Started as Charlemagne in a Terra map, randomized starting positions (i.e, Sometimes old world, Sometimes everywhere but one 'continent', sometimes everywhere) and random sea level, temperature. I love the sea level option, because high and low sea levels offer interesting geography.
Rolled a dry, presumably everywhere, medium sea map. That means lots of dessert and tundra, and lots of North-South empires as we follow the rivers. And lots of floodplains. Charlemagne does the Tundra start things, and I follow the floodplains into some horse. Then I grab masonry, despite not having a single stone on the map, snag the Great Wall, and copper after. Jiao decides he is religious and beats Mansa to Meditation, founding Christianity. Mansa fumes and takes Islam.
Mans converts most of the known world to Islam, I prepare to attack Jiao. Then Jiao loses his holy city to barbs when the Swordsman-Barb event rolls. I grab it, spam missionaries, and convert Suryavarman while Julius DoW Jiao. Mansa DoWs Sury, and pounds him for half his empire. I DoW Julius, gift a stack of warriors to Sury while gifting him Iron and Iron working, and watch Sury take it back. Julius' legions were tough, but not a match for Jiao's horse and my catapults. Hayua, that stubborn ass with his own lonely religion, threatens me twice for small lump sums of money, which I grant until he is pleased. I gift him backtechs and he DoWs Mansa.
I have the world's largest religion now. The downside? Mansa snagged the AP. Other than that I have only to worry about the others I haven't met.