I got hammered badly, Persians to the left of me, English to the right of me. And to think I thought I was some great shakes at Civ, too.

Any basic suggestions/strategies, folks? Is it standard procedure to start again if you get a bad starting position, or only one settler? Or to reload if things don't go your way? I hasten to add, this is not the kind of thing I do, you understand.

Is it any of the above, or am I just crap at Civ?

I have never played OCC, but there are several rules:

Always play on Deity - you then always get two settlers.