OCC question

[RO]

Hi,

I have been experimenting with OCC games (using ToT) and have encountered a problem.

In two games an AI civ built a city with city square overlapping mine. That is clearly unacceptable if you want to be able to win with only one city. I tried fighting for the square, but found that I can't win when I have a war going.

I'm not sure how to prevent this. I can try to fortify some units outside my city perimeter in an attempt to push back the AI city one square, thus preventing an overlap (I assume they won't build cities very close to their own cities). I don't know if this will work, though. Or I can restart, which is a bit tiring in the long run.
Any other ideas?

[KrazyHorse]

This has happened a couple of times with me. What I did was declare war, fortify a unit on the sqauare in question and wait till it "transferred" back to me. Then I begged for peace and got it. As long as you keep working that square and you don't let enemy units move onto it you'll be fine.

[EOL]

Originally posted by KrazyHorse
This has happened a couple of times with me. What I did was declare war, fortify a unit on the sqauare in question and wait till it "transferred" back to me. Then I begged for peace and got it. As long as you keep working that square and you don't let enemy units move onto it you'll be fine.

There's no need to declare war, as long as you aren't allied with the civ, just leaving a unit on the square through the end of a turn will be enough to stop the AI using it. Change production to that square at the start of the next turn and you should be fine.

Other tactics involve changing it to a less attractive form of terrain eg. mining grassland to forest - this is more useful if you're allied with the civ.

If the shared square is an ocean square you're in more trouble and the quickest way is probably just to reduce the population of the offending city which unfortunately means war.

Best to stop the problem from occuring by changing your production to overlapping squares earlier using non-units to stop them putting the city down or growing your population more quickly.

EOL

[samson]

This is not a problem, it is extremely good luck having the AI build a city that close to yours. Use your engineers to run a road/railroad into the AI city and send 3 caravans there to establish trade routes. The railroad bonus doubles the value of trade routes. The additional arrows will provide far more in science and tax revenue than you will lose to an overlapping square.

[RO]

Thanks, guys.

I'm aware that leaving a unit on the square allows me to use it. Not allowing the AI access was in the last of the two cases impossible, however, giving the terrain and city locations.

The trade option is interesting. I think I already had three trade routes going, however, and the square (in the alst case again) was a wheat square. Not having the food would reduce my max population a good deal.

[Stig]

Claim the square with a military unit, when you have to withdraw to prevent hostilities, replace with a fortified caravan to prevent a wandering AI unit re-claiming it.

[happy 2 B here]

The version I have used the most in the past is TOT and one question that I have is have you attempted to ally with that civ? (i.e., have you given enough techs to get a worshipful response from that civ towards you and then asked to form an alliance?) In true OCC, its actually fairly easy even in TOT to form multiple alliances with the AI civs. This is because you are usually not supreme with just one city for large portions (if not most/all) of the game. The advantage of allying with an adjacent AI civ is two-fold. First, when you establish an appropriate road/rail connection, it will not get interrupted by the AI placing its unit on the line. Second, you now get the (huge) benifit of a free military force patrolling your land, which will not interfere with your unit production. Be sure and give that civ all "the good stuff" such as armor and advanced flight so that it can do an even better job of protecting you. I bet that you'll find that you can limit your garrison to just a single unit in your capital. Give it a try. Oh, I almost forgot, that you can also whine and beg for money after every discovery that you give your ally, assuming that you are well down in the power ratings (ie pathetic or weak) Dont beg for money if you are up there power-wise on TOT (unless you save your game 1st) b/c the civ will "dissolve this tiresome alliance" at the drop of a hat.

[Ribannah]

Originally posted by RO
... the square was a wheat square. Not having the food would reduce my max population a good deal.

Change the wheat into silk. The AI will probably not use it anymore and it's better than wheat anyway. One silk is better than one wheat plus 1½ specialists. In case of need, it is an excellent spot to fortify a defender.
If you have the transforming power and it's a slow game, you might even want to change the wheat into grassland and then wine, but usually it's not worth the time.