My favorite trick. (Not that kind.)

[Colonel Mustard]

I've been reading these forums for awhile and I've never seen anyone mention this. When I don't have a resource and I see it right on someone else's border I just go start a town right next to it, the border scoots over, and bingo, now I have iron, coal, etc. The AI doesn't even get mad that you just stole their goodies. Once I noticed three cows grazing at the border, started my town, the Germans were none the wiser and I had a very productive town for the next 3,000 years.

[MrWhereItsAt]

If you can do this, great, but more often than not it is ME trying to stop the AI doing this to resources I have already got cities near and I am hoping my culture can claim someday!

[East Street Trader]

A good technique, Colonel.

But not so hot if you expect the particular AI civ to outpace you on the culture front for a time. Because your city and the nearby AI city are bound to encroach on each other's lebensraum. And that is one of the preconditions for culture flipping - one way or the other!

An extension to this technique which I use in the later phase of a game is to put a new city down close to a major AI city which I intend to attack. The small new city provides an advanced staging post for my attackers and it may also allow me to soften up a tough target - a capital say where there are mech infantry defenders - by initial bombardment.

In fact having a couple of settler units along during an offensive is not a bad idea generally.

[mimi]

I got irritated at a game once when AI took all the good lands near me but I couldn't go to war so I placed a settler on the border, built a temple, when it expanded an extra square I planted another settler and built a temple... got 3 settlers deep and got the resource I was looking for. 'Course I was Baby and had great culture so I didn't flip to them...

[vmxa1]

This is a common technique in the short run. In the long run AI's are not going to have that city for all that long anyway.

[steven8r]

Ah yes, the ol' "Culture Grab" technique. Just make sure that your city doesn't flip to them--build lots of culture in it.

[Truman_Capote]

I don't know about the AI accepting it.

I was playing as Babs on Emp, pulled the trick of which you speak to nab an Ivory from the French.

Next turn, the French who've been my bosom buddies up till this point, 0 BCish, are annoyed, and a couple of turns later try to capture my new city. True, it could've been something else that pissed them off.

However, using the magic of reload, I replayed it to see if they would remain friendly if I didn't build the city. I disbanded the settler, and low and behold the invasion never came. As far as I can tell I did everything else the same.

I only played each alternative situation once, so this by no means rules out fickle AI civs making random choices.

[East Street Trader]

I doubt it was random.

It is noticeable that the AI places its cities early on next to places where a resource is going to show up. So if I see an AI settler heading towards what looks a likely spot and I have a settler of my own available I will give a priority to that location.

And I have then had your experience more than once - the AI civ concerned turns nasty.

[banzikid]

I use this strategy in C3C. One recent game when I took over a coal resource it cause a war.