The reality is that victory conditions, and even the path to progress (not outright victory) are based on the conditions of your civ, your location, your resources and your desire/plan.
No matter what the starting location is or what your civ is, the stack attack rush (with axes or cats or whatever) is the most effective strategy. Sure, you may want to challenge yourself and self-impose all sort of restrictions (like: "I'm never going to declare war"). But this doesn't remove the glaring flaw in the game design.
As such, if you start in an island then its probably best to go cottage economy and try to get caravels asap.
Perhaps deciding to go for a cultural victory (if you can get that golden 9 cities) or maybe try to get a spaceship victory.
Maybe you want to become an economic powerhouse using corporations so that even if you have only 8 cities you still get 500+gold per turn even running 100% science.
Then again mabe you are on a big continent, and have copper. And there are nearby opponents without much space for early expansion - then you *try* to use war to expand employing your beloved axerush.
All the strategies you have mentioned become much more effective if coupled with a SoD rush. All things being equal, SoD rush is the way to go.
Perhaps you just get horses.
Due to the occasional presence of spearmen, horses make for a lousy city raider SoD. Say you have horses, but not bronze: then use them to pillage and beeline construction for the cat rush and/or the elephant rush.
Maybe you founded a religion, in this case your aim may be to spread it as much a possible create a religion bloc and get the apostalic palace - from here you can aim to vin directly from a diplomatic victory or indirectly use the apostalic palace to alter the world to your liking.
Sure, one may try the religion path. BUT: especially at higher level the drawbacks of founding/adopting/spreading a religion largely outweigh the benefits. At monarch and above, using your resources to produce SoDs is vastly more effective than focusing on religion.
I've not tried the apostolic palace stuff, so I can't really comment on that. But it seems to me that this is nothing other than yet another dull micromanagement of missionaries.
Perhaps if you're philosophical you want a SE eco, maybe if you're not you prefer a CE, or maybe use the new workshop economy even perhaps go for a corporation economy - the possibilities are endless.
SE favours the SoD rush even more than CE. If you are philosophical and play SE, then you'll have more gold to spend on upgrades and upkeep. (By the way, only a micromanagement masochist could possibly enjoy playing a pure SE.) No comment on the "new workshop economy", never heard of it. Is that a joke?
The problem is that you artificially create the conditions of an axe rush EVERY TIME by regenerating till you get copper, ensuring you have that "just perfect" starting location and that the map is just right, so that with an axe rush you can kill the whole world.
No. The warmonger rarely needs to regenerate the map. Nearly every type of starting location is just perfect for the SoD rush. Lack of bronze just makes things a little too frustrating for my taste. Why? Because you have to wait a little longer for the cat rush, which is pretty much the same strategy as the axe rush, but only comes later.
Perhaps you play continent and once you have 1 continent you think you won the game whereas in reality,
If you play continents at monarch or below, and you conquer a whole continent early enough, you can't possibly loose, unless you do something foolish.
I have been in a few games where I thought I had easily won but sometimes lost or just barely won due to a spaceship launch.
You should have rushed the other space racer earlier.
If you can't see the error in your ways and are so arrogant that you won't listen to anyone [practically everyone actually] then why do you bothr posting here? This is a discussion forum after all. I do admire the fact that you still stand up for yourself, in the face of every poster telling you you're wrong.
Well, THEY are wrong, not me. (And not "every poster" thinks I am wrong: some say they agree with me.)
Although unless you're telling us that the world is round and we're insisting its flat then I suggest the fact that you are outnumbered significantly in your view should at least be somewhat of an indication.
If am "outnumbered" as you say, that's probably because some posters in this forum are hard core fans who can't swallow criticisms to their favorite game.
with 100% taxes and then come back.
