Alright , I don't really like war a the beginning of a game =\... I'm a turtler in mostly all games I play.. For example, in a lot of games I usually build a completely air tight base, and I build up a HUGE army and take everything out at once... So what I'm asking is that, are there any strategies that allow me to be at peace during a significant amount of the game? All I really want is the ability to play without worrying about war declarations unless I start them..

Thanks in advance guys =D..

Don't adopt a religion unless the majority of the world (especially neighbors) have as well.

See who has the worst relations to other civs, and refuse to trade with them. Don't even open borders.

Remember which civs tend to backstab, and be prepared for them. Better yet, bribe them into attacking someone else.

are there any strategies that allow me to be at peace during a significant amount of the game? All I really want is the ability to play without worrying about war declarations unless I start them

If you're a diplomatic wizard, you can orchestrate that. There's a high-level game [probably Civ4 vanilla] I saw here where the guy had only one Warrior per city and managed a win. Iirc, he kept everyone else too busy to bother attacking him--usually by bribing them to attack someone else. Great read if you can find it.

But if you're like us lesser mortals, the only fairly sure way is to keep a powerful military at all times--ie be too powerful to attack. Also, don't convert to a religion which would annoy your neighbors.

Another option is to play a Custom game, and select peaceful opponents--Ghandi, Mansa, etc.

You could also play the Islands map, which keeps everyone isolated until after Optics, and safe from invasion until after Astronomy. That'll give you plenty of breathing room.

There are 2 main ways of getting it:

-get chummy with everyone: adopt their religions ( better: try to make a unireligious world ), cave to demands..... you know the drill.

-Make everyone hate someone else more than you.... this way they will always have someone else in mind to attack before you ;)

Kylearan game (http://www.compoundeye.net/civ/nonviolent/index.html) ( the one that Mike Fleury quoted ) was a nice example of the first. The second one is much harder to get, but is by far the best option when you have backstabbing civs around ( you can't trust in them, but no one can as well ;) )

The other way to avoid declarations of war against you is to ensure that you have a decent power rating. If you're turtling, make sure to build a fair number of defensive units. As counterintuitive as it is, sometimes the best way to ensure peace is to prepare for war...

Having a large army is the biggest thing you need to stay out of wars. Tradeing with everyone extensivley, adopting the most popular religion, and opening rights of passage with everyone are also key in avoiding war. Its easy as long as you can bribe the AI with lots of goodies.

Alright , I don't really like war a the beginning of a game =\... I'm a turtler in mostly all games I play.. For example, in a lot of games I usually build a completely air tight base, and I build up a HUGE army and take everything out at once... So what I'm asking is that, are there any strategies that allow me to be at peace during a significant amount of the game? All I really want is the ability to play without worrying about war declarations unless I start them..

Thanks in advance guys =D..

Please check out the Gandhi game in my signature. In that game, I won a space victory without ever being in a war for the entire game. How was this possible?

- I had generally agreeable neighbors. The only nutcase, Catherine, was on another continent and I placated her constantly during the late game.
- I maintained a respectable military.
- I used my best efforts to spread religious harmony.
- I maintained a technological lead, powered by specialists generated from my multitude of world wonders and GP farms.

Thanks guys! I appreciate the help! =D...

Oh and I have another question... Do all my cities need to be protected equally? I see that my power rating has to do with the amount of units I have, but can I have a bunch in one city, and only a few in the others?

The AI civs are somewhat opportunistic. Focus your military on your border cities and those which could be amphibiously assaulted.

Also, remember that certain buildings and wonders also boost your power rating, most notably walls and the Great Wall. I'm not sure I would build these items just for power rating, but it's a nice bonus of constructing them.

Lastly: better units improve your power rating. You get a better power rating with 5 axemen than 5 warriors. Remember that the AI gets discounts on unit upgrades, so even if you maintain numerical parity, you will fall behind in power rating unless you upgrade your military (either by purchasing upgrades or building new units and deleting old ones).

One way I "delete" warriors in the early game (which I use for cheap early garrisons) is to replace them with archers and axes then send them off to auto-explore my continent. This is an easy way to uncover the map (assuming you have open borders), requires none of your time and attention, and it's no big loss if they get hammered by a barbarian axeman.

Oh and I have another question... Do all my cities need to be protected equally? I see that my power rating has to do with the amount of units I have, but can I have a bunch in one city, and only a few in the others?

The location of your units is rather unimportant, there is no pressing need for more than a token force (1 unit military police, more if necessary under Heredetiary Rule) in regions that will never see battle. (be wary of seaborne invasions, though). OOTH, Leaving border towns badly or undefended will invite your neighbours to take them.

I recently played a Monarch game with raging barbarians and aggressive AI that was one of the most peaceful games I ever played.

My neighbors surrounding me Saladin and Suleiman were Hindus, my other neighbor Brennus was Jewish. I was Jewish, Brennus was declaring wars on the Hindus making them mad, so upon learning Feudalism, I converted to Hinduism, invaded and annexed Brennus's territory and vassalized him leaving them two tiny cities.

Suileman was so impressed he volunteered to be my vassal and stayed loyal and friendly for the rest of the game. Saladin continued to be my equal in power and my neighbor, but as I converted to his religion (which he founded) he stayed Friendly the entire game, often with a mutual defense pact.

I had one sneak attack from the primitive Spanish Buddhists from another island where they managed to take a weakly defended coastal city but I took it back the next turn and that was it.