I'm rather new to Civ4. I just won my first victory on Monarch, and I'm not sure why.
I started on an island with just me and Frederick. I've never done well with this kind of start. By the time I meet the other civs I'm so far behind that I can't compete. I did my best to avoid wars and to concentrate on my economy, in hopes of being able to stay close enough to make a move through tech trading and diplomacy when the other civs came a-knocking. Is this a reasonable approach to this situation?
In any case, by the time I met the folks on the mainland, I was still too far behind to make a run at them. I took a feeble shot at a space victory, but Brenus launched his own ship just about the time I completed the Apollo project. Oh well, "foiled again," said I.
As I clicked through the final 10 turns to give him his victory, a UN vote came up. Catherine (whom everyone hated) and I were the only ones on the ballot. I was reasonably well liked by the rest of the civs, even though I was a distant fourth in score, way behind in econ and military, etc. But since she was the only other candidate, I was able to win a landslide diplomatic victory and snatch a win from the jaws of defeat.
My question is why? Why were she and I the only ones on the ballot? There had been previous apostolic and, I think, UN votes, and Brenus had won them all handily. Why weren't he, Justinian, and the others on the ballot? I'm happy for the unexpected victory, but I'd like to know how I fell into it.