Is my perfect game of EB possible?

[Titus Marcellus Scato]

First and foremost, how do I slow the game down? By which I mean how do I make the AI less aggressive towards other AI factions? I don't want to see a faction vanish within 20 turns because they've been steamrollered, and I don't want all the Eleutheroi gone within 50. This took up most of my time; I'd be constantly pumping money into the Eleutheroi faction and adding troops to their garrisons in key areas to maintain their freedom. I'd also move stacks of other factions troops elsewhere (sometimes marooning them on that island on the bottom of the map) or use the save-load bug to trick them into besieging another faction's settlement rather than harass the Eleutheroi.

I've actually been thinking about trying the Easy campaign difficulty, which I've never done before. Maybe that will make the AI less aggressive generally, and if it gives me bonus income, I can spend it on having large garrisons on my borders, which normally I can't afford as I'm a big spender on town building.

I play on BI, but only to avoid CTDs. The little naval invasions can become annoying if you're not at war with the invader, because they are ahistorical.

But basically, I've become resigned to only playing the first 50 years of a campaign, and giving up after that when the differences between EB and real history become too great.

Also, you might find this blog interesting:
http://www.matchstickeyes.com/2013/1...-good-4x-game/