Heehee. This game is going to drive you nuts if you try statistical analysis.
OK this is what you do as Ulm for the first few turns, but of course thats
IF you are middle age
IF you took a cyclops pretender with 9 earth and 9 nature
IF the other scales are standard
IF you dont start within 5 provinces of the following nations.....
IF you dont start within 10 provs of these other nations...
IF these 2 nations arent in the game at all
and of course if no game-altering mods were in use
And even if all of those factors are exactly the same as my test game there is still no guarantee that my suggestions will come anywhere close to giving you the same results. There is always the infamous DRN
OR on the other hand you might be in heaven like some other people.
http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/showthread.php?t=38714