Hello there Sir or Madam (plus anything in between).

If you are reading this I suspect either that you are a glutton for punishment or an achievement hunter. If you are the former, then win or lose I hope you have fun, but this guide probably isn't for you. There we go. Achievement hunters read on (or skip the introduction as is your right). Since my guide is actually fairly simplistic (discovered accidentally when training for multiplayer), I invite anyone with an interest to contribute their own short guide on how to beat a deity game. My only requirement for entry is that the method should be tried and tested, possibly more than once. If interested give me a buzz.

As previously mentioned I discovered this method accidentally when practicing for multiplayer (Gods and Kings, haven't got Brave New World). Many of the factors I am sure can be edited depending on preference, however your chances of success may be skewed as a result, you have been warned.

Here was my set up, with some personal recommendations I suspect may make it easier for you:

Map - Sandstorm (Many flat areas, unlikely to slow you down much, you need to scout for the enemy capital and surrounding areas ASAP)
Your Faction - Hunnic, Attila the Hun (They have a unique unit that is paramount to victory)
Enemy Faction - Austria, Maria Theresa (Make sure the faction does not have a military or production advantage)
Speed - I did it on Normal, I do not recommend anything longer than that.
City States - 0 (I had the default 4 and didn't find them a problem, but they can and will be used against you)
Barbarians - Off (I found them a pain to work with to be honest since I wanted to test starting strategies at the time)
Victory Conditions - All on. You will be going all out for domination, but at least our enemy won't be doing that too.
Resources - I had the default, but an exceptional start may be useful for you.

Now the starting conditions are sorted out, here is how your campaign should start:

- Scout for the opposing capital (Left or Right of starting position) using your starting warrior.
- By all means nab the Ancient Ruins if they're not too far off course, culture and weapons are ideal, although population won't hurt either.
- NO. BUILDINGS. I understand the temptation, but they are completely unnecessary,
- Focus Warriors.
- Research Archery

So far so good! As you train more warriors either send them out scouting if you can't find the enemy capital or consolidate a hex or two outside the boarder. You should have found it fairly soon, if not don't be afraid to reset and try again. Assuming you have found the enemy capital you should now do the following for the mid game:

- Focus Archers as soon as you get the technology, you can do greater damage to enemy units.
- Try and detect where the enemy civilians are (both workers and settlers and keep tabs on them)
- Research Mining, then Bronze Working, then The Wheel (Attila already has Animal Husbandry)
- By now your culture will have built up. Select HONOUR, then WARRIOR CODE, then DISCIPLINE
- As soon as you can build Battering Rams do so, with luck an Ancient Ruin will have upgraded one of your warriors to a Ram.
- Remember those Settlers and workers? Once a Settler exits the enemy border, wage war and attack the guardian unit but don't kill or capture the settler. Allow them to build a level 1 city, which should be within close range of the capital.
- Archers should pepper enemy units (likely Spearmen and Chariot Archers), Warriors are more expendable than archers, so don't worry if you lose a few. Capture enemy workers if you can.
- With luck you should get a General from the conflict, don't worry, we'll be using him, and the other guy we get from our WARRIOR CODE policy.
- With Battering Rams, you will want to take the level 1 city next to the capital, I suggest you use a few spare archers to help you do this. This is your top priority!

Well done if you have made it this far! You will have lost a fairly considerable amount of troops but hopefully you will have taken out a few of the enemies! You will have a low level city next to or near the capital and a general or two with a small force. This is where it gets interesting.

- If you are offered a peace treaty, I recommend you accept. You've done some damage skipper, but you need to build up troops! Fortunatly, you now have a second city to help you out, along with 10 turns of not attacking..
- Captured workers can either be used to build production improvements, or start a road from your capital (it's unlikely you'll finish it before the end, but even a small speed boost will help.
- You want a balance between troops and siege. Hopefully you have the tech for Horse Archers because I recommend you make a few to deal with pesky enemy troops.
-You will likely have enough gold for this (maybe gaining some as part of a peace treaty) but you may need to purchase tiles along the enemy border.
- Next we're gonna use the generals, more specifically to create citadels on the very edge of the enemy border, so we sneakily (or not) steal land away from the enemy, heading to the capital. You will get a disapproving message if at peace, but the enemy can't do a thing to stop you.
- At this stage I had land boardering the capital, so I set all my Rams along this land so I could take it ASAP. I don't know if you can take a city let alone a capital by the land stealing technique but if you can, do it I guess?
- Have all your rams as close to the capital as possible.
- As soon as the peace treaty expires, wage war again and hit that capital with everything you have! Consider saving the game before hand in case the numbers work against you.
- Rams do a ton of damage, even against a higher level city. Those Archers and Horse Archers you have can help too. As soon as you take the capital, you win!

PS: Let me know what you think and if you have additional methods that gets the achievement!