Liberty/Tradition first depending on preference. Just remember the rock-paper-scissors mechanic and that you'll need 4-6 ranged naval units and 3-4 melee naval units per city. Late game is where Archipelago maps come into their own with the range of units. Prior to Navigation capturing a coastal city is doable but tough. Ranged ships are also perfect but I find that these get called to the front later.ДЇor offence, you seldom need land units (unless the city is not on the coast or only has one water tile next to it) so concentrate on 4-6 frigates and 3-4 privateers per city. Whilst exploring, go for EdДЇor defence, emphasize a ranged land unit for defence in each city. Don't worry too much about decent land units. Just remember to build the NC early and get Universities up and staffed with specialists asap.ДЄim for Sailing early - you need to get exploring much earlier than on, say, Continents. This actually won't be as big a problem as you might expect because the big science techs are all on your tech path. If neither of the above narrow it down then take out the weakest provided they're not totally inaccessible or will put you at a strategic disadvantage.Д§)How to keep up in tech, since nobody will DoF with an aggressor? If it is you or no matter who you hit you're going to annoy everybody else then prioritize what you need (high production cities, strategic or luxury resources etc).

This depends on difficulty level, on Emperor and above I'd strongly recommend you focus on who everybody hates. Especially if you're going on a conquer spree I'd focus on getting two or three very well situated cities and avoiding any more unless the map is giving you the holy grail of city sites.Д¦)Who to actually attack first(nearest neigbours, the one with luxuries/resources or the weakest civs)? One I would strongly suggest is the Statue of Liberty though - you're going to be running specialists and with your low production that makes this wonder very, very nice to have.ДҐ)How many core cities do you usually go for? Archipelago maps aren't known for their high production cities and you don't want to get caught wasting a huge number of turns only to miss it. I'd personally recommend avoiding Wonders unless you're way ahead and can pick and choose. If you feel you can manage it the Great Lighthouse is really nice, but it typically goes early. If you do build land units though, don't waste your strategic resources on them - Iron, Oil and Aluminium can be better used on ships and planes than Swords or Tanks.Д¤)Wonders(Great Lighthouse maybe, ND later i guess)? As Erneiz said, if you're on Archipelago, you want Commerce.Дepending on the type of Archipelago map (small continents, islands etc) it's quite possible to avoid land units altogether. Anything smaller and you'll get more mileage out of Tradition. The fact that they're on the Education route is a huge bonus.Дў)Policies?(I was thinking a combination of liberty+honor might do the trick, with some commerce later)?Дefinitely not Liberty unless you're playing on a Huge map.

Frigates are like the artillery of the seas, in terms of their impact on warfare at sea. Make a quick beeline to the National College, run up through Optics, hard-research Astronomy whilst building Universities and use Oxford for Navigation. 1)What should my tech path look like and which units to emphasize?ДЄstronomy and Navigation.

Civ 5 early game strategy