How can I manage to be at peace for more than 2 turns?

[Kilroy_Alpha]

And, why don't AI civs get any penalty for being warmongers?

I've the Persians and the Japanese in my current game, and since the beginning of the Medieval era I've been at war with at least one of them, if not both. I'll make peace with one and on the next turn he shows up and demands some tech or money or something in exchange for peace. Knowing that, even if I give in, he'll just be back in two more turns anyway, I say no. They declare war of course and so on ad nauseum. What really gets me is they are both DEMOCRATIC civs, so you'd think they'd think twice before declaring war but, nope. The worst part is that they eventually manage to get one of my neighbors involved and then I've got to go pummel them a bit. Ugh.

I know that you can't be a peaceful builder like in Civ2 and I like that, but this takes it a little too far. I don't want to constantly be at war the entire game. At some point I need to regroup.

Before you go accuse me of incessantly whining note that the topic is phrased in the form of a question. If there is a way to keep the peace, I want to know.

[Shadow_Cougar]

Level their cities, destroy their armies, take all of the resources and keep a standing army 2x larger than everyone else. They will still hate you, but it won't matter.

[Ironikinit]

You haven't struck me as a whiner, Kilroy.

I'm not sure that the AI isn't penalized for warmongering. They do seem to change governments after a time, so I suppose they are affected by weariness. Also, I've won via the UN a lot, so I think they must suffer some penalty for betrayal.

Have you been able to sign MPP with one of them? It might slow them down in declaring war on you. Then again, you can get dragged into their wars, but at least you'll have an ally. (I signed MPPs in my current game, and war broke out about 2 turns later.)

Not much help.

What does your military advisor say? If he says you're weak in comparison, building more units helps.

Trading luxuries helps too. Sometimes I get extra luxuries I can't get a decent price on, so I give them away.

All real basic stuff.

[Skanky Burns]

Basically build more units. The number of your units it take for the AI to respect you is much greater than the number of units you need to defend against them.

Also, the AI doesn't take into account what type of units make up your army, just the total number of units you have, so even by building many workers you can get the AI to start fearing you.

I had a large standing army of legions while the other civs had cavalry, yet they still feared me because of my large number of units. I never went to war in that game.

[Shaka II]

If you don't want to go to war, give the AI what it wants. Only if you don't mind being at war do you tell the AI to buzz off. If you have a large enough army he will usually stand down. Hiawatha thinks I am very brave (and perhaps a fool) for resisting his demands.

A little humility now will be payed back many times in the end game.

I like the worker army idea, which is what my civ is like when I get Steam Power!

[Kilroy_Alpha]

Judging by the response, I'm getting the idea that the AI doesn't factor in your productivity when deciding whether or not to bully you around. Well it's right there when I hit F11, I'm number one. Productivity of the rival nation is pretty important when you like 250 year wars as much as the AI Too bad for them I guess.

And you're sure the type of units doesn't matter? How did you figure that out?

[Thrawn05]

Re: How can I manage to be at peace for more than 2 turns?

Originally posted by Kilroy_Alpha
What really gets me is they are both DEMOCRATIC civs, so you'd think they'd think twice before declaring war but, nope.

You must be playing in a level less then Regent, since the AI shoots for democratic government to give you a better chance at winning. Higher levels, the AI will stick to what they are programed for in the editor.

[Ironikinit]

I was under the impression that the AI favored and despised government settings factored in to their reactions to other civs, not their preferred style of governing.

Also, the AI civs in my games (monarch) will go for democracy in any peaceful time pretty much, even the aggro ones.

[Skanky Burns]

And you're sure the type of units doesn't matter?

Yep.

Someone was in the industrial age, had finished railroads everywhere, and had no more use for their workers. Checking the military advisor screen, they saw their neighbouring civ was weaker in military then they were. They sold a massive number of workers to that civ, and suddenly that civ was listed with a stronger military. They AI declared war the next turn.

Its actually a good strategy too, you get a war you want with a weaker enemy, don't get a diplomatic hit, and at the end of the war, capture all your workers back as well. Plus of course the stuff you got from selling your workers in the first place.