After a slow start in the BC, I continued with a slow and unfocused expansion in the AD. Stalin became the first AI to make contact, and I discovered that he was the one spamming most of the wonders, in 1000. After keeping my galleys close to home, I finally sent one on what turned out to be a comically long voyage around Stalin's continent. It would get wounded sinking a barb galley, then have to flee another barb to the shelter of one of Stalin's cities. Heal up, venture back out, rinse and repeat.
Along the way, I discovered that our fiendish mapmaker
really had something against the circumnavigation bonus. Well, I finally built a city on the east coast of my continent, built a caravel there, and earned that bonus in 1505. So there!
Eventually, being financial built up a tech lead that let me build a couple wonders of my own, Notre Dame and the Taj Mahal. Stalin attacked Justinian in 1635. Lincoln brought in Hannibal as seventh AI in 1675, by setting him up as a vassal on a western island. And I finally committed to my usual domination/conquest strategy. Attacking my neighbor H.C., who controlled the AP, would have caused problems, so Stalin was my first target. I went to war--finally--in 1716. I captured six cities (including Moscow with nine wonders) and accepted his vassalage in 1750. Founding Mining, Inc. in the same year helped boost my hammer output tremendously, although the outcome was inevitable at that point, anyway.
Repositioning my forces, I attacked H.C. in 1760. With the next AP vote being dedicated to reelecting him as its leader, he never had an opportunity to cause trouble by demanding an end to the war, before I had taken enough of his cities to block any such vote. It never came, and he capitulated in 1802.
Justinian followed, in a war lasting from 1806 to 1814. Lincoln/Hannibal next, in 1816. Lincoln actually capitulated first (I thought AI were resistant to doing so, as long as they had a vassal) in 1828, and Hannibal immediately followed. I declared war on Joao, and Mehmet finally saw the writing on the wall and declared on me. Both would capitulate in 1841, giving me a Conquest Victory in 1842.
So, OK, there's my victory report, slow and uninspiring, but still a victory. Now the rest of you can post your reports showing how much faster and easier it was for you.
