BTW, WL, you really need to do have fixed start next time. The random starts in this game were a disaster. A few nations had remarkably good starting position with not a single nation next to them anywhere near, and quite a few of us were clustered on top of each others. I had 3 neighbors by turn 3 and ran out of expansion space by turn 10, when I already met Atlantis, Agartha, TC, Midgard, Pangaea, Arco and Ulm, and Ulm TC and Agartha were all only two provinces away from my capital.
P.S. I guess I should keep my mouth shut and not tell you how to play, though I guess I make for a pretty good sensei!