Can't get AI to be my attack-dog

Quick question: how do you actually get the AI to attack a third party?

Every time I've ever clicked on the "Shall we declare war against..." button, it turned from blue to black (as do the other four diplomacy buttons) and that's it - it never asks me to select a target country or proceed further in any way. Doesn't matter how friendly I am with the AI in question, or whether I'm playing Vanilla or G&K, the result is always the same. Nothing happens.

Am I missing something here? Is my game bugged? What's the deal?

bovinespy said:

Quick question: how do you actually get the AI to attack a third party?

Every time I've ever clicked on the "Shall we declare war against..." button, it turned from blue to black (as do the other four diplomacy buttons) and that's it - it never asks me to select a target country or proceed further in any way. Doesn't matter how friendly I am with the AI in question, or whether I'm playing Vanilla or G&K, the result is always the same. Nothing happens.

Am I missing something here? Is my game bugged? What's the deal?

Click to expand...

The AI probably has not met the AI you want to target. You can only get them to attack someone that they have met. Another option to try and get them to attack someone is to go to the trade screen and at the bottom, click to expand the 'other civs' button. Then select, 'declare war on' then select the target civ. It will list other civs, and if you mouse over their name it will tell you if they can't attack someone b/c they are already at war, or have peace treaty, etc. I think if they don't even show up as an option there it's because they haven't met.

If the target is in the list, click it and ask what the AI wants in return for attacking. Or offer it a sweatheart deal. But if you just ask what they want and they say they can't make a deal then they probably wouldn't do it no matter what you give.

hobbsyoyo said:

The AI probably has not met the AI you want to target.

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But the thing is, the AI can't possibly know who I want to target, since it doesn't even give me the option of selecting someone to attack.

You can only get them to attack someone that they have met. Another option to try and get them to attack someone is to go to the trade screen and at the bottom, click to expand the 'other civs' button. Then select, 'declare war on' then select the target civ. It will list other civs, and if you mouse over their name it will tell you if they can't attack someone b/c they are already at war, or have peace treaty, etc. I think if they don't even show up as an option there it's because they haven't met.

If the target is in the list, click it and ask what the AI wants in return for attacking. Or offer it a sweatheart deal. But if you just ask what they want and they say they can't make a deal then they probably wouldn't do it no matter what you give.

Click to expand...

OK - I'll try your method. Thanks for the tips.

Keep in mind that the worse the relationships between the civs you want to fight are, the easier it'll be to get them to fight. I once got Persia to declare on Mongolia for chump change (100 gold + 5 horses), yet Persia wanted all my gold, my spices, my truffels, my copper as well as the remaining horses + iron if I wanted to coerce them into attacking Greece.
One of the better diplomacy points, I guess.

bovinespy said:

But the thing is, the AI can't possibly know who I want to target, since it doesn't even give me the option of selecting someone to attack.



OK - I'll try your method. Thanks for the tips.

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Yeah they prolly haven't met. Since you can't trade maps or introduce them, you're kind of stuck. Sorry I couldn't be of more help.

You ideally want to be friends with them, so that you can actively make them dislike the other civ (if you're their friend, and you denounce them, often prompting them to denounce you and suffering a "You denounced our friend" modifier with your new ally). This is partly because they're more likely to agree to go to war that way, but also because it gives them a vested interest in actually doing some of the fighting - the AI thinks that it has a reason of its own to dislike the other civ (it also works best with civs neighbouring the one you want to attack, as they'll usually covet the other civ's territory and will just want an excuse to attack).

You can just pay a civ to go to war, but there's nothing stopping it from taking the money and running (either declaring peace ASAP or simply not doing anything) or, worse, backstabbing you halfway through if it's not a war the AI feels it will gain anything from.

Also, in any war be aware that the other civ will probably still set an objective and not be very active after it's achieved it or been thwarted. For example in one game (as Augustus) I and William joint-attacked Isabella on my suggestion. She'd founded Santiago on the Dutch island, so William promptly joined in the attack on it (though somewhat halfheartedly, with just a few pikes). I was the one who actually took Santiago, then I pressed on to the main Spanish island and took Barcelona. By that point William had lost interest and declared peace, since his interests were secure - the city on his island was in the hands of a friendly power.

Haven't been back to the game since, but I do face losing Barcelona in the very near future, helped by the fact that Isabella stole Gunpowder from me and promptly started churning out Tercios...

i never use that button. instead, from the main trading screen, go to the "other civs" section, and select "declare war on". this allows you to bargain for it.

Pay them off.

smallfish said:

Pay them off.

Spoiler :

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Persuading Attila to declare war is rarely likely to be difficult.

PhilBowles said:

Persuading Attila to declare war is rarely likely to be difficult.

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"Hey Attila do you want to go to war against my neighbor Washington? He is being a prick."

"Sure."

"Hey Attila, do you want to war with Napoleon of the Great Wall, your longtime hated neighbor?"

"Uhhhh... no."

I love the way they've re-worked diplomacy in G&K. There is some semblance of predictability while still providing a challenge. In Vanilla I would default blank everyone when they'd come asking to be friends or have open borders or anything else, since ultimately those declarations of friendship meant nothing to be broken and benefitted the AI more than me. In G&K once you get the hang of diplomacy and how to work the modifiers you can essentially play Machiavellian politics to play people off eachother. Including getting your enemies to attack your friends, if your friends happen to be getting too powerful and you aren't prepared to declare on them.. two birds with one stone.