Those Evil Romans!!! AHhhhhhh

[King_Xerces]

Hi,

This was my third game on Regent. First two were crappy. But this time I was smoking everybody else but the Romans. Now heres the thing. I never wanted to go to war with them. When they did, I went to the previous saved turn, and gave them 200 gold. Ceaser accepted and then still declared war on me the next turn.

So I tried to play it through. To do this, I need allies. I went to the americans and gave them, count em 7 techs, including some pocket money!!!! They accepted, and during the next turn, signed a trade embargo against me with the Romans. I tried to get an alliance with the Zulu. I offered them tech and 100 gold PER TURN, and they would not accept. Shaka asked me if I wanted his eldest son, too!?!?!

So I'd like to ask you experienced Warlords if you could check out my .SAV file attached an tell me if it's possible to defeat the Romans, or at least keep my entire empire intact. I know that weasel Ceaser wants a piece of it

Or should I just start a new game and cut my losses?

-Thanks

[King_Xerces]

Oh....maybe I should post the .SAV file too!

-Thanks

[Civ Old Timer]

From my experience, the computer players know if you are weak. I think they do this by checking on your cities via embassies, and I think the number of military units you have is more important than how cutting edge they are. So it sounds to me like you have over developed culture and science and underdeveleped armies. If you don't want to be attacked, you simply must make yourself an unattractive target.

As for the other civs taking your offer and not doing anything, that sounds like the smart play if what I said above is true. Diplomacy begins with armed strength, even if you don't actively throw it around.

PS. I'm familiar with this "problem" because this is how my wife plays. Build more armies, I say. :-)

[Thrawn05]

This is why I play the Romans.... and not much of a warmonger.

Weasal eh?

Proprium humani ingenii est odisse quem læseris!

You spent too much time building if you wanted to start a war. You can get away with this in Chieften, or possibly Warlord, but that won't really work on higher levels (as a general rule, as least 6 - 8 units per city minimum I recommend in Regent just for starters, all of which are your most advanced units).

As for the AI taking your offers and backstabing you, you should have done that BEFORE you started your war. I have found that the AI will go against you if do this after. Also, I hope you didn't just attack Rome, because then the world will really hate you. Shower them with gold and techs, and then try to get somthing from Rome for nothing, if he refuses, then declare war. At that point I suggest asking for MAs and MPs if possible before you fire your first shot.

ROMA VICTOR!

[Jaybe]

Suggestion: Go back to where the Romans were about to declare war, forget trying to do the things which you now know would not work, and (gasp) try playing it out, even if you get totally eliminated.

The experience will do you good in how to play a defensive war. You might even save your bacon. Especially if you intend to ever play multi-player, this could be quite valuable.

Also, if you wait until later, you might be succesfull with your diplomatic overtures, since it MIGHT be that it was just bad luck that made them fail in the first place. Of course, also check out the strategy forum threads for other ideas.

Good Luck!

[notyoueither]

Builder beware the giant on your border. You can't let them get that big. Or, if you do, you had best be building a modern army.

[Meth0s]

I have looked shortly on your game and I will give you this advice.

1. Since you apparently can build Infantry, you should have upgraded those musketeers and spearmen instantly you got the tech (that means you should save money 'til you have enough).

2. You are on 1680AD but your infrastructure is not very well built. You have size 10-11 cities, with lots of hills around them that aren't mined and railroaded.
I always boost production, because fighting a war with no production is quite impossible.

3. You have too few units compared to your navy. Skip the navy and go for landunits. (this has already been said).

4. You should have taken Ravenna, Marathon and Brundisium ages ago. Now you have to fight a 3-front war against the same guy.
What happens if Greece joins the war?

I guess this war is still winable, and I would recommend what has already been said, play it to the very end (even though I wouldn't because I'm such a bad looser.)

Good Luck!

PS. Skip the diplomacy and go for raw power! DS.

[Solver]

Yah, you see, unfortunately you need to have an army. The AI is clever, so if it sees an empire as juicy as yours, with quite some nice cities and also money, it will of course prefer to attack - wouldn't you like to do the same?

I'd say try to play the war through, gotta be fun, upgrading all you can, but in the future remember that, while high culture and science is very nice stuff, you got to have an army poweful enough to make the AI think twice before attacking.

[King_Xerces]

Thanks for all the Advice! I'll try to play it through....

Yes, you see, I tried to learn a lesson from my previous game. I tried to build a huge military back then, but unfortunately it wasn't big enough to defeat them. They eventually had enough infrastructure to overtake me, and such with a bigger military, even though they weren't producing at my rate.

In this game, I realized I still needed a big military. As such, I tried to expand and everything, very rapidly in the beggining. At that time, my military outnumbered EVERYONE, including the horrible Romans. Soon, I realized that, I, could have an even bigger military and economy if I concentratetd on building up a massive economy with lots of factories, and banks, and culture, later leading to the production of an enormous military. I though I could keep the enemy at bay using appeasement. --I was wrong.

But that's alright. I'll take the advice of you people and attempt to fight this war! hahaha

[notyoueither]

Balance is the key to happiness Grasshopper.