Now I'm scared, should I be?

[mimi]

Hmmm... am trying to be peaceful as Carthage in large world with 10 other nations left. Egypt snagged the last 2 wonders ahead of me by a couple turns and leads in tech, thanks to my funding of about 350gpt (which is split between Egypt and Greece as I have to buy tech from them both since I can't catch up) Someone suggested I steal the tech instead of paying for it and I thought that'd be worth trying because Egypt is so far away that I figured I could have a whack of defence put up before they arrived if they caught my spy. BUT after reading another thread here - if they're marching up with 100+ units I really don't have much chance banging out enough defences to defend my 8 cities do I? (This is my first PTW game and the first time I've ever managed to get as far as Electricity without even a single war)

Oh yeah, I have about 8 units in each city (not current/upgraded ones though) What would be reasonable numbers needed to defend if 100+ enemy show up?

[badman]

Put all your units to the cities which are going to be attacked by Egypt and upgrade them. I think that should stop any attackers (as long as you aren't playing deity ).

Yet I voted for "Stop buying & start my own researching" because that seems to be the best thing as a peacenicker (unless you don't have any libraries/universities).

[vmxa1]

Remember the AI will not send all it has at you. If they are on another land mass, they will come in groups of easy to handle numbers.
They will keep large portions of their units in their cities at all times. If you have units that as good or better than they have you should be able to handle them.
No way would I ever give serious money to the AI to help fund my defeat.
If you have GPT going and go to war you will never get another GPT deal from anyone. This maybe fine by you or not, depends on the situation.

[MrWhereItsAt]

I hope you've got a rail network connecting all your cities/fortification points. This is really important, as it means that you can take ALL the units out of your not immediately threatened cities and move them where they are really needed. If you're worried because they're getting too close to one of your now undefended cities, simply shift as many troops as you want back along the rails.

If you have Nationalism and some strong civs around that are not at war with you (or not likely to be), try to use that gold to get into a MPP with them. That way, when the others attack, your friends will have to leap to your aid! However, this will only be worth it if your allies actually CAN help you, by being strong themselves and able to reach your enemy.