if you are going to go for domination victory you only have to take everyone's capital, you don´t need to conquer the hole civilization or the small city states

Civ tend to build tons of units after losing a war, so watch out for France's revenge (France tend to be aggressive too).

The Chinese religion has been founded in Spain. Makes perfect sense.

The British Isles in this game are a geographical abomination.

Wrong. It's bonus when defending against a civ that have more city

Considering that the inclusion of religion was one of the greater themes of this expansion you sure seem to be ignoring it. I would have liked to see how the new mechanics work. Also it seem that if you do not create your own religion you may be eventually converted to whatever religion your neighboring civilizations have chosen. P.S. You can call it something funny like stalinism.

You need more faith for religion.

build the notre dame it gives you +10 happines