Dealing with AI alliances

[Rufus T. Firefly]

In the game I'm currently playing, my only significant rival, the Spanish, have allied themselves with all the other AI civs. I'm a democracy trying to get to AC and I'm defintely ahead, but I wouldn't mind harassing the Spanish, just to slow them down. Question: aside from subverting cities, how can I pick on Isabella without getting the whole world involved? It may help to know that I have the UN. Thanks!

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Dig trenches, with our men being killed off like flies? There isn't time to dig trenches. We'll have to buy them ready made. Here, run out and get some trenches.
-- Rufus T. Firefly, the original rush-builder

[Albert B]

From my experience, if you are all ready at war with the Spanish, you should be able to continue fighting without others automatically declaring war on you. If you have to declare war on them, then they will enact their alliances and everyone (or at least a couple other civs) will declare war on you. All you should have to do is use an embassy to contact the civs you don't want to fight and force peace with the UN.

However, also from my experience, this will be a very tricky peace to keep because the AI will backstab you at every opportunity and you will have to force peace repeatedly.

Also, if there is one or two civs that are pretty weak, you could gift them a bunch of techs/military units and once they are worshipful, hire them as mercenaries to help harrass the evil Spanish.

[East Street Trader]

After 1750 the other civs are programmed to hate a human player who is supreme. This does not always lead them to ally but they will invariably swop techs like crazy among themselves and will attack the supreme human player pretty remorselessly.

With an AC aim there are two straightforward responses.

1. Take on all comers but devote a minimum of resources to the military. That means a defensive approach in the main (supplemented by short bursts of aggressive expansion when either a window is openned up by your tech lead, a nearby AI civ leaves valuable property such as a wonder insufficiently guarded, or an enemy civ looks like developing too much productive capacity - like the evil Isabella in your game perhaps).

2. Strive no longer to be supreme. This means giving away tech to all and sundry. You also need to keep down your military might but that looks after itself if you are devoting your efforts to research and production infrastructure and also giving the AI the tech it needs to build equally powerful units.

It may be worth mentioning that this approach brings with it a curious alternative way to drain the AIs coffers. If you give each of them two, three or four techs each three or four turns you can forge alliances and end each diplomacy session by asking for a gift. They will cough up.

I am not sure that your search for a third way - a divide and rule approach - is possible in the face of the 1750 feature.

There are distinct problems with the repeated enforced peace approach. The AIs will invade your border during the "peace" and you will find that you will not be afforded a diplomatic opportunity to evict them. When they sneak attack they will be more difficult to repell because there is an attack bonus for a sneak attack. And you will be pestered with dips/spies which you will not have been able to keep at a distance. When I am content to remain supreme I am often in democracy and find myself constantly looking for ways to provoke war to avoid these problems and so as to be able to sap the AIs superior production by allowing its units to immolate themselves upon my ramparts.

But if I'm wrong, and you find such a third way, be sure to tell us about it.

[Marko_Polo]

quote: Originally posted by Albert B on 01-10-2001 08:05 AM Also, if there is one or two civs that are pretty weak, you could gift them a bunch of techs/military units and once they are worshipful, hire them as mercenaries to help harrass the evil Spanish.

What does this mean in practise? How do you exactly hire your gift units as mercenaries with your worshipful civ?

[Albert B]

You aren't hiring your gift units as mercinaries, you are hiring the entire civ as a mercinary... After making them worshipful, you ask them to declare war on the other civ (spanish in this case). They will demand a certain amount of cash to declare war on the desired civ. If you happen to have given them some good units to make them like you, you have just improved the army you hired.

However, the cheating AI is likely to end up allied with each other again in the near future since they are intentionally designed to team up against a powerful human player.

[Smokey tha nuke man]

how many cities do you have. if you have enough cities, it may be feasable to continue to build your space ship, while switching to fundamentalism, then killing the spanish and anyone else who you just don't like. and you can still make it to ac i'm assuming that you can already build all the parts and are currently doing so. if not. then, switch to republic, build woman's suuferage and bachs, build up your productiuon, and build an army. (democracy would be to taxing to be worth the effort to maintain it in war)

[Chris 62]

How you slow the Spanish depends on where your tech is compared to theres. If you have nukes and they don't you could launch a premptive strike at the closest spainish city followed by an airborne attack to take the city. You can also do this with cruise missiles. Remember, with the UN YOU can declare war 50% of the time. Buying off the weak and giving them tech will just make them a bigger problem, but not always. One other thing is to listen to your minister of war:" I think we should have a standing army. That way we will save money on chairs!"Chickaleny.