When you're in over your head..

[Coast]

Next War mod epic game starting from the ancient era..

Pangaea, huge map, aggressive AI, 18 civs, raging barbs, choose religion, no tech brokering, permanent alliances on..

Basically I'm in the middle of a map surrounded by aggressors, at the head of the apostolic palace and a sizable but not too massive jewish block, and I've got nine cities, and relationships are all pear shaped. Nobody'll war ally with me because the jews are fighting the christians and the confucians are pestering everybody, and vassal-conglomerates are growing and they're all busy. How do you win when you've barely got a tech lead and your next door neighbour is insane Shaka, you're low on units from fighting three nations at once, and anybody you might attack that's adjacent to gain territory is either a huge ally or has three people that'll go to war -for- them if you attack them? .

Freakin' hell, it's fun. Love it even though I have a good shot at dying.

 

[Janus0]

Get peace at all cost. Spread all 3 religions to your cities. Build cathedrals in your 3 best science cities. Produce units with all the other ones. Raise your cultural slider to 80-90% and hope you survive.

 

[CivCorpse]

Huge allies have huge backs. Get some peace with everyone. spread christianity to all your cities and switch religions the turn before you place a sharp metal object in the big back mentioned above. Think they won't do it to you? You lose the production bouns from the AP but you game more production from your new lands. You can then bribe shaka to jump in and get diplo points for shared miltary struggles. Plus you lose the heathen religion negative modifiers and gain brothers of the faith. I would time it right after the next time you are voted AP leader. When you switch religions you won't have as many votes so you might lose and then they can force a vote to stop the war. I would use the next resolution to stop the war against you. If they have any jewish cities they have to comply or suffer mega unhappiness.