When does warfare start?

[walkern]

Thanks for the help in the thread about stacks. I've got another question about a timeline for war.

Again, I've still got the demo (frustrating, but I'm excited for the full version, and if there's any weird changes other than the small tech tree that may have something to do with things), and in the 100 turns I get to play, I've noticed that pretty much no warfare occurs unless I start it. I'm on noble difficulty with a small map; Greeks, Romans, Indians, and Inca.

It sounds like maybe on harder difficulties or with different civs that open warfare over resources and land/cities starts well within those first 100 turns, although I could definitely see how it could wait until much later in the game where more varied units begin to pop up.

Anyways, I just wonder about the use for chariots/spearmen/swordsmen/axemen when there doesn't seem to be much going on. Can anyone give me an idea of the norm?

Thanks,
NW

[vmxa1]

In std gmes and maps on a level like Noble you can often get out in front in tech. Be first to several religions and afford to be nice to as many civs as want to be friendly.

Since you tend to have better tech and hence troops and it is so early, the AI will just tend to go along and get along.

Later when all the land is settled, things tend to break down. religions are set and friction can start.

Move up even to Prince as some of that changes.

Some (me) will tend to not wait that long to annex are neighbors lands. Get an edge in troop quality or quanity and drop the hammer on someone.

Start with a strong UU like the Romans and you can punish the AI very soon.

[LowLife]

Last night I started at Prince as the Aztecs on a small Terran world with 10 civs and had the Chinese and the Japanese declare on me within the first 50 turns.

The Chinese came first, when I was still on my way towards Iron Working and therefore could only build warriors. They took out a settler and ripped up all of my roads before I got to Iron working and started trying to crank out Jags.

We went back and forth for about a dozen turns, then Tokugawa decided to pile on. He came in with chariots and rolled my Jag army on the planes south of Shanghai. Boom! Within another dozen turns, I was out of the game.

Point - overload the # of civs on a small world, and you'll get your early warfare!

[Quillan]

That seems pretty common on Terra maps regardless of the size, though 10 civs on a small one is quite a lot.

[MasterDave]

Terra maps are definitely not for the faint of heart. The AI seems far more aggressive in Terra than it does on pangea for some reason.

[SirOsis]

Heh. I am playing my first Terra map game and man those barbs are tough in the New World. Razed my newly placed city in no time. They've got some size 14 cities inland. Hoardes of Macemen decended upon me and pounded me to a pulp.

The old world is relatively calm since I opened up with a quick slapdown of Saladin and spread Hinduism to every civ I could (very early in game). The Aztecs just got uppity (1600 AD) but after their initial attack was repulsed I went in an pillaged and razed them back to the stone age. I expect the English and Chinese to get into it with me in a few hundred years.

[Quillan]

I had that problem the first time I played a Terra map. The second time I sent troops first. By the end of that game I had decided that it's much better to conquer the new world rather than settle it. You'll take mid-high population cities that are already improved, so after a few turns of resistance they hit the production ground running. Plus all the military you have to send over to conquer it will help hold off the barbarian hordes.