some serious damage to the Aztec economy with their pillaging. I was worried that Monty would quickly beat the Russians down and sue for peace on favourable terms, before turning his attentions to my poorly defended empire. But, as it turns out, they've been at war for ages (I'm guessing it's because Monty really doesn't like giving up until he's clearly won or lost), and I've now bribed Genghis to join Peter against the Aztecs. The best part of it is that the three of them are now much less friendly with each other, whilst I've become everyone's best friend.

I've sailed over to the other continent, and they seem pretty weak (although I've yet to meet the 7th civ). And, with three well-developed Aztec cities just over my southern border, if I can take advantage of Monty's present troubles and stab him firmly in the back with a couple of rush-built mace/treb stacks, I might just have a chance at coming into the late-game in a respectable state.
ps. I haven't done any more cheating, even when I missed out on the GL by one turn.
