Civ-specific strategy: Germans

[Yahweh Sabaoth]

Originally posted by Arrian
On Huge maps, well, the Germans are going to have trouble. Archer wars are less effective. Non-industriousness hurts more. They aren't especially good for the "build first, fight later" approach.

That is for damn sure.

On a huge map, I found that a core of 6-8 cities, all geared towards production rather than accumulation of food, did the trick to take on my neighbors with swordsmen, and a few horsemen. The swordsmen really made the difference though... able to defend themselves, slowing moving from one new capital to the next, earning GLs and elites...

Archer rushing right off the bat is profitable, but the hostility you engender towards yourself makes it worth the wait for swordsmen, IMO. But yes, you can't wait forever, because your neighbors will out-trade/research you, and even the weak Russians will build such a huge empire (if unchecked) to make their conquest difficult.

[Yahweh Sabaoth]

A SIDE NOTE:

Does anyone know an easy way to determine how close you are in any given game to achieving a domination victory?

I'm 4 turns away from a cultural victory as the Germans currently, but I sense I'm also very close to a domination victory... still, I don't know off-hand how to EXACTLY determine which cities I'll need to take (and hold) to win a domination victory - which I would like to win for the first time. A cultural victory when I've come so far in war would be so... dull.