jesusin, contender, goal: fastest diplo, result: diplo victory 1300AD
14 cities and 323bpt with positive gpt at 500AD, no wonders.
Oxford 560AD. Moai in sheep city, probably a mistake.
Optics 640AD.
Build 3 new cities to make my pop approach the limit.
Get circumnavigation bonus.
Trade for useless things: Alpha, Medi, Constr, PH, HBR, Aest, Drama, Lite, Monar...
The biggest AI has 4 cities, no wonder they are so backwards. 1 is dead. many are at war, two have no longbows. I pay for a war between the two at peace. I prepare for war. But this game I do is seriously. Not like "priority is research, I'll insert a mace here and there if my observatory building allows" but like "I'll whip a mace in every city this turn, no matter what the city is doing".
1000AD Stats: 17 cities, 137 pop, 12 workers, 48 units (15Maces, 10Cat, 4Gall), 5 strategic resources, 9 luxury resources, 9 health resources, 2 great persons, 0 world wonders, 2 national wonders, food/production/commerce=368-120-918, 722 sustainable beakers per turn, 90 culture per turn, 17 great person points per turn, 800 gold. 2 religions. 51/55 cottages used, 33 Techs: almost Liber, half SciMet, no Constr, no Feud. 1 civs killed. 14.5 hours played.
The biggest takes another city, it's clear he'll be my rival. I think about who to attack. All have longbows now. Every city has the AP religion, I don't want to take a city and have a winner election next turn for a lost game. So I study their preferences, nobody can win a victory vote. Attack the AP holder anyway.
Physics with Liberalism.
Take 2 Monte cities quickly, one of them has all the WW but Pyra: MoM (I had ust launched my GAge, ugh), AP and a dozen more.
Revolt to AP religion and to HR to please Cathy. She's at +8 friendly towards my rival. She turns Friendly to me at +10, I plan to feel save at about +13. I have 56.5% pop.
Build late NE, get 3 GE in the 3 cities I had hired a forge-enabled GE just after my first GS for Academy. Attack Shaka while waiting for Monte to capitulate.
Pause for thinking: I can win with my pop and Cathy's votes. Or I can win with my votes and 1 vassal votes. A third option is to liberate one of the islands as a colony and win with my votes. But if I take a vassal, Cathy will stop loving me because of that stupid "average of love towards you and your vassals" rule.
Monte and Shaka awake me from my deep thinking by retaking one of the original Monte cities each. I take the opportunity to launch a second GAge by using a GE on TajMaj now that I don't have MoM
.
1130AD I start building wealth. I'm tired of transporting maces and cats to the other side of the world. By the way, maces and cats know how to kill Deity longbows, just as well as they know how to kill Noble longbows.
1170AD: 191 pop out of 334 total. 207 needed to win, I can count on Cathy's 26.
1200AD: stop whipping, no danger of going over the limit.
1220AD: MM researched, 2 GE used for UN. This is a bit boring now, I could have gotten a domination victory a century ago.
1230AD: Un buit, I vote for me. Cathy is at +16.
1250AD: both Monte and Shaka accepted as vassals. Airships are a big help at war when you don't have tech advantage. Cathy won't trade it's monopoly techs to me now, that means she won't vote for me.
I have 217pop, 218 votes are needed, my vassals have 27 votes, I gift them some cities.
6 turns between votes, I remember it was 4, wasn't it? I get really nervous.
I get ChristoRedentor but don't revolt to State Property as I should because I am scared.
1290AD, votings happen, Cathy won't trade her monopoly techs. I whip a bit, just in case someone else whips a lot and puts me over the self-voting pop limit.
1300AD, victory, it's announced that Cathy will trade her monopoly techs, I get her votes in addition to those of my vassals.
Total pop 377, votes needed 233, votes got 292.
I don't understand Cathy. She's at +15 Friendly to me, +12 Friendly to vassal1 and +3 Pleased to vassal2. Why did she change her mind?
Or getting the message of surpassing the population limit for domination (25% more than the second best) at 1AD or so 
) to not trade monopoly techs it's enough for getAttitude (different function) to return a value at the threshold or below, in this case Pleased. This function does average over vassals and does it with attitudes, so (Friendly + Friendly + Pleased)/3 will always be only Pleased regardless of the actual numerical values. Meaning you can never trade techs through WFYABTA/monopolywhine if you or any of your vassals are non-Friendly.
