I have noticed by reading several threads on #5 that people tend to just annihilate every civilization as fast as possible. My question is, do you really need to spread over the planet like the plague to win? If I descover a nearby civilization that is hogging resources that I direly need, they will get their heads bashed by my club-wielding warriors of doom, but do I really need to go farther?
(this is a long example, read if you want, but not neccessary to poll)
I did not participate in this most recent GOTM but I did make my own. I was playing as france with a fairly large portion of my continent to myself. (it "kinda" resembled north america, and I was controlling the northern part... it was a large map.) My area was made up of plains, grasslands, floodplains and mountains, and I had Iron, horses, ivory, and furs. My N/W section was mostly arctic and mountains (picture alaska.) Below me was China, who was controlling an Iron source and some spices, to the se of them was america, who inhabited mostly mountains and forests, and to the south of them was the Iriqouis.(sp?) A narrow land bridge connected my continent to the other large continent between the Americans and Iriqouis and led off east, where it bulged, then narrowed (like the panama area) and opened up into another large continent, where the Egyptians controlled a large section that narrowed at the top, exiting to a LARGE continent controlled in equal sections by the germans, the Indians and the Greeks. By the time I had descovered them, the aztecs were gone. Above this continent was Japan, who controlled their own series of islands. Verry appropriate for them =P All of these civilizations (save those on my continent and the japanese) had equal territories in comparison to mine. Early in the game (about 300-400 BC) egypt moved into my continent capturing the American cities with little effort. They then made peace with the americans only controlling about 3 of their 12 cities. The Iriqouis were there next target, but only lost about 4 of their 11 cities before signing a peace treaty. (this is just a rough estimate at the number of cities, I don't have it memorized.) Soon after this my people started getting upset, so China's spices were looking mighty good. I took 3 of their cities and declared peace, which kept my people happy. Around 100 AD the egyptians were at it again, attacking America. Fearing that I might lose a valuable ally, I intervened and got the Iriqouis on my side, retaking all of the americans/Iriqouis lost cities before pushing half way into the land bridge. I gave back all of the lost cities to the Americans and Iriqouis (making them EXTREMELY happy) except for one city that had 4 dyes in its territory (after all, I'm generous, but not stupid. After my swordsmen and pikemen had thrashed most of the egyptians massive horde of pathetic charriot guys, I declared peace (getting a HUGE settlement out of them) to give my people a rest. Long story short, with the aid of america and the Iriqouis I eliminated the chinese, and the egyptians and taking several cities from the Germans (with the aid of india, who all but wiped out Germany's ally, Greece) and then sat on my massive land mass for the next 2000 years untill I eventually won a histographic victory over the Germans. To keep my score as high as possible I prevented others from building space ships, and I completed the UN so I didn't have to worry aabout an early ending. by the end of the game I amassed 6342 pts. (or close to that number) So, this goes to show you that you don't have to just wipe out your neigbors, I would have had a MUCH more difficult time without my allies.
(this is a long example, read if you want, but not neccessary to poll)
I did not participate in this most recent GOTM but I did make my own. I was playing as france with a fairly large portion of my continent to myself. (it "kinda" resembled north america, and I was controlling the northern part... it was a large map.) My area was made up of plains, grasslands, floodplains and mountains, and I had Iron, horses, ivory, and furs. My N/W section was mostly arctic and mountains (picture alaska.) Below me was China, who was controlling an Iron source and some spices, to the se of them was america, who inhabited mostly mountains and forests, and to the south of them was the Iriqouis.(sp?) A narrow land bridge connected my continent to the other large continent between the Americans and Iriqouis and led off east, where it bulged, then narrowed (like the panama area) and opened up into another large continent, where the Egyptians controlled a large section that narrowed at the top, exiting to a LARGE continent controlled in equal sections by the germans, the Indians and the Greeks. By the time I had descovered them, the aztecs were gone. Above this continent was Japan, who controlled their own series of islands. Verry appropriate for them =P All of these civilizations (save those on my continent and the japanese) had equal territories in comparison to mine. Early in the game (about 300-400 BC) egypt moved into my continent capturing the American cities with little effort. They then made peace with the americans only controlling about 3 of their 12 cities. The Iriqouis were there next target, but only lost about 4 of their 11 cities before signing a peace treaty. (this is just a rough estimate at the number of cities, I don't have it memorized.) Soon after this my people started getting upset, so China's spices were looking mighty good. I took 3 of their cities and declared peace, which kept my people happy. Around 100 AD the egyptians were at it again, attacking America. Fearing that I might lose a valuable ally, I intervened and got the Iriqouis on my side, retaking all of the americans/Iriqouis lost cities before pushing half way into the land bridge. I gave back all of the lost cities to the Americans and Iriqouis (making them EXTREMELY happy) except for one city that had 4 dyes in its territory (after all, I'm generous, but not stupid. After my swordsmen and pikemen had thrashed most of the egyptians massive horde of pathetic charriot guys, I declared peace (getting a HUGE settlement out of them) to give my people a rest. Long story short, with the aid of america and the Iriqouis I eliminated the chinese, and the egyptians and taking several cities from the Germans (with the aid of india, who all but wiped out Germany's ally, Greece) and then sat on my massive land mass for the next 2000 years untill I eventually won a histographic victory over the Germans. To keep my score as high as possible I prevented others from building space ships, and I completed the UN so I didn't have to worry aabout an early ending. by the end of the game I amassed 6342 pts. (or close to that number) So, this goes to show you that you don't have to just wipe out your neigbors, I would have had a MUCH more difficult time without my allies.
), so whether or not I answered your Q 
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