Too Little Too Late

In our latest challenge, I wasn't sure how I was going to try and win until I saw in the early game that there was a lot of unclaimed land around my starting area except for the Greeks to the north who I had inadvertently stunted with one of my early cities. So I decided to build a big empire and try and win on pure aggression, a decision that was reinforced by the two large continents (due to the lower sea level I picked in creating the map) and the mistaken impression I got from somewhere that I needed only 6 of 10 capitals to win the game. Doh.

I easily rolled the Greek capital in a surprise attack, and after a botched attack on Paris through a jungle I dismantled the French empire from the south up, and then marched south in an unstoppable column through the Babylonians and Celts. With 5 capitals secure (including my own) I thought I needed only to pick off the weakest adversary on the second continent to win... and then I found out I needed ALL capitals to win.

Having built my strategy on a false assumption, I gamely tried to invade the second continent but allowing these other empires time to develop on their own found my requiring a bigger and updated military to made headway, especially after I attack Washington without air cover and found my Grand Army smashed to smithereens.

My second attack made better headway but with only 60 turns left and four capitals to conquer in modern warfare and really long supply lines, I knew it was a hopeless case.

Making Headway.

The heart of my empire.