i'm impressed

[Adampunch]

hey people, just signed up for the forum. I used to play civ 2 a bunch back in the day, and just recently picked up civ 4.

In my latest game i am on a 2 continent map - france and I are on one (i'm japanese), and germany, russia and the aztecs on the other. France and i are very peaceful after squeezing out england early on. In the mid 1800's i decided to shoot for a diplomatic victory and start researching towards the UN building. I figured the game was going to play out pretty peacefully (for my country at least).

About 25 turns later montezuma declares war and immediately shows up at my one isolated city with a whole fleet of ships loaded with units! I was totally unprepared and he razed the city in 2 turns. Then he came at me from the west coast with a whole other army and razed another city. I had been neglecting my army and hadn't been upgrading my units - i was still using samaurai and longbowmen when i should have had riflemen and cannons.

Now I'm holding back the aztecs with some new riflemen, and I've gotten the 3 other nations to declare war on the aztecs for a modest fee. I never expected the AI to launch such a well organized sneak attack. I'll have to be more careful next time...

[wanderer27]

Yeah, I've had the AI do some pretty sneaky/amazing stuff. Check out some of my experiences in "Are there any CIVs that alway War?" thread.

Had some eye-popping stuff there . . . .

[rah]

I like to keep a ship near potential enemy cities on the coast. Try to find the one where they stockpile their ships and just keep an eye on it. When the city empties out, you can pretty much expect war to be declared on someone quite soon. And if you've been neglecting your army, assume that that person is you.

It's a little like that ole poker expression. If you're sitting at a table and can't figure out who's the fish, it's probably you.

[Willem]

Originally posted by Adampunch
About 25 turns later montezuma declares war ...

Gee, what a surprise.

If Montezuma is in the game, always count on him attacking you at some point. He's the madman in the Civ world, so never neglect your military when he's around. Alexander can be a thorn in your side as well, though he's generally a bit more sensible about his conquests. Isabella can also be a nuisance if you have a state religion other than her own.

Incidentally, keep an eye on your power graph. If you fall to the bottom, even Gandhi might declare war on you. You want to keep your military strength in the top third at least. You can find it in your Demographics screen.