Bureaucrats and My Tax Dollars

[The Humble One]

Hope someone can help me.

I like to put diplomats in all of my cities, to help ward off incoming abolitionists, clerics et al. However, if that city builds a passenger-carrying ship, i.e. longship, the "civil servant" decides it's "Off to Hawaii!" and hops in the boat. It doesn't matter if he's sleeping at his desk, wide awake for his job evaluation, or linked to a unit that's actually working (fortified). My bureaucrat is on vacation! Is there any way to make a sleeping unit stay in a city, rather than moving him out of the city prior to the ship's departure?

[TheBirdMan]

I think you already knows the answer

Anyway: You cannot "fortify" a diplomat. He will either be awake (then he should where he is placed) or he will be sleeping and therefore he will leave with any unit passing "his" tile, that can carry units.

[ZoboZeWarrior]

If you don't guess, try that :
Activate your lazy diplo unit. Then press space bar to make it pass the turn. Then he will not be "Out for Hawaii".

[jpww]

Never send a diplomat to do a tank's job

[SoulFisher]

If the diplomat is stationed in the city the ship is headed to, when the ship arrives (stops its "go" command in that city), I click the diplomat's icon in the group box (to wake it up), then click him again (so he won't try to leave, as a group, with the ship), and then continue moving the ship. When the diplomat's turn comes up, I sentry him. In effect, I restate what ZoboZeWarrior just said.

[J Bytheway]

Edit units.txt and remove the CANT_ENTRENCH line from the diplomat definition (and from every single other definition too, probably) then he will happily fortify. This not only stops him sailing away, but also stops him decreasing the defense bonus when you're attacked. It makes the game just that little bit less annoying.

John

[The Humble One]

Thanks for the suggestion to edit the units.txt file. That will certainly save me a good amount of frustration, plus a large amount of extra clicking to keep those guys at home!