A game play question

[manofthehour]

OK so I just went to war with France. I was China and hit my golden era when my Rider defeated French troops. I took about 4 cities from France and singed a peace treaty. Now one of the reasons France was such a weak foe was that they didn't have any iron. I have an extra one and traded it to them before the war. Now my question is should I start trading iron with France again and try and make them strong by trade and giving them technologies. Or should I keep them weak. They only reason I would want to keep them strong is that they are the between me and the rest of the world. So if I keep them strong I could have a usefull ally and strong state between me and the rest of the world. What should I do.

[Venger]

Keep them weak. Why create a competitor? Unfortunately, they'll likely trade for what they need with others, so you won't be able to keep iron out of their hands. If you can swing it, give them iron for something you really need. But you should slowly but surely take France over, like the Germans do every 50 years...

Venger

[rid102]

This should probably go into the 'strategy' folder.

To answer your question: Do whatever you think is the right thing to do. It is all part of having fun playing the game! If you do the "right" thing then you'll learn another tactic. If you do the "wrong" thing, equally you won't make the same mistake again. Have fun!

[Lord Cannager]

keep them strong i think that they can help as a good ally. use their terirtory to get thruogh to the others on attack missions so u dont have t defend urself. the on ly bad part is france could declare war on u and get resources from other civs.

[Jurassic Joe]

I say crush them. I am playing as the Stoners (Romans) and the Greeks were between me and the French. The Greeks were pretty big with lots of culture and they were holding off the French quit well. Then they started talking smack to me and demanding gifts. I gave them what they wanted and then I backstabbed them at the first opportunity and took his 3 largests cities. Peace was declared for several turns until I attacked again and knocked him off the continent. With the added Greek cities, I am now the largest civ in the area. I have way more culture than the French and I am holding the world economically hostage (15 civs). It all started when I took out the Greeks. So again I say crush them. You don't have to conquer the world, but you need to remove any potential threats to your eventual dominance.