Second Place and Half a World Away

[Theseus]

Yes, Marine Armies (and Berserk Armies) are indeed amphib, and as has been said, a glorious thing to behold.

For any doubters, download my submission for the AU 503 HoF. It's the last turn, and you can try a 4xMAU for yourself (mkquest is quite right that that is the correct designation... a Marine ARMY, sheesh, what was I thinking ).

Mix them in the same Army though, and you have a dud. Still p*sses me off something fierce.

[Cort Haus]

As vmxa1 said, on Monarch level you can get ahead of the other continent just by taking over your own, so there are probably early-game techniques you could develop.

Making earlier contact was mentioned, and this applies to your home continent first (warriors / scouts / curraghs), then securing naval techs then exploring quickly to find the other civs. I assume your playing C3C, where contact trading comes much later in the game and exploration is more important.

Contact means tech trade opportunities and reduced costs for techs already discovered by the others you know.

In your cities, maximise your pop working on improved tiles - work those roads for your own research and/or beat techs out of the opposition.

Economic success is all about growth + worked tiles. Use the lux slider when you can't hook up enough lux.

Finally, if taking on a strong Babs overseas, I wouldn't want to try and hold onto any core cities - certain Flipsville. Bring settlers.