I had gotten Polytheism first, of course; this had gotten me a whole pile of techs in 1250 BC. Egypt already had Philosophy, or I would have researched it next; I decided to run min sci on Monarchy, after researching something else for a few turns.
One of the techs I got was Map Making, and soon I had a galley out of Gergovia wandering eastward. I make contact with Rome in 775 BC, and with England in 750 BC. Neither has Polytheism, so I trade it around again for another pile of techs and cash. One neat thing about this is that I'll be the only one with many contacts for a while, and the AI's can't even demand a contact from me in Conquests. Both Rome city and London are building the Pyramids; establishing both embassies shows me that I have both of them beat by comfortable margins.
That same year (750 BC), a warrior that my galley had dropped off on the small tundra island between the continents pops a hut there ... and gets me a monopoly on Literature.
I make contact with Portugal in 630 BC for full world contact. Henry is building the Pyramids in Lisbon ... an embassy shows me I have him beat by all of one turn. Whee! Of course, maybe I should have not wasted time building that temple; it wouldn't have been this close, although it's also painful to have to run 50-60% lux tax to support a size 7 city buildling an early wonder.
The first two AI's make it into the Middle Ages by 430 BC. The next turn, Alesia completes the Pyramids! I wasn't expecting to get that at this late date. And, whoa ... I just triggered a Golden Age! I completely wasn't expecting that; I hadn't thought about the new combinations of civ attributes and Wonder attributes in Conquests, and I was expecting to get something like the Great Library in Alesia. I'm still in Despotism with about a dozen turns left on my min sci run ... I don't want to waste this Golden Age and the precious shields that it grants, either. I pay 31gpt and change (ouch) to Carthage for Monarchy and immediately revolt. I get a two-turn anarchy (ouch).
When I emerge from Monarchy I use my new income and my ability to broker between continents to get me into the Middle Ages. I also decide to start several Wonders. I enjoy building as many Wonders as I can get my hands on, even if it's just the Great Wall. I set max research to Feudalism, to try for Sun Tzu and because it's a very expensive tech to purchase.
The AI's were slackers about starting wonders earlier in this game, but now with a whole lot of wonder techs around, half of the AI cities are trying for one wonder or another. Here is my mid-GA empire with the landgrab phase complete:
I got beaten to a couple of the marginal city locations, but I plan to eventually flip or capture them; no big deal.
