is it worth a war?

[Romanus]

Jamski.....my sympathies to your cat...ouch

[Aqualung71]

I have to say I agree wholeheartedly with Dexter's first reply to this thread.

In my experience, the tried and tested method of pursuing inter-continental wars with the leading Civs involves packing at least 6 or 7 transports with MA/MI/RI (or at least Tanks/Infantry/Artillery) plus a couple of settlers and workers, and then watching half of them being slaughtered the minute they land and hoping the rest will survive long enough to set up a town and rush the vital airport (which usually allows you one turn of air lifting before the AI bombers pound it back into the ground).

Frankly, I can't see any hope in hell of you landing enough cavalry/knights and musketmen/pikemen (how long will it take to build that fleet?) fast enough to even make a dent in the leading Civ's defenses, let alone establish a beach-head that will survive! The Arabs will probably have Cavalry by the time you arrive, which will be able to cut down your Musketmen....and by late middle-ages the solid Rifleman is not far away and the advent of the Infantry for the Arabs (only a couple more techs away) will seal the fate of your brave but ultimately doomed invaders.

Allying with the weaklings on the continent won't help, as the Arabs will probably crush them easily....that is, if they dare to even cross the border! I also find that invading another Civ's continent is pretty much the worst thing you can ever do to the AI, so he probably won't even talk to you for about 6 or 7 turns and even then he will resort to humiliating extortion (he is, after all, the world leader).....making a short war a little uncertain. And with only 2 luxuries in Republic, you might then find your citizens getting a little agitated.

However, if you're prepared to basically sacrifice your units simply to disrupt the Arabs and change the balance of power more in your favour rather than to establish a permanent presence on their continent, then it may be worthwhile.....at the risk of them coming back to bite you later.

I would concentrate on wiping out the Civs on your own continent, probably starting with China since they're already furious with you and you seem to have a decent sized army. Then bide your time, building up and upgrading your army, making a strike against the Arabs with Tanks and Infantry while surging towards Flight to get those airports started. Then you've got him and the rest of the game will be boring!

Also, persecuting China will probably be better for achieving your objective of a Space Race/Cultural/Diplomatic victory. You will be able to expand on your own continent, closer to your capital/FP and hence lower corruption --> more production/money/science. Not forgetting the difficulty in winning diplomatically if you invade the world leader! Yes, take out China (completely) and be best buddies with everyone else....and trade luxuries with Arabia.

As an aside, if you're ranked 2nd on the histograph in the mid-middle ages, I would suggest it's time to move up a level

Cheers!