Attempt 3 (Japan, v. good because of lots of Islands) ended after I defeated the English and Indians. The Mongols shot 5 techs ahead of me in the tech race, had Advanced Flight, Tanks and were 1 econ milestone, and 1 GP away from winning either way. Youch!
Rolled Arabia with Tanks in 1450AD
Some luck due to me culture flipping an Indian and 2 English cities, getting the Great Wall from Angkor Wat (though with Hoplites I probably could have held out), and Gandhi's cultural borders blocking Mongolia from getting to me (btw, Gandhi had all his cities flipped this game... Mongolia seems a cultural powerhouse).
Democracy from the start is very powerful... the map has a 2-dye spot to the left which is amazing, and many other dye/fish/whale spots on islands which the AI did not settle this game (I LOVE GETTING THE FREE GALLEON FROM NAVIGATION). This map would also be good with the Englsih- more on this later.
I settled 4 cities on the main continent and blocked off the Arabs with a single warrior. Everything below the Arabs until Gandhi remained unsettled because I flipped a city at a choke.
Tanks by 1450AD How-To: Research up to Metallurgy, getting Navigation first else building a Galleon. Settle all those Islands and rush a library and Habour to do this quick. Step 1 is getting lucky with Atlantis, then using a great scientist for Combustion.
After rolling Arabia I set my sights on OCC England. A rifleman of theirs defeated 7 tank armies and I just walked away.
Beat Gandhi, then had some trouble as Karakorum claimed the lives of 6 Tank Armies.
I went back to England, with a wing of bombers, a fleet of cruisers for naval support and my Tank Armies. Won that.
Also, fun fact: Spies get GG support. :/
This game taught me the value of early Temples, and early Navigation, or popping a Galley from a hut.
SCORE BREAKDOWN
Pop: 11600
Mil: 3987
Tech: 4016
Gold: 957