Civ V Something is very wrong here!

I am currently in the process of experiencing a very bizarre situation, I'm actually doing well in my first game of something. I've never had any games consoles other than the trusty computer and disapproving parents have meant that I am well out of practice. However I finally got Civ V working on a computer an to my shock I actually became good at it. Once I'd worked my way around the various menus I started a game as Bismarck, okay admittedly I was playing at settler level but still what followed was an extraordinary occurrence. I played for hours, fighting various wars and making Berlin look like a 1600s Tokyo until I reached the point were other Civs go mad! America was at one point my closest rival but that lasted about as long as their capital (mwuhhaha) Greece was going to attack as well but they resorted to peace without a fight. As I write I've destroyed Siam and America entirely and  my score is well into the 600s my closest rival (Catherine) is only in the 300s. Its the first game I've ever done well on my first time and interestingly enough I think I like it (what a coincidence)!