being sandwiched (by shaka)

playing a game with mali where i am doing fairly well and on course for a cultural/space race victory.

i have 4 cities of prime real estate and followed by a set of four smaller cities elsewhere (in short, 2 sets of 4).

the problem is that sandwiched inbetween me is shaka! we are on good terms and seems to hate his other neighbour, frederick.

i'm currently ahead of shaka in everything but power and am sensing the chance to wipe him out has passed.

my current tactic is to ally myself with shaka and declare war on frederick whenever shaka does.

i have the apostolic palace but a different religion also.

does anyone have any ideas how to tame shaka in my scenario?

The only way one "tames" Shaka, is to succumb to Shaka! (Sorry, been playing Shaka alot lately).

Try backstabbing Shaka. Bribe Frederick to attack, then use your advanced troops to capture a few cities. Make peace (or force him to capitulate), then build up more troops and attack again. However, it seems as if you him trapped between two "halves" of your empire. This will lead to a two-front war. I have a suggestion, then.

Build a few Forts along the border, and stuff em with a Catapult and 2 Longbows (preferably with Guerrilla I and a Fort on a hill). Watch as he suicides his troops against you. Use your "prime real estate" to build tons of troops.

I know what you mean though. In my current game as Willem, to my south Shaka was expanding to three cities, one of which claimed copper. I panicked and declared war with one warrior! Pillaged his copper before he could get Impis out (got a free worker too! ), then attacked with Axes and Swords till he was no more. If left untouched, he can expand ferociously while maintaining a large army due to his UB.

What is your current technology level ? If you plan on going to war with shaka, a good idea is usually to have a bunch of higher tech defensive units because most of the time, the Zulu tend to have lots (and by lots, I mean crazy-ass numbers) of troups.

For example if you manage to discover rifles while he still is using medieval units and maybe muskets, a dozen to fifteen riflemen can do the trick (give them drill promotions to reduce collateral damage if you can). Ideally, having a bunch of mounted troops as support to strike at his advancing stacks can be useful.

As has been said, backstabbing might also help. Create focus points were you'll want him to throw all his troops at you, like a conquered city, or a pass between mountains (were you will turn the ground red with their blood).

If you do not want to take him down, but instead make him your best buddy and unleash him on whoever talks badly to you, then there is absolutely no guarantee of success. All the usual diplomatic leverages are useful (giving in to demands, sharing a religion, trading a lot,...) but Shaka just has that crazy mind (a bit like Monty, but a lot smarter and more vicious) and he just might turn on you at any point because he's bored.

Good luck

i'm not a very nice person

i was ahead of shaka tech wise but had a worse military. shaka also had horses at the phase knights rose to prominence whereas i had none.

i sucked up to shaka big time and declared war on frederick after shaka had, so i could get on his good side.

shaka then traded me horses and i built non-stop knights/curaissers. this was vital!

shaka then declared war on the ottomans and asked me to join in. the ottomans were no where near me and i waited until shaka had depleted the armies near me while i rounded up my troops.

in one swoop i declared peace with the ottomans, declared war with shaka and there ended the sandwich.

i actually felt a bit guilty about doing that to him.

i'm now well on my way for a space race/cultural victory.

i honestly think if it wasn't for that shaka would have won the game because he had all of the necessary resources for the perfect mid-game army.

Nice!

I love backstabbing people-it makes me feel so EVIL!