My turn then:
My intention at the start of the game was to use EA Oceania's water power and blessed Triton knights to dominate the seas, and then use that position to pump out a clam economy and wish my way to power. Unfortunately two issues interfered with that plan.
First, there was Evilhomer's Rlyeh. I met him quite early, and seriously considered launching an early war against him (a war I still believe I might have won, though at great cost - don't know if Evilhomer thinks the same though) However Homer's early expansion was quite awesome, and in the end I decided to go for easier pickings, not wanting to weaken myself in a costly war so early in the game. From that point on he was a constant threat looming on my border, getting ever stronger...
Second problem was my water income. Despite many attempts to trade for them it was horribly insufficient for my needs. It took me quite some time to even fully Voice of Tiamat all my provinces. Add to that the large number of amulets of the fish I had to forge to gain even a small foothold on land, and water boosters, and clamming wasn't very impressing. By the time R'lyeh and Ermor (and some others) combined to eliminate me I had roughly 75 clams. Sure, a nice boost to my gem income, but hardly game-breaking - and never enough to stockpile any amount of gems. (Apparently medium-sized MA Ermor had substantially more, enough said)
Add to that Oceania's quite appalling magic ability, and horrible landgoing capacity (I had underestimated this before playing) forcing me to spend lots of gems to conquer even a (by then) minor nation like Jomon, and I'm afraid I wasn't nearly as strong as the graphs made everyone suspect.
Still, I did my best to defend against a multiple-front assault, with some local successes, and generally had a blast playing this game. Thanks a lot Velusion, for making this possible, I wouldn't have missed it for the world.
P.S. Evilhomer (if you read this by the time you come back from holliday): How come you never used darkness against me? It was actually the spell I feared most during the whole game (yes, even more than master enslave) and would have basically rendered all my underwater armies quite useless, with no possible counter. And from your Excellent R'lyeh guide I knew you're perfectly aware of it's possibilities.
P.P.S. Hah, but I hold the first two spots in the hall of fame. Obviously that amounts to a moral victory!