Just finished a play through as Elizabeth on an archipelago map. I wanted to provide some constructive criticism on how the AI handles play on this type of map.

With the new way naval units are (being able to actually destroy units outright), naval power is very important and the AI is not treating it as such. Many countries had a decent land force on their 20-25 hexagon island. However, there was nothing to prevent my ships from circling the island whittling them down. I conquered a few empires with a single land unit. City bombard was doing a ridiculous one damage, and after a few level ups my ships had the heal anywhere upgrade.

Powerful ranged units might help some, but the AI should have the ability to recognize when they are on islands or totally along a coastline and focus on building a fleet. It should also manage it just like that... a fleet. A whole bunch of ships wandering around by themselves are easy pickings for the focus fire of 3-4 ships traveling together.

I realize some people have seen the computer build more ships than others, but I can honestly say other than barbarian ships I saw one or two per empire before my space victory in 1920, on prince difficulty. It isn't simply the lack of ships, but the number of melee land units that I think needs to be addressed.

Overall an enjoyable game, hopefully will provide some insight on how the AI could be improved.