Back Stabbing AI

[~Vodka~]

Ah, but as I have just discovered... MPPs can be goood.

Game in a small map as Russians, my enemys: Americans, Indians, Chineese. Difficulty: Emperor (as close to diety as I dare)

Early game- conquest, conquest, conquest (despotic whip made good use of) *boom* no more Americans

Mid game-UGh, damn chineese got WAAAy ahead in the tech, good thing they like me; they are the only thing that stands between me and the blood-thirsty Indians on the opposite side of the continent. (I have stopped conquest to try and catch up in tech by trades and diplomacy and such; I end up with most of what I want from good ol' China and an MPP with em.)

Late game- My research is were I want it, im constructing an army of Modern Armor & Radio Artillery (Deadly combo) with a few nukes as last-ditch.(My target is India but I don't want to have to deal with China later so... I'll let Inda do it for me...*demand* *demand* "Inda declared war on Russia!")

A lot of fighiting ensues between the Chineese and Indians that ends in Inda razing everything, immidatly followed by me marching in and mopping up the remmnants of Indias army and bombing all his luxuries/resources to hell. Easy Victory, I have only my good (allbeit dead) allies the Chineese!

[Shadowlord]

I love nukes.
If an enemy army is congregated in a city, a single nuke will take out almost all of said army.

It also can be used to knock out a large segment of roads quickly and easily, and to knock out access to resources as well. I especially like doing it where the computer builds their city right next to several strategic resources :P.

You just have to be prepared for a retaliatory strike immediately following your strike. Just hit them with more than they hit you with, and have a lot of workers out where they won't nuke (To clean up pollution and rebuild the improvements, of course!), and vacate any important troops from your cities prior to nuking the enemy, and you should be fine. They usually won't be expecting a nuclear attack, but you should be expecting a retaliatory strike, so you will hold up better. Assuming you don't depend on something like 5 cities to support your entire empire, of course.

[star mouse]

The Military advisor is important to determine if an AI civ is likely to attack you. Check this advisor often, and examine every civ. Anytime the military advisor says your army is "weak" compared to an AI civ, that's a danger sign. Build your army up.

If you want to deter an attack, build lots of cheap units. Even warriors or workers will do, but for best results just build a strong army.

If you want to be sneaky, build a few strong units like Knights or Cavalry (depending on era). The military advisor's strength assessment is purely numeric, and if you have 10 Knights and they have 30 Warriors, your army is considered "weak". So if you have a small but powerful army, you can often lure an AI into declaring war on you. You will then get the pleasure of wiping out most of their army very quickly, and conquering large swaths of their territory. I have wiped out a few AI civs this way.

[twistedx]

Just finished another game, and India did it AGAIN!!! I think Vodka had it right -- probably a little sadistic programmer humor going on.

I did notice some things that might play in to it. I played through a couple quick games to see what circumstances the AI decided to backstab me. From what I've seen, it looks like two things dictated them attacking.

- Proximity of my borders to theirs: Might seem like a no brainer, but I've never had problems if they don't directly border on me. One thing I did find is that they don't seem to get aggresive until all the available land is claimed. I suppose that they don't start looking to take some of my cities until they can't build anymore themselves -- maybe a bit of the "Manifest Destiny" mindset of 19th century America programmed in to the AI?

- Amount of culture relative to theirs: I also noticed that they are likely to attack if my culture is way higher than theirs. Not sure if envy was programmed in to the AI, if they feel threatened that their cities are going to convert, or if it's just coincidence. Historically, it would make sense that a culturally weaker society attacked a culturally advanced society.

I might be off base, but that's what I have seen.

-- twistedx

[ACooper]

I agree India is a *****!

(Not in real life, only the game)

[DTRY]

Gandhi backstabbed you? This is something I LEAST expect in this game. Doesn't India has aggressiveness of 1 or something?

Firaxis, what have you done to The Great Soul?

[Chronus]

I find the whole "dirty, backstabbin' Indians" thing rather funny.

I can't recall them ever backstabbing me. However, I can recall two games where they where helpful, trustworthy allies.

I think you people just need to back off and leave that lovable Gandhi bear alone.

[~Vodka~]

Grr, Ghandi bear grr.... Must... kill....

I'm starting my first Diety lvl game (Standard map, pangea, 7 civs)
India is RIGHT NEXT TO ME! argh.... that dirty little anerexic already wants tribute! Oh well, i'm massing horseys and swordsmen to take care of him; first thing on my agenda was to kill him and make him my "vassal state". Heheheh he will be the one paying tribute soon... hopefully.

Just to comment on diety, that dirty comp started with like 4 workers... saw them a few seconds into the game (they are so close to me my worrior only moved 2 times and saw em.