warmongering only on my continent ?

[guermantes]

I have a question below but I describe the situation first:

I play noble, two continents maps on normal speed. I have only won space race and cultural victories so far since I am more the builder and have focused on building a solid empire.

But I wanted to try a more aggressive style and perhaps win a domination victory so I started as Shaka and promptly incorporated Hannibals cities as my own (my first early rush and quite proud of it!) and now I have taken the Ethiopian cities as well.

Darius is small in size and is my vassal (he applied for it himself) as he is stuck between me and Augustus Caesar.

I have made contact with the other continent where Gandhi, Mansa Musa & Pacal seem pretty happy with each other and Tokugawa is the smallest among them and angry with all.

I am well ahead in score and and my power and hammers are above the others as well. Augustus is 2nd in score and power though (he had very much open and free space to expand into). Everyone is pretty much levelled techwise.

We are just before turn 300 I think.

So my question is this. If I try to continue my warmongering and take on Augustus, will I not just wear my empire down and even if I beat him in the end the relative happiness on the other continent will make them come out ahead of me and win some other victory based on building?

If there was mayhem on their continent too then I could see how warmongering could be an option for me to win by but like this they will be super strong when I have beaten Augustus and stand ready for my subsequent naval invasion which will be crushed.

Do I need to play pangea maps in order to try to win by warmongering? Or should I play with 'always war' so that everyone else also is weakened by repetitious warfare?

(savegame attached if anyone wants to take a closer look at the situation)

[wodan11]

Well, in general on Continents it depends on the size of your continent whether you can win without taking a big chunk of other continents and/or islands.

Also, in your specific game, it depends on how strong Rome is.

I think you're right to be concerned about the boys on the other continent being happy and having fun teching amongst themselves.

Based on typical answers to the above, I'd say your best bet is to leave Augustus alone and to invade the other continent. However, if Rome is fairly weak in comparison to you and/or you have significantly better units than he does (e.g., Rifles against his Praets), then solidifying your continent isn't a bad choice.

A low third in my opinion is switching gears and trying to tech yourself. You have a production advantage... even if your units are comparable in strength to your opponents, you can take them. And it's going to be difficult for you to switch to a research economy at this point.

Wodan

[jhaus13]

My advice is to start taking it to Augustus. I loaded up your save game and you have a big advantage in that your Persian vassals act almost like a wall against Augustus, he has to go through them to get to you when it comes to mounting his counter attack. So start by moving your armies into Thracian along your southern border.

Get Augustus to Capitulate, then move on the other continent since financial leaders like Mansa Musa and Pacal could pull off a large tech advantage if left alone to grow.

That said you look to be in pretty good shape either way, and on Noble difficulty you could likely sit on your hands from here on out and pull of a space victory.

[guermantes]

Originally posted by jhaus13
That said you look to be in pretty good shape either way, and on Noble difficulty you could likely sit on your hands from here on out and pull of a space victory.

Yes I feel pretty comfortable I could win a space race anyway but I've done that so many times. So I think I'll try vassaling Augustus and see how it goes and then in my next game move up to Prince for some new excitement.

[Bkeela]

Playing Alpha Centauri, I would always conquer other continents. I was expert at taking a single coastal city, relocating my entire airforce, and then bombarding surrounding cities. My next wave would bring fast invading units, and then the continent would be mine.

I have only attempted such an invasion once, maybe twice with Civ IV, and only because I was attempting a Conquest victory. I already controlled the larger of two continents. A Domination victory spoiled my plan.

I find it just so much more intimidating with Civ IV. For one, I couldn't imagine such an invasion being possible without Flight - and by the time I usually get that technology, the AI has already built the Apollo Program. With Warlords 2.08, the thought of an intercontinental war makes me feel queasy. You would likely send a force of calvary, cannon and riflemen only to be greeted by SAM, Gunships and Artillery.

[Unimatrix11]

Try to bribe someone on the other continent into war with someone else there, maybe ?