Defined by the Himalayan mountain range, lots of hills and dense jungle and rivers, East Asia makes land assaults challenging. The map is better suited to naval offensives. Isolated mountain regions are better tackled with religious combat, particularly if you have access to Mt. Everest, that grant them bonuses to movement on hills.

Hence the map is particularly suited to a Religious Victory. Though your mileage may vary.

Apart from iron, which is readily available on this map, strategic resources are hard to come by.

Notably there are only 6 sources of Niter on the map. So plan on acquiring one for the Renaissance. Horses and aluminium are also quite rare.

Tea, silk, cotton, sugar and salt are aplenty. One of the easiest to monopolise is spice. The hardest is pearl.

Arguably the best start on this map. Move your settler one tile and settle the natural wonder Ha Long Bay.

Rush Khmer. If you are lucky or start in the Classical Era you maybe able to ambush Khmer settlers playing an aggressive early game.

The Khmer start very close so you may want to eliminate them ASAP, though be forewarned capturing a capital will give you negative 5 diplomatic favour per turn. (So forget about playing a diplomatic game).

Employ your unique elephant crossbows to expand your frontiers. Unlike China you may not be able to fortify with walls. Instead plant woods (after Medieval Faires) as a passive defence. It gives your units +5 strength and +1 movement. (Double if you start your turn on woods).

If you're not playing Vietnam you can walk your settler NE and settle the coast near Ha Long Bay for additional food and culture. Build out a navy and conquer Hong Kong (which you may trade/liberate after you traverse ocean), Indonesia and Japan.

Now you are are free to settle coastal/river locations across East Asia and India.

Forward settle India and China. Send scouts to squat, preventing them from settling towards you. With colonisation forward settle India and China building your Holy Sites to culture bomb tiles on which you can construct Encampments from which to bombard their cities.

Be sure to prioritise traders to build roads to and from your frontier cities, to mobilise your army.

Once you defeat Indonesia you should be able to secure a prophet to found a religion. Choose Monastic Isolation, to make the most of your martyred missionaries.

Scythia maybe too far away and isolated for conquest. Instead try a religious win as the Khmer are centrally positioned on the map.

Walk your settler SE and settle Everest. When you place a Holy Site next to it, not only do you get additional faith but your religious units purchased here will automatically get the bonus to movement on hills!

Rush Khmer and plan to eliminate them from the game with your Varus. You'll need a battering ram and a couple of catapults to finish them off. If you do, you should be able to found a religion of your own.

The versatile Warrior Monks are a great choice to keep Scythia at bay.

Scout out and squat the Indian subcontinent for chokepoints to settle and secure before Scythia if possible.

Afterwards build out a navy and take out Indonesia before it builds Jongs. Then onto Japan. Skirmish with China for settlers but o/w play defensively on land. Prioritise Holy Sites to take advantage of Dharma; Commercial districts and harbours to build traders for roads through the thick jungle, rivers and hills.

Go for a Domination or Culture win.

Unlike India, China doesn't have the shelter of the Himalayas to the north, a river delta to the west and a narrow coast to the south. China needs to use its wits to keep at bay enemies from all sides: Japan to the East, The Khmer to the south and Scythia to the west. Having said that, China is well positioned to dominate the map, unlike India.

Move your settler a few tiles S to greener pastures. Settle next to rice & tea.

Send scouts to meet your neighbours. Then build out an army to take out The Khmer. China's neighbours all have bonuses for faith making a religious victory difficult to pursue. So you may want to prioritise a Great General instead of a Great Prophet.

Try to forward settle India and Scythia as far as possible. Settle inland instead of the coasts to build The Great Wall on China's eastern coasts as you continue to settle west. Once you've defeated The Khmer, build out a navy and finish off Indonesia and Japan.

Conquer Indian coastal cities, then with an airforce, finish the job.

Kublai Khan has a great start location on this map. As leader of China his capital Beijing starts near horse, iron, oil, uranium and aluminium. Perhaps the best strategic location on the map, because strategic resources are very rare on this map. Iron is the most common. Horse, Nitre, Aluminium and Uranium are hard to come by.

Rush Korea and ally with Japan. Defend against The Mongols.

Some clever forward settling should allow you to use your Great Wall improvement to fortify your borders with neighbours (and city states).

But remember playing Kublai Khan as China requires some early alliances to get those tech and civic boosts from completed trade routes.

Kublai Khan's capital Xanadu is located in the same place as Beijing. (This is in contrast to Elanor of Aquitaine who as leader of England starts in London and as leader of France starts in Paris). Regardless Kublai Khan's start is vastly superior to his grand father Genghis Khan who starts out in the desert.

Rush Korea and China.

First, prioritise traders to instantly grant you a trading post and tech/civic boosts when trading with neighbours. Secondly, don't forget to build encampments and Mongolia's special stable building to be able to churn out cavalry with +1 movement. (The Great Generals they generate can't hurt either).

Next employ the Monumentality Golden Age dedication to churn out a ton of settlers. Use Mongolia's unique unit The Keshig archer to escort them across the map, to settle a large contiguous empire.

Indonesia's TSL location is on an island. So you may want to start in the Classical era at the earliest.

Build a Navy and take out any coastal Khmer cities, Hong Kong (which you may trade/liberate later on), Japan and any coastal Indian cities. Then you are free to settle East Asia's coasts.

Beeline Mercenaries to upgrade your Quadrimes to Jongs. In order to do that you will need to build out an army, which your Jongs can escort around the map.

Wage wars of atrophies on China and India, trading cities in peace negotiations.

But because of Indonesia's isolated start you may find a religious victory difficult. Try for a culture or science win.

Scythia start on the edge of the map surrounded by mountain. The most isolated start of all.

Walk your settler S to greener pastures. Rush India with your Saka Horse-archers. Unless you are able to eliminate India promptly you may miss out on a Great Prophet. Focus instead on getting a Great General, which escorted by catapults will allow you to take out Delhi.

TBH even if you secure Everest a religious victory maybe more effort than it's worth. The Khmer and China should be easy targets, allowing your early-mid game to conquer all of mainland East Asia.

Then build/buy a navy, late game, to take Indonesia and Japan's capitals FTW.

Build a navy and take out any coastal Khmer cities, Hong Kong (which you may trade and liberate later) and Indonesia.

With an army of Samurai you may want to finish off the Khmer before they can churn out their Domrey. Then you are free to settle/conquer coastal East Asia.