Utilising a tech lead

[Charlie_B]

In my current game I'm playing Ragnar on a large archipelago map, with 6 other civs. I beelined the Great Lighthouse and Colossus so my economy boomed and I've been in a strong tech lead most of the game. The problem has been that I pretty much forgot the map was so large/uncrowded and didn't really have my head in empire-building mood. This probably helped my economy even more, but it meant that all the other civs built up far more cities than me.
In such a situation, what do people feel is the best way to leverage your tech lead for the greatest advantage? Is there anything other than the obvious tactic of beelining an important military tech and winning a war to boost your empire?
I decided to grab edu/phil then leave liberalism to the last possible moment - I was teching so much faster that I've just got assembly line free for it, which is much more than I've ever done before.
Here's a couple of screenshots of my game (I played a bit further on to get AL, obviously):

 

[r_rolo1]

Well, you a tech lead so big that the game is pratically over unless you do something very stupid Well, besides the "Get rifles or infantry and storm Hammurabi and/or Peter", You could had opted by the privateer spam + blockade to get some extra XP and good cash.

 

[nbcman]

You could go for a space race win since you are ahead in tech-or cut off all research and go for a cultural win. As r rolo1 said, you could go for privateer spam. You can make a ton of gold and easy experience points until the AIs get to Astro.

 

[Phatkarp]

Privateer spam?

 

[nbcman]

Privateer spam is building a lot of privateers and blockading as many opponent cities as possible. This is an effective way of slowing down the AI since:
1. The AI cities cannot work any blockaded water tiles. This means no food/commerce from those tiles and no fish, crabs, clams or whale resources which can impact the AI's and .
2. The AI will tend to build naval units to try to break the blockade but will only attack if the AI thinks they have a chance to kill the blockading units. This can result in a couple of Privateers blockading a city that contains 6 or more Caravels that wont leave the city to attack the privateers.
3. The AI's tech pace will slow due to the reduced trade routes as well as the increase of unit costs if the AI builds excessive naval units.
4. You will earn some gold (2-4 gold) per blockaded city plus gain experience points for the Privateers and Great General points. It is a great way to get 10 XP Privateers that can be upgraded to 10 XP destroyers.

Privateer spam works very well against AIs that have not reached Astro. Once the AIs start getting Frigates, the effectiveness of Privateer blockades is not that great. But you can move your Privateers to blockade other AIs that do not have Frigates and continue your blockade. Just look out for AI open border agreements that would allow Frigates from another AI to attack your Privateers.

 

[Phatkarp]

Your previous post implied that the privateer spam can lead to a "ton of gold". That was the part that confused (and excited) me. Can blockades make you money? I'd never heard that before, and I probably misread your message.

 

[nbcman]

Depends on how many cities you are blockading. I usually play small maps and I can be making enough gold (40+ per turn from 15-20+ blockaded cities) to push my science slider up at least an additional 20% due to the extra money.

 

[TheMeInTeam]

I'd build theaters/coliseums for happiness while teching rifling, then draft out a bunch of rifles and take over as much as you can!

I love military approaches.